Boom!
The tentacle struck with immense force, sending the masked creature flying. It crashed into the ground, carving out a crater and kicking up a storm of gravel and dust.
But the tentacle didn't retract. Instead, it slammed down in front of Kakuzu and Sasori like a wall of flesh and chakra—an unmistakable line in the sand.
Kakuzu narrowed his eyes at the newcomer, then suddenly realized who it was.
"The Eight-Tails Jinchūriki?"
He was stunned. Wasn't Kumogakure still at odds with Konoha? The two villages had just fought a major battle. Why would the Eight-Tails host be protecting Tsunade?
As confusion flooded his mind, something else clicked. Recalling rumors from the black market, Kakuzu muttered in shock:
"Could the Fourth Raikage really have been seriously injured?"
It seemed impossible.
The Raikage, master of the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, was renowned for his near-impenetrable body. He could even go toe-to-toe with tailed beasts in melee. His durability was so legendary that during the Third Great Ninja War, it took tens of thousands of Iwagakure ninjas three whole days just to wear him down.
"You can only exhaust him—not break through his defense."
That truth was almost a law of the battlefield.
So why was the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki here now, siding with Konoha? Was it possible they'd discovered a way to counter the Lightning Chakra Mode?
So many questions swirled in Kakuzu's mind.
From within his puppet armor, Sasori snorted with amusement.
"Looks like that 130 million ryō bounty won't be so easy after all."
"I'm well aware," Kakuzu replied, his tone grim. "I'll keep him busy. You go finish off Tsunade—then we'll take down the Eight-Tails together. He's worth a fortune, too."
As he spoke, two masked creatures crawled onto his shoulders, one on each side. Kakuzu had entered his full Earth Grudge Fear mode.
Leaping high into the air, eight black tendrils erupted from his back like spears, shooting toward Killer Bee with murderous intent.
Killer Bee immediately recognized the danger and didn't hesitate. The massive tentacles on his back retracted, and a crimson chakra cloak wrapped around his body. The Eight-Tails' full power began to manifest behind him.
Eight chakra tails burst forth, lashing out to clash with Kakuzu's spears head-on.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
But the hastily formed chakra tails were still weaker than Kakuzu's piercing threads. Bee found himself momentarily overwhelmed.
He jumped back, narrowly escaping the barrage.
Though cautious, Killer Bee couldn't help but smirk with that familiar cocky swagger.
"Well, well! You really think you can handle me alone? Let me show you how wrong that is!"
In a flash, he formed hand seals and split into multiple shadow clones. The clones surrounded Sasori's puppet armor, while the real Killer Bee charged straight at Kakuzu without hesitation.
Kakuzu's expression remained unchanged as he continued to control his black-thread spears, launching another barrage.
The black-bodied masked creature that had been knocked away earlier soared back into the sky. Its mouth opened wide, spitting out a volley of jagged earth spears—targeting Killer Bee's shadow clones rather than his main body.
Zzzzt…!
Blue lightning crackled along the blade as one of the clones, unable to dodge, raised his weapon in defense. Sparks flew as the lightning disrupted the incoming spears, causing them to disintegrate mid-air.
Watching from within his puppet armor, Sasori's eyes narrowed. That kind of lightning... it was more than troublesome.
Lightning Release not only counters Earth Release but also interferes heavily with chakra threads—essentially puppetry's foundation. He could ignore most of the shinobi from the Hidden Cloud, but Killer Bee was no ordinary foe. The Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, and adoptive brother of the Fourth Raikage, was a dangerous opponent.
Inside his puppet, Sasori made a decision. He couldn't afford to take risks with his chakra core exposed.
He pulled out a scroll marked with the kanji for "Three."
Poof!
With a burst of white smoke, a new puppet appeared beside him—a humanoid figure wrapped in dark iron sand, standing guard over Sasori's crimson shell.
"Magnet Release? Is that… the Third Kazekage?!"
Killer Bee's eyes widened in shock.
The disappearance of the Third Kazekage had been one of the sparks that ignited the Third Great Ninja War. There had been many theories about his death, but the truth—that he'd been killed by a traitor from his own village and turned into a puppet—was beyond anything the rumors had imagined.
Shhhk-shhhk-shhhk…!
In response to Killer Bee's shock, a storm of metallic senbon—magnetized and deadly—rushed toward him like a steel rain.
Unlike Earth Release, Magnet Release was a unique fusion of Earth and Wind chakra. It wasn't hindered by Lightning Release at all.
The needles pierced through Killer Bee's chakra cloak, stabbing deep into the tailed beast's protective chakra layer.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
One by one, half of the shadow clones were destroyed, vanishing in bursts of smoke.
Inside his puppet shell, Sasori let out a quiet breath of relief. Still, he didn't send the Third Kazekage puppet to attack Tsunade directly. Instead, he kept it close, defending his perimeter.
This puppet was powerful, but flawed. The farther it strayed, the harder it was to control, and the more unstable its chakra core became.
If it weren't for Killer Bee's overwhelming threat, Sasori wouldn't have revealed it this early.
Faced with the Kazekage's iron-sand defenses, Killer Bee found himself momentarily stalled. Thankfully, his remaining clones were still distracting Sasori enough to prevent him from focusing entirely on Tsunade.
Sasori seemed to notice that too. His lips curled into a sneer as he poured more chakra into his puppets, intensifying the assault on the two squads from the Hidden Cloud.
Unlike puppets, which only had to focus on offense, the Cloud ninja also had to protect Tsunade. The pressure mounted.
"Lady Tsunade!" one of them shouted, "Snap out of it! We need to fall back—now!"
But in the heart of the battlefield, Tsunade stood motionless. Her head was lowered, golden hair falling over her face. She ignored the call to retreat.
Only when she sensed a strike too powerful to withstand did she leap away from the incoming blow.
Kumo-nin, protecting her?
Perhaps. But only now.
She hadn't forgotten how, when the Cloud ninja team first arrived, they had been soaked in blood—trying to pass as allies after eavesdropping on the enemy. The wounds on their arms had clearly been faked in a rush.
If it weren't for that, she and Shizune would've fled the moment Killer Bee appeared. Instead, she had hesitated—and become a prize in this chaotic free-for-all.
"Protection?" she thought bitterly. They're just fighting for a bigger reward.
Let them wear each other down. Let them bleed.
Seeing her lack of response, the Cloud team leader couldn't tell whether Tsunade was frozen from trauma or simply refusing to move. With no other choice, they continued battling the onslaught of puppets.
At the edge of the battlefield, Shizune lay motionless.
No chakra. No signs of life.
Neither the Cloud ninja nor the bounty hunters paid her any mind.
Maybe they had once considered using her as a hostage. But ever since Tsunade's "blood phobia" was revealed, Shizune had lost all value in their eyes.
She was no longer part of the fight.
Just another casualty left behind.