"Roar!"
A deafening roar tore through the skies.
The Temple of Wind and Thunder—an ancient site rebuilt countless times—finally met its destined end, consumed by the wrath of Two-Tails, Matatabi.
Blazing blue flames surged upward as Reiji flung Master Chōkū aside, his cloak whipping in the searing heat.
"What incredible chakra! Come on, Matatabi—let it all out! I'll be waiting for you outside!"
He formed a hand seal with one hand and vanished, narrowly evading Matatabi's deadly swipe.
Another thunderous roar followed as the chains around Matatabi's body fell away on their own.
As expected, those chains had never truly restrained her.
Flames raged, and waves of scorching heat rolled off the ground.
At that moment, the clones fighting Kumogakure's ninja suddenly launched into a suicidal charge.
Reiji had already surfaced.
As the director of this performance, he took the stage himself to steer its pacing.
His role? A minor supporting character—Okufu, the protagonist's companion.
The real Okufu was already long gone.
...
At the Temple of Wind and Thunder, Kumogakure's shinobi wore expressions of deep concern.
Those with greater intel looked especially grim.
The Two-Tails—was about to break free!
And Raikage-sama, having gone to the Valley of Clouds and Lightning to subdue the rampaging Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, was still nowhere in sight.
But Kumogakure's ninja were nothing if not resolute. After exchanging glances, several squad captains made a swift, unified decision.
"Everyone, fall back from the Temple of Wind and Thunder!
Disperse by squad—maintain distance and keep the Two-Tails contained.
All Taijutsu specialists, follow me! Once the Two-Tails is out, we'll storm the temple's main hall and retrieve the Wind and Thunder Chains!"
The speaker, a scarred, grim-faced middle-aged shinobi, was about to say more when the ground suddenly quaked violently beneath them.
From the heart of the temple, a pillar of ghostly blue flame erupted skyward.
Within the flames, a pair of yellow-green eyes snapped open, and a massive figure cloaked in blue-black fire slowly emerged.
Her eyes swept over the battlefield—and in an instant, the furious Matatabi locked onto Reiji.
Tailed Beasts didn't recognize humans by appearance. To them, chakra was the clearest identifier.
Reiji, now wearing Okufu's guise, stood solemnly behind Raimei.
Come on, little kitty—come give me a beating! My skin's itching for it~
Despite his serious expression, the playful glint in Reiji's eyes didn't escape Matatabi's notice.
You're dead.
Furious, Matatabi didn't hesitate. She hurled a massive fireball straight at him.
And according to the number one rule of the ninja world: Fire Release never kills anyone with a name!
As the fireball blazed toward them, Raimei and the nearby Kumogakure ninja scattered instinctively.
Reiji tracked Raimei's movements, following him and breaking off in the same direction.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Kumogakure shinobi, guided by their captains, launched an all-out assault on the Two-Tails.
Lightning Release. Water Release. They roared forward—but to Matatabi, they were little more than insects. Her focus was solely on Reiji.
With shocking agility for her size, she leapt into the air and opened her mouth, spewing a massive fireball tinged in deep blue and black.
The blazing sphere split midair into dozens of smaller fireballs that scattered like scurrying mice, each zeroing in on the Kumo shinobi with deadly precision.
As they scattered, Matatabi herself lunged at Reiji and Raimei's position with crushing force.
Her speed was monstrous. In a single bound, she was already upon them.
Take this!
Eyes burning with hatred, her razor-sharp claws sliced through the air, aiming straight for Reiji and Raimei.
At that moment, all arrogance vanished from Raimei's face. In the presence of overwhelming power, everything else was an illusion.
"Raimei, get back!"
Reiji, still in character as Okufu, unleashed a dramatic scream. Face contorted in fury, he grabbed Raimei and—quietly—snapped the fingers forming a hand seal.
Trying to use Body Flicker to escape? Not a chance!
To the watching Kumogakure shinobi, it looked like the brave Okufu had grabbed his stunned comrade and hurled him out of the claw's path.
