Chapter 62
The Valley of Clouds and Lightning stretched out before them, its rolling hills cloaked in mist. The high, jagged peaks of the surrounding mountains framed the serene grassland below, a deceptive tranquility masking the tension that now permeated the air.
Sasuke stood at the forefront, his loose Akatsuki cloak swaying in the wind, his sharingan blazing beneath the shadow of his hood. Behind him, Karin adjusted her own cloak nervously, her gaze darting between Sasuke and the figure ahead of them. Kimimaro and Jugo flanked her, both calm but alert, their eyes fixed on the man who sat in the distance.
"It isn't much further," Kimimaro said, his voice even. "Yugito-san indicated that Killer Bee would be training in this area."
Karin turned to Sasuke, her unease barely masked by her attempt at conversation. "You've met him before, haven't you, Sasuke-kun?"
"Yes," Sasuke replied curtly, his voice cold and detached. He continued walking, the soft crunch of grass beneath his feet the only sound in the silence that followed.
Karin pressed on, a mix of curiosity and apprehension in her voice. "So… what's he like? What are we getting ourselves into?"
Sasuke scoffed, the faintest smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "It doesn't matter. I'm going to fight him. You're just here to heal us if we're injured."
Karin's face fell at Sasuke's dismissive tone, her excitement dampened by his indifference. She glanced at Kimimaro, whose impassive expression offered no comfort, and then at Jugo, who remained stoic but tense.
As they crested the hill, they saw him: a blond man, dark-skinned and muscular, who was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the valley. He scribbled furiously into a small notebook, his hand moving with an erratic rhythm as he muttered to himself. His movements were fluid yet purposeful, as though his thoughts themselves were a melody.
"Yo, Uchiha dude," Killer Bee called out without looking up, his voice carrying a rhythmic cadence. "Here for a scenic brood?"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed, his hand drifting to the hilt of his katana. He stepped forward silently, the weight of his intent clear in his every movement.
Killer Bee glanced up, his sunglasses glinting in the dim light. He nodded towards Sasuke's attire, a playful grin spreading across his face. "Nice cloak, now tell me why you're here before I kill you with one stroke." He unsheathed a single sword, spinning it in his hand with practiced ease.
Their eyes locked for a brief moment, and Killer Bee's grin widened as he recognized the crimson swirl of the sharingan. "I see your sinister plan, my former friend's fallen into the Akatsuki's hand!"
Sasuke said nothing, his sharingan spinning as he unsheathed his own blade. In a blur of motion, he closed the distance between them, their swords clashing with a sharp metallic ring.
The grass beneath them swayed violently with each impact as they traded blows. Bee, wielding only a single sword, deflected Sasuke's strikes with effortless precision, his movements a dance of unorthodox angles and unpredictable rhythms. Sasuke's sharingan tracked his every move, his blade slicing through the air with deadly intent.
Karin, watching from a safe distance, held her breath as the two clashed. "He's good," she muttered, her voice tinged with both fear and awe. "Really good."
Kimimaro's gaze remained fixed on the battle, his face calm but his fingers twitching, ready to intervene if necessary. "This is no ordinary opponent."
Bee's sword arced towards Sasuke's neck, but Sasuke parried the strike with his own blade, using the momentum to pivot and deliver a swift kick to Bee's chest. Bee stumbled back but flipped effortlessly onto his feet, his grin never wavering.
"Not bad," Bee said, his voice laced with excitement. With a flourish, he revealed the remaining six swords, holding them between his arms, shoulders, and legs in a display of unmatched dexterity. "But now it's time to get serious."
Sasuke's grip on his katana tightened as Bee's stance shifted, his swords moving in a hypnotic pattern that seemed to defy logic. The air grew tense, the weight of the escalating battle impressing on everyone present.
Bee stood motionless for a moment, his seven swords held at seemingly impossible angles on his body. His ever-present grin was gone, replaced by a serious expression that sent a chill down Sasuke's spine. In the stillness of the valley, even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
Then, in a burst of speed that was almost imperceptible, Bee dashed forward. His entire body spun like a deadly buzz saw, his swords whirling in an unpredictable storm of steel. He flipped acrobatically through the air, each blade moving in a unique trajectory that seemed to defy logic.
