The Konoha Ninja had already been terrified by the sight of the Eight-Tails' enormous body. When they heard Lord Hokage's order, they were instantly relieved and ran for their lives.
Hatake Sakumo drew the short blade "White Fang" from behind his back with one hand and picked up A, who had been beaten senseless, with the other.
As soon as he lifted A, the Eight-Tails' eight enormous "octopus tails" swept toward him.
Still carrying A, Hatake Sakumo leaped high and narrowly dodged the Eight-Tails' attack.
Boom!
The tails slammed into the ground with an earth-shattering crash. The earth split open, and trees went flying.
After landing and steadying himself, Hatake Sakumo raised his foot and drove a heavy kick squarely into A's abdomen.
The kick used Armament's Internal Destruction.
A spat out a mouthful of blood. His Lightning Release Chakra Mode immediately deactivated, and his eyes rolled back as he lost consciousness completely.
Hatake Sakumo looked back and shouted to the Konoha Ninja who were still running, "Uchiha Arashi!"
Uchiha Arashi was running at full speed when he suddenly heard Lord Hokage call his name. He stopped and looked back, only to see Lord Hokage waving him over with someone in his hand.
A moment later, that person was thrown toward him.
Uchiha Arashi immediately understood. He wants me to take charge of the prisoner.
He hurriedly stepped back and caught A securely in his arms, then continued retreating without looking back.
Hatake Sakumo could finally focus on dealing with the Eight-Tails, Gyuki.
Meanwhile, the Kumogakure ninja also began to retreat.
They knew full well that the Eight-Tails had gone berserk again. If they stayed where they were, none of them would escape; they would all be caught in the aftermath.
Rather than throw their lives away, they might as well retreat first.
One Kumogakure ninja kept looking back as he ran, staring fixedly at the figure thrown into the "enemy camp." His steps grew unsteady, and his voice turned urgent.
"Lord A has been captured!"
A slightly older Kumogakure ninja beside him grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back, lowering his voice.
"Retreat first! Once the Eight-Tails takes care of the Konoha White Fang, we'll come back and rescue Lord A!"
Hatake Sakumo paid the Kumogakure ninja no mind. His attention was fixed entirely on the behemoth before him.
His short blade was coated in Armament Haki, its pitch-black surface gleaming with a cold metallic light.
The Eight-Tails' eight enormous octopus tails attacked again. Hatake Sakumo flashed into motion, using Moonwalk and Soru to dart and weave through the air.
He swung his short blade repeatedly, sending out Flying Slashes one after another, each wreathed in Armament Haki.
The slashes struck the Eight-Tails' tails, which were covered in a tremendous amount of Chakra. With a thunderous boom, the attacks clashed violently in midair.
Hatake Sakumo found himself in a difficult position.
The Eight-Tails was simply too enormous. He had no way to get close enough to fight it at close range.
That also meant he couldn't inject Armament Haki into the Eight-Tails to cause Internal Destruction.
And with Flying Slashes and Armament Haki alone, it was hard to sever the Eight-Tails' tails outright.
Hatake Sakumo weighed his options.
I can't keep this up.
The Eight-Tails has an absurd amount of Chakra. My stamina and Haki reserves definitely won't outlast it. I can only find a way to get close and attack its body directly with Armament Haki, causing Internal Destruction.
With that thought, Hatake Sakumo used the Body Flicker Technique and Soru to land on one of the Eight-Tails' tails and began running up it.
The Eight-Tails swung its other seven tails, whipping them fiercely at Hatake Sakumo one after another.
Hatake Sakumo slid and leaped high to dodge every attack, successfully making it onto the Eight-Tails' back.
He planted his feet on the Eight-Tails' back and, with a reverse grip, drove White Fang, coated in "top-tier Armament Haki," straight into its body.
Armament Haki flowed down the blade into the Eight-Tails' flesh, causing Internal Destruction.
The Eight-Tails let out a howl of agony.
"Roar!"
Gyuki felt an indescribable power enter its body.
That power rampaged through its internal organs like a red-hot iron snake. Wherever it burrowed, the pain was numbing.
Ignoring the stabbing pain in its back, Gyuki immediately controlled its eight tails to counterattack.
Whether it had been born with eyes in the back of its head or possessed an absurdly strong ability to sense its own presence, no one knew. Its eight tails stabbed precisely at Hatake Sakumo one after another, as though they could "see" where he was.
Seeing this, Hatake Sakumo had no choice but to pull his blade out of the Eight-Tails and dodge with Moonwalk.
And so he alternated between landing on the Eight-Tails' back to stab it a few times and pulling out his blade to dodge.
At first, the Eight-Tails Gyuki paid no attention to the repeated stabs.
With its powerful regenerative ability, such minor injuries would quickly stop bleeding and heal.
It soon discovered it was wrong.
The strange power that had burrowed into its body scorched its internal organs like a flame.
As the instances of Internal Destruction mounted, the Eight-Tails finally felt the severe injuries inside its body.
This can't go on!
The next second, the Eight-Tails rolled over.
Its massive body thrashed around on the ground, trying to shake off the white-haired man clinging to its back.
Hatake Sakumo had no choice but to jump down. He landed on the ground and raised his blade, sending two Flying Slashes into the Eight-Tails, but they left only two bloody marks.
The corner of Hatake Sakumo's mouth twitched as he complained inwardly.
This is only the Eight-Tails. If it were the Nine-Tails, those two Flying Slashes probably wouldn't even leave a scratch.
But if I fight it at close range...
It's the same problem: the Eight-Tails is too big. How many instances of Internal Destruction would it take to inflict a fatal injury?
And as for it, I wouldn't be able to withstand even one hit from a tail.
The Eight-Tails Gyuki had grown tired of being attacked and didn't want to suffer any more of that Internal Destruction.
It suddenly opened its mouth and began gathering a Tailed Beast Bomb.
Hatake Sakumo's heart tightened.
"Not good!"
He sent several Flying Slashes at the Eight-Tails' open mouth.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Just as the pitch-black slashes were about to strike the Tailed Beast Bomb that was still forming, the Eight-Tails' eight tails came up again and blocked them.
Hatake Sakumo quickly glanced around, confirming that no one else remained nearby.
The Konoha Ninja and Kumogakure ninja had all retreated more than a hundred meters away, leaving only him and the Eight-Tails.
Hatake Sakumo tightened his grip on his sword hilt and spoke in a low voice.
"You forced me to use my trump card."
A white sphere appeared on the short blade "White Fang," which Armament Haki had turned into a "black blade."
It was the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
Hatake Sakumo controlled the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power, bringing it to roughly the strength of a magnitude-eight earthquake.
He swung his short blade, sending a "white sphere" flying from it. The sphere sped straight toward the Tailed Beast Bomb forming in the Eight-Tails' mouth.
The Eight-Tails Gyuki caught sight of a white sphere flying toward it.
Though it didn't know what the sphere was, a powerful sense of danger surged from the bottom of its heart, and all the hair on its body stood on end.