The valley shook with the roar of the Hachibi. Dust and stone rained down as Sasuke was flung across the battlefield like a rag doll. He struck the cliffside hard, blood spilling from his mouth, his stomach torn open.
"Sasuke-kun!" Karin screamed, her hands trembling as she ran toward him. Jūgo and Suigetsu were at her side, their faces pale with shock.
When they reached him, their breath caught. Sasuke's chest barely rose. His stomach was soaked in crimson, torn wide open from the Eight-Tails' last strike. His skin was cold, his breathing shallow.
Karin's voice broke. "There's no way he can bite my arm and recover from this! What do we do?!"
Suigetsu's usual sarcasm was gone; only dread remained. "If we stay here, we're all dead anyway." His eyes darted toward the looming monster of chakra and muscle. "We can't fight that thing!"
Jūgo's voice cut through, calm but firm. "Leave Sasuke to me. I can repair him. The two of you… hold off the Eight-Tails."
Both turned toward him in disbelief.
"You—?!" Suigetsu started, but Karin grabbed his arm. Jūgo's eyes were already hardening, his body shifting into the grotesque transformation of his Curse Mark. Black lines spread across his skin, horns and armor-like flesh sprouting as he crouched beside Sasuke.
"Go," Jūgo said, his voice edged with something monstrous. "Or none of us will survive."
Across the field, Killer B stood amidst the dust, red chakra flaring. His grin was wide, his sunglasses glinting.
"Yo, yo, little hawk's down for the count,
Guess your power doesn't really amount!
Perfect jinchūriki, bull and squid,
Against my flow, y'all just kids!"
The bubbling cloak erupted outward. Eight enormous tentacles unfurled, smashing trees like matchsticks. The air grew heavy with killing intent. The jinchūriki's body warped, flesh and chakra merging until the full form of the Eight-Tails towered over them — the ox-headed, cephalopod beast known as Gyūki.
Its roar shattered the air. "OOOOOOOH!"
Karin's knees buckled. Her entire body quaked. "That chakra…It'ss impossible. How can a human contain this much?"
"Che…." Suigetsu spat, gripping his blade tighter. "Monster or not, we can't just roll over."
The Hachibi's maw opened, yin and yang chakra spiraling together, compressing into a sphere of annihilation. The tailed beast bomb swelled until it filled the sky with light.
"Damn it—!" Suigetsu threw himself forward, his body liquefying as he merged with the lake. Water surged, rising into a massive wall between the team and death. "Hydration Technique!"
The Eight-Tails roared: "BIJŪDAMA!"
The tailed beast bomb fired, a blazing comet that consumed the valley in light. It smashed into Suigetsu's water wall, the explosion ripping the landscape apart. The ground trembled, entire trees ripped from the soil, the sky burned white.
Far across the ridge, a squad of Kumo-nin paused mid-march, their eyes widening at the eruption.
"That direction—Lord B!" one shouted.
Another swallowed hard. "We have to alert Raikage-sama immediately. Move!"
The group raced toward the blast.
Back on the battlefield, Karin dragged Suigetsu's limp form from the shallows, coughing up water. "Shui—Suigetsu! Don't you dare die on me!"
He groaned, barely conscious. "You think this looks okay to me, idiot?"
Karin's temper flared, but the lump in her throat stopped her from slapping him. He'd thrown his body against a bijūdama and lived. Somehow.
Her gaze snapped to Jūgo—and she froze. His body had shifted again. His monstrous form… was shrinking. He looked younger, his features reverting almost to those of a child.
"Jūgo! What—what's happening to you?!" she cried.
"I'm fine," Jūgo murmured, his childlike voice steady. "I poured my power into Sasuke… to repair him."
Karin spun back—and gasped.
Sasuke stirred. Blood no longer poured from his wound. His breathing steadied. Slowly, he pushed himself upright, crimson eyes burning beneath his damp bangs.
"Leave the rest… to me," Sasuke said. His tone was cold, unwavering.
The Eight-Tails reared back, chakra rippling across its titanic body. But Sasuke had already raised his hand, his left eye blazing. The Eternal Mangekyō flared.
"Amaterasu!"
Black flames erupted, devouring Gyūki's hide. The beast screamed, its roar shaking the valley as the inextinguishable fire consumed its chakra cloak.
"Aaaaargh! It burns!"
Sasuke clenched his fist, pouring more of his ocular power into the blaze. Unlike before, his vision held steady. No strain, no creeping darkness. His brother's eyes had given him permanence. He could push Amaterasu as far as he wished.
The Eight-Tails thrashed, a tentacle whipping downward, aiming to crush them all.
Karin screamed, "Sasuke-kun!"
Lightning surged in his hand. "Chidori Eisō!"
A spear of thunder shot forth, piercing clean through the falling tentacle. With a wet crack, it severed, crashing into the lake with a tidal wave that drenched the entire battlefield.
The beast staggered, black flames crawling up its body, writhing in pain. Sasuke's right eye snapped shut, quelling the blaze with Kagutsuchi, forcing the Amaterasu into retreat before it consumed the entire host.