Sasuke's sharingan spun wildly, his eyes darting back and forth to track the chaos. But even his clairvoyant vision struggled to follow Bee's erratic movements. There was no pattern, no rhythm to exploit. Each swing of Bee's swords came from an angle Sasuke hadn't anticipated, forcing him to react on pure instinct. Sparks flew as his katana continually met Bee's blades, the clang of metal echoing across the valley.
Sasuke gritted his teeth, pouring his chakra into his blade. Black lightning crackled along its edge as he swung in a powerful two-handed arc, aiming to force Bee back. But Bee merely grinned and infused his own blade with lightning chakra. The two swords met in a burst of electricity, black on blue, the clash illuminating their determined faces.
Sasuke pressed forward, his attacks becoming more aggressive. He weaved and struck with calculated precision, each swing aimed to overwhelm Bee. But Bee's movements were as fluid as water, and with a deceptive feint—a narrowly missed heel kick—he caught Sasuke off guard. Despite the sharingan predicting the move, Sasuke couldn't react in time to stop two of Bee's swords from driving into his torso.
Sasuke staggered, blood dripping from his mouth, but his grin never wavered. "That's all you got?" he spat, his crimson teeth bared in defiance.
In a flash, Sasuke formed two shadow clones, sending them charging at Bee while he stumbled back to Karin. Ignoring her concern, he bit down on her arm, drawing the chakra he needed to heal his injuries. Karin winced but said nothing, her eyes darting nervously between Sasuke and Bee.
Bee, however, was already on the move. "Not cool, fool, that's cheatin'," he rapped, appearing above Karin in a blur of speed. "Now it's time for a free-for-all ass beatin'!"
His swords, now blazing with blue electricity, descended toward Karin in a deadly arc. But Sasuke, recovered enough to act, intercepted the strike just in time. His hands, charged with Black Lightning, caught Bee's electrified blades. The opposing energies canceled out, leaving the air humming with residual charge.
Karin scrambled to safety behind Kimimaro, who stepped forward with his bone sword at the ready. Bee's eyes flicked to the newcomer, but his focus remained on Sasuke.
Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyōu sharingan activated, the intricate design glowing ominously in his eyes. He locked his gaze on Bee, casting a powerful genjutsu meant to paralyze him. But Bee's grin returned as he shrugged off the illusion with ease, his chakra unfazed by the attack.
'Who the hell is this guy?' Sasuke thought, his frustration mounting. He had fought Bee before, but the man standing before him now seemed like a completely different opponent.
Bee's grin widened. "Let me show you what's real, Sasuke," he said, his voice carrying a dangerous edge.
Before Sasuke could react, Bee charged with a Lightning Release: Lariat, his speed and strength amplified to devastating effect. Sasuke barely managed to activate his Lightning Armor in time, the protective chakra absorbing much of the impact. Even so, the force sent Sasuke flying backward, skidding across the ground.
Kimimaro and Jugo rushed forward, their eyes locked on Bee. But Bee raised a hand to stop them in their tracks. His body radiated power as he spoke, his voice steady but tinged with exhilaration. "Looks like I'll have to take you seriously."
In an instant, Bee's chakra exploded outward, a maelstrom of red and black energy that shook the ground beneath their feet. His body shifted and grew, his silhouette expanding into a monstrous form. Towering above them, the Eight-Tailed Ox stood in all its terrifying glory, its heterochromatic eyes glowing with raw power.
Sasuke, clutching his katana, rose shakily to his feet. The sheer scale of Bee's transformation sent a wave of unease through him, but his sharingan burned brighter in response.
"Get ready," he muttered to his team, his voice low but resolute. "This fight isn't over."
