Later Uchiha Gen returned to a nearby town. He didn't head straight for the wilderness, instead, he deliberately strolled through the streets, giving the bounty hunters ample time to gather.
By midday, he felt the weight of countless gazes on him, some brazen, some hidden.
Satisfied, he finally turned toward the open country.
For a while, no one dared strike. The hunters followed at a distance, each wary of the others, unwilling to be the first to commit.
Gen's patience ran out. He leapt onto the crown of a massive tree and raised his voice so it carried over the silent forest.
"If you don't move soon, I'm leaving! What's with all the hesitation?" His tone sharpened into a taunt. "Come on, all of you at once!"
The words struck like flint.
Shadows stirred, and one after another, figures emerged from cover, perching on the surrounding branches. Some stood alone, others in pairs or trios, but soon Gen found himself encircled.
Fifteen in total.
The weakest of them were seasoned Jōnin. Several radiated killing intent sharp enough to mark them as far deadlier.
Gen's eyes swept the crowd until they fixed on a black-robed man patterned with red clouds. His forehead protector bore the slash of a missing-nin from Takigakure. Cold green eyes stared back at him.
Gen's lips quirked. So Kakuzu came too. Interesting.
"That's better," he said evenly. "It's been a while since I fought without restraint. Let's see if you can provide me with some entertainment."
Scarlet tomoe spun into life as his Sharingan awakened. With a smooth motion, he drew Shizukamaru in a reverse grip. Killing intent burst outward like a storm front, thick enough to make several hunters shift uneasily.
"Arrogant brat!" one spat.
Even Kakuzu's expression soured. For all his centuries of battle, he had rarely met such open conceit.
But Kakuzu wasn't one for words.
Black threads unraveled from his arms, lashing forward like volleys of barbed spears.
The other hunters, riled by Gen's disdain, loosed their own attacks, shuriken, kunai, paper bombs, and elemental jutsu arcing in from every side.
Yet Gen remained utterly calm. His body blurred into nothingness, vanishing a heartbeat before the storm struck.
The hunters blinked in shock. A Body Flicker that fast? None of them recognized the Flying Thunder God for what it was.
Gen reappeared above them on a distant branch, blade already raised. Shizukamaru, charged with Kyouki's lightning, pulled raw energy from the air.
A deafening crack split the sky. Fifteen spears of blue-white lightning plunged downward.
The hunters reacted swiftly.
Kakuzu's black tendrils flared into a shield. Others dove aside or shifted positions in sudden, unspoken coordination. When the bolts struck, trees exploded into flame and bark rained down. Two hunters tumbled from branches, scorched but alive.
No one had died. Not yet.
Gen's eyes narrowed. "Not bad. Then I'll stop playing."
His hands blurred through seals.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
The air split with twin detonations of smoke.
Kyouki landed at Gen's feet, his pale form already sheathed in crackling lightning. Shuryu coiled around his left arm, snake-like body glowing with an inner fire.
Today the serpent was small, no larger than a python, yet its presence was still regal, dangerous.
The hunters hesitated.
Then, without needing to speak, they attacked together, silent accord binding them. Weapons flew. Signs formed. Fire roared, wind howled, earth rumbled.
Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!
A wall of flame surged toward Gen.
He inhaled deeply, then spat forth his own golden-white inferno. The air warped, heat shimmering.
Shuryu opened his maw beside him, releasing another stream of golden fire. The two torrents merged into a blazing wave, doubling in strength as it rolled forward.
Beside them, Kyouki's pale body turned obsidian-dark. Bolts of lightning writhed from him like serpents, weaving together into a raging blue-white river.
Shizukamaru's blade elongated, lancing into the torrent of fire and lightning, fusing them into one overwhelming surge.
The clash shook the forest. White light devoured sight, thunder drowned hearing, and a wall of air blasted outward. Trees splintered like twigs.
Several hunters were hurled away, coughing blood.
Two unlucky men screamed as Shizukamaru's blade skewered them clean through, lightning locking their bodies rigid.
Only Kakuzu, farthest back, escaped unscathed.
When the dust cleared, Gen stood calmly above it all, wreathed in black chakra armor. Shizukamaru's blade retracted slowly, drawing the two impaled hunters forward through the smoke. Their faces were pale, bodies paralyzed, eyes wide with despair.
"Well done, Shizukamaru," Gen said softly. His Sharingan whirled, pulling both men into hypnosis. Will broken, they yielded up their souls without resistance.
The blade pulsed with satisfaction, circling Gen like a loyal hawk.
"Kyouki," Gen ordered, "cover them."
"Yes, Master."
Kyouki expanded, bearing Gen upward until they hovered high above. His body swelled further, shedding shadow until he became a rolling black stormcloud. Lightning crackled inside the dark mass, illuminating the hunters below in brief, ghastly flashes.
Panic spread instantly.
"Scatter!" someone shouted.
They fled in every direction.
Too late.
The heavens roared.
Bolts rained down one after another, faster than sight, too many to dodge. Each strike left men twitching in the dirt, foam bubbling at their lips. Trees erupted into fire. Earth burst into craters.
The storm's fury was relentless, suffocating. The hunters, who had moments before thought themselves predators, realized they had stepped into the maw of something monstrous.
This can't be the ability of a Sharingan… Despair flooded their thoughts.
Kakuzu alone broke free, escaping the storm's coverage by burning through one of his extra hearts. He vanished into the distance, scorched but alive.
The rest fell.
"Land me," Gen commanded.
Kyouki descended, setting him lightly on the torn earth.
"Now then," Gen said, eyes sweeping over the smoking field, "time to reap."
But he wasn't finished. His voice turned sharp.
"Kyouki, there are rats hiding northeast, about a kilometer out. Don't kill them. Break them, then bring them to me."
"Yes, Master."
"Shuryu, head west. One slipped through. Hold him down until I arrive."
"Understood."
The serpent launched away on a cloud of flame. Kyouki shrank back into sleek form and sped northeast, silent as lightning.
Gen remained where he was, eyes gleaming as he began the harvest.... one soul at a time.