228 Darkest Night Hidden in The Leaf (13)
"WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Jiraiya can hear two roars at once, unable to make heads or tails of the situation since Hachibi's and B's transformation is as sudden and swift as Orochimaru's supposed gender-reveal party since the woman can't stick to a single lane.
Not everything goes according to the clan, and that is where the need for extreme ace under the sleeves shines.
B is no longer the same.
Eight brown octopus limbs grow out of his tailbones. Instead of being as big as the actual Hachibi's tails, the eight suction tails spiral into themselves, forming eight springs behind B as he is no longer covered in the defiling mass of dark crimson chakra. A pair of oxen horns jut out of B's slick ashen-blonde hair as the youth's shades fall off, revealing crimson eyes that retain their intelligence. The right horn is cut near its tip as B flexes his arms, his tails unsheathing eight of his needle-like swords for him.
"Eight swords?" Jiraiya's throat vibrates a curious noise while keeping a firm control over the Nature Energy around him.
"Eight swords?" B's thick lips pull back into a toothy smirk as he retrieves another set of shades from under his white flak jacket before rapping, "Ya fool! Open yer Sage eyes! This is no eight swords style!"
The tails behind him coil and tighten further, the tension in their mass increasing to the brim as B juggles his eight swords until catching them between his hands, mouth, and the clench of his knee and elbows.
'This is the art of sixteen swords! Ya, Fool!' He parrots internally, unable to speak with his mouth full, as the eight, spring-like octopus limbs let go of their tensions—jumping on a tree before his body disappears, leaving a shattered tree in his wake as his body starts jumping around and shattering nearby trees.
But it isn't enough.
B isn't fast enough to escape Jiraiya's senses in his Sage Mode as the Sensei narrows his eyes before moving—predicting B's pattern rather admirably to send him flying with another one of his 'invisible strikes.' Jiraiya simply did not wish to risk getting into physical contact with the Jinchuriki's new form.
Strangely, however, B removes this new form as quickly as it appears.
'What?' Jiraiya locks his brows.
"That did not work as I intended; training sessions are a must! Sixteen is the way to transcend, but mastering the eight is what I should do first! Yeah!"
B starts bobbing his head, his skin transitioning into rust brown as his body enlarges in the blink of an eye before the massive Hachibi stares down at Jiraiya, "Gotta stick to the basics, partner! Let's show this fool we don't need new unpracticed techniques to bring them down! WHEEEEEEEEE!"
Jiraiya deadpans.
Not all Jinchuriki should be eccentric, but his luck seems to drag him to the strangest of the bunch!
First Su, and now this Ox!
'Whatever, I should try and end this. His sudden transformation's unknown nature did present a threat, but a large size—' Jiraiya's moving body comes to a halt before he jumps on Hachibi's hand and runs up his arm only to find a part of the skin, releasing pitch-black ink from its pores that seal Jiraiya's sandals!
The sage's body jumps on an invisible platform yet again as he scowls.
'Ink that seals?' He gazes at the receding ink, understanding the trick.
'No, he must have mastered some Fuin seals to cover with a large patch of ink to keep his intentions hidden. Damn, I could save a fortune on ink if I ever became Hachibi's Jinchuriki.'
Ever the writer in heart!
*Splash*
B ejects a large wave of ink from its mouth that molds itself into a dozen of B's human clones as they let loose their signature—Wheeeeee—call before storming Jiraiya with attacks as B opens his mouth wide to collect red-blue chakra into a purple mass aimed directly at Konoha!
'No, this calls for a similar jutsu!'
Jiraiya doesn't weave any seal as he faces the horde of enemy head-on, all the while collecting senjutsu chakra in a familiar spiral motion over his hand as it soon appears in a ball of chakra no less than the size of the forming Bijudama!
[Sage Art: Giant Rasengan]!
The mass of chakra turns the clones into splashes of ink as Jiraiya's attack lands on top of B's head, causing his maws to sink into the unstable mass of incomplete Bijudama!
*Baaaaannnnnng*
*Splattterrrrr*
A wet sound follows the large explosion that forces Jiraiya to close his eyes, protecting himself with a coat of formless nature energy, his body flying back in the distance, tearing into the trees and dragging through the mud.
*Cough*
The blast's impact had been enough to knock the breath out of his lungs.
But it doesn't stop Jiraiya from keeping his senses as sharp and keen as ever.
'This should have done some damage,' Jiraiya straightens his spine only to grind his molars as small figure tears out of the natural smokescreen before the dust settles.
'Jinchuriki are fucking insane!' He blocks the impact of the Jinchuriki in his previous mass of crimson-red chakra, eight tails waving behind as a miniature Hachibi's skull protects B's body. Jiraiya takes on the beast on Taijutsu without fear, his speed, senses, reactions, and sheer physical strength testing the Jinchuriki's limits instead!
'But I 'saw' B's jaws tear open! That attack must have hurt the slightest bit, right?'
Unfortunately, B will never answer Jiraiya's questions.
The impact of their punches and blocks raises mild tremors around them as Jiraiya makes use of his kata stances to pull sneaky nature-charged invisible attacks at times to throw B off-balance.