The team of Sound Ninja stood frozen, their eyes locked on the massive, hulking figure of the Eight-Tails, Gyūki. The sheer weight of its chakra saturated the air, nearly suffocating them with its intensity. The ground beneath their feet trembled with each movement of the colossal beast. Sasuke's crimson sharingan burned with determination, his thoughts focused on a singular goal.
'This is the power of a fully realized Jinchūriki,' he thought, his fists tightening around the hilt of his sword. 'This is the power Naruto will wield. I won't lose.'
Sasuke's hands blurred through a rapid series of seals. "Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon!" he shouted, unleashing an enormous, serpentine flame at the monstrous form of the Eight-Tails. The roaring blaze shot forward with ferocious speed, but Gyūki swung one of its massive tentacles with casual ease, dispersing the fire like a puff of smoke.
"Useless!" Bee's voice boomed from within the beast, echoing through the valley.
Sasuke's left eye burned with pain as his Eternal Mangekyōu sharingan spun into focus. "Amaterasu!" he growled. Black flames erupted across one of Gyūki's tentacles, clinging to its flesh and burning with an intensity that defied reason.
Bee's deep voice carried a hint of panic. "Yo, what the hell is this?! These flames don't quit!" The enormous beast roared in pain and frustration, thrashing wildly as the unrelenting black fire consumed its tail. With a desperate heave, Gyūki severed the flaming appendage and hurled it into a nearby lake, where it sizzled and sent up a cloud of steam.
Gyūki reared back, its colossal maw opening wide. A sphere of concentrated energy began to form, crackling ominously as it grew in size. The air itself seemed to recoil from the sheer force of the chakra coalescing into the dreaded Bijudama.
"Move!" Sasuke barked. Kimimaro and Jūgo, with Karin held tightly in his arms, fled to the safety of a nearby mountain range. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he watched the sphere condense, then shoot forward with terrifying speed. He pushed his body to its limits, using his prodigious speed to narrowly avoid the blast. The Bijudama collided with the mountainside he had just been standing on, obliterating it in an earth-shattering explosion that sent shockwaves rippling through the valley.
Debris rained down as Sasuke landed on another peak, his breathing heavy. His eyes flickered with both exhaustion and focus. "Chidori Sharp Spear!" he called out, channeling his Black Chidori into a spear-like form. The crackling lightning arced forward, slicing cleanly through one of Gyūki's massive tentacles and severing it from the rest of its body. Gyūki roared in pain, its body thrashing violently.
Sasuke's left eye pulsed again. "Amaterasu," he intoned coldly. The black flames appeared once more, this time engulfing a large portion of Gyūki's side. The unrelenting fire consumed its chakra, forcing the Eight-Tails to stagger and collapse.
A deafening shock reverberated through the valley as the colossal beast reverted back to its human form. Killer Bee lay unconscious, his body battered and burned, sprawled on the ground like a broken doll.
Sasuke stood over him, his blade humming with residual chakra. His sharingan flickered, dimming as his chakra reserves waned. His narrowed eyes darted toward the nearby lake, scanning for any remaining threat.
From the shadows of a distant cliffside, a familiar, unsettling figure emerged. Zetsu's face—now split into one half his normal white, the other a grotesque, mangled white—peered out from the rock with a twisted grin. His mismatched eyes gleamed as he observed the scene.
"Impressive," Zetsu muttered to himself, his grin widening. "Sasuke has truly grown into a formidable force. Good. Now we only need two more Tailed Beasts." With a final smirk, Zetsu melted back into the terrain, disappearing from view. His ominous presence lingered like a dark cloud over the battlefield.
Sasuke exhaled deeply, his gaze fixed on Bee's unmoving body. He sheathed his sword with a decisive click and turned to his team. "Let's move," he commanded.
Kimimaro and Jūgo nodded, stepping forward to secure Bee. Karin glanced nervously at the destroyed landscape, her eyes darting toward Sasuke's. She could sense the residual chakra of the battle, still crackling faintly in the air. "This doesn't feel right," she whispered, her voice tinged with unease.
Sasuke didn't respond, his thoughts already racing ahead. Whatever unease lingered in the air, he couldn't let it deter him. The mission wasn't over yet.