A deafening explosion erupted, followed by a violent shockwave.
The ground caved in, and smoke swallowed the sky. Trapped inside the cage of light, the Third Raikage stared straight ahead, his eyes locked on the battlefield.
Even though he knew the chances were slim, he still clung to a sliver of hope.
"Buyūmu... don't die!"
A beastly roar suddenly tore through the smoke.
From within the haze, a massive figure slowly emerged—its body formed from blue, flame-like chakra, black markings spread across it like cursed runes. It looked less like a tiger and more like a giant cat.
The moment he saw it, the Third Raikage's expression changed. Shock. Rage. Grief. All of it surged up from the bottom of his heart.
He understood what this meant.
The appearance of the Two-Tails, Matatabi, meant Buyūmu had already reached the brink of death.
"Damn it! Damn it!"
The Third Raikage struggled with everything he had, trying to tear himself free from the chains.
"You bastard! Aaaagh!"
He roared with all his might, but it was nothing more than the helpless release of fury and unwillingness in his heart. His injuries were too severe. No matter how much strength he forced out, he still couldn't break the cage restraining him.
"Ooh... how scary."
A streak of golden light rose into the air and took human form.
Kizaru floated there lazily, one hand touching his chin, his usual smile still resting on his face.
"ROAR!"
The newly freed Matatabi let out a furious howl and swung a massive claw at him.
A flash of light.
Kizaru vanished from the air and reappeared right on top of Matatabi's head.
Golden light bloomed beneath his foot, and then—
Boom!
He stomped down hard, slamming Matatabi straight into the ground.
"My, my... what a cute little kitty."
"ROAR!"
Matatabi answered him with another enraged roar.
Pain only made the Two-Tails more violent. She shook her head fiercely and raised her claws to slash upward.
Kizaru's body turned to light again, slipping away before the attack could touch him. In the next instant, he appeared in front of Matatabi.
"So this is a tailed beast, hm? Pretty terrifying."
Seeing Matatabi open her mouth to unleash flames, Kizaru moved first.
He rushed in, closed the distance in an instant, then leaped up from below.
His right leg flashed out in a sharp kick.
Bang!
The kick smashed into Matatabi's jaw and snapped her mouth shut.
The fireball she had been gathering detonated early, bursting apart into scattered flames that sprayed from both sides of her mouth.
"Ohhh... that was close. I almost got burned."
Kizaru spoke as casually as ever, smiling while Matatabi was knocked backward and crashed onto the ground, belly exposed.
"Damned human!"
Matatabi forced herself upright again. After taking two heavy blows in a row, she had no choice but to suppress the pain and the violent urge to destroy everything in sight.
"Mm? The cat talks. How unusual."
Kizaru sounded amused, but the teasing edge in his tone only made it worse.
"I'm not a cat, bastard!"
Hearing that, Matatabi's anger flared all over again.
This time, she stopped condensing fireballs. Instead, she opened her mouth wide and directly spewed out a huge torrent of flames toward Kizaru.
The sea of fire spread across the battlefield and swallowed him whole.
"Die, you bastard!"
Seeing Kizaru disappear inside the flames, Matatabi's eyes lit up with savage satisfaction.
Then—
"Now, now... playing with fire like that is dangerous, you know~"
Kizaru's voice came from behind her.
Matatabi stiffened.
Without thinking, she whipped her tail and twisted around at once to face him.
"Two-Tails... you're way too troublesome. I might have to catch you."
He was still smiling, but this time both of his hands were coated in Armament Haki, and dazzling golden light gathered around his feet in dense clusters.
Then came another flash.
Kizaru appeared beside Matatabi's head.
His body turned into light, accelerating in an instant. With Armament Haki hardening his right hand, he drove forward like a falling meteor and smashed into her.
Matatabi let out a pained howl and crashed heavily onto her side, carving a massive crater into the earth.
Kizaru didn't stop there.
In another burst of light, he moved behind her, grabbed one of her tails with one hand, then twisted at the waist and hurled her over his shoulder.
