"I wondered whether Orochimaru would really send you. I did not expect it to actually be you… Konoha's Lightning Flash."
After his Earth Release attack was blocked, Bunpuku appeared unusually calm.
He neither continued attacking nor mentioned the painful strike he had suffered earlier. Instead, he spoke casually, as if conversation interested him more than battle itself.
"What, were you waiting for me?" Hayashi asked, frowning slightly at the man's obvious excitement.
Although his reputation inside Konoha was extremely high, he doubted anyone from Sunagakure would admire him. If anything, that village was filled with shinobi who had every reason to hate him.
After thinking briefly, Hayashi added calmly, "If someone close to you died by my hand, then I apologize. At that time, I was definitely doing my job seriously."
Bunpuku's expression immediately turned cold.
"Yes, you were serious. I watched you defeat Inro back then. He was the previous Jinchuriki."
So it really was personal.
Hayashi sighed lightly, speaking in an almost helpless tone.
"You may not have seen clearly from that distance. I was not the one who removed Shukaku. Ebizo extracted Shukaku from the Jinchuriki himself. If you want revenge, you should look for him instead."
Bunpuku suppressed the anger rising in his chest.
"You are quite skilled at provoking people."
Hayashi smiled faintly. "You are my enemy. That makes things simple. Personally, I would rather not kill you, but a mission remains a mission. Leaving someone like you alive would be dangerous for Konoha."
He paused briefly.
"So, sorry about this. You will have to fall here."
As he finished speaking, sunlight finally broke through the remaining fog, completely clearing the battlefield.
Seeing this, Hayashi chuckled.
"So that was your plan. You were waiting for the fog to disappear. At our level, visibility should not matter that much, right?"
Bunpuku shook his head.
"You possess the Sharingan, and intelligence reports say you also have sensory abilities. Fighting you inside heavy fog only gives you the advantage. Against someone like you, even a small mistake means death."
He understood better than most how terrifying Konoha's Lightning Flash truly was. The memory of that overwhelming Lightning Release technique still lingered in his mind.
Fortunately, today the sky was clear. Without storm clouds, Hayashi's most destructive lightning techniques would be harder to unleash.
Information leaks always created weaknesses.
Now that visibility was restored, Bunpuku moved immediately, completing hand seals without hesitation.
In the next instant, his entire body turned deep yellow while dark purple markings spread across his form.
Even from several meters away, Hayashi could feel the danger radiating from him.
"Magnet Release Chakra Mode," Hayashi said calmly.
He had seen a similar transformation before when facing Roshi's Lava Release Chakra Mode, so recognizing the principle was not difficult.
Bunpuku smiled with confidence upon seeing Hayashi's cautious gaze.
In this state, his body was coated in reinforced sand armor far stronger than ordinary defenses. The purple markings carried Shukaku's sealing properties. Anything that made direct contact risked being sealed instantly.
Defense and sealing combined into one technique.
In some ways it resembled Hayashi's Chidori Current, though its defensive capability was clearly superior.
"You plan to rely on this to stop close combat?" Hayashi asked.
Bunpuku gave no reply and charged forward immediately.
Clearly, this fighting style was chosen specifically to counter Lightning Release users. Of course, it might also have been precaution against Hayashi's unpredictable taijutsu.
Half a year ago, such defense might have caused trouble.
Unfortunately for Bunpuku, Hayashi was no longer the same shinobi he had been back then.
"It seems Rasa did not fully understand my abilities," Hayashi said calmly. "Or perhaps he only saw a fragment of them. Either way, you know far less than you think."
Bunpuku frowned but did not slow down.
Chakra surged around his legs as his speed exploded forward, his body rushing ahead like a launched projectile.
The approach resembled the combat style of the Third Raikage. Absolute defense combined with overwhelming momentum. With protection strong enough, there was no need for complicated tactics.
Ten meters vanished instantly.
A sand covered fist filled Hayashi's vision, purple sealing lines moving across its surface.
Only then did Hayashi move.
Power suddenly surged within his body. His eyes opened wider as dark markings formed around them. Crimson patterns spread around golden slit pupils, three tomoe rotating steadily within his Sharingan.
At the same moment, the shadow clones positioned far away dispersed, releasing the natural energy they had gathered.
Bunpuku had been stalling earlier.
So had Hayashi.
He needed time for Sage Mode to complete.
Now, it was finished.
After entering Sage Mode, the world seemed to slow. Movements that once appeared fast now became clear and predictable, including Bunpuku's high speed charge.
Magnet Release Chakra Mode prevented direct contact.
But in Sage Mode, direct contact was unnecessary.
Before Bunpuku could feel victory approaching, an overwhelming sense of danger struck his instincts.
Genjutsu?
In his vision, Hayashi's figure distorted strangely before effortlessly twisting aside and avoiding the attack.
Then came a simple punch.
Nothing flashy.
Just a light motion.
Bang.
Bunpuku's reinforced sand armor shook violently. A crack suddenly spread across its surface.
"What happened?"
Shock filled his voice.