Their attacks are precise and unforgiving—despite their somewhat similar nature. The couple who could have been better friends than most now fight with their lives on the line. They hold back very little in case of an unforeseen circumstance, perhaps a new transformation of their enemy.
"Hmm?"
It's then Jiraiya feels Kushina's chakra spike beyond what the beast in front of him can compare as even B jerks back in surprise.
The duo's fatal taijutsu match comes to a halt as the spike of chakra disappears, but Jiraiya's senses find themselves mistaken—or are they?
He would need to focus seriously to see what's going on beyond a few kilometers in this state, but Kushina has been relatively near.
'What was that?' Jiraiya notes internally, his thoughts drifting slightly despite the battle. 'Could Kushina always do that? Didn't Kai volunteer to deal with Bijudama? Didn't he know?'
All these are questions for later as Jiraiya stares at B, who suddenly growls and smashes his fist into the ground!
"Damn it!" He snarls. "Keep Dodai-san safe! The invasion has failed," even he can sense as much as Hachibi within suggests softly.
"That's the Kyubi's chakra—tamed, no less. B, there is no point in dealing with a Sage who has a few more minutes of fight left in him and Kyubi's jinchuriki. The previous attack forced us to revert to your body instead of mine. Announce the result and return.'
"Dodai of Rubber Defense will live as long as he provides information," Jiraiya agrees calmly when B's senses snap.
His feet sink into the ground as the swamp spreads around them.
"However, why don't you stay, too?" Jiraiya uses the moment of B's kindness against him. He does feel like shit, but he simply refuses to take kindly of invaders for any reason!
Jutsu needs the user to wield their chakra. It's true.
That's why Jiraiya stored multiple jutsu storage scrolls that only one rare Fuin master in Konoha can create on requests.
B's tails help him out the next moment, but Jiraiya is already on the youth.
'What to do now, Ya fool? He won't give us enough time to announce the end of the invasion before the set time!'
"Return," Hachibi voices out calmly again. "B, I don't want to see you die. Believe me, whatever I can do aside from creating ink, the Kyubi can do better. If her Jinchuriki has the same connection as us, we will be in trouble. YOU may not survive!"
'I can lead them to Konoha,' B grinds his chakra jaws as he falls back continuously. 'If we continue—'
A sudden invisible wall of Nature Energy stops B's path as Jiraiya narrows his eyes.
'The invasion must have a time limit. For him to lead me to Konoha despite Kushina and others minutes away means he wants to warn others. And anyone with a speedy Reverse Summoning Jutsu will be out of here. No, better yet, maybe only one of them has the Reverse Summoning set back to Kumo—B. The rest may be summoned back by the Jinchuriki of Two-Tails. I hope Kai sealed Dodai for now, or he'll disappear with the rest!'
And then it strikes Jiraiya.
'He can return now, and the two-tails can summon others back. He is still risking this. There must be someone who cannot be summoned back.'
Only one fits the bill in Jiraiya's description—The Third Raikage, who is blitzing near the Uchiha Police Grounds!
'How the hell did A get here if he cannot be summoned back?' Jiraiya frowns, his scowl turning harsher as he attacks B more aggressively while creating a shadow clone, who surprises B by jumping back and closing his eyes as if to sense something.
The clone disperses the next second as Sage's gaze hardens.
The simplest of the answer turned out to be the truth.
A traitor amongst the Barrier Squad's sensing team. The Head shinobi is nowhere to be found, while the rest of the shinobi are dead under Hokage's Residence.
"B!" Hachibi snaps at the youth, who snarls in frustration as he, too, senses the nearing Kushina.
He won't make it in time.
'I hope C senses my disappearance and informs the rest.'
Helpless despite all his chakra reserves, B forms a seal and disappears with a poof of smoke.
The battle concludes in the most expected manner in Jiraiya's experience.
After all, those who live get to fight another day.
'But, when will the fighting end?' Jiraiya sighs gently, not undoing his Sage Mode just yet. He has three more minutes remaining.
'I can deal with the troublesome jonins,' he affirms internally, unwilling for the strong enemy to return right away. So, he doesn't wait for Shikaku and the rest and rushes away.
To Shikaku's credit, his plan of retrieving Kushina to support Jiraiya worked a little too well!
If it wasn't for the looming threat of Kushina, B wouldn't have felt helpless to unknowingly expose a few of these weaknesses!
But Jiraiya cannot stop to congratulate the youth on his strategy.
Not now, anyway!
***
Alternate Title: Another Curtain Closes; You Win Some, And You Lose Some; The Magnificent Sixteen Sword Style!; Incomplete Form; Naruto's Bellamy!; Jiraiya: Can I Throw a Punch, You Ask?; Possible Friends of Another Life; When Life Gives You Lemons, Squeeze It On Your Enemy's Eyes—Shinobi Code; Shikaku: My Genius Is Almost Frightening; Jaw Shattering Blast; Insane Jinchuriki; Uncovering Enemy's Plan With the Slightest Hints!; Kushina Got Exposed?!; Kai's Innocence Reigns Supreme!; Shikaku Ending Battles Using 8D Shogi!; Unwilling Heart to Kill, Bound By Duty.
***
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