When the Third Raikage's gaze fell upon the Two-Tails, Ren Uchiha's eyelid twitched.
The only reason he had been able to trade blows with a monster like A until now was the Two-Tails' presence. By feeding on the ambient chakra leaked by the beast and the extreme emotions radiating from the Raikage, the Zero-Tails inside him allowed Ren to unleash high-level ninjutsu without restraint—even going so far as to mangle the legendary "Strongest Shield."
As long as this remained undiscovered, Ren could have stood tall, thumped his chest, and told the Raikage: "I can do this all day!"
After all, the Third Raikage was still human, not a Reanimated corpse. That self-inflicted One-Finger Nukite to the chest, while not fatal, was a grievous wound. Ren didn't believe for a second that it hadn't affected the old man's performance.
Meanwhile, in this environment, Ren was practically a Reanimation himself—limitless chakra, an undying body, and a strategy that allowed him to gamble his life over and over.
Slowly but surely, the scales of victory had been tipping in Ren's favor.
However, a ninja's battle is a battle of information. As the players threw their cards onto the table, Ren's secrets were inevitably laid bare to the Raikage's keen eyes.
Amidst the blackened ruins, where stray sparks danced in the wind, the Third Raikage, A, glanced coldly at the Two-Tails. The giant cat had crawled back to its feet and was quietly watching the flow of the battle.
A hoisted the tan jar at his feet and barked toward the massive feline:
"Two-Tails!"
At the sound of that voice, Matatabi shuddered. Recalling some undoubtedly traumatic memory, the beast didn't even dare to answer. Under the Raikage's ferocious glare, the giant cat actually took several steps back.
A exhaled slowly, his expression darkening.
"I'll let you leave!"
"For three years, I will not send anyone to hunt you!"
Both Ren and the Two-Tails were stunned. A look of pure joy instantly crossed the beast's face.
There's actually such a good deal?
Leaving Kumogakure and escaping its fate as a prisoner was all it had ever wanted. As the leader of the village, the Third Raikage's word carried weight; Matatabi knew he wouldn't break such a vow.
Ren's face fell. Without the passive recharge provided by the Two-Tails, how the hell was he supposed to fight the Raikage?
Just as he was about to shout a warning—to tell the cat that a Kumo brute's words couldn't be trusted and they should join forces—he saw the Two-Tails move.
Having received the promise, the beast didn't hesitate for a single second. It arched its back, leaped over the ruins, and sprinted toward the southern exit of Hell Valley without so much as a backward glance.
It had sold Ren out with terrifying efficiency.
Ren: "..."
The Third Raikage kept his word, standing his ground and staring coldly at Ren to ensure he didn't try to flee. For A, the importance of Ren Uchiha dying here now outweighed the immediate recapture of the Two-Tails.
The beast could be hunted later. But tonight, this boy had given him too many "surprises." He could not allow this sprout to grow any further.
Only those who had lived through that era knew what a maddening, suicidal Uchiha could become if left unchecked. He saw in Ren the shadow of the man who had terrified the world forty years ago—Uchiha Madara.
A remembered his youth, seeing the terrifying figure who roared "Hashirama!" while a single swing of his light-sword carved all the way to the Land of Lightning. His heart grew heavy.
(Actually, back at the Valley of the End, Madara's blade hadn't struck the Land of Water. It had struck the Land of Lightning—since the Valley sits on the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Rice Fields, the only mountainous land across the water is Lightning.)
As the Two-Tails vanished, Ren's expression soured. The chakra provided by the Zero-Tails plummeted, and his regeneration speed slowed to a crawl. The sensory range and emotional absorption radius shrank back to a mere five meters around him.
Ren took a deep breath, staring grimly at the Raikage.
He still had some chakra left in the area, and by staying in close quarters with a Taijutsu specialist like A, he could still siphon some energy. As long as he didn't spam the Great Snake Substitution and played it safe, he could stall.
If he stalled, reinforcements would arrive. And the Raikage's chest wound wasn't something that could be ignored forever.
However, A looked at Ren as if reading his very thoughts. He let out a cold, mocking huff.
"Brat," A said darkly. "Are you thinking of continuing to stall?"
"Thinking you can still steal my chakra?"
"Thinking you've already won?"
A snapped his head up, his brow furrowed and veins bulging. He bellowed:
"Wrong!"
He suddenly raised his right arm and roared:
"B—!!"
Behind the Third Raikage, a massive shadow rose like a collapsing skyscraper. Giant octopus tentacles slammed into the earth as a beast with the body of a man and the head of a bull rose, letting out a world-shaking roar!
—ROAR!!
Ren's pupils shrank. He leaped away to avoid the colossal tentacles sweeping across the ground.
While the Raikage had been "stalling" Ren, Killer B had been accumulating enough chakra to manifest the Full Eight-Tails. At the Raikage's call, B didn't hesitate to unleash the beast!
The Third Raikage showed no emotion. He didn't even pursue Ren, allowing the boy to pull back and increase the distance between them.
"Brat, don't blame me for being dishonorable..." A whispered, his gaze sharpening into a cold, lethal beam.
"After all... this is war!"
In the next moment, A pointed his arm toward the Konoha shinobi led by Setsuna Uchiha.
He commanded in a low, gravelly voice:
"B, use the Tailed Beast Bomb. Kill that group first!"
"You got it, BOSS!"
A humanoid, savage grin appeared on the face of the Eight-Tails. It raised its massive head and opened its maw.
Whoosh!
It sounded like ten thousand fans turning at once. Blue and black chakra particles converged in the beast's mouth, condensing into a pitch-black, deep sphere that radiated a nonsensical aura of total destruction!
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