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"You would do well to accord my master with respect, little girl. I haven't killed you yet because my master hasn't given the instruction," Mura quipped.
"Oh? So you are nothing but a dog, a slave to his master's every request?" Kurotsuchi's arrogance swelled as she tried to provoke Mura and cause a lapse in his concentration.
"It depends on how you see it, really. Even dogs are taken care of and trained to be self-reliant by some owners. My master has shown me a sky above the sky. He expects great things, and I will not let him down," Mura ended the conversation as a water bullet escaped his hands, breaking apart Kurotsuchi's left shoulder armour.
'Tch! Just like his punches and kicks, I can't afford to block any attack from him since they are so heavy. My arms are already shaking.' Kurotsuchi stood stunned by Mura's attack that The Third's voice had to wake her.
"Is that the will of the stone? What are you doing, Kurotsuchi?" the Third shouted from high in the air.
Kurotschi broke out of her trance as her aura intensified and a stubborn will and determination grew in her.
"Don't underestimate me, you nameless shinobi!" Kurotsuchi yelled as she dashed towards Mura.
Mura smiled nostalgically as he looked up at the lunging Kurotsuchi, "What a coincidence that you almost said something true about me."
"But I am not nameless like my former clan," Mura said, looking up at Kurotsuchi with eyes of resolve and folded arms.
Kurotsuchi's arm reddened with stone armour due to her lava release and landed her hit, steam bouncing off Mura.
"Ah! Water barrier? But it's no use," Kurotsuchi commented and charged again, her hand glowing red.
Anko decided to handle the remaining shinobi with her snake jutsu which made the unit extremely cautious of her attacks but she easily restrained most of them with her snakes and went on to fight the remaining who weren't restrained.
Ebisu didn't deceive himself by taking on the Third Tsuchikage and went for Akatsuchi again, who was prepared for his attack as they traded quick blows.
Gilgamesh remained hovering but his attention was on one of the shinobi that Anko hadn't restrained yet.
"Oh, did you already notice? It's too late now, boy," the Third Tsuchikage smiled as he met Gilgamesh in the air.
"What do you mean? Have you not heard of the saying, 'The more the merrier'? I was already thinking that we would overpower you again, which would be boring, but then you brought a warming gift like the jinchūriki of the Four-Tails. With this, I can forgive you of your past sins against me!" Gilgamesh declared, causing his group to halt their fight.
"THE FOUR-TAILS JINCHŪRIKI?" Ebisu screamed.
"Which of the two I am fighting is the jinchūriki?" Anko thought as her heart raced.
"Aargh. It seems I can't play again, Tsuchikage," One of the shinobi that remained unrestrained from the unit that escorted The Third Tsuchikage commented as smoke burst out from his figure, revealing his true identity.
"Haha… I had almost forgotten that the Hidden Stone had the Four-Tails jinchūriki," Anko laughed nervously as she wondered if she could outrun Rōshi. But she remembered Gilgamesh only needed to tap her and their group, and they could all fly away. Gilgamesh's value had risen in her eyes as she considered escaping a jinchūriki who could freely transform into his tailed beast form.
"You, why don't you join us here?" Gilgamesh asked Rōshi casually, causing a temporary halt to every ongoing fight.
"Haha! You are Gilgamesh, right? You are an interesting young man indeed! It is good to be young, but don't let that blind you," Rōshi smiled and weaved hand signs as he leapt towards Gilgamesh.
"Here, why don't I give you a warming gift, as you mentioned," Rōshi said midair as molten rocks flew in Gilgamesh's direction increasing the temperature around them a bit.
Gilgamesh didn't do much. He simply… moved out of the way. The speed of his attack wasn't something that could compare to the speed of his golden fireballs.
"You mongrel!" Gilgamesh said with disgust as more memories flooded his mind.
"You dare throw stones at me, mongrel?" Gilgamesh smiled and dived quickly at Rōshi.
"He is still a kid," Rōshi shook his head and spat another molten rock, faster this time.
Gilgamesh rolled under the stone as he dived and sent a kick to the unguarded torso of Roshi, sending him skywards.
Everyone looked at the scene in disbelief. The little boy was displaying speed worthy of elite Jonin-level shinobi and handled himself properly up until now, even against a jinchūriki.
They thought their surprise would end there, but the environment around them lit up as a pillar of golden flames escaped Gilgamesh's outstretched palm towards the flying Rōshi.
The Third Tsuchikage began to have flashbacks of a particular menace from the Hidden Leaf Village that had the strength to take on his village alone.
"Who is this kid?" the Third Tsuchikage asked himself.
Rōshi soon landed with bright flames covering his body.
But Rōshi landed on his feet, laughing menacingly.
"In all my years, I never thought I would be threatened by fire or heat ever since I became the Four-Tails jinchūriki. Lord Tsuchikage! You should watch out for this boy's flames. I believe that is why he boasts of his strength. His flames are very hot and dangerous, even for me," Rōshi said, still wearing that menacing grin on his face.
"Have you gone rabid, mongrel? I may as well put you down."
"You see? That's my master!" Mura said proudly, and this time Kurotsuchi accepted that Gilgamesh would be troublesome to fight if the two of them fought.
"Still," Kurotsuchi said as her arm became hotter and her stone armour reddened. She launched herself again at Mura while he looked at his master with gleeful eyes.
This time, her arm managed to pass through Mura's water barrier.
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