Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 314 Eight tails cut off to escape

The Fourth Raikage didn't know who Xia Zuo was back then, and fought him to the death with an arrogant attitude, only to suffer a crushing defeat and be completely annihilated.

As a result of the crushing defeat, the Hidden Cloud Village lost 700 ninja lives, and the Raikage lost his left hand.

For ordinary ninjas, losing an arm means they can no longer perform hand seals, which is equivalent to losing the power of ninjutsu, leaving them with no choice but to retire.

However, the Fourth Raikage was not an ordinary ninja. He almost never relied on ninjutsu, but fought using taijutsu. Losing his hand did not have a significant impact on his combat ability.

After months of arduous practice, mastering the technique of hand seals with one hand, the Raikage regained all his abilities.

Later, with the help of the research results of the Hidden Cloud Village on chakra weapons, he had a prosthetic hand made of metal to solve the inconvenience in his life.

Because the weapons were too powerful, further experiments were no longer possible, and research on chakra weapons in Kumogakure was halted two years ago. However, research on prosthetics continued.

The Fourth Raikage's left hand has been continuously upgraded, becoming more and more agile and realistic in appearance, and it can also be used to form hand seals to release ninjutsu.

Over time, the ninjas got used to it and forgot the fact that the Fourth Raikage had lost an arm.

Even Black Zetsu overlooked this, so when Nagato fought the Raikage, he completely ignored the special nature of Nagato's left hand, which allowed the Fourth Raikage to seize the opportunity and damage the Preta Path, which could absorb chakra.

With the chakra absorption ceasing, the Fourth Raikage immediately felt relaxed, and arcs of electricity representing the Lightning Release chakra mode once again appeared on his body.

He burst into laughter: "So that's how it is. The speed at which chakra is absorbed from a ninja's body is not as fast as that from ninjutsu, but it can create the illusion that the chakra is completely depleted."

"In that case, Nagato of Amegakure, take this!!"

At face-to-face distance, Raikage did not choose the [Lightning-Type Hot Blade] which required a sprint distance. Instead, he raised his right hand, his four fingers together and his thumb bent and pressed tightly against his palm.

[Hellish Thrust - Four-in-One Slash]

A dazzling flash of lightning propelled the Fourth Raikage's right hand through the Preta Path and towards Nagato's chest.

Nagato's Rinnegan markings rapidly contracted inward, unleashing a torrent of powerful ocular energy that transformed into a formidable Rinnegan technique.

【Heavenly Path: Divine Expedition】

boom!

Just as the Fourth Raikage's fingers were about to touch Nagato's body, an invisible repulsive force erupted first, repelling the four fingers that were joined together, and the remaining force rushed towards the Fourth Raikage.

The Raikage felt a numbness in his fingers, and the attached Lightning Release chakra was easily dispelled.

The backlash of chakra made the Raikage's body stiffen, and then he felt a transparent wall pressing down on him, pushing away his arm and slapping him mercilessly.

"ah!!"

The Fourth Raikage roared, shoving his feet into the mud with all his might. He barely managed to shield his face with his hands, and was pushed back more than ten meters by the unstoppable repulsive force, leaving two deep furrows in the ground.

Then, like a radish, he was pulled up from the ground, rolled around, and was thrown away by the repulsive force.

"The Raikage's taijutsu is indeed very strong, being able to withstand Shinra Tensei for so long."

Nagato uttered words of praise, his face showing surprise, but his tone was devoid of any emotion.

If one hadn't witnessed the Fifth Hokage's taijutsu, the Fourth Raikage's taijutsu would indeed be the strongest in the ninja world, certainly worthy of Nagato's praise.

But now he's only second, and he's far behind the strongest, the Fifth Hokage. The difference between the two is like heaven and earth, so Nagato just gave him a perfunctory compliment.

Having repelled the Fourth Raikage, Nagato turned to look at the Eight-Tails, Gyūki, who was being firmly suppressed by the Gedo Mazo but was still struggling desperately.

As expected of the second strongest tailed beast, the Eight-Tails is significantly stronger than the Nine-Tails, which was split into Yin and Yang.

Even though it was countered by the Ten-Tails' body, and even though the Gedo Mazo had gathered the chakra of seven tailed beasts, it could only suppress the Eight-Tails, but could not completely subdue it.

Inside the Eight-Tails' body, Killer Bee was completely panicked, but he still didn't forget his rap, asking in a strange tone, "Oh no, we're doomed, there's no hope this time. What kind of monster is this? It feels even scarier than the Fifth Hokage's Wood Release?"

The Eight-Tailed Gyūki has a unique aesthetic sense; it really likes Killer Bee's songs, and it feels happy every time it hears Killer Bee sing.

