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Obito leaped. Landed atop the Gedo Statue. The chains retracted!
CRACK!
The Eight-Tails lurched violently, dragged forward against its will!
Killer B realized—with these chains, he couldn't use a Tailed Beast Bomb. He couldn't dispel the transformation. He could only try brute force against the chains. Useless!
"Collar's locked~? Urea critical? Fightin' Gyūki? Refuse to yield?~!" It spread all eight limbs, claws and talons digging into the earth. Thousands of suction cups on its tails gripped the ground, fighting the pull.
On the statue's head, Obito raised a hand, cold. "Surrender. Might save you some pain."
—Universal Pull!
WHOOSH!
Gravity turned traitor…!!
The Eight-Tails' nails, gripping stone, snapped. Suction cups ripped from its tails. In a mess of blood and torn flesh, it was dragged forward!
Killer B: "This is bad! Real bad!! Gyūki!! Think of somethin'!"
The silent beast spoke, voice heavy. "B… give up."
B was stunned. "Gyūki… what're you sayin'?"
"All Tailed Beasts came from the Ten-Tails. That thing, the Gedo Statue, is its empty shell. The moment that collar locked… my fate was sealed. Can't escape its maw. But… I can save you."
GLOOP. GLOOP. GLOOP.
Helpless, B was squeezed from Gyūki's back. A mangled, bloody tail coiled around him, separated from the main body, and tumbled onto the ground behind.
The Eight-Tails was hauled toward the gaping mouth.
A final message echoed in B's mind. "Our time… short. But good. Real good, B. Can't walk with you anymore. Run. Now. While you can…"
CRUNCH.
The statue swallowed the beast. Its maw slammed shut. Then, it vanished in a swirl of white smoke.
Obito descended, murmuring. "Now… only the Nine-Tails remains."
"Gyūki…"
B stood lost in the rain. Memories flashed—every shared moment, every stupid rhyme. Blood pounded behind the sunglasses. Drip. Drip. Drip. But no time for grief to ferment.
He couldn't let his partner's sacrifice be wasted.
More important—only by living… was there any hope of getting him back!!!
He absorbed the protective octopus tail into his body. Then, he ran. Like a madman. Toward the coastline!!!
Obito lifted his dark eyes. "Left a little morsel. A perfect Jinchūriki indeed. Insignificant. But meat at my lips… no reason to let it go."
SWOOSH.
A Kamui vortex swirled ahead of B. Obito's sleeve flicked. Black rods shot down!
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
B weaved, dodging. He drew a tantō from his leg strap. Bit the handle. Hands formed seals. Lightning cloaked the blade. He charged!
SHINK!
Mid-charge, B flung the blade from his teeth. Lightning-charged, it spiraled upward into the sky.
Obito's side-glance caught it. "That sword… its trajectory from the spin means it'll curve back down. The timing… the moment he reaches me. He wants to force me into intangibility, creating an opening to flee."
His right hand shot for B's chest. His left reached back for the gunbai fan.
"Pity. Your little scheme… is destined to fail."
His grasping hand was already at B's sternum.
SWOOSH!
The tantō plunged from the sky behind, its tip aimed for Obito's neck.
Obito didn't look. The gunbai swung up to block his back.
CLANG! The blade deflected off the fan!
Simultaneously, his hand pressed B's chest. The right eye swirled—the sucking vortex of Kamui.
B's heart plunged. This is it…!!
His body twisted, about to be consumed.
CRUNCH!! But then—his form snapped back to normal. Like he'd been violently spat out.
This… had never happened. Obito hesitated for a fraction of a second.
"Samehada… it blocked the pathway from inside the Kamui dimension…"
"RAAAAAAAAAGH!!!"
BAM!! B seized the sliver of life. His fist smashed into Obito's mask!
In that instant of being knocked back, wooden spikes erupted from Obito's palm, piercing B's chest!
B ignored the spikes. Didn't even grunt. He dove headfirst into the churning sea!
Obito pushed himself up with the gunbai, standing on the jagged reef. He watched the tide-call sea. He had no intention of letting Killer B go.
He sheathed the fan. Formed a brutal hand seal.
The hand sign for Wood Release: Cutting Technique.
B swam through the saltwater, pain flaring. The wooden spike in his chest suddenly sprouted wild, barbed branches. They erupted from the spike, piercing through his chest and back.
Agony. His arms went slack. Blood bloomed in the water.
The scent of blood… deep-sea hunters came.
Sinking into the lightless deep, Killer B sang his final verse.
"Deep-sea shark belly? Lost octopus home~? No trade, no slaughter, survival of the fittest feels wrong~! Little cuties on the Sanzu River, wave your glow sticks! Granny, pack me a shark fin noodle soup to go…"
"Heh. Octopus bastard. Even at death's door, you've got style."
A cold laugh cut through his swan song from the dark water.
"Who…?"
GLOOP. GLOMP. GULP…!
A frenzy of sharks swarmed, drowning out all sound…!!!
On the shore.
Obito pulled Samehada from the Kamui dimension and stabbed it into the reef. Methodically, he drove a black rod into each of its fleshy scales.
"Kyi… kyi kyi kyi…"
Samehada wept bloody tears. Mourning its dead master? Or its own wretched fate?
Obito watched the rolling waves, remembering the man he'd trusted most.
"Kisame… with this, your vengeance is served. Rest now. One step left. Our Infinite Tsukuyomi… will be realized."
SHLURP. SHLURP.
White Zetsu's main body surfaced. It eyed the pincushion that was Samehada. "What's this? Sashimi?"
Obito's voice held meaning. "The price of betrayal."
"Alright. The last Nine-Tails. How do you plan to handle it?"
Obito was silent. Madara resurrecting in Naruto's body… that was unforeseen.
His gaze darkened. "As long as the Rinnegan is in my hands, Madara won't dare act recklessly. As for the Nine-Tails… Naruto's isn't the only piece."
"You mean…?"
"Orochimaru. He sealed the Reaper Death Seal's Shinigami inside himself. That's no secret anymore. Which means… the other half of the Nine-Tails is in his grasp."
"Going after Orochimaru, then? That means dealing with Sasuke."
Obito's hand pressed over his heart. Healed by Hashirama's cells, but the pain was etched into his Uchiha soul. The fight over a month ago… still vivid. He'd reclaimed his left eye from Kakashi, united both Kamui… and still suffered a crushing defeat. He missed his chance to declare war on the world at the Five Kage Summit.
If he said he'd swallowed that anger, he'd be lying.
—"White Zetsu. Mobilize every clone. Find Naruto. Find Sasuke. Whichever we locate first… is where I start. That is where I collect!!!"
…
After Obito left, the island fell quiet. Only the endless sound of waves on rock.
Time passed.
A shark broke the surface.
From its maw, a shirtless man emerged. On his shoulder, the barely-breathing form of Killer B.
The man walked to Samehada, impaled by black rods. His cold eyes judged it.
"How does betrayal taste?"
"Kyi… kyi kyi kyi kyi…" Under the moon, Samehada's weeping began again. A lament. Haunting.
He laid B on the cold reef.
"I saved the one you wanted to save. The price. You understand?"
"Kyi kyi…" Samehada nodded, submissive.
"Heh. Good. Fellow betrayers… let's endure each other's company for the rest of our miserable days."
That man—Kisame Hoshigaki—slung the greatsword Samehada over his shoulder once more.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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