Sadly, his strength wasn't enough. Though he'd risked his life to protect him, Raimei was still slammed away by the force of the blow.
And Okufu himself? Crushed beneath Matatabi's paw—never to rise again.
A hero. Incredible. Sacrificing himself for his comrades. Glorious.
For a moment, admiration surged in every heart.
But just a second before Matatabi could land the killing blow, Reiji's eyes flickered.
A sly grin crept across his lips—and with his right hand, hidden from sight, he silently formed a seal.
"Ho~ Flying Thunder God Mutually Instantaneous Revolving Technique!"
In the blink of a thousandth of a second, Reiji switched places with his clone. The only difference was that the clone now held a lifeless corpse in its hands.
All of it happened silently beneath the massive paw of the Two-Tails, Matatabi.
Boom!
A thunderous crash followed as a giant feline paw print was stamped into the earth.
Matatabi raised her paw, eyes burning with fury as she stared at the mangled, bloodied corpse embedded in the dirt.
No... That's not him!
Where is he?
Not far off, Raimei—knocked away earlier—tumbled across the ground and crashed heavily at the base of the mountain, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.
His whole body throbbed with pain, especially his twisted fingers, yet his face was filled with confusion.
Okufu... what the hell is he doing?
Before he could piece it together, a sharp pain exploded in his chest.
He looked down to see a pair of all-too-familiar hands emerging from his body, gripping a still-beating red heart.
"This... is this... my heart—ugh!"
Before he could finish, the hands—which looked exactly like his own—crushed the beating heart in a brutal squeeze.
Reiji stood behind him, leaned in with a cold expression, and whispered into his ear,
"Sorry. Your part's over."
"Now, it's my turn."
With that, Reiji and Raimei's figures vanished into the smoke.
Three seconds later, a battered, bloodied Raimei reemerged, flames blazing in his eyes.
...
At that moment, Matatabi abruptly turned her head toward the rising dust cloud.
She had sensed it—the chakra that felt so familiar, and so unbearably detestable!
Damn you... what are you playing at?
She might've lived for countless years, but when it came to human cunning, she was still too naïve.
And the worst part was that this time, she'd run into Reiji—a human who was cunning to the extreme.
In the end, she was nothing more than a beautifully crafted puppet on display, unable to act of her own will.
...
Roaring with wild fury, Reiji threw himself into the role—portraying the broken man who was saved by his comrades only to lose them forever.
"Come on, monster!
Do it! Kill me!
Just like you killed Okufu!
Come on!"
Screaming hysterically, he burst from the smoke, grabbed a rock, and hurled it at Matatabi with all his strength.
But against a towering beast like her, such an attack was laughably ineffective.
Matatabi couldn't bear the provocation. Letting out a furious roar, she charged at Reiji in great strides.
She was going to end this man—completely, permanently!
Reiji darted around the steep cliffs behind him, slipping and weaving like a rat under pursuit.
The scene—combined with the one just before—bordered on absurd: a powerless ant provoking a colossal giant.
But to the watching Kumo shinobi, this man was nothing short of legendary!
Seeing the bodies of fallen comrades, watching Raimei's battered but unyielding figure—their fighting spirit ignited.
"Ninjutsu! Attack! Protect our comrade! Hold out until Raikage-sama gets here!"
"Use the chance Raimei bought with his life! Taijutsu teams—get those Wind and Thunder Chains!"
"Damn it—hit her hard! Cover him! Cover him!"
"Raimei's risking everything—we can't let him die!"
Across the battlefield, countless Kumo shinobi—eyes red, faces streaked with tears—roared with all their might, unleashing a wave of jutsu upon Matatabi.
Matatabi howled in rage, her massive claws lashing out in blurs of motion.
But the little pest darting around her—this maddeningly agile mouse—dodged with ease, dancing between sheer cliffs and ridges, taunting her with every step.
The weaker shinobi's attacks buzzed around her like a swarm of flies, harassing her endlessly.
And every time she turned to silence them with a fireball, the little rat would stop just in time—taunting her with words that a Tailed Beast could never tolerate.
