~ Every 100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter! Your votes keep this climbing. Thanks!
Whoosh! After his earlier blunder, Killer Bee focused, carefully reforming the Tailed Beast Bomb.
Kisame charged ahead with Samehada. Suigetsu followed close behind, propelled by Explosion Sword: Shibuki!
BOOM…!!!
The Tailed Beast Bomb launched.
Suigetsu grinned. "That's it, Sharky! Hit 'em with another 'Great Shark Bullet'! Blow that stupid ball away~!!"
Clap! Kisame formed a seal.
—Water Style: 'Aqua' Shark Bullet!
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle…!
Water surged from Kisame's feet. It enveloped him, morphing into a massive shark-shaped projectile. It launched him skyward—just off the bomb's trajectory.
Which… left Suigetsu directly in its path.
"Hey! You were supposed to take me with y—!!"
KABOOOOOOOOOM…!!!
The explosion swallowed Suigetsu whole. No discussion.
"You're on your own, Suigetsu…!!"
Kisame, now arcing high above the Eight-Tails, shifted his hand seals. Whoosh! The water shark detached from his body and dove, accelerating toward the beast below.
The Eight-Tails raised a massive hand to block. The water shark slipped right between its wide fingers.
Splat!
A direct hit to the left eyeball.
"GYAAAH…!!!"
Killer Bee and the Eight-Tails roared in unison, the beast's eye squeezing shut.
"Is this… that damned ocular technique?!" the beast snarled.
Kisame adapted instantly. A mid-air Body Flicker. He reappeared in the Eight-Tails' left-side blind spot. He swung Samehada in a brutal 'Food Eater Slash' across the beast's left cheek.
Shlick…!!!
The blade ripped across the Eight-Tails' skin. A torrent of its immense chakra was torn free…!!!
This was nothing like attacking the partial transformation. This strike… hit Samehada's absorption limit instantly.
GU-GU-GU-GU-GU…!!!
Samehada's body bloated to an unprecedented size. It trembled, letting out a shuddering groan that was almost… ecstatic.
"Talk about over-delivering," Kisame muttered, a savage grin spreading. "Incredible, Itachi. Your clan's eyes are truly something else."
—Samehada: Super Flying Chain Slash!!!
Kisame backflipped away. Samehada's handle elongated dozens of meters. The now-gigantic, grotesquely curved blade, fueled by Kisame's monstrous strength, lashed out in a barrage of merciless strikes!
THWACK-THWACK-THWACK-THWACK…!!
At its absorption limit, Samehada stopped draining chakra. But the sheer force and speed of its colossal form's strikes were enough to inflict brutal impact wounds.
RIP-SHRED-SLASH…!!
One after another, vicious gashes bloomed across the Eight-Tails' body. Blinded in one eye, its massive frame flailed uselessly against a small, agile foe. All its power, with nowhere to go.
"Something's wrong, Bee!" the Eight-Tails boomed, frustration mounting. "Our condition is off. Way off! No matter what, we shouldn't be getting pushed around like this!!"
Killer Bee gritted his teeth. "Yeah… I feel it. It's like we're cursed!"
BOOM…!!
Right then, a geyser of water erupted from the crater left by the Tailed Beast Bomb's explosion. At its crest, Suigetsu's form floated into view.
The bomb's blast had ruptured an underground water vein. The surge had mitigated the explosion's force. And Suigetsu, able to merge with water, had simply flowed with it, unharmed.
Obito, watching from the sidelines, frowned. "More of Killer Bee's 'bad luck'?"
But as a Mangekyō Sharingan bearer, his understanding of ocular techniques was deeper. His eyes narrowed. "No… If Juugo's technique is to inflict misfortune on a target, a Tailed Beast Bomb already in flight wouldn't be affected by a status on Bee. So… this strange turn of events must be due to Suigetsu's right eye."
Suigetsu hovered, his right eye partially covered by his hand. His gaze was sharp, bright. In that moment of crisis, he'd used the eye instinctively. And in doing so, he'd understood.
The power budding in his right eye.
Its name was Vaishravana. A power of extraordinary fortune, the perfect counterpart to the left eye's Papiyas.
[Papiyas (Vepacitti in Sanskrit), derived from 'Vepacitti', is another name for Mara, the 'Evil One' or 'Tempter' in Buddhism, known in Japanese folklore as the 'Demon King of the Sixth Heaven'. Vaishravana (Bishamonten in Japanese) is one of the Four Heavenly Kings in Buddhism, a guardian deity associated with fortune and protection. Given the close ties between the Naruto world and ancient yogic concepts, these are adapted here as ocular techniques of 'Misfortune' and 'Fortune'.]
