Meanwhile, the Eight-Tails was dazed from the blow, giving the Third Raikage the chance to drag the beast out of the village by its tails. As the Eight-Tails recovered, it retaliated ferociously, and their battle slowly shifted from the village to the nearby Cloud Valley Gorge.
Within the Hidden Cloud, Ophis skillfully maneuvered through the chaos, sneaking closer to the battlefield. With a flick of its long tail, Ophis snatched up the broken horn of the Eight- Tails and quickly made its retreat, following the scent of Xin.
The entire village was in disarray, so no one paid attention to the small fox darting around in the shadows.
Dragging the Eight-Tails' horn, Ophis caught up with Xin and Orochimaru shortly after.
"Xin, I'm back," Ophis said proudly, dropping the horn in front of Xin, its eyes sparkling with anticipation for praise.
Xin chuckled at the sight of the horn lying on the ground, and a contented Ophis, clearly expecting compliments. Orochimaru, on the other hand, looked as though he had eaten something bitter.
He had been eyeing the horn for himself, yet Xin had beaten him to it, with Ophis successfully retrieving it.
"You did great," Xin said with a smile, patting Ophis on the head. The little snake purred happily, nuzzling against his hand.
After sealing the horn into a scroll, Xin stood up. "Let's move. The Hidden Cloud will be a dangerous place for a while."
Once the cause of the Eight-Tails' rampage was uncovered, the village was sure to explode into chaos. A thorough purge of spies would follow, much like what had already happened multiple times in the Hidden Leaf. The other villages' planted agents had long since been struggling to stay hidden.
Many of them had undoubtedly cursed the Third Hokage and his ancestors countless times for making their lives so difficult.
With no time to waste, Xin and Orochimaru quickly made their exit.
Back in the Hidden Cloud, the battle was still raging. The fight had shifted from pure destruction to a fierce one-on-one between the Raikage and the Eight-Tails, with the sounds of their clash echoing through Cloud Valley Gorge.
Within the village, relief efforts were ongoing, but before the Raikage's arrival, the Eight- Tails had already caused considerable damage.
Following the Raikage's instructions, Dodai wasted no time investigating the cause of the disaster. The two Anbu members who had been monitoring the jinchuriki were immediately treated and interrogated.
"You're saying there was nothing unusual about Mona's behavior recently? And no one strange had contact with him?" Dodai asked, his frown deepening as he reviewed the Anbu's report.