"Meow meow, come on! Let's go home and play with Daddy!"
"Hey, fat cat! Run faster! Your flab's dragging on the ground!"
"Matatabi, you're such a badass—strutting around in crotchless pants, full of tricks and flashing your butt like you own the place!"
Reiji shouted at the top of his lungs, his taunts echoing loud and clear.
Matatabi, who had never been mocked like this in her life, felt her fury building to the point of explosion.
Behind her, however, the Kumo shinobi were fired up.
Even if they couldn't understand exactly what Raimei was shouting, they weren't fools.
Every time the Two-Tails turned around, that mocking voice rang out right on cue—and each time, Matatabi would twist back and resume her cat-and-mouse chase with Raimei.
Look, you dungeon-tanking meat shields and overgrown druids, open your eyes and learn what real taunt is!
You have to hit the one with aggro first!
Reiji was grinning inside.
Holy crap—are Tailed Beasts really this easy to piss off? I might've given them too much credit before.
Come on! Hit me! I'm wide open and twitchy~
Just as he was getting into his groove, Matatabi suddenly stopped.
Her beautiful heterochromatic eyes narrowed warily, glancing toward Kumogakure—where a towering figure, crackling with blinding lightning, was charging forward like a storm.
The Third Raikage, A—the legendary strongest Raikage, with unmatched physical might, known across the shinobi world as the hardest man alive!
Ignoring the Wind and Thunder Chains entangling her body, Matatabi suddenly turned back toward Reiji and opened her jaws wide.
In front of her mouth, a glowing sphere of blue and violet chakra began to form.
Reiji's scalp went numb at the sight.
Oh shit! I overdid the taunting—she's going nuclear!
Outside of the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails, Tailed Beast Balls weren't exactly standard attacks. The chakra cost alone was outrageous.
Even with a Tailed Beast's massive reserves, launching five, six, seven of these would still leave them winded.
Well—except for the Nine-Tails. That guy played by no rules whatsoever.
But the real issue? Tailed Beast Balls took too long to charge.
If no one else was around, Reiji wouldn't even be sweating. Even nine Tailed Beasts charging up at once? He'd be fine.
Flying Thunder God Technique—look it up!
But now? The Raikage was closing in, and all of Kumogakure's shinobi were watching him.
I'm toast.
I'm BBQ'd.
This plan's gone off the rails.
He couldn't run to the Raikage—not with all of Kumogakure standing behind him.
Rush under Matatabi's belly, into her blind spot? Nope.
With all those Wind and Thunder Chains on her, if she launched that Tailed Beast Ball straight down, he'd be fine—but the Kumo shinobi wouldn't walk away from it.
With no better option, Reiji gritted his teeth and bolted in the opposite direction.
If push came to shove, he'd have to abort the plan.
I mean, who could've guessed this chick had such a rotten temper? Just a couple of jokes and she's already forming a chakra nuke!
Can't take a joke—what a scrub!
The Tailed Beast Ball finished forming. Matatabi locked onto Reiji's fleeing figure and aimed.
Then—
A crack of thunder split the sky!
In an instant, the blur of blue light rushing from the distance surged forward like a lightning bolt let loose.
At that critical moment, a thunderous roar exploded through the air.
"Hell Stab: One-Fingered Thrust!"
Reiji glanced back—and witnessed a scene he'd never forget as long as he lived.
The Third Raikage, A, with one finger extended, shot forward like unstoppable lightning, slamming it straight into Matatabi's chin.
Her head snapped back violently, and the Tailed Beast Ball flew harmlessly into the sky.
"Holy shit!"
Reiji had stopped in his tracks without even realizing it, mouth agape as he stared at the coolest, most badass man alive.
If Hashirama Senju's Thousand-Armed Buddha and Madara Uchiha's Susanoo were massive, overwhelming forces of destruction…
Then the Third Raikage, A, was all that power concentrated into one piercing, unstoppable point.
As he watched A's silhouette stride off coolly in the distance, Reiji felt tears of pure emotion slide down from the corner of his mouth.
"Coach... I wanna learn that."