A giddy laugh escaped Suigetsu. "I used to think being forced to take this eye was disgusting. But now… it's the best thing ever! Long live the Sharingan! Long live the Uchiha!!!"
—Water Style: Jellyfish Helmet!
GLOOOORP…!
BOOM!
Suigetsu commanded the massive body of water fused with the underground vein. It surged forward like a living tsunami, crashing directly into the struggling Eight-Tails…!!
Kisame saw it coming. He yanked Samehada back and retreated at top speed.
CRAAAAAASH…!!!
The Eight-Tails couldn't dodge. The water hammered into it, slamming its back against the Uchiha Flame Formation wall behind it.
HISSSSSSS…!!!
The dark red flames of the barrier seared into the beast's back.
"HOOOO~! Sizzlin' octopus paaain~!!" Killer Bee rapped through clenched teeth.
He pushed forward with all his might. Suigetsu shoved the water-mass with equal desperation.
Sizzle… Sizzle…! The searing intensified. The flesh of the Eight-Tails' back began to fuse with the fiery wall.
"Joyful Boy~! Savage and cruel~! Octopus back-break~! Fightin' for the duuuel~!?"
Whoosh!
Killer Bee's massive maw opened wide. The terrifying pulse of a Tailed Beast Bomb began to coalesce. At point-blank range. Aimed right at Suigetsu's watery mass.
Juugo struggled to his feet, his voice a raw whisper. "Papiyas… ten seconds left. Suigetsu. If you use your eye's power now… a miracle might be possible."
Snap! Light flared in Suigetsu's right eye. He brought his hands together, fingers interlocked in a gesture eerily reminiscent of the 'Thousand Years of Death'. He aimed it straight at the rapidly forming Tailed Beast Bomb.
"No hard feelings, Killer Bee. But I have to win!!"
GUUUURGLE…!!
He drew water from the underground vein, fused it with his own chakra, and compressed it all into a hyper-dense, ultra-massive 'Water Gun' at his fingertips.
—Hōzuki Secret Technique: Ultra Water Gun!!!
FWOOOOM…!!!
The shot, hard as steel and moving at a horrific velocity, blasted forth. It slammed into the nearly-formed Tailed Beast Bomb and, with irresistible force, shoved the entire sphere back down the Eight-Tails' throat.
This was nothing like willingly swallowing it.
KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOM…!!
The bomb detonated inside the Eight-Tails.
The beast's body bloated instantly into a perfect, grotesque sphere…!
A volcanic plume of fire and smoke vomited from its mouth, vaporizing the water mass before it.
Splash. Amid a rain of scattered droplets, Suigetsu landed hard on the ground, panting.
Against the Flame Formation wall, the Eight-Tails slumped. Smoke curled from its mouth. Its colossal form deflated like a punctured balloon. Then… the transformation dissolved.
"Bleedin' octopus~, final curtain call~… Sorry, Gyūki~, I let us faaall~…"
A battered, unconscious Killer Bee sang his swan song as he plummeted. Thud. He hit the dirt. Out cold.
Kisame sat down heavily. "Hah… What a monster. Fighting Sasuke didn't wear me out this much."
A smirk touched Obito's lips beneath his mask. "The tough nut… is finally cracked."
Fwoosh.
The Uchiha Flame Formation slowly descended.
Whoosh. From a twisting vortex of black, Obito materialized beside Killer Bee's fallen form.
"…" Just then, Suigetsu silently stood. He gripped Explosion Sword: Shibuki and began walking toward Obito.
"That kid…"
Kisame moved to rise. Shink! Juugo's blade was at his throat. "Don't. I don't want to kill the one who saved my life."
Kisame chuckled. "Heh. Interesting."
As Obito leaned down to grab Killer Bee, the space around his hand beginning to distort with Kamui, Suigetsu lunged! Shibuki's explosive blade swept in for a killing strike…!
Whoosh…!
The blade… passed right through Obito's body.
Swish!
Obito spun. His hand shot out toward Suigetsu's face.
—"You're a century too early, brat!!"
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
Read up to (180+ ) advanced chapters on Patre\on
Visit us here: patreon.com/BingeInk
Happy reading, everyone!