Tentacles in the Cold Wind

"Failed. Killer B... it had to be Minato Namikaze who saved them."

"I never expected the Flying Thunder God to be able to transport other people as well!"

The Eight-Tails could vaguely sense Kato Osamu's instantaneous disappearance. Its tentacles flailed and slammed against the ground, as though venting its frustration at the failure.

Jiraiya frowned deeply as he stared at the Eight-Tails, which had begun to go berserk.

"Why... did the Eight-Tails fire the Tailed Beast Ball at Minato's subordinates...?"

Jiraiya recalled Minato's expression just now. He had seemed to know the direction the Tailed Beast Ball would be fired in beforehand, but Jiraiya knew Minato well. Minato did not possess such an ability.

Doubt filled his eyes. As if it had sensed something, Gamabunta answered, "Jiraiya, you know about Susanoo, right...?"

"You mean?"

Jiraiya looked at Gamabunta in confusion. Although that blue giant just now had looked very similar to Susanoo, he could tell that it definitely was not Susanoo.

"That giant energy construct resembling Susanoo—at the instant it looked at me, I sensed the aura of death... The difference was that it felt as though my entire soul was being pulled out of my body..."

"A soul... Minato's subordinate... Could it have been him...?"

Jiraiya remembered Kato Osamu, whom he had met once before. He was Dan's nephew, but Jiraiya had never heard of the Kato Clan possessing such a secret technique. He frowned, recalling the methods Dan had once used, but found nothing.

"Minato went to rescue them. They should be fine..."

"The Eight-Tails sent us such a 'generous gift.' Now it's our turn!"

Gamabunta held his short blade before himself, one hand lightly braced against the ground. A cold gleam flashed in his eyes as he replied steadily, "Toad Taro sent word. They're ready..."

"Good!"

Jiraiya stared at the Eight-Tails, cold light flickering in his eyes. If the Cloud Shinobi who had deployed a Tailed Beast were to launch such a Tailed Beast Ball into Konoha's camp, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Ninja Art: Four-Corner Barrier!

Silver-white light suddenly emerged from the four corners surrounding the Eight-Tails, continuously connecting together.

On the ground in all four directions, countless sealing characters began to emerge from unfurled scrolls. Four head-sized toads sat atop the character for "barrier" at the very center of the scrolls. Their expressions varied, yet all carried a trace of calm nonchalance.

The sealing characters seemed to come alive, flowing from the scrolls and into their bodies.

"Croak, croak, croak..."

The four toads began croaking nonstop. The grating sound waves crashed around the Eight-Tails, making it feel dizzy for an instant as the barrier rapidly unfolded.

"Not good! It's a barrier technique!"

Without Minato holding him back, A charged toward Jiraiya. Yet the suddenly rising silver-white barrier made his expression change drastically, and his heart sank.

Killer B had only recently become a perfect Jinchuriki. He should not have been sent into battle so soon. If Killer B were captured by Konoha because of this and the Cloud Shinobi lost the Eight-Tails, then A would become a sinner of the Cloud Shinobi!

A faint trace of regret rose in his heart...

"Damn it! Damn it!"

"Killer B, you idiot! Wake up already!"

Furious, A surged toward Jiraiya in a blaze of lightning. He understood that if he wanted to rescue the Eight-Tails trapped by the barrier technique, he had to restrain Jiraiya.

Lightning Release: Lightning Oppression Horizontal!

A cloak of lightning covered his body as A leaped high into the air, his figure like a thunderbolt crashing down. A savage, ruthless hand strike shot straight for Jiraiya's chest.

"Jiraiya, I'll stop him!"

Jiraiya jumped down from Gamabunta's head and rapidly formed hand seals.

Gamabunta drew his blade and slashed at A. The instant the hand strike collided with the short blade, Gamabunta was forced back again and again. He had not expected A's attack to be so violent.

A thick plume of smoke burst from Gamabunta's nostrils, and a cold bead of sweat rolled down his brow.

Fire Release: Flame Bullet!

At that moment, Jiraiya also spat out a blazing fireball, forcing A back.

"Gamabunta... that was pathetic..."

"Shut up!"

The Eight-Tails also awoke from its dizziness. Its eight tentacles continuously battered the inner walls of the barrier, making the entire barrier shake violently.

