"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee! The Eight-Tails' climax, Master Killer Bee, that's me! Yeah!" Killer Bee rapped.
It had to be said, Sasuke and the others had never encountered a style quite like this.
"What is wrong with this guy? Did Jūgo really lose to this... bizarre freak?" Karin asked, shell-shocked.
With a dismissive grunt, Killer Bee tossed Jūgo's unconscious form at Sasuke's feet.
"Are you okay?!"
"Yeah..." Jūgo gritted his teeth, his pride clearly wounded.
At this point, Sasuke's patience reached its limit. "I'll handle this," he uttered softly, stepping toward Killer Bee. He stared at the man, his expression cold and detached.
"Who the hell are you people? Bakayaro! Konoyaro!"
"This guy is seriously getting on my nerves!" Suigetsu snarled.
"Who do you think you are, trying to capture the Great Me?!" Killer Bee shouted arrogantly.
"You don't need to know," Sasuke replied. "This is merely a means to gain power quickly. If you won't come willingly, then die. Besides, I want to confirm as soon as possible whether that verbal agreement was true or false."
Sasuke drew the Kusanagi Sword from beneath his Akatsuki cloak, leveling it at Killer Bee.
"Regardless, remember this: we are the ones using the Akatsuki. Keep that fixed in your minds."
Suigetsu smirked, and Jūgo nodded. "Of course."
"Oh, so you're with the Akatsuki, huh?" Killer Bee noted.
"If that's the case, let's hurry up and shut this puny, joke-making bastard up. He's polluting my ears," Suigetsu said irritably.
"That's the plan!"
As Killer Bee continued to drone on with his rhymes, Karin looked like she was about to explode. "This bastard is so annoying! He has zero talent for rapping!"
"In my heart, the only one..." Karin's face flushed a soft pink as she imagined Kanon in a maid outfit, leaning in close to her. "Only Kanon has that kind of talent."
"What exactly do you think of my sister...?" Sasuke sighed. He knew he had wronged Kanon, but to him, Itachi's memory now surpassed even his own life. He resolved to apologize to her later, at least once the dust had settled. He believed their bond as siblings wouldn't be severed by such circumstances.
However, Killer Bee was offended. To think someone would claim he had no talent! "What did you say, you flat-chested fool?! Bakayaro! Konoyaro!"
"Shut up! Be quiet!" Karin roared.
In that instant, Sasuke made his move, his blade whistling through the air toward Killer Bee.
Killer Bee was incredibly fast. He snatched up the Executioner's Blade, parrying Sasuke and sending him flying with a horizontal spin. The moment Sasuke touched the ground, Bee swung the massive blade down.
Sasuke's combat prowess was beyond reproach; he blocked the heavy sword in a flash, but the sheer force of the blow was immense, forcing him back several steps. The momentum flipped Sasuke into the air, but as he descended, he jammed his Kusanagi Sword half an inch into the ground, perfectly catching the ring of the Executioner's Blade.
Propping himself up on the Kusanagi with his left hand, Sasuke delivered a sharp kick to Killer Bee's neck.
"If the whim takes me, I could end your life in a heartbeat."
Suddenly, the Executioner's Blade dropped, startling Sasuke into a retreat. Killer Bee was actually... taking notes!
Sasuke seized the opening, using the Kusanagi to flick the Executioner's Blade back toward Suigetsu. Suigetsu caught it, looking slightly surprised.
Killer Bee put his notebook away and faced Sasuke. "I'm in a great mood! Just thought of a masterpiece of a verse! Thanks!"
"So, I'll play with you for a bit, you bastard, baby!" Killer Bee's sunglasses gleamed as the swords on his back suddenly took flight.
"Sasuke, watch out! This guy is a master swordsman!"
"He's no ordinary shinobi!"
In an instant, seven blades appeared, tucked into various joints and grips across Killer Bee's body.
"Let me show you my enchanting melody!"
The two clashed under the midday sun. Sasuke swung his Kusanagi with lightning speed, seeking to end the fight in a single strike. Lightning flickered along the blade's edge, turning into bolts of electricity aimed at piercing Bee's defense.
However, Killer Bee's seven swords moved like living things under his control. They formed a defensive web that expertly neutralized Sasuke's assault. Steel clashed against steel in mid-air; the speed was so intense that even Sasuke's three-tomoe Sharingan struggled to keep pace.