From one crater into another.
Even Matatabi felt her head buzzing after that.
Before she could recover, Kizaru was already above her again.
He crossed his hands.
"Yasakani no Magatama."
Countless light bullets rained down from the sky and bombarded Matatabi's massive body.
"ROOOAR—!"
Her cry rang across the battlefield.
For a brief, ridiculous moment, the Two-Tails—who had only just broken free from her seal—felt like sealed life had actually been pretty comfortable after all.
Using Observation Haki, Kizaru sensed Matatabi's presence steadily weakening.
Only then did he stop attacking and descend to the edge of the crater.
A glowing orb of light formed in his right palm.
He tossed it casually.
The moment it landed on Matatabi's body, it expanded into a huge cage of light. Four radiant chains shot out and locked down her limbs.
Matatabi gritted through the pain and forced herself upright, instinctively struggling against the restraints.
A laser shot through her body.
She froze immediately, her body trembling from the pain.
"Ooh… that's frightening. Tailed beasts really are terrifying~"
Kizaru raised his glowing index finger, still smiling as if none of this was a big deal.
Matatabi glared at him with resentment and fear, forcing herself to stop struggling for the moment.
"Human... what do you want?"
Kizaru didn't answer right away.
He simply stroked his chin and looked Matatabi up and down inside the pit.
A cat, huh?
That thought surfaced in his mind—
And with it, a rather bold idea.
"You're too strong, Two-Tails."
"Who are you calling strong?" Matatabi snapped, glaring at him.
"If I let you run around, I'm going to have a real headache."
"Hmph." Matatabi gave a mocking sneer, already thinking she knew where this was going. "So that's it. You want to seal me up like the others, don't you? Bastard."
"No, no, no."
Kizaru slowly shook his head, smiling all the while.
Under Matatabi's suspicious stare, he said the last thing she expected.
"Be my pet... no—my partner."
Matatabi's eyes widened.
"The hell did you just say? You want me to be your pet?!"
"It's partner," Kizaru corrected her in the same casual tone. "That part's very important, you know~"
"I heard you the first time, bastard!"
Matatabi roared so loudly the smoke around them shook.
Kizaru remained completely unbothered.
"You don't want to be sealed again, do you, Matatabi?"
For once, his voice dropped just a little, the joking tone fading.
He looked at Matatabi and continued with a small smile.
"If you've got all that strength and all that pent-up frustration, then stop rotting inside some seal. Carry my name and go wild out in the ninja world. Be my summon. Travel with me."
Matatabi opened her mouth at once, ready to curse him out—
But then she suddenly froze.
Her eyes narrowed.
"How do you know my name?"
She stared at him, stunned.
A tailed beast's true name was something almost no human should know. Other than the Sage of Six Paths and the other tailed beasts, who else could possibly know it?
Kizaru scratched the back of his head with his left hand and gave her an airy smile.
"Ohh... now that's a difficult question."
"Tch."
Seeing he clearly had no intention of answering, Matatabi turned her head away and snorted.
Still...
A moment later, she looked back at him again.
"You really won't seal me?"
"Of course not," Kizaru replied, and this time he sounded unusually serious.
Matatabi lifted one massive paw.
"If I find out you're lying to me, I'll kill you."
Her claw hung in the air.
Kizaru didn't move. Didn't flinch. Didn't even bother putting up a guard.
After a few seconds, Matatabi clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Tch. You're no fun at all."
Her paw lowered at last.
Slowly, deliberately, she placed it against Kizaru's outstretched hand.
Under the gaze of one man and one tailed beast, paw and hand touched.
Kizaru smiled.
"Ooh... that was scary. I thought I was about to get flattened."
"You bastard, can you say anything else?"
Matatabi pulled her paw back and snarled at him.
Kizaru just looked up at her, still wearing that same infuriating expression.
"Still cute, though."
"Hmph!"
Matatabi snorted and lifted her head proudly, though whether it was arrogance or embarrassment was hard to say.
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