After sending Hinata for treatment, Naruto returned to the arena, walking heavily toward Sasuke. "Sasuke," he asked, "does Shin's memory show how I defeated that bastard?"
"Shin…" Sasuke's temple twitched. He held back his anger only because Hinata was hurt. "No. The parallel world me never went to the Moon!"
"I see," Naruto sighed. Then he heard Sasuke say, "But there was one scene in his memory—the Moon was sliced in half!"
"Sliced the Moon in half!" Naruto felt a chill. "How strong is that guy, really?"
"Parallel world experiences are just references. He might not be that strong…" Sasuke said, then shifted tone. "But there's another possibility—that he's stronger than his parallel self, just like us."
Naruto took a deep breath. "No matter how strong he is, I'll definitely defeat him!"
At that moment, Neji approached, speaking solemnly. "Take a look at the third arena. There's someone wearing the same mask as him. Actually… Just watch for yourselves."
Looking in the direction Neji pointed, a figure wearing a mask identical to Toneri's stood on the arena stage.
Compared to the mask, what caught more attention was the weapon in his hand—a massive sword resembling a shark's fin: Samehada!
"Didn't Samehada belong to Kisame Hoshigaki, the rogue ninja from Mist?" Neji asked quietly.
Neji nodded. "And another thing—he was part of the Akatsuki organization who ran wild eight years ago."
Naruto exclaimed, "Could Toneri Otsutsuki also be part of the Akatsuki organization?"
"Not necessarily Akatsuki," Sasuke shook his head. "It could be another organization that absorbed Akatsuki. Didn't the teacher mention? There are two other hidden major powers in the shinobi world."
"Then let's watch the fight first!"
On the other side of the arena, B gestured dramatically. "Didn't think you'd have the guts to show your face again! You here for a goodbye party or somethin'?"
Kisame chuckled. "After all these years, you still can't talk like a normal person!"
B felt annoyed inwardly. "Shark-faced brute, no style at all!"
Insult me? Whatever. Disrespect my art? Hell no!
B didn't bother asking why Kisame appeared. He immediately activated Partial Transformation mode and charged at Kisame like a raging bull.
[Lightning Tackle!]
"Hehe, let's see how much I've improved!" Kisame swung Samehada head-on without dodging.
The moment they clashed, B was sent flying backward, slamming hard into the chakra barrier.
"How is this possible?!" B rose from the ground in disbelief.
A blow like that was nothing to a jinchuriki like him, but the shock to his pride was immense.
Eight years ago, their abilities were nearly equal.
During these eight years, B never stopped training, and under the Leader's guidance, his strength didn't skyrocket, but at least steadily increased.
As for Kisame? He'd been hiding for eight years. Logically, he should have had little time to focus on training.
Yet the result was completely the opposite!
This scene also sent the onlookers into a frenzy of excitement.
As the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki and the Raikage's foster brother, B had always been one of the top contenders for the championship since the start of the tournament, so naturally, his fight drew a lot of attention.
"Who is this guy? He's actually holding back B!"
"It's Kisame Hoshigaki, former member of the Akatsuki organization!"
"If just one of them is this strong, no wonder they shook the world back then!"
B steadied himself and got serious. "Let's go again!"
He reached behind his back, not drawing all seven swords, but only the one that felt most natural in his grip.
Against weaker or equal opponents, using multiple blades wasn't a problem, but against a stronger enemy, dividing his power would be suicide! When facing a powerful foe, strength must be focused into a single point!
[Supersonic Thunder Lightning Sword!]
Electric snakes danced along the blade, flashing with lightning light.
Even more, the chakra of the Eight-Tails coiled around the sword as well!
"It seems I need to make you understand the gap between us now!" Kisame suddenly flexed his arms, swinging at B with full force.
[Samehada: Devastation Slash!]
The red and blue-bladed sword met Samehada's gaping maw in a violent clash that shook the earth like an earthquake, and the ground beneath them crumbled instantly.
Their struggle lasted only a moment before, in the next instant, B's sword shattered and he went flying backward!
After slamming into the barrier again, B spat out a mouthful of blood, but showed no sign of weakness, locking eyes with Kisame instead. "It's the mask! That mask is boosting your strength!"
Kisame readily admitted, "Looks like your instincts haven't dulled with time!"
His mission from the leader was to gain fame, so naturally, he wouldn't hold back.
B took a deep breath. "That's what's backing your comeback?"
"How could you think that?" Kisame shrugged. "It's just a little trinket the leader made offhand for identification. I'm just an unworthy guy who relies on the mask to boost my power!"
"A little trinket made offhand?" B stared at Kisame, trying to catch any hint of deception in his eyes.
Unfortunately, all he could see were those pair of cute little eyes!
Hearing Kisame's words, the surrounding crowd erupted into chaos again.
"If a mask made offhand can grant him the strength to overwhelm B, how powerful must the leader truly be?"
"Could he just be faking it?"
"Damn it, is chaos about to start again?"
Kisame chuckled. "How about it? Will you admit defeat?"
"Just a mask? I, the mighty B, have the Eight-Tails!" B roared, immediately transforming into his Complete Form and launching a Tailed Beast Ball straight at Kisame.
"A Tailed Beast Ball—now that's a rare delicacy!" Kisame raised his large sword as Samehada opened its bloody mouth and swallowed the Tailed Beast Ball in one gulp.
"What? The Tailed Beast Ball was actually—"
"Now feel the might of the power bestowed by Lord Aizen!"
Kisame roared with laughter as he swung Samehada. A golden beam of energy, formed from the combined power of Soul Strength and Truth-Seeking Balls within his mask, surged forward like a mighty tempest toward the Eight-Tails.
[Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion]—a power comparable to the Tenseigan, also known as the King's Flash!
"What is this?" Even the Eight-Tails couldn't help but feel fear in the face of such overwhelming might.
Instinctively, it unleashed a Tailed Beast Ball, but the moment it touched the golden light, it melted away instantly.
Then, the radiant beam erupted, shaking the very space itself. The terrifying explosion engulfed the entire Eight-Tails.
Although the barrier dome shielded the surrounding area from the blast, just watching the violent chaos within it was enough to make everyone's hearts pound with dread!
When the shockwaves finally faded, what met everyone's eyes was an arena stage that had collapsed hundreds of meters downward, and lying on the ground, bleeding profusely and unconscious, was B (Killer B).
"The Eight-Tails actually got wiped out in one hit!"
"If it hadn't been for that barrier, I bet more than half of Konoha would've been turned into ruins!"
"That Gōki Kisame is one tough dude... Wait, why is he down too?"
At this exclamation, everyone instinctively searched for Kisame until they finally spotted him at the edge of the arena stage.
Nowhere to run from the devastating power of his own attack, Kisame face-planted on the ground, groaning, "Next time, I should test this move's power first!"
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