But at that very moment, it was in the "windup" for a Tailed Beast Bomb. The chakra in its mouth grew denser and denser, and its massive body was unable to move for the moment.
It could only use its eight tails to intercept the attack again.
The moment the tails touched the white sphere, a series of glass-shattering sounds rang out.
The Tremor-Tremor Fruit's "magnitude-eight earthquake" sphere went off directly against its tails, unleashing its power in midair.
Boom!
In that instant, it was like the overwhelming might of heaven, like the fury of thunder and lightning!
The air seemed to shatter like an enormous pane of glass. Cracks spread through it with a series of sharp snaps, and the ground began to shake violently and split apart.
All eight of the Eight-Tails' tails, which had met the tremor sphere head-on, were shattered and broken off, falling away in severed sections.
As the earthquake's shock wave spread, the Eight-Tails itself was the first to suffer.
The shock wave struck its mouth head-on as it was forming the Tailed Beast Bomb. With two muffled grunts, it failed to form the bomb, which exploded in its mouth.
Hundreds of meters away, the ninja on both sides couldn't make out what was happening in the battle.
They could only hear the Eight-Tails roaring on the distant battlefield and feel the tremors from its enormous tails striking the ground. Then came a tremendous boom, and the entire sky and ground began to shake.
"Is this... an earthquake?"
The ninja couldn't keep their footing at all. The ground cracked and collapsed, and the trees in the forest toppled every which way. From hundreds of meters away, they could only assume the enormous commotion was the Eight-Tails Gyuki running wild.
Uchiha Retsu had been saved by Lord Hokage earlier and had never forgotten the favor. Feeling the earth-shaking disturbance, he stumbled, his face turning pale. He clenched his fists instinctively, his voice trembling.
"That's the Eight-Tails. Lord Hokage... he'll be all right, won't he?"
Uchiha Arashi held his prisoner in one hand and steadied himself with the other. Hearing that, he turned and shot Uchiha Retsu a fierce glare, then reprimanded him in a low voice.
"Shut up! Lord Hokage's abilities are beyond anything you can imagine."
Uchiha Retsu opened his mouth, wanting to say something more, but when he saw the clan elder's stern expression, he swallowed his words.
The Eight-Tails Gyuki had taken a magnitude-eight earthquake at close range. Although its tails had intercepted it in the air first, the earthquake's impact was still terrifying.
With the damage from the exploding Tailed Beast Bomb added on top, the Eight-Tails spat out a mouthful of blood, its strength visibly fading.
Its other intact horn snapped with a crack as the shock wave spread.
The Eight-Tails Gyuki's enormous body staggered, and a low, mournful cry escaped its mouth.
Hatake Sakumo stood in the middle of the debris-filled battlefield, White Fang in hand. Looking at the exhausted behemoth before him, he whistled casually.
With his trump card played, the outcome was decided.
Hatake Sakumo had no intention of using the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power again.
That single tremor wave had consumed a considerable amount of stamina. If he fired another, he wouldn't have much left.
Using Moonwalk and Soru, he leaped several times and landed on Gyuki's back again.
Gyuki was now covered in wounds.
Blood ran from the corner of its mouth...
The earlier Internal Destruction, the shock wave from the Tremor-Tremor Fruit it had faced head-on, and the energy released when the "nearly complete" Tailed Beast Bomb exploded in its mouth-together, they had inflicted injuries that were far too severe.
Hatake Sakumo slid White Fang back into the scabbard on his back, clenched both fists, and gathered Armament Haki before pounding Gyuki's back, punch after punch.
Every punch carried Internal Destruction, striking deep into Gyuki's body.
Gyuki's injuries grew worse and worse. The agony of Internal Destruction drew a series of feeble screams from it.
"Roar... roar..."
Gyuki trembled all over in pain, but its mind raced.
Better him than me. Time to run!
How could it spare a thought for the white-haired man on its back? It immediately released its Complete Tailed Beast Transformation, its enormous body shrinking in a flash as it returned directly to Killer B's body.
Its thinking was clear: If he wants to kill someone, let him kill Killer B first.
Gyuki was focused solely on fleeing for its life. All it could think about was the shock wave that had nearly shaken its internal organs to pieces.
It hadn't had time to consider that if Killer B, its Jinchūriki, really died, the seal on him would disappear as well. The sealed Tailed Beast would then reappear.
The Eight-Tails Gyuki, scared out of its wits, had completely forgotten that crucial point.
Hatake Sakumo watched the behemoth shrink back in a flash and turn into Killer B again. He couldn't help wondering.
Did I knock the Eight-Tails out? A mere Eight-Tails, and that's all it can do.
Hatake Sakumo didn't know that although the Eight-Tails was gravely injured, it had not lost the ability to move.
It had simply been beaten into submission and had slunk back into Killer B's body of its own accord.
Hatake Sakumo rubbed his chin and pondered.
He kept feeling that the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power was much stronger than it had been in the One Piece anime he remembered.
After all, in One Piece, even when Whitebeard himself used the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, the result was often just a spectacular display, with destructive power that could only be called average.
Or, more precisely, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit had been weakened by the anime and manga.
It looked intimidating: Whitebeard would clench his fist and smash it into the air, and the next moment there would be earthquakes, tsunamis, and everything else. But the actual damage was very "slight," at most on the same level as Conqueror's Haki Coating, the highest-level application of Conqueror's Haki.
In One Piece, Whitebeard had crossed blades with the Pirate King Roger many times. Roger used Conqueror's Haki Coating on his blade, while Whitebeard used the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's tremor sphere on his.
When the two clashed, they only fought to a draw.
But what about him now? A single Tremor-Tremor Fruit tremor sphere, with only the power of a magnitude-eight earthquake, had left the Eight-Tails in such a sorry state?
Hatake Sakumo couldn't be bothered to think it over. He walked over and grabbed Killer B, who was still unconscious.
He had no intention of killing Killer B.
If he killed him, the Eight-Tails would be left without a Jinchūriki, and he would have to go to the trouble of finding another Jinchūriki to seal it in.
Hatake Sakumo had actually had an idea in mind for some time: find a Tailed Beast to serve as a "power bank," providing him with a steady supply of chakra.
Even so, he had no intention of killing Killer B and becoming the Eight-Tails' Jinchūriki himself.
The Eight-Tails? He didn't even think it was good enough!
What he truly wanted was the Nine-Tails. Or even... the Ten-Tails!
Besides, he planned to keep Killer B alive for an experiment later.
Hatake Sakumo picked up Killer B and raced after the main Konoha Ninja force.
He was delighted. On this mission to stop the Land of Lightning's surprise attack, I not only captured A, the Third Raikage's son, alive, but also caught Killer B, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. What a haul!