The Eight-Tails was heavy, but not as heavy as Shukaku or his own kitsune. As long as it stopped resisting, Naruto felt he could pull it up without a problem.
Indeed, there was no problem. The moment the Eight-Tails loosened its grip, Naruto used a chakra hand to grab the chains and swing it, causing the Eight-Tails to stumble. He dragged the extended chains and leaped onto the mountaintop. Then, he controlled the Nine-Tails' chakra to form a net underground, twisting his body to swing in a circle, powered by the chains.
"Ugh..." The Eight-Tails tried to resist, but more and more chains tightly wrapped around it, almost turning it into a ball.
The first circle was slightly slower. Gyuki's size was too large, causing it to roll on the ground, carving out trenches.
In the second circle, the Eight-Tails was slightly airborne. By the fourth circle, it was completely airborne.
Round after round, the speed increased with inertia. Large sections of the ground beneath Naruto's feet cracked, and the red chakra used to grip the earth twisted into a braid.
Finally, seen from a distance, it looked like a small, chubby red fox holding colorful chains and swinging a colorful ball.
"How magnificent..." Kakashi lay on the ground, using Earth Release to shield himself from the wind. It was his first time seeing someone fight a Tailed Beast like this.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."
The fierce wind was like a storm, sweeping up dust and obscuring vision.
After swinging it thirty-some times, Naruto aimed in one direction and suddenly released his grip, cutting the chains. The colorful large ball drew an arc in the air.
The large ball bounced off a few mountains like a skipping stone, flying hundreds of meters before stopping.
The Eight-Tails crashed, dazed and disoriented. It tugged at the chains and roared, "Brat, you've angered me!!!"
It was a Tailed Beast, so it wasn't afraid of spinning. Naruto couldn't. He shook his head to suppress the dizziness. Naruto controlled the chakra hand to grab the clone that had just teleported beside him and threw it above the Eight-Tails.
In the air, the clone, with a fanatic expression, unrolled the scroll with a mountain drawn on it. Naruto sensed Kakashi's position, swung his tail, and parted the dust that had reduced visibility to zero, rushing over and shouting, "Kakashi-sensei, let's go."
"Cough cough cough..." Kakashi coughed lightly, secretly glad he had his mask on.
As soon as the two left the dense dust zone, Kakashi saw the large mountain descending in the distance.
Naruto retracted the Nine-Tails' chakra and whispered, "An earthquake is coming."
"I know." With a mountain that large, he didn't need to calculate to know the impact would be significant. Kakashi decisively chose to jump.
A thunderous roar came, mixed with a scream.
The ground shook, truly shook. The scene was louder than blasting a hundred-meter building, after all, a mountain was solid.
"Is that a slingshot???" In the air, Kakashi's gaze locked onto the object the clone was carrying near the distant teleportation gate. He felt like he might be nearsighted. How could there be such a huge slingshot?
"Yes." Naruto readily admitted.
Aside from its relatively fragile legs, which were consumables, the Eight-Tails was quite resilient. It could withstand a Tailed Beast Bomb from the Ten-Tails, so a single mountain might not cause much damage. Hence, Naruto decided to smash a few more.
It seemed that Hidden Cloud Village couldn't even withstand the wave of 16, and there were over a hundred left. No need to waste them.
The clone shot upwards and threw mountains downwards. Within a minute, it consecutively threw four mountains. The shattered debris piled up dozens of meters high on the Eight-Tails before Naruto felt it was enough and stopped.
The eight glowing red mountains in the sky were still falling, but the ground was chaotic. Reclaiming the Kusanagi Sword, Naruto covered his mouth with cloth and charged towards Darui.
"That should be the legendary Six Paths treasure, give it to me." Intercepting Darui near the rubble, Naruto, considering Kakashi's presence, had to put on a show.
"Lord Bee..." Darui was digging through the rubble. Hearing this, he turned his head. His mud-streaked face showed eyes full of anger.
Drawing the greatsword from his back, Darui blocked the Amber Purifying Pot: "Do you think that's possible?"
Naruto said nothing. He drew his sword and charged.
"Clink..."
The first sword was blocked. Naruto swiftly swung his second sword, changing direction mid-swing, bypassing Darui's horizontal greatsword, and slashing towards his kidney.
"Hiss..." The sword blade sliced through his clothes, leaving a bloodless wound on Darui's abdomen.
He missed the target, but Naruto felt it wasn't a big deal. He just continued fighting.
"Clink clink clink..."
In the rubble, the two continuously clashed. Sparks flew from their clashing weapons. In less than a minute, Darui had sustained several sword wounds, the deepest one in his chest, faintly revealing bone.
Naruto, however, was completely unharmed.
Pointing at the Amber Purifying Pot, Naruto gave him a look.
