Jinchūriki were classified as strategic weapons due to the immense destructive power of the Tailed Beast Bomb and their massive size. Take the Eight-Tails, for example, if it were unleashed upon an enemy hidden village, even without using a Tailed Beast Bomb, the sheer devastation caused by the Tailed Beast Eight Twists alone would be enough to flatten a significant portion of the village.
Even without such techniques, the Eight-Tails' enormous body could simply crush its way through, causing massive damage just by moving. This was why jinchūriki were so fearsome.
Even if a nation lacked the knowledge and ability to properly control a jinchūriki, they could still forcefully unleash an unstable one into enemy territory to cause widespread destruction. If they possessed the means to induce a jinchūriki's berserk state, they could even infiltrate an enemy village and forcibly release the Tailed Beast inside.
A jinchūriki was, in essence, a double-edged sword. How one wielded and controlled it determined its value.
However, Killer Bee, who had achieved perfect synchronization with the Eight-Tails, did not suffer from this weakness. Among all jinchūriki, he was arguably the strongest, yet, when faced with Ye Zi's Wood Release Susanoo, he was completely overpowered.
The reason was simple, the black lightning blade in Wood Release Susanoo's hand could easily sever the Eight-Tails' tentacles, and Wood Release naturally countered Tailed Beast Bombs.
The colossal wooden warrior strode forward. From afar, its movements appeared slow, but each step covered a staggering distance.
Every footfall sent tremors through the barren landscape of the valley.
In just a few strides, it was already within striking range of Killer Bee.
With no unnecessary movements, the black lightning blade was swung straight down toward Killer Bee's head. It was a clean, brutal execution.
Though Wood Release Susanoo wasn't particularly fast, Killer Bee was just as massive, making it difficult for him to evade effectively especially since they had started at close range.
The black lightning blade, radiating terrifying chakra, split the air as it descended, creating a localized vacuum in its wake.
Killer Bee's expression hardened.
He was smart enough not to try blocking the black lightning blade with his tentacles.
Instead, he split six tentacles to attack: Two tentacles shot toward Wood Release Susanoo's wrists, two lunged at its waist and two wrapped around its ankles.
Each tentacle moved at different angles, with incredible speed and precise coordination.
Inside the Wood Release Susanoo, Ye Zi sneered coldly.
This technique required a tremendous amount of chakra to maintain, but the benefits far outweighed the cost.
Completely ignoring Killer Bee's tentacles Ye Zi did not alter his attack, he was confident that he didn't need to.
In the end, Killer Bee was slightly faster.
His tentacles wrapped around Wood Release Susanoo's limbs, using immense force to halt its movements.
The black lightning blade, suspended in midair, froze inches from the Eight-Tails' head, unable to move forward.
"Gotcha!" Killer Bee shouted, momentarily excited. "Now watch how I take you down, fool! Yeah!"
"Don't be careless," the Eight-Tails warned, its tone serious, it had felt uneasy ever since the battle began.
"Relax… huh?"
Just as Killer Bee was feeling optimistic, his expression suddenly darkened.
The Wood Release Susanoo was indeed immobilized, but the black lightning blade was changing.
It had always wavered unstably, its form unsteady. Now, however, Ye Zi stopped trying to control it altogether, instead, he released its power.
In an instant, the colossal black lightning blade shattered, erupting into countless streaks of jet-black lightning that rapidly spread in all directions.
A black lightning sphere formed, instantly engulfing both the Eight-Tails and the upper half of Wood Release Susanoo.
But it didn't stop there, the black lightning continued to expand.
Wrapped in the explosive energy, the Eight-Tails let out a thunderous scream of agony.
The immense electrical currents surged through its body, causing it to become completely paralyzed.
From a distance, the black lightning sphere bore an eerie resemblance to Amaterasu, the same blackness, the same terrifying power.
The Cloud ninja, watching from the outskirts of the valley, stared at the expanding black lightning sphere, their faces frozen in disbelief.
It was as if the black lightning would consume both the Eight-Tails and Wood Release Susanoo entirely.
The sheer power of the black lightning made it impossible to see what was happening within.
