At this moment, the Raikage, his entire body scorched beyond recognition by Jiraiya's single move—Fire Release: Goemon—naturally noticed that the Eight-Tails had been unleashed by Killer Bee.
Without hesitation, he immediately ordered everyone to retreat.
The outcome of this war now rested entirely on the shoulders of a few individuals.
The Raikage, Orochimaru, Killer Bee.
Jiraiya, Sakura, Kakashi, Terumi Mei.
Tens of thousands of ninja on the battlefield simultaneously received the orders from their respective commanders-in-chief, swiftly disengaging from their opponents and retreating with haste.
"Hey, hey, hey, this size… it's really a bit tricky to deal with," Kakashi muttered, wiping the rainwater from his face and giving a wry smile as he looked at the colossal beast before him.
Two figures landed swiftly by his side.
Sakura cast a glance into the distance.
The Land of Frost wasn't a nation devoid of inhabitants. If the shockwaves of their battle reached ordinary civilians…
Sakura didn't consider herself a saint, but if she could avoid meaningless slaughter and it was within her power to do so, she was willing to try.
"Summoning Technique!"
With a puff of white smoke, the Monkey King Enma, who had been tossed aside by Sakura at some unknown point earlier, was summoned once again.
Enma shot a resentful glance at the pink-haired girl, causing Sakura to flush with embarrassment.
His resentment stemmed from how Sakura had outright abandoned him during the fight and hadn't even bothered to release his transformation afterward. As a result, he'd been buried in the snow, completely unaware of what was happening outside.
Back with Sarutobi, Enma had been a highly valued partner to the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
But with Sakura, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was somehow dispensable…
"Ahem, Lord Enma," Sakura coughed awkwardly.
"Let's knock this guy out of here!"
Her face didn't even redden as she smoothly diverted Enma's attention, pointing at the towering Eight-Tails in front of them.
Enma followed her gesture, eyeing the massive frame of the Eight-Tails.
"Hmph, I've even tangled with the Nine-Tails. What's a mere octopus-bull hybrid to me?" Enma scoffed dismissively.
"Roar!"
"You damn monkey, you're reminding me of some unpleasant memories," came the retort.
Enma's foul attitude grated on Gyuki, the Eight-Tails, who had finally gotten a chance to stretch his legs after being cooped up for so long.
He was suddenly reminded of another lava-spewing dead monkey.
Gyuki's words rumbled like thunder, and the moment he finished speaking, a fist the size of a small mountain came crashing down toward Sakura and Enma!
Sakura braced herself in place, her voice firm and decisive: "Enma—Adamantine Staff!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Enma transformed into a heavy iron staff that landed in Sakura's hands! Gripping the golden staff, she aimed it at the Eight-Tails, a flash of steely determination flickering in her emerald eyes.
"Extend!"
With a low shout, Sakura commanded the staff to stretch, and it shot forward, striking the Eight-Tails square in the chest! Compared to the beast's enormous body, the staff pinning his chest looked like nothing more than a sewing needle!
Kakashi watched the scene unfold, a faint sense of déjà vu washing over him.
It was as if he were witnessing a moment from thirteen years ago…
"Get lost, you filthy squid!" Sakura bellowed.
The instant the words left her mouth, the Eight-Tails' massive fist froze just above her head. One more inch, and it would have smashed her without fail.
But it didn't hit her—not because the Eight-Tails held back.
No, he simply couldn't.
The staff lodged in his chest held him firmly in place, preventing him from advancing even half a step!
"What the—?!"
The Eight-Tails stared in shock at the staff embedded in his chest.
What was this thing?
He'd never encountered a summoned beast-turned-weapon with such an effect!
But before he could muster a counterattack, he felt an unparalleled force erupt from the iron staff at his chest!
Sakura's hands gripped the staff tightly as it extended wildly, shoving the Eight-Tails further and further across the battlefield!
Gritting her teeth, Sakura felt the immense resistance coursing through the staff. For the first time, she gained a profound appreciation for the strength of that old man from thirteen years ago.
Though Enma's transformation into the Adamantine Staff was indestructible, forcing a behemoth like this off the battlefield required tremendous power.
After all, one end of the staff was braced against the tailed beast's chest, while the other rested on the ninja wielding it!
The Eight-Tails was nothing like the Two-Tails.
The Two-Tails' weight was, at most, a third of the Eight-Tails'. But it wasn't just the Eight-Tails' sheer mass that dwarfed the Two-Tails—his enormous fists and thick, powerful arms made it clear that even among tailed beasts, his strength was exceptional.
He was, after all, the mightiest tailed beast beneath the Nine-Tails!
"Get out of here!" Sakura roared.
Her hands, clutching the staff, flared with chakra flames of blue and pink. An unstoppable surge of power flowed from her body!
Facing the combined might of Sakura and Enma, the Eight-Tails gripped the staff with both massive hands, his eight thick, muscular tentacles frantically searching for leverage!
This was precisely why Sakura found it far more taxing than Sarutobi Hiruzen had back then.
The Nine-Tails of old had been controlled by Uchiha Obito, its mind reduced to that of a mindless killing machine.
But the Eight-Tails, even as he struggled for footing and wrestled with Sakura, couldn't gain any ground. The staff at his chest pushed him back relentlessly, like an unstoppable force driving him into the unknown distance!
"Bee!"
The Raikage, locked in combat with Jiraiya, saw the colossal beast being rapidly forced off the battlefield. His heart clenched, and he immediately abandoned Jiraiya, racing toward the Eight-Tails—leaving Orochimaru alone to face Jiraiya in Sage Mode!
Orochimaru's lips twitched at the sight, but he steeled himself and charged forward.
This mission wasn't just about Konoha's response or Kumogakure's pressure.
No, Kumogakure had offered him something he couldn't refuse.
Chakra machinery technology!
Even though they'd only given him a glimpse of the data, it was enough to ignite Orochimaru's curiosity.
Using chakra as an energy source to develop machinery.
And it seemed Kumogakure had already achieved some measure of success.
The hardest part of anything was going from nothing to something.
But Kumogakure had already cracked that initial barrier, forcing Orochimaru to take them seriously.
He even entertained the idea of fusing machinery into his own flesh, creating an eternal body.
It would eliminate the need to repeatedly use the Living Corpse Reincarnation, which progressively weakened his resistance to genjutsu—a bothersome side effect.
The flesh is weak; machinery ascends!
That was the real reason Orochimaru was willing to serve Kumogakure!
Otherwise, with a bunch of barbaric brutes like them, how could someone of Orochimaru's temperament ever stoop to working under anyone?
Why had the previous Eight-Tails jinchuriki gone berserk?
That had been Orochimaru's handiwork!
Even now, his lab still housed samples of the Eight-Tails' cells!
Jiraiya watched as the Raikage bolted toward Sakura's battlefield. His icy gaze lingered on his former classmate for a moment before he turned away, ignoring him entirely, and withdrew from the fray!
"Heh, mortals," Orochimaru mused, watching the Raikage and Jiraiya depart.
In the end, they were just fools scrambling futilely in the ninja world. In this realm, only he—and he alone—would emerge as the eternal victor.
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