"Not good! Another Tailed Beast Bomb!" Renn Hawk's first clone stiffened, sweat breaking across his brow as he clutched his kunai, the seal of Flying Thunder God already half-formed on his hand. His eyes never left the monstrous Sand Beast in front of him, knowing full well a single heartbeat too slow meant annihilation.
But before Renn could react, his rival's Sharingan spun with terrifying speed. The three tomoe whirled until they nearly became a circle, a surge of chakra flooding through him like a tide about to burst its banks.
"Fire Style: Grand Dragon Flame! Earth Style: Iron Rock Cannon!"
A colossal fire dragon, far larger and hotter than any before, roared across the battlefield, its scales shimmering with blistering heat. At the same moment, chakra condensed deep in the ground, compressing stone into a massive, super-dense boulder. Under the fire dragon's cover, the rock cannon fired like a bullet from the earth, screaming toward the Sand Beast's gaping maw.
The projectile struck the half-formed Tailed Beast Bomb inside its mouth.
The explosion was immediate.
A sound like mountains tearing apart split the battlefield. The shockwave tore outward in a wild hurricane, light so bright it drowned out night itself. The Sand Beast took the full brunt, flung backward by its own detonating power. It howled in fury and agony, smoke pouring from its jaws as the unstable chakra sphere dissolved into nothingness.
Though not mortally wounded, the creature was staggered, its ultimate weapon ripped from its grasp.
Renn's rival dropped to one knee, chest heaving, the weight of such immense chakra expenditure dragging at his limbs. Yet his crimson eyes, sharp as blades, locked coldly on the beast as it tumbled across the sands. His breath may have faltered, but his will had not.
Lily's Byakugan glowed pale as she studied the beast.
"This isn't good," she murmured, her tone taut with worry. "Its body's heavily damaged, but look the sand is flowing back into it. It's already healing."
Renn's clone gritted his teeth. "Tailed beasts aren't like us. They're living chakra, impossible to kill unless drained completely."
"Then we finish it in one blow," Renn's rival said flatly. His voice carried the weight of resolve that brooked no argument.
Above, thunderclouds had gathered unnoticed, pulled together by the soaring heat of his earlier flames. The heavens churned, the air thick with a storm's fury.
The rival's Sharingan spun faster, veins reddening around his eyes as if blood itself fueled his gaze. Lightning danced across his body, every last spark of his remaining chakra squeezed to the surface.
"It heals too quickly. The only way is to end this in a single strike!" His voice rose, guttural, trembling with both exhaustion and conviction.
Lightning blazed around him, sparks tearing the air apart.
In the roiling storm above, thunder cracked like a beast in rage.
He thrust his hand upward, a spear of blinding lightning forming in his grip. The very air trembled as if recognizing him as conductor between sky and earth.
"Now the heavens bend to me… Kirin!"
From the clouds, a monstrous bolt of lightning descended, shaped like a celestial beast with a horned crown, vast and unstoppable. It screamed down toward the Sand Beast, nature's wrath incarnate, shredding the air with godlike force.
Even before the strike landed, the ground peeled away under the pressure, shockwaves battering Renn's clone and Lily until they staggered backward, arms raised to shield their eyes.
The Sand Beast shrieked, a piercing sound that split stone. For the first time, fear flickered in its monstrous eyes.
In desperation, it unleashed chakra as dark and heavy as a stormy sea. Sand surged from every direction, compressing and condensing with unnatural speed.
In an instant, a dome of shimmering black sand formed above its head, etched with glowing runes. It was no ordinary shield but the beast's Absolute Defense, an unbreakable wall born of its very essence.
The Kirin struck.
The earth convulsed.
The battlefield dissolved in white light and roaring thunder, lightning gnashing against sand in a struggle that split the air with twisting arcs. For long seconds, nothing existed but storm and fury.
Renn's heart hammered. "Rival!" he shouted, straining to see through the brilliance.
When at last the radiance dimmed, the truth revealed itself.
The Sand Beast still stood.
Its Absolute Defense was cracked, riddled with spiderweb fractures, a charred hole burned deep into its core. The shield smoked, teetering on the edge of collapse. Yet it had endured.
"Khaha… ha!" the beast rasped, its laughter ragged and crazed. "I blocked it. You hear me, boy? Your greatest strike, and I stopped it!" Its breath came in labored bursts, its chakra drained, but its glee was unmistakable.
Across the battlefield, Renn's rival collapsed to one knee, hand still frozen in the final seal. His eyes dimmed, Sharingan fading as exhaustion claimed him. He had gambled everything on Kirin, and it wasn't enough.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets!" The Sand Beast spat three compressed blasts of air toward him.
"Eight Trigrams Palm!" Lily stepped forward, her palms glowing as she struck out. The wind bullets shattered in bursts of pressure, her stance unyielding.
The beast snarled. "Annoying pests!" Its tails lashed, fury boiling over. This was supposed to be its night of destruction, and yet these fragile humans dared stand in its way.
"Desert Funeral!"
The ground erupted. Craters and ravines melted into shifting sand. The very earth liquefied, becoming an endless sea of grains that swallowed the battlefield whole.
A sandstorm domain spread outward, swallowing the trio within.
Renn's clone vanished in smoke.
The next instant, the real Renn appeared in golden light, grabbing Lily and his rival before vanishing again in a flash of teleportation. Where they had stood, sand collapsed inward, devouring the land like a ravenous beast.
When the dust cleared, the terrain was unrecognizable, transformed into a man-made desert. Such was the power of a tailed beast.
The Sand Beast roared, pressing its control further. "Die here, all of you!" it bellowed, compressing the sea of sand with terrifying force.
Then, to its own surprise, it began to laugh. The destruction, the chaos it was intoxicating. Its tails swayed like a child at play, its eyes glinting with a perverse delight.
Tonight, the Sand Beast was enjoying itself.
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