The Unleashing of the Seven-Tails

As the four Kumogakure shinobi surrounded Furen and attacked, the black cloaks they wore to conceal their identities were torn apart by flashing lightning, revealing their dark skin, a signature trait of the shinobi from the Land of Lightning.

"Lightning Release, Kumogakure's specialty," Furen muttered softly.

The four cloud ninja charged at him in unison, their coordinated Lightning Release techniques connecting seamlessly. Blue lightning surged around them, leaving Furen with seemingly no escape route.

"This coordinated Lightning Release has a very obvious flaw..." Furen remarked as he glanced upward at the open sky. With a forceful step, he leaped into the air, evading their attack.

"Tch," one of the cloud ninja grunted in frustration. He had a tattoo of the character "雷" (lightning) on his arm, and with a cold sneer, he drew a sword from his back.

Aside from their mastery of Lightning Release, Kumogakure shinobi were also well-versed in kenjutsu.

"Cloud-Style: Forward Slash!" the cloud ninja roared, slashing his sword, which was crackling with electric sparks, towards the airborne Furen.

The sound of the sword cutting through the air accompanied by crackling lightning filled the atmosphere. Just as the blade was about to hit Furen, his body flickered, dodging the attack effortlessly.

At the same time, another cloud ninja had already made his move. "Cloud-Style: Backward Strike!"

The ninja spun rapidly, his movements faster than Furen's, and quickly closed in on him from behind. With a menacing grin, he raised his sword, ready to bring it down with deadly force.

"So this was your real intention," Furen's voice suddenly whispered in the cloud ninja's ear. The man froze mid-air, and in the blink of an eye, the scenery around him changed.

He was no longer in the cave behind the waterfall. Instead, he found himself back in his homeland—Kumogakure, the Village Hidden in the Clouds.

Memories began to fade from his mind. He couldn't recall why he was holding a sword or what he had been doing just moments before. Slowly, he sheathed his weapon and started walking toward the Raikage's office.

Kumogakure's Raikage building, suspended in the sky and connected by bridges built across mountaintops, loomed ahead of him. But as he walked through the village, he noticed something was off—there were no other shinobi in sight. The usually bustling village was eerily empty, even the popular hot springs were deserted.

"What... happened?" the cloud ninja muttered in a panic, rushing toward the Raikage's office. Bursting into the room, his eyes widened in horror.

There, lying in a pool of blood, was the Raikage, slain. And standing over his body, sword in hand, was none other than one of his comrades.

"You... I'll kill you!" the cloud ninja roared, his reason shattered. He raised his sword, rushing toward the murderer, fury blinding him.

Back in reality.

The three remaining cloud shinobi watched in disbelief as their comrade, after missing his strike against Furen, suddenly stopped and turned to face them.

"Binaji, what the hell are you doing?!" one of the cloud ninja shouted, realizing their teammate had fallen under a genjutsu.

"He's trapped in an illusion! Break him out of it, now!" The remaining three cloud ninja abandoned their attack on Furen, attempting everything in their power to free their companion from the genjutsu. But no matter what they tried, their efforts were futile.

"Too slow. Let's speed things up," Furen said calmly, his gaze falling on another of the cloud ninja.

Within moments, the four cloud shinobi who had been working together to kill Furen suddenly turned on each other. In pairs, they began to fight, their blades clashing violently as Furen watched from the sidelines.

Ten minutes later, the cave floor was drenched in blood, and the four cloud ninja lay dead, their bodies strewn across the ground.

Furen casually stepped forward, preparing to clean up the scene when suddenly, a sound came from Fū's unconscious body.

"So, you're awake..." Furen said as he approached Fū, intending to help her stand. But before he could reach her, a red, beastly tail emerged from her body, lashing out aggressively.

In an instant, the red chakra cloak of the tailed beast enveloped Fū, and more tails began to manifest behind her. One, two, three... and then a fourth tail appeared.

The moment the fourth tail of the chakra cloak formed, a black and red barrier erupted from Fū's body, spinning violently and pushing Furen back several meters.

When Furen looked at her again, Fū had fully transformed into a beastly, black and red version of herself, similar to how Naruto had looked when he reached the fourth tail stage of his transformation. She was now in the early stages of tailed beast form.

However, something was different. Unlike Naruto's transformation, Fū's tails weren't just chakra extensions—they were transforming into something resembling insect wings, hard and sharp.

"Looks like the form varies depending on the tailed beast," Furen observed, glancing at the seven insect-like wings that had replaced Fū's tails.

The Seven-Tails, known as Chōmei, was not like the other tailed beasts. Its body resembled a mix between a beetle and a dragonfly, and its tails reflected this insectoid nature.

Chōmei's chakra, which had been sealed within Fū for only a short time, was now leaking out, fully awakening as the seal weakened.

"Guuuurrr..." A low, guttural growl emerged from Fū's mouth as her now fully tailed beast-transformed form turned its predatory gaze toward Furen.

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T/N:

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