At this point, the Cloud ninja were completely numb, after witnessing Ye Zi's power, they could no longer react.
Some of them even felt a faint stinging sensation on their skin just from looking at the black lightning sphere.
Zzt… zzt…!
A's expression hardened, and he activated Lightning Release Armor, his tone grave.
"Prepare yourselves."
Even though many of the Cloud ninja were still recovering from the aftereffects of Ye Zi's genjutsu, they had no choice but to fight.
The moment this terrifying technique ended, they would kill Ye Zi at all costs, even if it meant throwing their lives away.
But would Ye Zi give them the chance?
The black lightning sphere persisted for five to six seconds.
During that time, the Eight-Tails' agonized screams never ceased, proving the devastating power of the technique.
Finally...
Boom!
As the black lightning sphere dissipated, the Eight-Tails instantly vanished in a puff of white smoke.
In the air, Killer Bee, gravely injured, plummeted to the ground. His strength completely drained.
Meanwhile, the Wood Release Susanoo, which had also been caught in the explosion, was charred black but still intact.
Although Wood Release Susanoo was far inferior to the true Susanoo, it served its purpose.
By unleashing the power of the black lightning blade, Ye Zi had engulfed himself in the explosion as well, but Wood Release Susanoo was sturdy enough to withstand it.
The Eight-Tails, however, was purely a physical entity. At such close range, it had taken the full force of the attack and had no way to resist it.
The Eight-Tails' Jinchūriki had been defeated.
Ye Zi's mission was complete.
Killer Bee, forcibly removed from his full Tailed Beast Transformation, plummeted heavily to the ground, creating a spiderweb-like network of cracks upon impact. He was completely unconscious.
"Got him."
From atop the Wood Release Susanoo's forehead, Ye Zi's figure emerged, shooting forward like an arrow. His body became a streaking black shadow, landing on the ground in front of Killer Bee, sending up a thick cloud of dust and smoke.
Though his remaining chakra was low, he could still maintain Sage Mode, allowing him to sense the Cloud ninja rushing in from the outskirts of Cloud Thunder Gorge the moment they saw Killer Bee's defeat.
Given his current state, Ye Zi had no intention of engaging them in a prolonged battle. His objective was the Eight-Tails' Jinchūriki, and now that he had achieved his goal, there was no reason to stay any longer.
As the dust swirled around him, Ye Zi extended his right hand.
Suddenly, a thin crack split open in the center of his palm.
Then, the crack widened revealing a mouth filled with rows of sharp fangs.
Pressing his right palm onto Killer Bee's body, the mouth on his palm opened wide and, with a slurping sound, devoured the unconscious Killer Bee within two seconds, pulling him into its depths.
Then, the gaping mouth slowly closed, sealing itself into an imperceptible line before vanishing entirely.
This was the ability of Shokui, a power that allowed him to absorb unconscious lifeforms into a separate dimension, a sealed space where they were completely trapped.
Once absorbed, there were only two ways for someone to escape: Forcefully breaking out, which required tremendous power or being released voluntarily by Ye Zi.
Years ago, Shokui had entered the shinobi world by forming a life-binding soul contract with Ye Zi, meaning their fates were intertwined. This ability had been specifically prepared for Ye Zi's use.
In theory, if someone were to seal Ye Zi within Shokui's space, they could indefinitely trap him in a state of deep sleep, supplying him with just enough nutrients to keep him alive, thereby bypassing the soul-binding contract's shared fate.
Currently, since Shokui was sealed within Ye Zi's body, Ye Zi could access some of Shokui's abilities. However, to fully wield Shokui's powers, they would need to completely merge into one, forming a relationship akin to Killer Bee and the Eight-Tails.
But such a relationship was highly unrealistic.
At full power, Shokui could directly devour conscious, powerful lifeforms into his dimensional stomach. However, he typically preferred to swallow them whole and digest them instead.
With Killer Bee now sealed away, Ye Zi wasted no time lingering.
Using Inorganic Reincarnation in conjunction with Mayfly, he melded into the ground, disappearing at high speed, vanishing from The Valley of Clouds and Lightning before the Cloud ninja could catch up...
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Currently on Chapter 569 - The Great Allied Shinobi Forces