Since you're going all out, I'll have to get serious too!

"No, you do!"

Uchiha Yi raised his hand and pointed at her abdomen.

Damn it, he's after Matatabi! Fury flared in Yugito's heart, and she threw caution to the wind.

"You dare set your sights on Matatabi? Then die!"

Scalding red chakra surged from her body, and two blood-red chakra tails unfurled in an instant. She had undergone Tailed Beast Transformation!

Knowing how dangerous the man before her was, Yugito transformed without a moment's hesitation, and Matatabi, the Two-Tails, cooperated fully!

"Hey, I just want a little chakra. Do you really have to get so worked up?"

The instant her transformation finished, she attacked. Moving at an absurd speed, she darted in front of Uchiha Yi and swiped at him with blood-red, chakra-cloaked claws. He easily dodged them, then-boom!

Yugito was sent flying with a single kick despite her Tailed Beast Transformation.

"Yugito, this isn't working. He's too strong. Let me take over!"

The Two-Tails shouted inside her mind.

"Got it. Let's go all out, then!"

"Right!"

Boom! Immense chakra roiled, and a moment later, the Tailed Beast Transformation was complete. Her appearance changed entirely.

"Oh, a full Tailed Beast Transformation?"

Yugito was no longer visible. Only Matatabi, the Two-Tails, remained. Unlike Naruto, Yugito could not only control Matatabi's power but also shared an exceptionally close bond with her, one that even Killer B and the Eight-Tails couldn't match. Such a complete transformation did Yugito no harm and even boosted her strength. This was a little troublesome.

Uchiha Yi sighed, though his expression remained unchanged.

"Human, we don't want to fight you. Leave now, and we'll pretend none of this ever happened."

Matatabi spoke.

But Uchiha Yi shook his head. "Relax, I don't want to fight either. I only want a little of your..."

Uchiha Yi really only wanted some chakra, but Matatabi didn't see it that way. What did a Tailed Beast have to offer? Nothing but the beast itself. The Two-Tails had seen this sort of thing far too often and immediately decided he was just like everyone else: he was after her.

This was bad!

If that was how it was, she could only fight!

Matatabi attacked immediately.

"Fire Rat Ball!"

A great barrage of flames shot forth, but Uchiha Yi dodged every one. A fierce gust swept toward him as Matatabi charged to his side and slashed at him with her claws.

I can't meet that head-on right now. Something this big is a little troublesome.

Uchiha Yi shook his head. "Lightning Release: Kirin!"

A massive lightning kirin appeared with a roar and charged toward Matatabi.

Yet instead of retreating before the lightning kirin, Matatabi charged straight at it. "Cold-Blooded Pursuit!"

Blue flames suddenly ignited across the Two-Tails' body, and she rushed forward, smashing the lightning kirin apart.

As expected of a Tailed Beast. Such an overwhelming chakra attack really is powerful. But...

Uchiha Yi formed hand seals, and his aura shifted. "Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"

Although he had neither the Rinnegan nor transplanted Wood Release, he could now use Wood Release normally, and its power was considerable. Bang, bang, bang! Countless trees burst out of the ground and immediately...

"Wood Release! You can actually use Wood Release?"

Matatabi was shocked, and her fear deepened. She remembered witnessing the God of Shinobi's Wood Release during the Warring States Period. That man was the reason she had been sealed inside a Jinchūriki. She wasn't alone; every Tailed Beast feared him.

"Damn it, do you think you're Hashirama Senju?"

Matatabi let out a howl and tore free of the wooden golem's restraints. Inside her, Yugito was panicking, but she couldn't get a single word through.

Like a cat with its fur on end, Matatabi opened her huge mouth and formed a Tailed Beast Bomb. The surrounding air trembled, its overpowering force threatening to crush the atmosphere itself.

Uchiha Yi gave a low cry, and blue lightning erupted all over his body. Though he hadn't deliberately entered Sage Mode, his chakra had already undergone a complete transformation and was no different from senjutsu chakra. His normal state was comparable to other people's Sage Mode.

As the Tailed Beast Bomb hurtled toward him, Uchiha Yi merely raised a hand and caught that terrifying mass of energy as casually as if he were catching a marble.

Inside the Two-Tails, Yugito was utterly stunned. Even the Fourth Raikage wouldn't dare take a Tailed Beast Bomb head-on, yet this kid had caught one with a raised hand?

Matatabi completely lost her temper and charged with a howl. Uchiha Yi had no intention of clashing with her head-on, however. He simply lifted his foot and kicked her flying.

What followed was rather comical. Uchiha Yi kicked Matatabi back and forth like a ball until she was dazed, then the branches of Deep Forest Emergence wrapped tightly around her, leaving her unable to struggle free.

Uchiha Yi reached out and extracted a portion of Matatabi's chakra, sending it straight into the Flying Thunder God Space and handing it to a waiting Shadow Clone to cultivate.

Just then, a dark shape crashed into the battlefield, pulverizing the surrounding trees. Killer B's booming voice followed. "Yo! The Eight-Tails' best buddy is here!"

Yugito struggled to her feet and shouted urgently, "Killer B, watch out! This guy's from the Akatsuki! He just stole Matatabi's chakra, and he's definitely after the Eight-Tails too!"

Killer B had been fooling around at first, but the moment he heard "Akatsuki," he became serious. Seven swords spun around him as he lunged at Uchiha Yi.

His Seven Sword Style attacks struck the blue lightning surrounding Uchiha Yi without leaving so much as a mark. Killer B darted back and fixed him with a serious stare. "Kid, tell me your name. You've earned the right to be remembered by yours truly!"