"Hmph... hmph..." Leaning against the Amber Purifying Pot, Darui gripped his sword with one hand for support, and touched the lightning symbol tattoo on his arm. "The Raikage gave me this symbol, hoping I would inherit his will. Since I bear this honor, I will fight this war to the death. My only demand of you is... sorry."
Seeing him still resisting, Naruto said no more. He thrust his sword directly.
You bear honor, and I'm harboring three stars. We'll talk after the fight. First, hand over your kidney.
"Thud..." The hot blade pierced his body, striking the wooden lid. Darui's punch landed lightly on Naruto's abdomen.
Retrieving his sword, Naruto bypassed him and picked up the Amber Purifying Pot: "Congratulations."
You overcame fear.
Naruto omitted this phrase; he didn't have a habit of explaining to his enemies.
"Thank you." Darui thanked him, his eyelids slowly closing. "Sorry, Boss..."
"Let's go." Handing the jar to the clone, Naruto called out to Kakashi, who was nearby, and walked towards Hidden Cloud Village.
Kakashi cleared his throat: "Cough... cough, not finishing off an enemy isn't a good habit."
"I'm not interested in those who don't resist." Naruto said without looking back, "I'm asking, are you annoying or not?"
"I didn't say anything..."
The two figures gradually moved into the distance.
At the same time, within the village, a white light rose, splitting into two, then four, illuminating the sky and earth, and also illuminating the figure standing amidst the rubble, holding a sword.
Somewhere in Hidden Cloud Village, a glowing red giant cannon stood in the center. Around the cannon were hundreds of Cloud Ninjas in tube-like devices, either fallen or slumped.
"This time, it's really gone, isn't it...?" After recovering for a moment, a Cloud Ninja whispered.
Mabui held her knees, unsure how to reply. It would definitely be gone, but she didn't know when. "Yugito!"
"She consumed too much, she fainted..."
"Is that so..." Mabui looked at the sky. "Then what's next?"
"Nothing. If you're asking why, it's because I'm here." Naruto, mimicking a phrase he'd heard somewhere, walked into the area.
Scanning around, Naruto noticed Yugito and Dodai lying on the ground. He said to Mabui, "Give me the other treasure and eyes, or there will be more."
"Mabui, don't worry about me..."
"Impossible!!" Before Dodai could finish, a tall Cloud Ninja nearby shouted, "Hidden Cloud Village never compromises!"
"Do you think so too?"
"Mm." Mabui nodded.
"Alright, Kakashi-sensei, can you still use the Sharingan?" Before he could reply, Naruto walked to Mabui, who was trembling and getting up. He grabbed her and threw her to Kakashi.
"Mabui!!"
From the fallen crowd, a Cloud Ninja suddenly rose with a sword, stumbling towards Naruto. Behind him, several others slowly rose as well.
"Tsk."
With a precise stab to the kidney, Naruto pushed the person off his sword, looking at the other approaching individuals.
"The might of thunder, unstoppable!"
"The might of thunder, unstoppable!!"
A thousand people roared in unison. Their shouts echoed through the mountains, resounding throughout Hidden Cloud.
But they were suppressed by a discordant voice: "7911..."
In the arena, Naruto stood still, wielding twin swords, taking kidney after kidney...
At his feet, one person after another fell.
Ninjas without chakra were inferior even to tigers in the Forest of Death.
"Sigh." Looking back at the Cloud Ninjas, who were like waves crashing against rocks, and the rocks in the crowd, Kakashi sighed. He pulled down his headband, meeting Mabui's gaze: "Alright, tell me, where is the thing he's looking for... and..."
Half an hour later, Kakashi sat on the cooled, deformed cannon, reviewing documents. Naruto looked at the ninjas who had arrived from a distance, too scared to move. He handed Dodai and Yugito to his clones, and opened a teleportation gate.
He performed a Sasuke-style sword flourish, recalling his Kusanagi Sword. He performed another flourish, recalling the second sword. He walked to Kakashi's side, picked up a Basho Sen, and looked around at the many fallen people, some unconscious, some struggling to crawl, some wailing. In this scene like hell, he asked, "Were they wrong?"
"Hmm..." Kakashi stopped reviewing, pondering for a moment: "No."
"Then was I wrong?"
"Hmm... no."
"That's good."
Naruto turned and stepped into the teleportation gate.
Kakashi looked up at the sky, at the vast, cloudless expanse: "Because, this is war."
Kakashi felt as if he had witnessed someone rise like a comet, comparable to the First Hokage. The difference was, although he didn't understand the First Hokage's personality, Kakashi was sure the First Hokage wasn't this... vindictive.
What did I do to upset you? You just left me here.
So did I wait half an hour for nothing?
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