"Go, rescue Killer B-sama!" one of the Cloud ninja suddenly shouted from the crowd.
At this moment... the group swiftly charged towards Nara Shikaku and Yūhi Kurenai.
They were certainly no match for Ryoho Kyohiko, even if it was just a wood clone. But if they could capture these other Konoha ninja, they could still use them as threats or for an exchange.
Furthermore, their ship behind them had been completely destroyed by the Tailed Beast Bomb. If they didn't capture the Konoha ninja, they would have to swim back. Could their chakra even last until they reached land?
The Cloud ninja rapidly closed in on Nara Shikaku.
Shikaku had indeed been outmatched against A and Killer B, but that didn't mean just anyone could come and bully him. Besides, Kyohiko was still lurking in the sea below... What did he have to fear?
Immediately.
Shadow Stitching Technique: Black Spider Lily!
The shadows rapidly expanded. In the blink of an eye, all the attacking ninja were frozen in place. Then... everyone was immobilized.
The next second, a figure shot out from under the sea. The sword in his hand trailed seawater on one side while the other side glinted with highly condensed Lightning Release chakra.
With a twist of the blade, the water's edge extended, and the sword instantly transformed into a sweeping slash that cut through several people's heads.
Tsch!
The compressed and condensed water was already incredibly sharp, and with the enhancement of Lightning Release chakra, it was like an elongated blade that swiftly decapitated several men.
At the same time, on the other side, Yūhi Kurenai's hands formed a seal. "Shikaku-senpai, leave these few to me!"
"Alright."
Shikaku relaxed his control of the Shadow Imitation Technique, reducing his chakra output, while Kurenai quickly finished casting her genjutsu. The next second, a shadow clone emerged from underwater, chakra gathered in both hands.
Chakra Scalpel!
Tsch!
Its hands passed over the immobilized enemies, instantly severing windpipes and heart muscles.
"Ghk! Ghk!"
The two who fell struggled for a moment before gradually losing their ability to fight. In the blink of an eye, the "scalpel" had reaped two lives!
Genjutsu, Shadow Clone, Chakra Scalpel. Kurenai's silent coordination swiftly harvested the remaining enemies. But at this moment, from the thick smoke in the distance, a figure charged out.
A... even after being hit by a Tailed Beast Bomb, he still wasn't dead! He had come to his senses in time and stopped Killer B from accumulating more chakra. The Tailed Beast Bomb only had a fraction of its power. Although it was still enough to shatter the ship, he had managed to use his speed to avoid the main point of impact.
Even so, despite the protection of his Lightning Release Armor, he was still severely injured by the Tailed Beast Bomb and only recovered some mobility after a good while.
When A charged out... what he saw were his subordinates, held in place by a secret technique like puppets waiting to be slaughtered, and Killer B, completely suppressed by the Gate of the Great God and amber.
A's pupils shrank. He realized a certain possibility might exist—Ryoho Kyohiko's wood clone might be planning to capture his brother, Killer B!
As the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer B had already mastered perfect Tailed Beast transformation, but at this moment, under the suppression of the Gate of the Great God and the amber sealing, he couldn't move at all.
The tables had turned in an instant after the appearance of a single wood clone, a fact that even A found hard to accept.
That is... the current Ryoho Kyohiko no longer needed his main body to act. A single clone was enough to deal with him and his brother combined.
Of course, this was under the circumstances of a sneak attack. If it were a frontal confrontation...
"If it were a frontal confrontation, we absolutely would not have been defeated so miserably!"
"If it were a normal fight, we could have won!"
A rebuilt his confidence. He had to save his subordinates and rescue Killer B!
However, in that instant, the Black Spider Lily technique retracted. A's speed was extremely fast, and he was beside Shikaku in a moment.
But just then, a strange cry rang out from above.
"The Blue Beast of Konoha..."
"Might Gai!"
Might Gai's aura instantly surged. Even though he was seasick and unwell, upon hearing the sounds of battle, he had immediately awoken from the genjutsu-induced sleep. He couldn't just lie on the ship while his comrades fought!
Eight Inner Gates...
Gate of Life, open!!
Gai knew very well that the enemy was the incredibly powerful A. Even though Kyohiko was still here, it seemed Kyohiko needed to deal with that other unknown entity.
The Gate of Life opened, and his aura instantly exploded, attracting A's attention.
This aura... A immediately looked up. This suddenly powerful aura seemed to match another forbidden technique from Konoha's rumors... He immediately focused his full attention.