Uchiha Yi smiled, his tone breezy. "I don't need you to remember me. I only need a little something from you."

Killer B was about to snap back, and Yugito hurried to warn him again, but before she could finish, Uchiha Yi had already taken his fighting stance.

Killer B was about to snap back, and Yugito hurried to warn him, but before she could finish, Uchiha Yi had already taken his fighting stance.

Killer B stared at Uchiha Yi, inwardly ranting, Akatsuki, my ass. I'm with the Akatsuki? Do you think Hidan and Kakuzu are dead? Sure, those two really are dead as doornails, but that doesn't mean you can just slap a label on me.

But on second thought, the man who had just stolen the Two-Tails' chakra really had been targeted by the Akatsuki, and his expression immediately hardened.

"So you're with the Akatsuki. Then yours truly is going to get serious!"

A shrill roar erupted as chakra surged wildly around Killer B. The markings of Tailed Beast Transformation spread over his skin, and the light of a Tailed Beast stone shone between his fingers.

"Lariat!"

Killer B became a pillar of lightning and slammed toward Uchiha Yi. That brute force suited his temperament perfectly.

Yet to everyone's surprise, Uchiha Yi caught that tremendous force steadily with just one hand.

With a dull thud, Killer B felt as though he had crashed into an entire mountain. He was stopped dead, unable to move.

Before he could react, a foot was already driving toward his chest.

"Ah! Lord Murderous Bee is getting angry!"

Killer B roared in fury, and the Eight-Tails' chakra within him erupted fully. A spectral Tailed Beast rose behind him, its eight tails whipping deep trenches into the ground.

"Heh, the same old trick?"

Uchiha Yi smiled faintly, though inwardly he was a little surprised.

"Since you're going all out, I'll have to get serious too!"

"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"

"Wood Release: Wood Golem Technique!"

Two wooden dragons instantly coiled around the Eight-Tails, but with its eight tails, the beast proved impossible for them to bind completely for the moment.

Then, with a thunderous rumble, a wooden golem dozens of meters tall rose from the ground and seized the Eight-Tails by the head.

"Rooar!"

The Eight-Tails bellowed furiously and opened its mouth to spit out a Tailed Beast Bomb. Bomb after bomb slammed into the wooden golem, the explosive shock waves uprooting every tree nearby.

"Tsk, much trickier than the Two-Tails."

Uchiha Yi muttered the words, but there wasn't a hint of tension on his face.

"But this is causing too much of a commotion. I need to finish this quickly."

He looked up toward the distance, where powerful waves of Lightning Release chakra were already approaching. Reinforcements from Kumogakure had clearly arrived.

"Killer B, you're pretty strong. In recognition of your ability, I'll get serious this once!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Uchiha Yi rapidly formed hand seals.

"Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands!"

An enormous Buddha statue with countless gigantic arms appeared in midair.

Not good!

The Eight-Tails' heart tightened as an intense sense of danger instantly gripped it.

But before it could react, Uchiha Yi had already unleashed his next move.

"Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands!"

With his low shout, the Buddha statue's countless enormous arms swung wildly. Dull, pounding impacts merged into an unbroken barrage, leaving the Eight-Tails no room to dodge.

Before long, the Eight-Tails' spectral form was beaten apart completely. Killer B fell out of the air and lost consciousness on the spot.

Uchiha Yi drifted down beside Killer B, reached out, and extracted chakra from the Eight-Tails' core within him, storing it in the Flying Thunder God Space.

Once he was finished, Uchiha Yi gave Yugito a dispassionate glance from nearby, then vanished without a trace using the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Several figures appeared on the battlefield in an instant. Their leader was wrapped in blue Lightning Release chakra: the Fourth Raikage.

Yugito let out a long breath of relief. She was about to speak when she noticed the Raikage staring fixedly at Killer B on the ground.

"Yugito, are you all right? What exactly happened here?"

The Raikage flashed to Killer B's side. When he saw that more than half the bones in his body were shattered, his expression instantly darkened.

"Damn it, did that brat cause trouble again?"

Yugito quickly waved her hands. "No, Lord Raikage! Please check Killer B's injuries first. He got them fighting someone from the Akatsuki!"

The Raikage frowned. He had only seen the devastated battlefield and assumed Killer B and Yugito had fought each other.

But the sight of Killer B's nearly broken body, along with the residual Wood Release chakra in the distance, made him understand immediately.

Though he dearly wanted to chase down Uchiha Yi and settle the score, he knew that saving Killer B took priority.

He picked up the unconscious Killer B and told Yugito, "We're returning to Kumogakure first. Killer B's injuries need immediate treatment!"

Not long afterward, in Kumogakure's Hokage office, the Raikage stared at the remaining mass of Eight-Tails chakra in his hand, his expression thunderous.

After hearing the full story from Yugito, the Fourth Raikage's face instantly darkened like a lump of iron soaked in ink.

"You're saying some mysterious guy suddenly appeared, beat you down in your Complete Tailed Beast Transformation, and even defeated Killer B in his Complete Tailed Beast Transformation?"

"That's right. And I believe he's almost certainly a member of the Akatsuki!"

Although Yugito was certain he belonged to the Akatsuki, the Raikage didn't fully believe it. Instead, he felt something was off.

"That Akatsuki really is brazen, daring to target the two of you."

But when he recalled Yugito saying that their opponent possessed Wood Release, doubts stirred again.

He can actually use Wood Release? Who on earth is this guy? Could he be from Konoha?