The Eight-Tailed Jinchuriki and Zapticuno clash rupture the sky as the air folds inward before violently ejecting outward in a spiraling shockwave.
The Jinchūriki screamed as a burst of crimson chakra erupted from his body, eight spectral tails lashing outward like living whips.
"GYAAAAAH—!"
"So you finally call on me…"
A deep, rumbling voice echoed in the Jinchuriki's skull.
Zapticuno was blasted backward, feathers tearing loose as lightning detonated along its wings. It screeched in exhilaration as it flipped midair before stabilizing.
As the dust and shockwaves settled from the clash, the plateau was no longer a plateau. What had once been the Hidden Cloud's encampment was now a cratered wasteland. Shinobi lay scattered like broken dolls, the lucky ones unconscious, the unlucky buried.
The Jinchūriki hovered unsteadily above the ruin, eight blazing chakra tails writhing behind him. His skin was split with glowing fissures of power, eyes burning with a feral mix of terror and resolve.
"I won't let you…" He panted. "I won't be taken over!"
The Eight-Tails laughed inside him in a deep, booming voice.
"Then don't hesitate, human. If you waver, this thunderbird will kill us both."
Zapticuno shook its massive frame, lightning racing along its feathers as its wings spread wide, blotting out the clouds.
"Oh, this is much better," it crackled aloud, its childish voice reverberating like thunder. "Now you're worth the chase."
With a crackle of lightning, it vanished.
The Jinchūriki's instincts screamed as he barely dodged a talon that ripped past his shoulder, shredding chakra and flesh alike. Blood vaporized instantly in the electric heat.
He roared in pain, gathering crimson chakra into his fist before slamming it into Zapticuno's chest.
The impact flattened a mountain ridge in the distance.
Zapticuno staggered, but it twisted with the blow, wings snapping inward as it seized the Jinchūriki in its talons.
"Got you."
It gathered lightning in front of its beak, launching its version of the Burst Stream of Destruction.
Lightning gathered into a sphere as the world went white.
…
Miles away, the mountain pass was being erased.
The Third Raikage drove forward like an unstoppable god of war, each step shattering stone, lightning armor howling as he unleashed blow after blow. His strikes were brutal, efficient, born of a lifetime of battle.
Fists, elbows, shoulders. Does not matter which part of his body the Third Raikage uses; Kuro met it head-on. Each impact sent shockwaves screaming through the pass. The mountain itself was losing, collapsing piece by piece under their clash.
"HRAAAH!" the Raikage roared, swinging a devastating backhand.
Kuro ducked, stepped forward, and headbutted him.
The impact echoed like a cannon.
The Third Raikage skidded back several meters, boots gouging trenches into stone before he laughed in a deep, booming, exhilarated voice.
"Magnificent!" he thundered. "You really are holding back!"
Kuro straightened as his grin widened.
"Of course I am," he replied. "If I didn't, this would already be over."
The Raikage's laughter cut off. For the first time, his expression sharpened.
"…You're a monster," he said quietly.
Kuro's eyes flicked northeast.
The sky there was filled with thunder clouds as the Eight-Tails' roar bled through the wind.
'Zapticuno.' Kuro sighed.
"Looks like my partner got impatient."
The Third Raikage followed his gaze, jaw tightening as he felt it too.
"…Damn bird," he growled.
Kuro rolled his neck once as the pressure in the air spiked.
"Don't worry," Kuro said casually. "I won't let it kill your Jinchūriki. A live octopus that can endlessly regrow its limbs is better than a dead one."
He looked back at the Third Raikage, eyes burning with excitement.
"But first," he stepped forward, power rising just a fraction. "Let's finish this properly."
The Raikage's grin returned, wider and fiercer than ever.
"HAH! Then come, boy!"
"Alright," Kuro said softly. And then he stopped holding back.
The shadow peeled off him like a living thing losing its leash.
The air around him collapsed inward as chakra density spiked so violently that the lightning around the Third Raikage stuttered, distorted, then screamed as it was dragged toward Kuro's body.
The mountain pass buckled as loose stone and trees compressed, folded, and sank as if gravity itself had suddenly doubled.
The Third Raikage's instincts went berserk, as it screamed at him to get as far away as possible.
His lightning armor erupted reflexively, roaring to full output as he skidded back a step.
"…What," he said, his eye went wide in terror, "…did you do?"
Kuro lifted his head. His eyes were no longer relaxed. They were bottomless.
"Sorry," Kuro replied. "I didn't want this to end too fast."
The pressure radiating from him erupted outward in a massive shockwave.
Cloud shinobi miles away collapsed as if crushed beneath an invisible hand. Birds fell from the sky. Lightning froze mid-arc, as if afraid of disturbing a monster.
Zapticuno felt it from the northeast.
The Eight-Tails felt it inside its bones.
'That human. No. That thing.' It thought. 'WTF happened when I was sealed to give birth to such a monster?'
"DON'T LOOK DOWN ON ME!" The Third Raikage roared as he charged toward Kuro, refusing to listen to his screaming instinct.
Lightning armor reached its absolute peak as chakra howl, and his skin glowed white-hot as he unleashed the strongest thrust of his life, a blow meant to pierce mountains and gods alike.
"HAHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed, his fist surging forward.
Inches from Kuro's face, it froze. It felt as though an enormous mountain had suddenly risen in its path.
Confusion filled his face as he looked forward, seeing Kuro standing there with his hand outstretched.
He looked at the single finger holding his fist in place, unable to move it even an inch forward.
"…Impossible." The Third Raikage's eye trembled.
Kuro stepped forward as the mountain folded beneath his foot.
"You're incredible," Kuro said sincerely. "Truly. I meant every word."
He twisted his wrist as the space around the Raikage's arm twisted and broke.
Lightning armor shattered like glass, detonating outward as the Third Raikage was hurled back, smashing through cliffs, carving a canyon through solid stone before finally slamming to a halt half-buried in the mountainside.
Dust billowed, and for a moment, the world fell into silence.
Then from the crater came a deep, ragged, and joyful laughter.
The Third Raikage hauled himself out of the crater, bleeding with his lightning armor flickering weakly.
"…Hah," he breathed. "So this is the gap."
Kuro appeared in front of him. "Yes," he said. "And you survive it anyway."
The Raikage forward and smiled.
"…I lost." He straightened as much as his battered body allowed, pride unbroken. "A deal's a deal. I'll listen."
"Good." Kuro nodded as his gaze snapped northeast.
His expression changed as the storm there had turned apocalyptic as Zapticuno and the Eight-Tails' fight turned up a notch.
'Not good. If this goes on, there will be no Cloud shinobi left.' He sighed as the pressure erupting from his body faded.
"Stay here," he told the Third Raikage.
The Raikage chuckled weakly. "Like I could follow."
Kuro took one step and vanished.
…
The sky above the Cloud encampment split in half.
Zapticuno was mid-screech, talons locked around the Eight-Tails' chakra-cloaked form, lightning drilling point-blank.
Just as it was about to fire, a hand closed around its beak.
Kuro stood in the air as he gazed at Zapticuno.
"That's enough. You don't want to kill the endless source of takoyaki, now do you?" he said calmly.
The Eight-Tails went silent.
Zapticuno went silent before releasing the gathered lightning sphere.
It felt happy to get a free lifetime supply of octopus, but sad that the hunt had ended.