Even though Uchiha Itachi was now a missing-nin of the Land of Fire and a member of the Akatsuki, deep down his heart still clung to Konoha.
And within Senju Haruto's group stood Uchiha Sasuke, someone Itachi valued above all else.
From the current situation, if the shinobi of Kumogakure were allowed to send word back, it would put Haruto's side at a disadvantage.
That was why Itachi had unleashed his explosive shadow clone, wiping out the opposition before they could sound the alarm.
What he hadn't expected was for Killer B to suddenly turn on Haruto.
The whole battlefield fell into heavy silence.
Sasuke still had countless words burning inside him—questions he longed to hurl at his brother. Why had he abandoned the village? Why had he forsaken the Uchiha clan?
Why had he… left him?
But now was not the time. Killer B's strength was overwhelming—if Sasuke let his guard slip for even a moment, he would be swallowed up by the destructive shockwaves rippling across the battlefield. He had no choice but to keep his eyes locked on the fight between Haruto and B.
Once he entered the second stage of his Tailed Beast transformation, Killer B's power and speed spiked dramatically.
After his opening strike failed, he used that speed to instantly appear behind Haruto, clasping his hands together and swinging down hard at the back of his head.
But Haruto's reflexes and movements were not a whit slower than B's in this form.
In one smooth motion, Haruto pivoted, lifted his right hand, and caught B's strike head-on.
BOOM!
The clash detonated like thunder, blasting the lake below into towering waves that surged and crashed over both combatants.
"This… impossible…"
B's heart sank in shock. He hadn't held back—not in strength, not in killing intent. Yet instead of injuring Haruto, his strike had been caught effortlessly, as if it were nothing.
In his mind, this was unthinkable.
"Is that really all you've got?"
Haruto raised his chin, staring up at the massive, half-transformed B.
"Don't waste both our time."
"As far as I know, you're Kumogakure's most perfect Jinchūriki—the one who can achieve complete Tailed Beast transformation."
"If you've got that kind of power, then maybe—maybe—you'll be able to hold my interest for a while."
These weren't words of mockery.
Ever since Haruto's power had risen to near-invincible heights, he had felt a void inside him—a lack of anything that could ignite real excitement.
Maybe Killer B wasn't the peak of the shinobi world, but of the enemies Haruto had faced so far, B was undoubtedly among the strongest.
If he fought at full strength, perhaps—just perhaps—Haruto might feel the thrill of battle again.
"The most perfect Jinchūriki…"
B muttered under his breath, and in that instant recalled what had happened to Yugito, the Two-Tails' host—captured and dragged back to Konoha by this very man, Senju Haruto.
The thought of her fate only fueled his fury further.
Even his usual rapping—his constant rhythm and rhymes—fell silent.
"I'll take you down!"
B roared, his body swelling, hardening, morphing in rapid, terrifying breaths until at last he erupted into his full form.
As the crashing waves receded, the colossal figure of the Eight-Tails, Gyūki, towered over the battlefield.
Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke, and Izumi all froze in place, stunned.
"That… that's a Tailed Beast?"
Izumi's throat tightened as the truth hit her—within the body of every Jinchūriki was a monstrous creature like this.
For Konoha, it was Naruto, the boy who carried the Nine-Tails within him.
"I'm afraid so…" Kakashi nodded gravely.
"I heard tales of Killer B back during the Third Great Shinobi War. Even then, he fought as the most perfect Jinchūriki, able to wield his beast without losing himself."
"The most perfect Jinchūriki…"
Both Sasuke and Sakura sucked in sharp breaths.
If Senju Haruto hadn't been here, they would have been utterly helpless against such a monster.
Now Sasuke understood—this was why Haruto had insisted on accompanying them.
He must have foreseen every possible outcome.
And beyond them, Uchiha Itachi watched keenly.
Before Haruto's arrival, he and Kisame had already clashed with B.
Even his Mangekyō's Amaterasu had failed to finish the fight. If it had dragged on, he would have been forced to call upon Susanoo.
"Killer B truly deserves the title of perfect Jinchūriki," Itachi muttered under his breath.
"Haruto… how will you respond?"
From what Itachi knew, Haruto would never allow his growth to stagnate—not after these past years.
"RROOOOAAARRR!"
The Eight-Tails bellowed, lunging down at Haruto with a massive fist.
But Haruto stood rooted in place, neither flinching nor retreating.
He clapped his hands together, voice steady.
"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"
The lake trembled violently, splitting apart under the sheer force of chakra. Even Kakashi and the others had to focus their chakra into their feet to avoid toppling over.
A titanic wooden giant, its face twisted and fierce, rose from beneath the waters, lifting Haruto up to stand upon its crown.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
Haruto's hands clapped once more, and from the giant's body, a serpentine wooden dragon coiled upward, lashing out to bind Gyūki's massive arms.
Both B and Gyūki froze for a heartbeat.
They had heard of the legendary Wood Release before—but seeing its overwhelming might firsthand was another matter entirely.
For Gyūki, especially, it triggered bitter memories.
Long ago, it was the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, who had subdued him and then sold him off to Kumogakure.
The sight of these techniques stirred that buried humiliation.
It wasn't an exaggeration.
Even the Third Raikage—hailed as the strongest spear and shield—had only ever fought Gyūki to a stalemate before collapsing in exhaustion.
But Hashirama had crushed him, dominating with no room for resistance.
"Bijūdama!"
Gyūki's massive maw opened, chakra swirling into a dense, black sphere—his ultimate attack, meant to annihilate the Wood Human before it fully surfaced.
But before the Tailed Beast Bomb could launch, the wooden giant's massive arm burst up from the waters.
With the Wood Dragon locking Gyūki's limbs, he couldn't pull free.
Haruto's gaze sharpened as he rose from looking up… to looking down.
His Wood Release was stronger than even Hashirama's.
His Wood Human was vaster, more powerful.
CRACK!
The wooden giant's hand clamped down on the Bijūdama.
With brute force alone, it crushed the sphere until it imploded, the blast rippling outward in violent waves.
When the smoke cleared, the giant's palm remained untouched—while Gyūki himself staggered, reeling from the backlash.
"An Eight-Tails… nothing more."
Senju Haruto's verdict rang out cold and absolute.
...
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