Chapter 144 – Gyūki Recalls the Fear of Domination
> "The Hokage… from Konoha Village?!"
Cries of disbelief rippled through the Hidden Cloud Village.
This was Kumogakure — deep within the mountains, far beyond the borders of the Land of Fire.
How could Konoha's Hokage appear here, silently, above their skies?
Panic spread like wildfire.
The sharper minds — the merchants and wanderers who made their living on the village streets — wasted no time. They hastily packed their goods and fled toward the mountain passes.
They were outsiders, here only to earn coin. Staying meant death.
Every one of them reached the same conclusion: run now, or never.
But the true citizens of Kumogakure — the proud people of the Hidden Cloud — did not move.
This was a village built upon strength.
Even ordinary civilians, those without chakra or shinobi training, were schooled from birth in Taijutsu and weapon use.
Every man, woman, and child here was a soldier at heart — their blood burned with pride.
So when Fugaku's telepathic warning echoed through their minds, they did not flee.
They ran home.
From gray-haired elders to children barely tall enough to hold a blade, the villagers took up their axes, spears, and swords.
Groups formed naturally across the streets and rooftops.
All eyes turned skyward, toward the crimson colossus hovering among the clouds — their expressions resolute, fearless.
The shinobi of Kumogakure moved to the front lines, forming a protective wall before the civilians.
No one had ordered them. It was instinct — honor.
Minute after minute passed.
The red giant above them — Susanoo — remained still.
But beneath that silence, no one relaxed.
Every person had heard the same promise: ten minutes.
Ten minutes until annihilation.
And so, as the seconds ticked by, desperation began to set in.
Some Cloud shinobi rushed to find their superiors, hoping to retrieve the secret weapons their village had been developing.
But the truth soon struck them like a blade to the chest — every senior officer had been in the Raikage Building.
And that building no longer existed.
The village's leadership had been erased in a single strike.
Without orders, the shinobi fell back on instinct — they began organizing civilians for one last stand.
Messengers raced through the streets, heading toward the training grounds and the west valley.
Two names echoed on their lips:
Killer Bee — the Eight-Tails' Jinchūriki, brother of the Fourth Raikage.
And Nii Yugito — the Two-Tails' Jinchūriki, beloved protector of the village.
If any hope remained, it was in them.
Only those two could stand against the monstrous giant.
They were the only weapons Kumogakure had left.
---
"Lord Killer Bee is here!"
A shout rose from the main road.
All eyes turned as Killer Bee approached, his face grim and silent — a rare sight for the ever-smiling rapper.
Even from afar, he could feel the immense pressure radiating from the sky. The crimson energy that burned above the clouds was suffocating.
Within him, Gyūki's voice rumbled.
> "Bee… that thing up there — it's bad news."
Killer Bee frowned. "You know what it is?"
> "That's Susanoo — the divine power of the Uchiha Clan,"
Gyūki explained, his tone solemn.
"Only an Uchiha who has awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan can summon it. And that one…"
"That one's complete."
Bee's brows furrowed. "Complete? What's that supposed to mean?"
> "It means you're looking at its final form."
"The same form Uchiha Madara once used."
At that, even Bee's confident grin faltered.
Gyūki continued, voice low and heavy.
> "To summon a Complete Body Susanoo, mere Mangekyō eyes aren't enough. Only those who possess eyes beyond the Mangekyō — eyes like Madara's — can wield such power."
> "The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan."
Killer Bee fell silent.
Gyūki didn't add the rest — he didn't want to.
Because he remembered.
He remembered the battlefield long ago — the sky darkened by wood and fire, when two men had appeared like gods among insects.
Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara.
One had called forth forests that devoured mountains.
The other had summoned this very same crimson titan — a Susanoo so immense that even Tailed Beasts looked small before it.
Gyūki's deep voice trembled slightly as he recalled it.
> "I've seen it before… that power. We — the nine of us — were nothing to them."
He saw it again through Bee's eyes now — the same glowing armor, the same divine posture that once towered over him as he was chained and sealed like a beast of burden.
It was that memory — the helplessness, the humiliation — that still haunted the Eight-Tails.
> "After that day," Gyūki murmured bitterly, "we were no longer free. We were captured. Sealed inside humans. Played with like toys."
His immense chakra rippled faintly, tinged with an emotion Bee had never felt from him before.
Fear.
After a long silence, Gyūki finally spoke again.
> "Bee… maybe we should run."
Bee blinked in disbelief. "Run? You serious, old bull?"
> "You don't understand," Gyūki said gravely. "We can't win against that. That's not an enemy — it's a force of nature."
Bee squinted up at the red giant, his jaw tightening.
"Come on, Eighty. Ain't no way it's unbeatable. What if I blast it with a Tailed Beast Ball? That thing's stronger than anything I got. Maybe I can punch a hole through it!"
> "Don't even think about it."
Gyūki's tone hardened.
> "I've seen nine of our Tailed Beast Bombs shattered by that blade. That Susanoo… it cut them apart like sparks in the wind."
Bee froze mid-step. "Wait… you've seen that happen?"
Gyūki's silence was answer enough.
Finally, he muttered,
> "I have. And if you're smart, you won't try to repeat our mistake."
Bee looked up at the sky again — at the red god of destruction that hung motionless above his home.
For the first time in years, the hero of Kumogakure felt small.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you like the story please give it some power stones and reviews. And if you want to read 40+ advance chapters or just want to support me please join my patreon at [email protected]/Translatingfanfics