A and the other two looked incredibly grim, feeling immense regret for the plan to surround and kill Hiromi.
At this moment, the temperature of the ground beneath their feet rose, the scorching heat burning the ground red.
In an instant, a huge bulge rose from the ground, with a diameter of a hundred meters.
A, Dōdai, and Darui hurriedly retreated.
Boom!
A volcano over fifty meters high erupted.
Matatabi appeared, blue light shining within it.
"Meow!"
Violent killing intent was directed straight at A and the other two.
A gritted his teeth. Actually, the moment he saw Hiromi's Molten God Form, he had thought about covering the retreat of Dōdai, Darui, and Yugito. Afterward, he would retreat with Bee, and then withdraw with Kumogakure.
As for Hiromi becoming stronger in the future or anything like that, he had no time to consider such things.
But now, he had realized that Dōdai and Darui simply did not have the power to escape Hiromi's grasp. Now, only he could temporarily entangle Hiromi. But rather than entangle, it was more like harassment.
He knew he couldn't touch Hiromi. Otherwise his Chakra would be absorbed, and it would instead allow Hiromi to use his Lightning Release to increase his speed. Moreover, his arms were gone, and his combat power had dropped to thirty or forty percent.
What he could do now was rely on his speed to keep an eye on Hiromi, preventing him from entering the volcanoes again to ambush others.
"I will hold him off! Do not tangle with Two-Tails, retreat immediately!"
After A finished speaking, fierce lightning flickered over his armless body, and facing Hiromi in his Molten God Form, he suppressed the sense of moral conflict in his heart and charged straight ahead.
Dōdai and Darui clenched their fists, bloodshot veins visibly pulsing in their eyes, filled with unwillingness.
"Split up and run!" Dōdai gritted his teeth.
Matatabi was extremely fast. It was impossible for the two of them to escape together, splitting up was their only slim hope.
Darui nodded.
This time they retreated with confidence, believing that since Hiromi was being watched by A, he couldn't possibly ambush them again. There was only one Matatabi, so it couldn't possibly stop them if they split up. At least one of them would be able to return and signal the Kumogakure Army to retreat.
However...
A looked at Hiromi before him, and seeing that the terrifying temperature was no longer around him, his unease grew even stronger.
"Did I overlook something?" Cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
But no matter how he racked his brains, he couldn't figure it out.
Until he saw a thin layer of gold appear on Hiromi's body.
His eyes widened. "Could it be that he can switch attributes at will?!"
"Come here quickly!" A shouted in terror.
Darui, who was being hunted by Matatabi, and Dōdai, who had hoped to escape successfully, were both stunned for a moment.
But the next instant, they rushed toward A without hesitation. A also rushed toward them. Yet, Hiromi's speed was actually on par with A.
This filled the A with horror. His only advantage right now was speed. And Hiromi's advantages already included defense and melting properties, and now he had added the most lethal one: speed.
If this continued, everyone would die!
His mind raced frantically, but he couldn't think of a solution.
Seeing Hiromi transform into a golden stream of light, charging at them with a speed on par with A, Dodai instantly understood the situation—he and Darui were doomed.
"Don't worry about us! Take Bee and run!" He roared.
A gritted his teeth, veins bulging. He knew this was the most rational choice.
But... but...
He forced himself to make the choice and roared, "Bee!"
Bee, who shared a telepathic bond with A, understood immediately and rapidly shrank from the sixty-meter-tall Eight-Tails into partial Tailed Beast transformation. In this mode, his speed was astonishing, higher than the cumbersome Magma Giant.
The AB combination abandoned Dōdai and Darui and quickly headed toward the direction of the Kumogakure Army. They intended to use their sacrifice to facilitate a retreat.
Hiromi did not hesitate in the slightest. His melting hand landed on Dōdai's face and pressed him into the ground. In an instant, Dōdai's head was melted. He didn't even have time to scream, becoming a scorching headless corpse, with the severed part still melting.
Hiromi's hand landed on the ground, as if Dōdai was merely a small obstacle on his path to pressing into the earth.
The next moment, the golden patterns on Hiromi's arms erupted with intense heat.
"Volcano Eruption!"
An even crazier group of volcanoes appeared. Hundreds of volcanoes, dozens of meters high, simultaneously erupted and spewed, blocking the escape route of A and Bee.
The moment A and Bee stopped, they glanced at the headless corpse beside Hiromi.
"Dōdai..."
Their eyes were so red they were almost bleeding, filled with monstrous hatred.
On the other side, Darui was in a precarious situation under Matatabi's rampage. He was squeezing out his last shred of strength, trading it for time to delay Matatabi, even if just for a second.
A and Bee were heartbroken.
"Darui..."
It wasn't that they didn't want to save him, but they knew very well that if they did, everyone would die. If they didn't save him, the two of them might still survive. For the sake of the village, they had to make this choice.
But this situation of having to abandon teammates to save themselves made them feel extremely restless and angry. Yet, seeing Hiromi in his Molten God Form, they felt powerless.
After just one glance, they suppressed all useless thoughts in their hearts and immediately turned to run.
But the volcanoes around them erupted again, surrounding the two of them.
Amidst the volcanoes, a seventy-meter-tall Magma Giant appeared, blocking their retreat.
Immediately after, they heard a scream. They knew this was the final piece of information Darui gave them before dying—Hiromi and Matatabi were coming over, so they had to run quickly.