He clearly saw only a normal punch, yet his armor had suffered a devastating impact without proper contact.
He could not understand it.
And he did not have time to.
His body was already sent flying.
"Sage Art: Snake Fist, Enhanced Strength."
Natural energy gathered like an invisible massive fist and slammed into Bunpuku's chest with overwhelming force, launching him toward a distant hillside.
Boom.
The ground collapsed upon impact, shockwaves spreading outward as layers of earth sank inward from the center point.
Empowered by Sage Mode and monstrous strength, the strike carried terrifying destructive power.
Dust slowly settled.
Hayashi's calm voice echoed across the battlefield.
"When facing a shinobi who possesses both monstrous strength and Sage Mode, closing the distance is forbidden."
He looked toward the crater.
"At close range… they are nearly unbeatable."
____
Hayashi staggered to his feet among shattered stone and dirt, blood bubbling from his lips as he spat it out. His armor bore a huge, fist‑sized dent. Cracks spidered outward across the metal — but worse was the sight beneath it. A dark, gaping wound marred his abdomen.
If the One‑Tail's chakra hadn't protected his heart in the final second, he would already be gone.
"Give up your power," Hayashi growled, eyes wild with defiance, "If I die, you die too."
Deep within him, the One‑Tailed Beast — Shukaku — snorted coldly and poured even more chakra into his host. While it would have preferred someone like Uchiha Rei to end the battle, this human had snatched some of its power for himself. Death was worse than defeat; though a Tailed Beast could reform eventually, becoming a drifting mass of chakra across Earth was a fate Shukaku had no desire to endure again.
Shukaku's chakra worked quickly, knitting broken bones and torn flesh back together. Hayashi rose from the crater, stepping carefully over jagged ridges of shattered earth.
It hurt.
He had nearly died.
And that anger fueled something inside him that was more terrifying than fear.
A raw surge of chakra — cold, wild, and predatory — erupted up from his core. Hayashi's body lowered into a crouch, his silhouette shifting as a brutal crimson tail whipped through the air behind him.
This was his first time partially transforming with Shukaku inside him — not as an uncontrolled monster or a summoned avatar, but as the one truly in command.
From above, Uchiha Yutaka watched with a measured gaze. "Maintaining your mind while partially transformed — you're stronger than the last host," she noted.
Hayashi's response was a thunderous roar. He tilted his head back and howled, voice shaking with newfound power. He had never felt strength like this before. The flood of chakra and unmatched healing gave him confidence he had never known.
He opened his mouth to celebrate — and to unleash a devastating attack.
A Tailed Beast Ball was beginning to form, its dense core capable of leveling mountains — but it needed time to charge. From the moment Hayashi rose to when he began to open his jaw, Yutaka had enough time to prepare, perform multiple jutsu, and still have time left over.
She formed her hands into the Snake Seal. "Sage Art — Earth Release — Heavenly Descent Lid," she pronounced.
A massive slab of hardened earth slammed down like a pot crushing a fire's flame.
BOOM!
The Tailed Beast Ball exploded in Hayashi's maw before it could fire. The Earth Release blast wasn't just powerful — it shredded the inside of his core.
Yutaka didn't stop there. Energy bubbled in her palm, forming a glowing blue sphere. Wind blades hummed around it with an agonizing shriek.
Rasengan with Wind Release — a true advanced technique, refined and razor sharp.
"Do it now! Use the Feign Sleep!" Shukaku's voice sounded inside Hayashi's mind, urgent and sharp.
Hayashi hesitated — then agreed. "Thanks."
His chakra spiraled outward like a volcano, encasing him fully as a powerful yellow sand erupted in all directions, turning the battlefield into a true desert.
Yutaka narrowed her eyes. Her Rasenshuriken was nearly complete when the sands burst upward. She watched as the swelling chakra reshaped Hayashi's form.
Where the partial transformation had been, now stood Shukaku itself in full, towering and furious.
A thunderous roar echoed across the wastes.
Shukaku reared up, sand shifting like storm winds around its massive body. Two enormous sand arms shot out, aiming toward Yutaka.
She leapt backward, reaction sharp despite the chaos, and forced a jutsu from mid‑air.
"Sage Art — Wind Release — Rasenshuriken!"
Even pushed, the technique formed beautifully — a spinning sphere of wind chakra that cut with ferocity. But as it flew, a huge sand arm swatted at it, delaying the strike just long enough for Shukaku to raise a towering sand wall.
BOOM!
The Wind Release explosion roared, sending blasts of air and grit everywhere. Yutaka inhaled through grit and dust, realizing the Rasenshuriken had missed. She had spent nearly all her Sage chakra on that attack — and it failed.
Uncertainty was the nature of battle — even the best won't always connect.
Three shadow clones appeared at once, dispersing to gather natural energy. Meanwhile, Yutaka called out across the settling sand, voice loud though her figure seemed small in the storm.
"Shukaku, how about a truce? We go our separate ways — deal?"
Shukaku paused, wind and sand swirling. Its presence was massive and its roar still hung in the air.
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