Mountains collapsed and the earth cracked open, with flying sands and rolling stones.
In an instant, a terrifying energy storm killed nearly two hundred Cloud ninja. Other Cloud ninjas were almost all injured, painfully wailing across this scorched, yellow wasteland.
"Why? Why did B's Tailed Beast Ball land on us?"
"Who will save me? I don't want to die yet!"
Although unharmed by the energy storm itself, the Konoha ninja were scattered by the wind blast. After getting back on their feet, they stared blankly at the bloody massacre ahead.
"S-so scary!"
"Thank goodness we had Minato Jonin and Seiki Chunin here! Otherwise it would've been us suffering!"
Seeing this scene, A's eyes almost shed blood tears. "No!"
He instinctively wanted to charge forward against Namikaze Minato, but B forcibly held him back.
"Aniki, do you want everyone to die here too?"
"But..." A tightened his fists until blood dripped from his palms, "We can't escape now anyway!"
"Even without the Tailed Beast Ball, I can still stop them!"
"B, you're going full form? No way! Not in your current state..."
"No time to hesitate!" With a furious roar, B's body rapidly expanded until he transformed into a bijuu as massive as a mountain blocking their path forward. "Leaf bastards! Leaf fools! You better watch out — I'll turn you all into lifeless corpses!"
When he noticed a tiny octopus leg suddenly appear in his palm, A understood too and shouted loudly, feigning dramatic pain, "Immediate retreat! Don't waste the opportunity that B fought for!"
The remaining Cloud ninja were all moved by this tragic scene, gritting teeth while dragging their weakened bodies back.
"He actually sacrificed himself to hold them back," Minato said sincerely. "Under normal circumstances, I'd love to sit down and chat with a brave fighter like yourself."
B narrowed his bovine eyes. "Even if your words sound nice, I won't let you pass!"
Minato shook his head slightly before issuing orders. "Everyone, attack together!"
Ten minutes later, freshly grilled octopus hits the table — straight from the battlefield.
"Phew! Tailed beasts truly are monsters. Even with all of us attacking together, it took quite some time."
"No, tailed beasts are far scarier than this. Without human host restrictions, we couldn't have handled it at all!"
"Haha! But we still pulled off the win!"
"Now, our only task is giving heroes their cheers and applause!"
"Minato Jonin! Seiki Chunin!"
Upon learning about the brutal previous battle, most had prepared themselves for death. Yet who knew this war would turn out surprisingly smooth — they even gained absolute victory over enemies.
All thanks to those two heroes!
However, the two heroes quietly walked away to a battlefield corner right now.
"Eight-Tails really values him — didn't go berserk despite this situation!" Looking at that roasted giant octopus far away, Seiki softly sighed.
"You noticed too?" Minato asked in surprise.
Seiki gave a slight nod. "Indeed, the Eight-Tails' Clone Jutsu is quite impressive, but I did seal part of its chakra, so I can still see through it. Still, Minato-aniki, are you sure it's okay to just let him leave like that?"
Minato sighed. "Even an Eight-Tails restrained by its jinchuriki was hard to kill. If it had gone completely berserk without caring about the jinchuriki's life, at least half of our side would have died for sure!"
Then Minato shook his head with a light laugh. "Still, it left behind most of its physical body this time. Even for the Eight-Tails, it should take at least one or two years to fully recover."
Seiki nodded in agreement. "During that time, things should be much easier for us."
Smiling at Seiki, Minato said, "While that Eight-Tails jinchuriki stays stagnant, you keep progressing. Even if they make a comeback then, they'll already be far behind our rhythm!"
...
On another battlefront.
Orochimaru and Jiraiya leaned on each other as they walked back.
"Tsk! Raikage's attacks are still as powerful as ever!" Jiraiya sucked in cold air from the pain.
"If Tsunade were here, we might've managed to kill him," Orochimaru's voice remained calm, but his face—already pale—turned even whiter, looking almost eerie.
Jiraiya helplessly shrugged his shoulders, which only reopened his nearly healed wounds again. Grimacing in pain, he tried to shift his mind elsewhere. "Say, do you think how they're doing right now?"
Orochimaru shot back, "You were the one who trained them personally. Shouldn't you know better than me?"
"Real combat isn't the same as training drills!" Jiraiya replied worriedly. "What if the enemy used some underhanded methods? No way—I'm going to check their battlefield later."
Grumbling all the way, once they returned to the camp, both noticed the whole place decorated with lanterns and festive decorations.
"What? Did someone get married?" Jiraiya asked stupidly.
"You idiot, probably means we won!" Orochimaru's eyes showed surprise. "Moreover, very likely a great victory!"
The ninja army trailing behind them also felt uneasy. They had just barely survived a brutal battle themselves, yet somehow, Minato's team seemed to have gotten off much easier.
Unable to resist, Jiraiya grabbed a passing ninja to ask, "Has Minato's team finished fighting already?"
Startled at first, the ninja recognized Jiraiya and immediately shouted excitedly, "Lord Jiraiya! Lord Orochimaru! We won! At least five hundred Hidden Cloud ninja were killed in this battle. The AB duo suffered heavily—one dead, one gravely wounded!"
"Huh?" Jiraiya stared wide-eyed, asking in disbelief, "What did you say?"
Such results momentarily stunned even Orochimaru. "Who exactly died?"
"The Eight-Tails jinchuriki!"
Jiraiya twitched his lips, muttering, "The Eight-Tails jinchuriki fell in battle?"
Actually, winning wasn't that unexpected.
However, Killer B could transform into the complete form of the Eight-Tails—a monster like that, how could he possibly be killed?
Seeing Jiraiya's disbelieving look, the reporting ninja grew anxious. "It's true!"
Seiki Shimaseki, a Chunin, single-handedly subdued the AB duo. Minato Namikaze Jonin even redirected the Tailed Beast Ball into Cloud Village's own ranks. That Eight-Tails Jinchuriki transformed directly into an enormous octopus to cover the retreat in order to save others before we finally killed him!"
Hearing his "truthful" account, the ninja behind him erupted into chaos again.
"One person took down the AB duo? That level of strength... it's just unfathomable!" Hiashi Hyuga stood among the crowd, eyes wide with shock. He couldn't help thinking, "Perhaps later I should let Hizashi or my son acknowledge Seiki Shimaseki as their teacher, to further improve our relationship."
"Minato Namikaze, Seiki Shimaseki..." Yoda Uchiha sighed softly, standing amidst the crowd, "Indeed, the clan leader (head of the Uchiha clan) had remarkable foresight!"
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