Hatake Sakumo did not use Internal Destruction in this punch. It was pure Armament hardening.
Armament Haki covered his fist, increasing its defense while multiplying its attack power and destructive force.
He wanted iron to clash head-on with iron!
Since A had not been hit by Internal Destruction, the punch had left him battered, but he had suffered only minor surface injuries.
The instant he hit the ground, he rolled like a wild bear turning over, his legs snapping like scissors in a vicious stranglehold aimed at Hatake Sakumo's legs.
"Ground Scissor Strangle!"
Hatake Sakumo clicked his tongue.
He needed to establish his authority before the ninja of both "armies."
If he let a little move like that "donkey roll" make a fool of him, how could he keep up appearances?
In an instant, Hatake Sakumo coated himself in Armament from his feet to his knees for defense, while continuing to strike with his right fist!
This punch used Armament Haki's ability to strike at a distance. It was as if an invisible heavy fist struck A in the face as he rolled.
A had seen his legs lock around Hatake Sakumo's and was about to squeeze with all his might, relying on the boost from Lightning Release Chakra Mode and his formidable physique.
The next moment, his cheek felt as though it had been smashed by an invisible fist.
The blow was tremendously powerful. It left A's head buzzing and his vision dark, stunning him for an instant.
His stranglehold was forcibly interrupted on the spot, and he could not carry it through.
When Hatake Sakumo saw that the kid still refused to let go even after taking such a heavy punch, he immediately struck again and again with both fists.
"Bang! Bang!"
Every punch struck at a distance, smashing squarely into A's cheeks.
After a few punches, A's cheeks grew red and swollen.
Even the powerful defense of his Lightning Release Armor, combined with the defense of his thoroughly tempered body, could not block the heavy blows of those Armament-coated fists.
The swelling on A's cheeks was not "fatal." The most fatal thing was that his head was reeling, stars had begun to appear before his eyes, and his ears had started ringing.
Watching from a distance, Killer B was horrified.
His big brother was no match for him? He was being suppressed the whole time?
This wouldn't do. He couldn't let his big brother go on losing face!
Killer B could not hold back any longer and immediately began a Partial Tailed Beast Transformation.
His arms turned bright red, covered by a red Tailed Beast Cloak, while white bone emerged. Four octopus-like tails also shot out behind him.
He pushed off the ground and shot forward like an arrow, launching a sneak attack!
Seeing that he was only a few steps from reaching Hatake Sakumo's back, Killer B grinned, baring his stark white teeth, his eyes full of the pleasure of success:
"Lariat! Die, bastard!"
Hatake Sakumo was having a wonderful time pummeling A, every punch landing on flesh. He could not have felt more satisfied.
But just then, a sudden sense of danger rose in his heart.
Immediately afterward, Killer B's cry of "Lariat! Die, bastard!" reached his ears.
Hatake Sakumo immediately stopped attacking A, pushed off the ground and broke free of his leg lock. He spun around to find Killer B already charging toward him, only two steps away.
He glanced at him, both annoyed and amused.
Good grief, every one of them liked giving names to their "ordinary attacks."
An elbow strike was called Lariat, and a punch was called Lariat.
If I don't name my own moves, it'll look like I can't keep up with the trend, won't it?
But Hatake Sakumo was terrible at naming things.
After a moment's thought, he suddenly remembered the name of a move used by Garp, the marine hero from One Piece: Fist Bone: Star Breaker.
Hmm, this move is just to my taste!
Then he thought he was being underestimated:
Even your big brother, with his Lightning Release Armor active, got beaten like a dog by me. You're an Eight-Tails Jinchuriki who hasn't even grown all his hair yet, and you dare charge at me with a Partial Tailed Beast Transformation?
Tired of living?
As he spoke, Killer B's Lariat had already reached him.
Hatake Sakumo swung his right fist, unleashing the full power of his top-tier Armament. His clenched fist began to emit black "lightning," as though he were gripping some sort of "energy source" in his palm.