"Jiraiya... it looks like it'll be difficult to take down the Eight-Tails today..."

"Minato still hasn't arrived after all this time. It seems his Chakra has been exhausted, and he can't use the Flying Thunder God over such a long distance again..."

"With just the two of us, it'll be difficult to defeat the Third Raikage's son while completely sealing the Eight-Tails..."

Gamabunta was battle-hardened, and his judgment of the situation remained sharp. A's attack just now had also made him understand that the Third Raikage's son was not merely the muscle-headed brute he appeared to be.

"What a pity... that technique hasn't been mastered yet..."

Jiraiya inwardly lamented. If he had mastered his Senjutsu, he would not have feared them even if the two joined forces.

He could roughly guess that Minato's three subordinates had likely been too badly injured, forcing Minato to send them directly back to camp and preventing him from returning for the moment.

If that was the case, there seemed to be no point in continuing the battle.

"Gamabunta, go back first..."

Jiraiya gently patted Gamabunta's webbed foot and concealed a seal on his body.

"Eight-Tails, even if I can't seal you, I'll still make you shed a layer of skin..."

"Then be careful..."

Gamabunta understood immediately. He cast one final glance at A, blew smoke from his nostrils, and vanished from the battlefield.

Barrier! Lockdown!

Jiraiya roared, and the silver-white barrier instantly contracted. Countless chains crisscrossed out from within it. The Eight-Tails continually dodged, but the cramped space made it impossible to evade them all. Chains tipped with sharp hooks pierced its body one after another.

"Killer B, these chains carry sealing inscriptions! They're devouring my Chakra!"

"Little Eight, the barrier seems to have loosened a little. These chains consumed a huge amount of the barrier's energy!"

Killer B carefully examined the area around the barrier and suddenly found a tiny flaw.

"There!"

The eight tentacles gathered together like an unopened lotus and began spinning at extreme speed. The tentacles, normally soft as long whips, now seemed to possess the sheen of steel.

"Break!"

"It won't be that easy..."

Jiraiya chuckled softly.

The gap in the barrier was naturally a flaw he had deliberately exposed. The interwoven chains began to tighten continuously.

In an instant, the silver-white barrier walls transformed into countless wind blades that sliced through the Eight-Tails' body. Its body, restrained by the chains, was cut to pieces by the innumerable wind blades.

"Killer B! The barrier's gone! These wind blades and chains... damn it!"

"Use the tentacle substitute!"

The Eight-Tails' body suddenly shrank. The chains snapped tight, but all they caught was a massive octopus tentacle. Killer B soared into the air, shifted his form, and drew the Eight-Tails back into his body.

"Jiraiya really lives up to his reputation. He actually forced Little Eight into such a state..."

Killer B landed and charged toward Jiraiya at high speed, one arm raised high. His thick arm was like the gnarled trunk of an ancient tree, brimming with power.

The chains dragged the Eight-Tails' tentacle along as they rapidly contracted back into the scroll. The originally silver-white chains had completely turned into black runes, forming a massive character for "seal" on the scroll.

The four toads immediately rolled up their scrolls and leaped away. A cloud of smoke rose in the air, and the four toad brothers abruptly vanished within it.

"I didn't expect an unexpected gain..."

Having sealed one of the Eight-Tails' tentacles, Jiraiya was in high spirits. He narrowed his eyes at Killer B and A charging at him from front and back, pressed his palms together, and immediately connected his Chakra to the seal hidden on Gamabunta's body.

"Eight-Tails, I'll let you off today..."

The instant his words fell, Killer B and A's charging arms collided like two iron boulders. The shockwave caused the already desolate ground to sink even further.

Double Lariat!

Killer B and A's heavy strike hit nothing but air. Jiraiya had already vanished amid a cloud of smoke.

"It's the Reverse Summoning Technique..."

"Damn it!"

A biting wind blew in from beyond the mountains and forest, making A's clothes flap loudly. As he finished cursing, the last streak of sunset slipped beyond the horizon, and night gradually began to shroud the sky.

The remaining four Jonin who had hurried over slowly appeared behind A, silently staring at the forest that had nearly become a wasteland.

The six of them stood silently in the harsh, cold wind, looking at one another without a word...