But at this moment, the Eight-Tails was no longer in the mood to appreciate Killer Bee's off-key singing. It said with a wry smile, "This guy is the body of the Ten-Tails. We tailed beasts were originally born from the chakra of the Ten-Tails, so it is naturally able to restrain us tailed beasts."

"This time it's really over."

"Isn't there any way to escape?" Kirabi asked anxiously.

The Eight-Tailed Gyūki said, "Yes, I do have a way, but I need your full cooperation."

Killer Bee agreed without hesitation: "What should I do?"

Just then, the Eight-Tails sensed Nagato's gaze. After a brief silence, it said, "Beat it! Fight to the death!"

Killer Bee roared, "Alright!!"

The struggle of the Eight-Tails suddenly became violent, shaking off the arm of the Gedo Mazo, and the eight octopus tentacles turned around and entangled the Gedo Mazo.

Then the eight-tailed Gyūki lowered its head and used its remaining horns to strike the head of the Gedo Mashupa, pressing against its seven glowing eyes with all its might, trying to destroy them.

Nagato didn't know if the Eight-Tails could do that, but how could he be willing to risk the Gedo Mazo before it fully awakened?

So he stretched out his right hand and, with his palm as the center, emitted a strong suction force.

【The Way of Heaven - The Guiding Force of All Things】

Unlike the violent and domineering [Shinra Tensei], the suction force created by [Bansho Ten'in] is not as strong, but it can lock onto the target and will not interfere with the entangled Gedo Mazo.

Under the suction force created by the Rinnegan, the eight tentacles of the Eight-Tails were pulled away from the Gedo Mazo one by one, and could no longer pose a threat to the Gedo Mazo.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path raised its hands and slammed them down, smashing the skull of the Eight-Tailed Gyūki and breaking off even its last horn.

The Gedo Mazo pressed the Eight-Tails to the ground, while Nagato stopped the suction of the Bansho Ten'in and instead created a black sphere in front of the Eight-Tails.

【Outer Path - Earth Explosion Star】

Because the seal was applied to his face, the Eight-Tailed Gyūki didn't have time to struggle before his head was drawn into the black sphere, followed by his enormous body, and finally his eight tentacles.

Faced with such a desperate situation, the Eight-Tails struggled even more frantically, its eight tentacles sweeping wildly, firmly attaching to whatever it grabbed, until the thing it grabbed was pulled up and sucked into the black sphere along with the tentacles.

In the end, only one tentacle remained, tightly gripping the rocks on the ground. These rocks were connected to the entire mountain, and even the suction force of the [Earth Explosion Star] could not break it.

Nagato waited patiently for a while, until the Fourth Raikage stood up again and the reinforcements from Kumogakure arrived in the distance. Only then did he impatiently reach out and cut off the end of the tentacle, ending the tug-of-war.

Seeing the Eight-Tails completely sealed away, the Fourth Raikage was so enraged that his eyes actually split open and blood flowed out.

The disappearance of Yugito, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, a few days ago had already enraged the Fourth Raikage. However, all the guard ninjas had been killed, and the culprit could not be found for the time being, so he could only endure it for the time being.

Today, things have gotten much worse. They've been attacked right at our doorstep, and with a repulsive ninjutsu unlike anything we've ever seen before, they've destroyed half of the Hidden Cloud Village.

To protect the village, the Fourth Raikage and Killer Bee lured the enemy outside the village to fight, but little did they know that the enemy's target was Killer Bee, and that it was the Eight-Tails!

Killer Bee was the Fourth Raikage's acknowledged younger brother since childhood. It was A who personally raised Killer Bee from a tiny kitten to become the number two figure in Kumogakure.

The two have spent over 30 years together and have an extremely deep bond.

Seeing his younger brother sealed inside the stone sphere in the air, the Fourth Raikage roared and activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode once more, unleashing this most powerful ninjutsu at any distance.

[Lightning Release: Lightning-Type Hot Blade]

Without the absorption of the Preta Path's chakra, and without a direct confrontation with Shinra Tensei, the Fourth Raikage successfully struck Nagato's body this time.

But it wasn't until he tore Nagato's body in two that he realized he had struck a wooden stake, a stake disguised as Nagato by a transformation spell.

The Fourth Raikage asked incredulously, "How could it be the [Substitution Jutsu]?"

Nagato replied arrogantly, "All ninjutsu are only distinguished by whether they are suitable or unsuitable; there is no distinction between noble and unworthy."

"Just like you ninjas, whether you're the Raikage or a genin, you're all the same in front of God—you're all just insects."

Nagato manipulated the repulsive force and flew into the sky. First, he released the Gedo Mazo from its summoning, and then he took the stone sphere that sealed the Eight-Tails and flew into the sky, disappearing into layers of thunderclouds.