The battlefield fell silent but for Gyūki's labored breaths. Then, with a final roar, the Eight-Tails collapsed, its cloak flickering out, Killer B's battered body tumbling unconscious onto the stone.
Team Taka stared in disbelief. Relief crashed over them like a flood.
"He… he did it," Karin whispered, her voice breaking.
Suigetsu wheezed. "Tch. About damn time."
Jūgo only closed his eyes, content.
Sasuke approached the fallen jinchūriki, his expression as cold as steel. Without a word, he hefted B's unconscious body over his shoulder.
"Let's move. Kumo shinobi will be here soon."
The others, wounded and weary, could only nod.
Far away, in the Raikage's office, the news struck like lightning.
A jōnin knelt before the desk, head bowed. "Lord Raikage… It's confirmed. Lord B has been captured. The Akatsuki's Uchiha Sasuke led the assault."
The Fourth Raikage Ai's fist shattered the desk in two. His roar shook the chamber.
"DAMN AKATSUKI! DAMN UCHIHA SASUKE!"
"First Yugito… now my brother! I'll tear that brat apart with my own hands!"
"Raikage-sama, please—calm yourself," Mabui urged, stepping forward. "Anger will not solve this. We must act with strategy."
Ai's eyes burned with fury. "Mabui, contact Tsunade of Konoha immediately. I want everything she has on Sasuke Uchiha. Every detail!"
"Yes, my lord." Mabui bowed swiftly.
Back in Konoha, Naruto enjoyed a rare stretch of rest. Seven days of leave—Tsunade's gift after the brutal battles against Pain. Yet rest didn't come easily. His thoughts swirled with strategies, with looming threats.
A knock came at his door.
"Who is it?" Naruto called, sitting up from his futon.
"It's me, Konohamaru!"
Naruto blinked. "Konohamaru? What are you—"
"You didn't forget, did you?!" the boy shouted, puffing up his cheeks in indignation.
Naruto frowned. "Forget what…?"
Konohamaru's face darkened. He knew instantly that Naruto had. "You promised to teach me a new jutsu!"
Naruto's hand slapped his forehead. "Oh… that. Right. Sorry, Konohamaru. Guess it slipped my mind."
The boy huffed, but his eyes sparkled.
Naruto chuckled. "Come on, then. Training Ground One. Let's get to work."
Later that day, Konohamaru's jaw dropped as Naruto spun a swirling orb of chakra in his palm.
"This… this move… Brother Naruto, it feels incredible just looking at it!"
Naruto grinned. "This is the Rasengan. An A-rank technique, no hand seals, no nature transformation."
Konohamaru's eyes lit up like stars. From noon until dusk, he struggled, practiced, failed, and tried again under Naruto's watchful eye. His determination reminded Naruto of himself, back in the days under Jiraiya's harsh but encouraging tutelage.
That night, after sending Konohamaru home, Naruto left a chakra-rich clone in his apartment. His true body vanished in a flash of hiraishin, reappearing at a distant marker along the border of Fire Country. His eyes were sharp, restless.
There's no time to waste.
Meanwhile, in the Hokage's office, Tsunade read the Raikage's urgent message. Her frown deepened with each line.
"…Uchiha Sasuke assaulted Cloud's jinchūriki… and captured him," she muttered darkly.
Shizune paled. "The Eight-Tails… but wasn't B said to be a perfect jinchūriki? For Sasuke to defeat him…"
Tsunade shut the scroll with a snap. "Prepare a dossier on Sasuke. If the Raikage wants him, he can deal with the boy himself. I don't have the luxury to chase Uchiha ghosts while the village is still rebuilding."
Shizune nodded reluctantly.
Elsewhere, at Akatsuki's new base, Sasuke dropped Killer B's unconscious form before Obito.
"I've delivered the Eight-Tails," he said coldly. "Now tell me where Shimura Danzō is."
Obito's masked face tilted. "Efficient. It seems you've already adapted to your brother's eyes."
He gestured to the jinchūriki. "Danzō is hiding in the Land of Iron."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He turned immediately. "We move. Now."
Team Taka followed without hesitation.
Obito's form warped into Kamui, dragging the body away to present before Nagato and Konan.
Konan's expression hardened at the sight. "This is Sasuke's work?"
"Yes," Obito answered lightly. "Stronger than expected. Begin the sealing."
Konan's lips pressed thin. "We haven't captured the Seven-Tails. Sealing out of order risks backlash on Nagato's body."
Nagato's sunken eyes burned with resolve. "It doesn't matter. We seal the Eight-Tails now."
Konan stared at him, pained, but his gaze would not waver. Finally, she sighed. "…Very well. But if the strain grows too much, you must stop."
Nagato raised his thin hands. "Summoning: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path."
With a thunderous crash, the grotesque monument erupted into existence, chains rattling, its aura so oppressive that even Konan trembled. Six-tailed beasts already writhed within. Now, the eighth would soon join them.
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