This was the black lightning that appeared only when Armament Haki had been cultivated to its peak and was unleashed at full power.
As Hatake Sakumo threw the punch to meet Killer B's Lariat, a ripple spread through the air, centered on his fist.
It was like a pebble dropped into still water, except the ripples were in the air rather than on the water's surface.
As the ripples spread outward in circles, a shock wave covered everything in their path.
"Fist Bone: Star Breaker!"
Hatake Sakumo shouted, and a shock wave wrapped in the "black lightning" of top-tier Armament Haki burst forth, striking the charging Killer B with its full force.
"Boom!"
Killer B flew backward like a bull hit by a train. He spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot, and his eyes rolled back as he fell unconscious.
He spun several times in the air, and the arm that had clashed head-on with Hatake Sakumo's attack was broken and crushed outright.
Seeing this, the Eight-Tails knew he could not wait any longer.
If he did not step in, the kid might be completely "swallowed" by the shock wave and die here.
Killer B hurriedly took control of the body and forcibly performed a Complete Tailed Beast Transformation.
After spinning only a few times in the air, Killer B's eyes snapped open.
The next moment, surging red Chakra erupted around him. In the blink of an eye, he became a colossal figure: Eight-Tails Gyuki had "descended"!
Gyuki's enormous body was nearly a hundred meters tall, and eight octopus-like tails stretched out behind him.
One horn on his head was intact, while the other looked as though something had forcibly broken it off, leaving only half.
The shock wave from Hatake Sakumo's Fist Bone: Star Breaker, crackling with black "lightning," was simply too powerful.
The Eight-Tails did not intend to take it head-on.
His eight tails dug firmly into the ground like anchors sunk to the bottom of the sea. Then his entire body spun, whipping up a skyful of yellow sand to resist the wide-ranging AOE shock wave.
To the onlookers, all they saw was Killer B being sent flying by a punch, then undergoing a Complete Tailed Beast Transformation and spinning on the spot, kicking up clouds of sand and dust.
As the two shock waves finally canceled each other out and gradually dissipated, the Eight-Tails stopped spinning and roared at the sky.
"Roar!"
The gust unleashed by that roar was almost equivalent to an A-rank Wind Release Ninjutsu.
Eight-Tails Gyuki stared at the white-haired man before him, his eyes shifting.
This white-haired man's strength is terrifying. He isn't the least bit inferior to the Third Raikage. I absolutely can't be careless.
He still wanted to keep his other horn.
The broken horn on his head had been forcibly snapped off by the Third Raikage back when Killer B had been controlled by Gyuki, gone completely berserk, and undergone a Complete Tailed Beast Transformation.
Having suffered a loss once before, Gyuki did not dare be careless after running into another expert of the same level.
This time, Gyuki was willing to step in and save Killer B purely because, in the time they had spent together recently, he had gradually come to acknowledge the kid.
Although the two had not yet reached the level of a "Perfect Jinchuriki" in Shippuden, Eight-Tails Gyuki did not want to stand by and watch the kid die here.
Change hosts? Who knew what annoying fellow the next one would be?
So Gyuki decided to lend a hand.
Having judged his opponent to be an expert on the Third Raikage's level, Gyuki did not dare be careless in the slightest.
He immediately swung his eight enormous "octopus tails," lashing them out fiercely.
To increase their power, every tail was covered in a red Chakra Cloak, imbued with the vast Chakra he had accumulated over many years.
The Eight-Tails was already enormous and immensely strong. With that much Chakra covering his tails as he swung them, how could their power merely double?
When Hatake Sakumo saw that the Eight-Tails had completed his transformation, he paused, then shouted sternly at the Konoha Ninja watching from a distance:
"Everyone, retreat! Get five hundred meters away! Don't get caught in the Eight-Tails' attacks. Move quickly!"