"Don't leave! Give me back my brother!"

The Fourth Raikage roared in grief and despair, "Nagato of Amegakure! I will raze Amegakure to the ground and slaughter every last Amegakure ninja!"

"You just wait!!"

"Big brother?"

Suddenly, Killer Bee's voice came from behind the Fourth Raikage. He turned around in surprise and saw the Eight-Tails' tentacles wriggling and "spitting" Killer Bee out from the broken end.

Killer Bee grinned and said, "Big brother, I'm not dead. The Gyu-oni protected me with its tentacles."

After spitting out Killer Bee, the Eight-Tails' tentacles continued to wriggle and transform, turning into a miniature version of Gyūki: "Bee, all my chakra has been stolen, so I won't be able to help you fight for a while."

Killer Bee said, "It's alright. Facing such a powerful enemy, surviving is the best outcome. What does losing chakra matter?"

"Come back soon."

Without hesitation, the Eight-Tails jumped onto Killer Bee's body, merged with him, and returned to the Tailed Beast seal.

Killer Bee put away the Eight-Tails, then turned to the Fourth Raikage and said, "Big brother, I—"

With a loud "thud," the Raikage's right fist struck Killer Bee on the head, interrupting his words.

Before the bewildered Killer Bee could recover, the Fourth Raikage hugged him tightly: "You scared me to death, Bee, you scared me to death."

Killer Bee: "Big Brother—"

"Don't hit my head next time, or my brain will break and I won't be able to write new songs."

The Fourth Raikage snorted coldly: "Don't even think about it. I can smash your head however I want. If I can smash it so badly that you can't write songs anymore, that would be even better."

Half an hour later, the Cloud Village ninja reinforcements cleared the battlefield, and Tsuchikage and Darui, two high-ranking Cloud Village officials, gathered around the Raikage and Killer Bee for an emergency meeting.

The Cloud Village ninjas also knew that small meetings were needed for important matters, so when faced with the crisis of more than half of the Cloud Village being destroyed, the other Cloud Village ninjas took the initiative to avoid it.

The Fourth Raikage sighed, "Now you know the result. Even if Killer Bee and I joined forces, we were no match for Nagato, the leader of Amegakure."

"Nagato's goal was the Tailed Beasts. He easily sealed the Eight-Tails. If the Eight-Tails hadn't had the ability to sever its tail and escape, Killer Bee would have died like Kushina Uzumaki in Konoha."

Tsuchida and Darui exchanged a glance and said, "After you drove the enemy out of the village, Konan, the vice-leader of Amegakure, also attacked the village."

"That woman flew in the sky and scattered countless explosive tags, causing great damage to the remaining buildings and ninjas in the village."

""

The Fourth Raikage sighed again, "It's truly unexpected that Amegakure is this powerful."

Tsuchikage began, "Lord Raikage, Nagato and Konan are not only the leaders of Amegakure, but also the leaders of Akatsuki, the strongest mercenary organization in the underground money exchange."

"The Akatsuki organization basically only accepts war labor and participates in wars between small countries and small ninja villages. Before the Fifth Hokage established peace in the ninja world, they had destroyed several small ninja villages."

The Fourth Raikage frowned and said, "I see. Besides Nagato and Konan, who else is in Akatsuki?"

Tsuchitai replied, "There are currently eight known members of Akatsuki, whose identities can be confirmed: Kakuzu the Immortal Ninja, Hidan the heretic from the Land of Hot Springs, Kisame Hoshigaki with the shark face from Kirigakure, and Deidara the rogue ninja from Iwagakure."

Darui asked in surprise, "Deidara, the disciple of the Third Tsuchikage of Iwagakure?"

"He represented Iwagakure and fought against me in the Chunin Exams. How did he become a rogue ninja of Iwagakure?"

Tsuchida shook his head and said, "The specific reason is unclear, but Iwagakure did notify us—"

"Oh right, I remember now, the Akatsuki organization has hired the most people from Iwagakure. They can be considered Iwagakure's most capable henchmen."

Killer Bee said angrily, "That makes sense. The Third Tsuchikage is such a proud old man. What's the difference between a Four-Tails Jinchuriki and a rogue ninja? He stubbornly refuses to admit it. How could he directly say that Deidara is a rogue ninja?"

"So they were sent to Akatsuki to keep an eye on this peripheral organization for Iwagakure."

Both Tutai and Darui thought Killer Bee's speculation made a lot of sense and couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Only the Fourth Raikage shook his head after deep thought: "It shouldn't be Onoki's doing. Even if Akatsuki was once supported by Iwagakure, the situation should be out of control now."

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