Taking a Tailed Beast Ball to the Face

With a whistling sound, Manda twisted its body, wrapping around the Eight-Tails in the blink of an eye, much like a python in the wild constricting a buffalo.

"So fast?"

Killer B felt a jolt of alarm, using all eight tentacles to struggle desperately, trying to tear the serpent from his body.

"Jinchuriki, heh..."

Manda let out an arrogant snort, its body tightening further as it opened its maw wide and bit down fiercely onto the neck of the Eight-Tails.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The two behemoths clashed, and a series of deafening roars echoed through the dense forest, leaving behind flying debris, snapped trees, and dust that blotted out the sky.

Judging by the situation, neither side could gain the upper hand for the moment.

"Hiss..."

The white snake flicked its tongue, a human-like smile appearing on its face. Orochimaru split off seven snake heads to entangle the Fourth Raikage, while the remaining one lunged ferociously at the Kumogakure ninjas in the dense forest.

The snake body stretched dozens of meters; Shinsuke Uchiha only saw a flash of white, and his opponent, that Kumogakure jonin, had already vanished before his eyes.

Quickly checking his momentum, Shinsuke Uchiha looked back instinctively, just in time to see a mangled, torn body being spat out from the snake's mouth.

A chill ran through Shinsuke Uchiha, but at that moment, a short blade struck out while he was distracted; he hurriedly suppressed his wandering thoughts and lunged at the next opponent.

Yet, in his heart, he thought, it's a good thing this monster isn't an enemy.

"Damn it!"

The Fourth Raikage's body transformed into a blade of lightning, drilling a large hole through one of the giant snakes, yet there was not a hint of triumph on his face.

Because, the moment he passed through, the wound on the snake head began to shrink and heal.

It appeared as though he was suppressing the Yamata no Orochi, but in reality, the creature was pinning him down, and Orochimaru still had the energy to slaughter the Kumogakure ninjas in the forest.

The Fourth Raikage let out a roar toward the woods, "Everyone, get away from here!"

Hearing this order, the Kumogakure ninjas shook off their respective opponents and scrambled to flee into the distance.

"Hiss... Listen to my command, all Konoha ninjas, do not leave a hundred-meter radius around me."

The white snake wore an insidious smile, "No need to worry about the retreating Kumogakure ninjas."

The Konoha side, who were about to pursue, instinctively stopped in their tracks; after realizing the situation, they thought it made sense.

They were the defensive force; if the Kumogakure ninjas wanted to flee, let them flee.

Thus, the Konoha ninjas stood their ground, wearing half-smiles as they watched the fleeing Kumogakure ninjas.

With hands freed, some of the elite Uchiha, their tomoe spinning in their eyes, even wanted to attempt to support Orochimaru.

Although they only cast genjutsu from afar, the Raikage's movements were hindered, preventing him from continuing his wide-sweeping attacks.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!!!"

The Fourth Raikage felt a surge of stifled rage, and the Kumogakure ninjas who had just fled felt equally humiliated, turning back once more to risk their lives in duels against the Konoha ninjas.

They had no choice; they couldn't just watch the Raikage be surrounded and killed by Konoha ninjas.

But with their minds preoccupied, they couldn't exert their full combat power, and as one side waned and the other waxed, the Konoha side, despite being outnumbered, gradually gained the upper hand.

This was actually not surprising; the Konoha force led by Orochimaru was born from the Uchiha Police Force and consisted of the elite of the elite. Now, with the night deepening, it was naturally suited for the Sharingan to shine, not to mention having Orochimaru there to hold the line.

"This cannot go on."

Sensing that the Kumogakure situation was falling into a disadvantage, the Fourth Raikage's heart sank; he had never expected such a turn of events.

If the stalemate continued, the Kumogakure side would likely suffer heavy losses.

Thus, he roared loudly, "Killer B, destroy the Konoha fortress!"

That circular building, decorated like a lightbulb, had not yet been destroyed under Orochimaru's deliberate control.

Although the hastily cast barrier technique was poor, the aftermath of the battlefield was merely scattered rocks and broken wood, which wasn't enough to destroy it.

Hearing the Raikage's order, Killer B also sensed that things were going poorly. He ignored Manda's biting and, controlling the Eight-Tails Gyuki, opened his mouth to condense a Tailed Beast Ball.

"Don't even think about it!"

Manda naturally wouldn't let him attack as he pleased, and its body coiled toward the head of the Eight-Tails.

However, Killer B ignored it completely; instead of stopping, he accelerated the condensation speed, a massive amount of Yin-Yang Release chakra gathering before him, clearly signaling that if Manda interfered, he would let the Tailed Beast Ball explode right in front of them.

Intimidated by Killer B's reckless move, Manda's actions stalled.

It had accepted Orochimaru's summoning only to earn some extra pay; it wasn't worth risking its life for this, and besides, Orochimaru wasn't a successor of Ryūchi Cave, nor did he have the aptitude to practice Senjutsu.

The Tailed Beast Ball took a moment to condense; clearly, Killer B, as the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, was not yet as proficient as he would be in later years.

But a Tailed Beast Ball was still a Tailed Beast Ball; the highly condensed sphere of chakra, accompanied by the sonic boom of air, flew toward the Yamata no Orochi.

Behind Orochimaru stood the 'fortress'.

The Fourth Raikage jumped away first; even with his constitution, taking a hit from a Tailed Beast Ball was no laughing matter.

The actions of the Yamata no Orochi, however, exceeded the Raikage's expectations; it stood directly in the flight path of the Tailed Beast Ball, as if it intended to block the blast with its own body.

"Could it be that this fortress is real?"

This thought flashed through the mind of the Fourth Raikage; other than this, he could not think of any other explanation for Orochimaru's actions.

But was that really the case?

At the very least, Fugaku Uchiha knew whether the building was real or fake, and he was also extremely confused by Orochimaru's behavior.

Amidst the confusion of both sides, Orochimaru raised his cold, serpentine eyes, staring at the incoming Tailed Beast Ball.

His goal was naturally not to protect a fake fortress; he wanted the battle to continue.

The Raikage was afraid of heavy losses and dared not continue fighting, but Orochimaru dared.

Orochimaru did not fear losses; as long as he could end the war between Kumogakure and Konoha, he would not stop even if it meant fighting until only one person remained.

Moreover, having finally gained the upper hand, how could he let this war end so easily?

With a shift in his thoughts, Yamata no Orochi moved its body to the side, and just as everyone thought Orochimaru was about to give up on protecting the fortress, one of the snake heads slammed into the Tailed Beast Ball.

Like a whip striking a spinning top, the giant snake collided with the Tailed Beast Ball, causing the trajectory of the Tailed Beast Ball to deflect upward by a few degrees.

BOOM...

The Tailed Beast Ball grazed the top of the fortress and exploded in the distant forest, causing the earth to tremble violently.

However, Orochimaru had defended the fortress, though the cost was that the snake head was completely annihilated.

The Kumogakure side felt no relief whatsoever, because under everyone's gaze, flesh and blood began to surge out from the severed wound; it would likely not be long before that snake head recovered once again.

"That bastard Orochimaru, when did he become so fierce?"

Manda witnessed the scene of the snake head whipping the Tailed Beast Ball and felt a chill run down its spine.

"No, this guy has always been this ruthless—to others, and to himself."

Manda felt a sense of foreboding, because it was its own inaction that had just sabotaged Orochimaru.

The new book period really needs readers to follow along; I hope everyone will show their support.