"Guy, Genma, Ebisu—go ahead and stop the team," Uchiha Akira ordered, looking at the assembled jōnin. Their mentor, Chōza Akimichi, was still fighting on the front lines.
Despite only being a chūnin, Uchiha Akira held considerable authority within the team due to his impressive achievements, respected as if he were a jōnin himself.
"What's the plan now?" Hyūga Homon asked gravely, his gaze fixed in the ten o'clock direction, where a figure that appeared to be a Jinchūriki loomed, filling him with unease.
"I'll handle that one—"
"No, I'll take care of it!"
Before Duy could finish, Akira interrupted him.
"Kirigakure has deployed only the Six-Tails Jinchūriki," Akira said, his eyes sharp as he looked at Duy.
"It's best if you, Duy-senpai, focus on coordinating with the other jōnin to take out their high-level combatants."
Turning to the chūnin and medical-ninja around him, Akira continued,
"The chūnin and medics, your priority is to protect the injured. We have the upper hand here."
Although Konoha had only three teams—twelve shinobi in total—each team was reinforced with a jōnin, meaning they had more high-level fighters than Kirigakure.
None of the others raised objections to Akira's plan. Despite his official rank, Akira's strength warranted respect, and with a potential Jinchūriki on the field, it made sense to follow his lead. Plus, if something went wrong, they'd have someone to hold responsible.
Hyūga Homon turned to him, serious. "You need to be cautious. If they're willing to deploy their Jinchūriki, it's likely they're experienced in wielding the beast's power."
"I'll be careful. You all stay vigilant as well," Akira replied. "Any Kirigakure shinobi making it this far in means they're no ordinary fighters."
Might Duy's gaze turned intense as he looked at Akira. "Akira, I'll give everything I've got in this fight. But until then, you'll need to hold him off."
Akira nodded. "I'll draw the Jinchūriki away from there as much as possible."
Suddenly, Homon's eyes narrowed as the veins around his Byakugan bulged.
"They're on the move—coming right for us!"
As soon as he spoke, five figures burst forward: Homon, Kakashi, Duy, and Akira—the full might of Konoha's elites aiming to swiftly crush the Kirigakure forces.
After a rapid advance through several hundred meters, they encountered the Kirigakure shinobi in a dense forest.
Akira's gaze immediately locked onto a middle-aged man with brown hair and loose blue robes, holding a bubble blower. This was clearly not Utakata, the Six-Tails Jinchūriki Akira was familiar with, but rather Haori, Utakata's predecessor. Given the similarity in appearance, Akira guessed they must be related.
Through his Sharingan, Akira observed the vast chakra surging within Haori, comparable to his own—a rare feat matched only by the likes of the Fourth Raikage and Uzumaki Kushina.
Duy immediately opened the Sixth Gate, the Gate of View, unleashing Morning Peacock at the thirteen enemy Kirigakure shinobi.
BOOM!
A powerful explosion erupted, throwing the battlefield into chaos as the shinobi paired off against their opponents. Kakashi, Homon each took on a jōnin, while Duy engaged Kirigakure's chūnin with relentless aggression.
Meanwhile, Akira and the Six-Tails Jinchūriki exchanged a few probing blows before both deliberately distanced themselves from the main battle, moving several hundred meters away.
Facing his opponent, Akira's Sharingan glowed red as he swiftly completed a set of hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Destruction!"
A vast wave of flames surged forward, flooding the forest like an inferno.
The Six-Tails Jinchūriki was quick to respond, forming seals and unleashing a torrent of water.
"Water Release: Water Formation Pillar!"
The torrent erupted, clashing violently with the sea of flames.
BOOM!
A powerful shockwave rocked the area, sending waves of dark red chakra into the air, forming a fierce chakra storm that tore up trees and created a massive, scorched crater in the ground.
In the center of the crater, a figure emerged, half-transformed into the Six-Tails' form, with six dark red tails and a human-like silhouette, emitting a low, guttural roar. Dark red chakra ripples expanded in waves from the Jinchūriki's body.
"A partial transformation… Looks like Kirigakure has made some serious advancements in harnessing the power of their Tailed Beasts," Akira muttered, impressed by the Jinchūriki's potent display of strength.
Suddenly, the half-transformed Jinchūriki surged forward, appearing in front of Akira in an instant, a clawed, chakra-covered hand descending with tremendous force.
"Fast!" Akira's face remained calm as he channeled lightning chakra, his body flickering away in a flash of blue electricity.
A few dozen meters away, Akira's form reappeared, solidifying as the earth cracked beneath him and dark red chakra tendrils burst from the ground like blades.
With another burst of lightning chakra, he vanished again.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Song Technique!"
Midair, Akira executed hand seals and unleashed four crimson fire dragons, attacking the Jinchūriki from above, below, and both sides.
"Roar!"
The Jinchūriki, influenced by the Six-Tails' chakra, released a dark red bubble that exploded outward, dispersing the four fire dragons into a blazing red haze that painted the sky.
Crackle…
The air sizzled as Akira suddenly appeared beside the Jinchūriki, unnoticed until the last second.
"Lightning Style: Lightning Blade!"
In a flash, Akira drove a chakra blade formed of pure lightning at the Jinchūriki's chest—a deadly technique he'd created, B-rank, capable of amplifying his blade's sharpness with an extended lightning edge.
Shhk!
However, something was wrong. The lightning blade barely penetrated two centimeters into the Jinchūriki's chest, stopped by the protective layer of Tailed Beast chakra.
At that moment, Haori's six tails lashed through the air, targeting Akira.
Crackle…
Akira vanished once more, reappearing a safe distance away, watching as the Jinchūriki roared toward the heavens.
"A standard ninjutsu won't work against someone partially transformed to this degree," he thought. "I need to create a terrain advantage and use the environment to my benefit."
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