"Never thought I'd actually get a chance to kill someone as legendary as you.
This is... absolutely exquisite!"
Hundreds of echoing voices burst through the air, startling every bird in the forest.
The deafening reverberations and shrieking birds drilled into Kinkaku's skull. He instinctively used a technique to silence the chaos.
A cruel grin returned to his face as he bellowed,
"Uchiha brat, do you really think such weak genjutsu can scare me?
Admittedly I'm not good at genjutsu, but—"
Mid-sentence, he formed a single-handed seal.
[Dispel!]
With this furious shout, the hundreds of Kaguras surrounding him suddenly vanished.
But what truly shocked him now was the real scene before his eyes.
Before him stood five Kaguras, yet what surprised him wasn't the number—it was their transformation.
Kagura had transformed into a One-Tail-style Tailed Beast Cloak.
Unlike Kinkaku's chakra, pulsing with bloodlust and brutality, Kagura's Tailed Beast Cloak shimmered in a soft, milky white glow.
It looked exactly like wearing a semi-transparent raincoat, with one tail swinging constantly behind him.
The aura from this Tailed Beast Cloak felt peaceful and warm, completely lacking any trace of a tailed beast's usual madness.
Even more noticeable, however, were his eyes.
The double tomoe within his Sharingan spun rapidly, tears of blood even forming at the corners.
Clearly, he'd driven Kotoamatsukami beyond its limits.
For the first time, Kinkaku's face darkened with genuine seriousness.
He directly demanded of Kagura,
"Brat, is that a Tailed Beast Cloak?
No, there's no tailed beast's presence.
Yet why do you possess strength equal to a tailed beast?
And this strange Sharingan of yours..."
In response to Kinkaku's questions, Kagura offered no reply whatsoever.
His previously shattered right arm had already regenerated fully under the healing power of the Tailed Beast Cloak.
Five Kaguras simultaneously drew shuriken from their belts. With Body Flicker, they reappeared directly in front of Kinkaku.
At this moment, Kagura's taijutsu ability, dojutsu power, and chakra reserves had all received massive boosts thanks to the Tailed Beast Cloak enhancement.
If forced to quantify this boost, he had already reached jonin-level strength—strong enough to be considered for a Kage title.
Facing Kagura's attack, Kinkaku sneered arrogantly.
However, just as he prepared to act, his eyes caught sight of Kagura's unique Sharingan.
The motion he'd begun to raise his hand in retaliation came to an abrupt halt—hesitating for a full half-second.
In a ninja battle, even half a second delay could determine many things.
"Clang!"
Five shurikens accurately struck Kinkaku's chest—but metallic clashing sounds rang out.
"Tch, knew it wouldn't be that simple!"
Kagura muttered under his breath, never slowing his momentum. The five Kaguras simultaneously launched kicks toward Kinkaku.
Boom~
Struck by this synchronized kick, Kinkaku flew backward at high speed, smashing through several trees along the way, stirring up a cloud of dust.
Kagura didn't pursue him. Instead, he stopped on the spot, focusing intently on the cloud of dust.
Slowly, Kinkaku's massive figure emerged from the gray mist.
Lightning crackled over his body—he'd used Lightning Release to power himself up.
This was exactly why Kagura's earlier shuriken failed to pierce through his body.
Still wearing that same ferocious grin, he turned to Kagura and said,
"Brat, you want to kill me?
With strength like this, I'm afraid that won't be possible!"
Their figures blurred simultaneously as both charged at each other.
Unexpectedly, in the battle that followed, both fighters opted for close-quarters combat.
One side used tailed-beast transformation to boost strength, along with shadow clones and Kotoamatsukami as distractions in a hit-and-run style.
The other relied on his powerful physique, superior Lightning Release reinforcement, and seemingly endless chakra reserves to hold his ground.
In the forest, great trees occasionally toppled over, while the sounds of fists colliding and steel clashing echoed intermittently.
At first, neither side gained the upper hand—they were evenly matched, locked in a stalemate.
Yet precisely this deadlock increasingly confirmed Kagura's previous suspicion.
Something was seriously off about Kinkaku!
He clearly understood his current strength level.
Although possessing Jonin-level abilities, he should have been far inferior to a ninja like Kinkaku.
Moreover, Kinkaku's initial strategy against everyone didn't match his personality.
According to plot logic, Kinkaku should be arrogant and impatient by nature.
That kind of move—threatening students to ambush Hiruzen Sarutobi—seemed way more like something his younger brother, Ginkaku, would do.
Also suspicious was the absence of Ginkaku and the other four legendary ninja artifacts.
Most importantly, there was the option displayed by the System to kill Kinkaku.
This showed the System believed these people had a chance to kill him.