He intensified his flurry, each swing of the Kusanagi imbued with raw power and velocity. Yet, Bee parried them all. The cacophony of clashing metal rang out as they moved from the air to the ground.
Killer Bee's offense was even faster than Sasuke had anticipated. Crimson gashes began to appear across Sasuke's body. Finally, during a high-speed exchange, Sasuke faltered. Killer Bee seized the opening, stomping the ground with enough force to shatter it, then spun his swords, skewering Sasuke and sending him hurtling backward.
The Kusanagi Sword fell to the side. As Sasuke scrambled to his feet, he wove hand signs and unleashed the Chidori. The lightning hummed in resonance with his blade, and the moment he drew the Chidori Katana, he slashed at Killer Bee.
To everyone's horror, Killer Bee raised a sword also coated in Lightning Release, blocking the strike effortlessly. Seeing the shock on their faces, Bee gave a wicked grin with a sword clamped between his teeth.
"Dance... dance like a butterfly!"
CRACK!
The pupils of the three Team Taka members contracted. Sasuke had been impaled by seven blades and sent flying.
"The Eight-Tails... stings like a bee!"
Sasuke spat out a mouthful of blood as he tumbled backward.
"Sasuke!" Karin screamed.
Jūgo and Suigetsu could no longer stand by; they rushed in together to save him. But Killer Bee was relentless, leaping into the air, his blades descending like a guillotine.
"And now, I'll finish you!"
"Damn it, we won't make it in time!"
As the blades were about to cleave through him, Sasuke's pupils shifted. A rose-like pattern emerged—Kanon's Mangekyō Sharingan.
Karin recognized it instantly!
Suddenly, Killer Bee's lethal strike passed right through Sasuke's body as if he were a phantom. In the same heartbeat, Bee felt his own neck begin to twist and distort through space-time; a sensation of impending death surged through him.
"Bee! Leave it to me!" the Eight-Tails roared within him.
Killer Bee coughed up blood. His consciousness was momentarily overtaken by the Eight-Tails; one of the octopus tails was instantly twisted and crushed into a bloody mist. Bee performed a desperate backflip, the expression behind his sunglasses one of pure shock.
Because the Flower Realm had been slightly slow to trigger, Bee had managed to escape with his life. Had he remained a second or two longer, he would have surely died there.
It was terrifying, the Uchiha's dōjutsu. But what Bee didn't know was that this was the Flower Realm dōjutsu Kanon had personally implanted into Sasuke before she left the beach that day, a fail-safe designed to trigger only at a moment of mortal peril. If Kanon had triggered it herself, it would have been faster and far more lethal.
In that fraction of a second, Killer Bee had nearly been killed. Only the Eight-Tails' timely intervention had saved him.
Sasuke's left eye bled as he coughed uncontrollably. Nearby, Killer Bee touched the raw, bloody marks where the flesh on his throat had been nearly twisted away. His expression turned grim.
The rose-patterned Mangekyō in Sasuke's eyes slowly faded, reverting to three tomoe.
"It looks like that dōjutsu was a one-time use," the Eight-Tails whispered.
Seizing the moment, Karin pulled the wounded Sasuke away while Jūgo lunged, slamming a fist into Killer Bee's face.
BOOM!
The impact, fueled by the jet-propulsion of his Cursed Seal on his right arm, caused a massive explosion that shook the valley.
Karin frantically pulled the swords out of Sasuke. "Sasuke, are you okay?!" Seeing him on the verge of death, she pulled up her right sleeve, revealing an arm covered in bite marks.
"Sasuke, quickly, bite me!"
Sasuke forced himself upright and bit down on Karin's arm. A rush of chakra instantly began to mend his wounds, and Karin let out a low, breathy moan of relief.
Watching from a distance, Killer Bee's gaze sharpened.
That kid's dōjutsu almost took me out. I don't know if he can use it a second time. And that flat-chested woman... she has the ability to let him absorb chakra to recover.
Sasuke stood up, nodding to the panting Karin. "I'm saved. Thank you, Karin."
"Sasuke, the three of us need to go in together," Suigetsu said. "Honestly, this guy is freakishly strong. Forget about taking him alive, we have to fight with the intent to kill."
Killer Bee watched the three members of Team Taka gather before him and gave a small shrug.
"Oh boy, looks like this won't be over anytime soon."
"In that case... let's see how you handle this!"
Killer Bee moved instantly. Sasuke and the others charged, and the four vanished into a chaotic blur of combat.