But just then, a huge force came from below.
What?
Below, Kyohiko kicked him into the air. Even though he restrained his strength considerably, the impact still made A's head spin and ring.
"Gai."
"Nice one, Kakashi!"
Kakashi? This guy is really troublesome! A never expected Hatake Kakashi's strength to have reached such a level, posing such a threat to him in this environment...
But the most crucial thing was the other side.
He glanced over. At this moment, the Tailed Beast chakra on Killer B had completely receded back into his body. The Eight-Tails' chakra had been completely sealed!
A's Lightning Release chakra erupted.
Swoosh!
He flickered away to dodge! But Gai's attack never actually came. His body hadn't fully recovered, and he fell directly off the ship, landing in the sea with a "splash."
A looked down, utterly dumbfounded.
This... Are Konoha ninja this casual?
He looked into the distance. At this moment, Kyohiko's wood clone's hands formed a seal, quickly applying a Five Elements Seal to Killer B's body, followed immediately by—
The Four Symbols Seal!
Although it wasn't as good as Namikaze Minato's or Kushina's, it could at least seal most of the Tailed Beast's chakra.
After several seals, Kyohiko released the Gate of the Great God and the chakra-intensive Sage Mode, picking up the unconscious Killer B. At this point, only Killer B's nose and mouth were exposed, allowing him to breathe on his own so he wouldn't suffocate or be completely assimilated.
"Jonin A, I imagine that at this moment, you would not wish for Killer B to die, correct?"
"You!" A took a deep breath but gradually calmed down. He understood. He was indeed no match for Kyohiko, even if it was just a wood clone, even if... the other party might not have much chakra left. But he could not gamble with Killer B's life.
"Release Killer B!" A landed on the water's surface, his tone grave.
Kyohiko smiled. "A, even now, you still harbor such unrealistic fantasies!"
With that, he tossed Killer B onto the ship. Immediately after, his main body, disguised as Hatake Kakashi, flickered onto the ship and caught Killer B.
"Jonin A, if something happens to us, Killer B will surely die as well, and you will lose the power of the Eight-Tails for a very long time."
"As for us from Konoha, Kyohiko was just a wood clone, and as for us..." He smiled. "We might not necessarily die!"
On the side, Kojin Shun and the sailors on the ship instantly turned green.
You guys might not die! But as ordinary people, they would surely meet their end. But for now, it was clear that Konoha once again had the upper hand, so he didn't dare to rashly interject, lest his intervention change the situation.
The next moment, Nara Shikaku returned to the ship with Kurenai and the drenched Gai, leaving only Kyohiko's wood clone below.
A's face was grim. He knew that at this moment, he had already lost all negotiating power.
"Let's go, Mr. Kojin. Our friendly exchange with the Cloud Village is over," Shikaku said to Kojin Shun.
Kojin Shun's mouth twitched.
This is what you call a friendly exchange? Your ninja-style friendly exchanges make ordinary people's hearts pound so hard they almost die of fright!
"S-set sail!"
"Wait!" A flickered upwards to attack, but in an instant, that figure appeared in front of him.
The next second—
Boom!
A loud bang. A was sent crashing into the sea by an immense force. The impact created a sizable tsunami. As the waves rushed towards Kojin Shun's ship... chakra spread out, freezing the tsunami in place.
Following that.
Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!
Several water dragons roared as they rose up, attacking all around.
A single wood clone was suppressing the entire Cloud Village group! At this moment, Kyohiko stood upon the waves, like a god.
A struggled to swim up from the sea. When he saw this scene, he was stunned for a second. A deep sense of powerlessness washed over him.
This guy... why is he so powerful? He was clearly only twelve or thirteen years old, and it was just a shadow clone, yet he possessed such terrifying power, suppressing both him and Killer B in an extremely short amount of time.
A sense of defeat filled his heart.
"A-sama..."
"I'm sorry, I've failed everyone! But for now, please do your best to treat the wounded here!" A forced himself to rally. He could not be defeated by this setback! Right now, everyone in the Cloud Village needed him to hold on!
Only after the Konoha ship had left did Ryoho Kyohiko's wood clone look down and then smile. "Need my help?"
"Help?" A was stunned for a moment.
"Yes. There is no absolute hatred between the Cloud Village and Konoha. In fact, you were the ones who started today's incident!" Kyohiko replied lightly.