This also implied Kinkaku's current strength wasn't truly as strong as it appeared; that's why he was using tactics meant to end the fight quickly.
At this moment, frustration churned within Kinkaku.
After fighting Tobirama and then A, the Third Raikage, over the past year, his body had deteriorated badly.
Especially the relentless pursuit by A, the Third Raikage.
He still remembered how, during that battle, his younger brother Ginkaku was ambushed by that bastard A and struck directly through the heart—dying instantly.
He himself barely escaped, only after losing two of his ninja tools.
Coming near Konoha Village this time was actually due to being relentlessly chased—he had no choice but to come here.
But what he hadn't expected was running into Hiruzen Sarutobi and others at this place.
He knew very well that showing even a hint of weakness now could spell disaster. Thus, his entrance, pursuit, and ambush beforehand were all strategies planned in advance.
His sole purpose: kill these people before they could react.
However, he hadn't anticipated that after defeating Hiruzen, he'd be slowed down by just a brat.
After repelling Kagura's attack from the right again, his mood darkened further.
If this kept going on like this, A would catch up soon.
With that thought, he withdrew the Bashosen from his mouth.
Although he had very little chakra left at this point, he believed he could still use it one more time.
As he mentally calculated, the veins on his right hand bulged again — clearly preparing to eliminate all five "Kaguras" before him with a single strike.
However, just as he was about to swing the fan, those Sharingan eyes appeared before him once again.
His motion paused mid-swing, and his fan-wielding right hand was struck by two sudden "Kaguras," causing the direction of his attack to shift completely.
"Tsk, these troublesome eyes."
Kinkaku, who had just regained control of his body, immediately stopped channeling chakra into the fan.
When he looked up again, the five "Kaguras" had ceased their advance. Instead, they scattered and surrounded him loosely.
All five Kaguras opened their mouths simultaneously while raising their tails high.
A luminous sphere, bright as the sun, began to take shape.
Fully aware of the threat, Kinkaku realized they were forming a Tailed Beast Ball to attack him!
Yet instead of panicking, Kinkaku found himself amused. He understood the Tailed Beast Ball well, including its weaknesses.
Namely, it required too much preparation time.
Without hesitation, he charged directly toward one of the Kaguras.
The massive Bashosen had somehow disappeared, replaced by a raised right hand shaped like a knife-blade, crackling with lightning on its outer edge, resembling an actual war blade.
The Kagura toward whom Kinkaku rushed showed no panic on his face, but immediately stopped gathering the Tailed Beast Ball energy.
Rather than retreating, he advanced forward instead, opening his arms wide to embrace Kinkaku directly.
Before Kinkaku could register surprise, the other four surrounding Kaguras also halted their movements and lunged forward to seize his limbs.
The Kagura holding his torso looked up at him with a grin and finally spoke:
"[You didn't seriously think that I, an eight-year-old child, could really fire five Tailed Beast Balls simultaneously, did you?]
My ultimate move has been ready from the very beginning."
Upon hearing this, Kinkaku's gaze went past the Kagura in front of him toward the summit of a small hill in the distance.
At that moment, blinding flashes of lightning illuminated the area, accompanied by a sound like hundreds of chirping birds.
Is that happening right now?
No, judging from the buildup behind that distant attack, it must have been gathering energy for quite some time already.
Why hadn't I noticed it before?
While thinking this, Kinkaku shot a questioning look toward the Kagura clinging to his chest.
Smiling slightly, the Kagura helpfully explained:
"Although my genjutsu technique, Kotoamatsukami, cannot greatly alter your will, it was sufficient to make you temporarily ignore that distant light and noise."
Hearing this, Kinkaku suddenly remembered those hundreds of Kaguras and Chidori-like chirps at the beginning of their fight.
Of course! After fighting someone like Hiruzen Sarutobi, how could there still be so many Chidori-like chirps echoing through this forest?
Before he could ponder further, the pressure from that distant lightning reached its peak.
Suddenly, the bolt of lightning transformed into a streak racing down a perfectly straight path straight toward Kinkaku!
The lightning surged forward with relentless force, obliterating everything in its path.
Sensing the danger, Kinkaku struggled to break free from Kagura's grip — but the long battle had finally taken its toll.
The abundant chakra he once possessed was now completely gone. All Kinkaku felt was a strange wave of helplessness spreading through his body.
It felt both endless and fleeting at the same time.
The lightning finally arrived before Kinkaku!
It was Kagura holding the thunderous light.
Kagura's left hand pressed firmly over his right, and within his right palm crackled a glowing sphere of lightning.
Flickers of wild electricity danced wildly around the orb, crackling like a thousand shrieking birds.
[Lightning Release: Chidori]!
The fatal strike pierced straight through Kinkaku's heart and erupted from his back.
Kinkaku fell!
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