A lump formed in A's throat, and he almost couldn't catch his breath. But after a few seconds, he was powerless to refute it. Today's incident was indeed started by them. Konoha had warned them repeatedly. If he had to point a finger... it would be at them hiding a wood clone. Clearly, this wood clone was deliberately placed on the ship by Kyohiko to protect them on their journey, and he had fallen right into the trap!
"A-sama, they shouldn't have any more clones now, right?" a kid asked in a low voice.
A looked down. The speaker was a newly promoted Genin, Darui.
"Darui, you were the one who reminded everyone to save people just now. I remember, you did well. But now, Killer B is in their hands, and besides..." A fell silent.
Although he hated to admit it, even without the shadow clone, this squad was still extremely powerful! Furthermore.
"How do you know he disappeared, and didn't just use the Flying Thunder God to return to that ship?"
"Uh... I'm sorry, I didn't think it through." Darui was powerless to refute.
Indeed. Who could be sure that Kyohiko's wood clone had disappeared and not just left via Flying Thunder God? What if it was Flying Thunder God... If they pursued, it would be tantamount to provoking Konoha again, which might lead to undesirable consequences.
Or, such an action would be betting on the wood clone's chakra reserves. However, Ryoho Kyohiko's chakra... A sighed heavily. He looked around and thought of another critical problem they were facing.
How were they going to get back! Their ship had been blown to smithereens by Killer B's Tailed Beast Bomb. The crew and many ninja had perished in the explosion. Even he himself...
"Puh!" Blood spewed from A's mouth.
"A-sama!" Darui immediately supported A, but A was unprecedentedly weak. The moment he touched him, he felt a warm liquid. Blood!
"A-sama!"
"Don't panic, I'm fine. Collect the bodies of the wounded, then fire a distress signal and wait for others to come and get us."
"Yes!"
The signal flare was fired. Everyone stood on the ship's wreckage while their comrades who still had chakra collected the bodies of the surrounding ninja.
After waiting for a long while, a ship approached from the distance.
Dodai stood anxiously at the bow, gazing towards them. When he saw A collapsed on a plank, being cared for by Darui and others, his heart skipped a beat.
Could it be... No! It shouldn't have reached that point!
Dodai held his breath and quickly leaped from the ship, running towards them. When he got closer, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Just injured! Thank goodness...
After looking around, he frowned. "How did it come to this? Where's Killer B?"
"He..." Darui hesitated, not knowing how to answer.
A struggled to sit up. "Uncle Dodai, due to my dereliction of duty, Killer B has been captured by Konoha!"
"What?" Dodai's pupils shrank, his face filled with shock and disbelief.
The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki... and a perfect Jinchuriki who could achieve perfect Tailed Beast transformation, at that... was captured by Konoha?
Dodai suppressed his anger. "What on earth happened?!!"
"I fell into a trap!" A recounted the previous situation. He lowered his head, his face full of shame. This time... it was truly indefensible. Although Konoha had set a trap, they were the ones who had stepped into it.
Dodai took a deep breath.
Ryoho Kyohiko, just a wood clone, possessed such terrifying strength! Of course, what was even more terrifying was the other party's cunning—a single wood clone, without a strategy, could not possibly defeat both Killer B and A so quickly. So, the other party deliberately used a small squad to attract their attention. And this squad even included two Jonin-level Konoha elites, Nara Shikaku and Hatake Kakashi.
To be honest, even in retrospect, Dodai didn't think A had done anything wrong—that wood clone was clearly summoned via a sealing scroll after A was dragged off the ship by the Shadow Imitation Technique. The other party had planned it all from the start!
His gaze turned cold. "What is their attitude now?"
"Ryoho Kyohiko said..." A repeated what Kyohiko had said. "But... Konoha is so powerful. It's no longer a matter of cooperation or alliance; our Cloud Village is gradually being devoured by them!"
Dodai didn't answer. How could he not understand this? But... the Jinchuriki had been captured! The initiative was no longer in their hands.
He could only let out a long sigh. "Let's get everyone on board first. We'll discuss the specifics later."
"Yes!" A lowered his head, unable to hide the shame on his face. He wished he had died in battle. But...
"I'll carry you," Dodai said, hoisting him onto his back. Then, with a few flickers, he carried A a hundred steps away. Only then did he comfort him in a low voice.
"Don't blame yourself. Ryoho Kyohiko is too powerful. Even your father might not be his match now. If this person continues to grow, the Cloud Village will have no future!"
"Yes, I... understand!"