chapter 88 part 4
Burubi had no intention of holding back.
Not using Eight-Tails chakra, and fighting himself? Don't be ridiculous. Although Burubi didn't recognize Orochimaru, he knew this was an extremely terrifying powerhouse. And someone who could command such a powerhouse, the Devourer manipulating these corpses from behind the scenes, would only be more troublesome.
If he fought himself and was killed, that would be the real end. The Eight-Tails within him would also die, and the Hidden Cloud Village's losses would be immeasurable.
"He went straight into tailed beast transformation. How decisive. But then again, you're a failed product always on the verge of losing control. Even without our interference, it looks like you're barely holding on."
Hiding Shadow Snake Hands!
Orochimaru first grabbed Burubi, then summoned countless poisonous snakes that swarmed towards Burubi—but it was useless.
Jinchuriki were too special. Leaving aside everything else, their tailed beast cloak alone was equivalent to a super power bank, super bulletproof vest, and medical blood pack. Most of the poisonous snakes couldn't even bite through the tailed beast cloak's protection.
*Swish!* The zombies also moved in unison. Terai, with the strongest individual combat ability, imbued his blade with a layer of chakra and immediately thrust it forward, directly piercing Burubi's heart.
Orochimaru even raised an eyebrow at the decisive strike.
"How ruthless. Tsukasa-kun's audacity is greater than I imagined. He's not afraid of accidentally killing the Eight-Tails jinchuriki," Orochimaru exclaimed excitedly. Working with someone so fearless provided an extraordinary thrill.
Of course, the risks would also increase dramatically.
"Aaaahhhh!!!"
Burubi roared in pain, immediately entering partial tailed beast transformation, and his body rapidly expanded, instantly transitioning into full tailed beast transformation.
This meant that Burubi's consciousness was suppressed *again*, and the Eight-Tails took over.
"You humans, are you trying to mess with this great one again? Over and over, endlessly. Don't think you'll succeed this time either!"
The Eight-Tails burst through the house, looked down at the blade embedded in its body, flicked it away with a finger, and snorted hot air. But soon, it let out a soft "hmm."
It realized it wasn't facing the Hidden Cloud Village's Sealing Team, nor were there a bunch of iron chains extending towards it.
"...It seems this time is different from before. The Hidden Cloud Village has been attacked by outsiders. Even the people who sealed me must be dead, right? Hahahaha!" The Eight-Tails let out a deafening laugh, mocking them greatly.
The Eight-Tails had never participated in either the First Great War or the Second Great Ninja War, constantly bickering with the Hidden Cloud Village.
To say it hated the Hidden Cloud Village as much as the Nine-Tails hated Konoha would be an exaggeration—the Eight-Tails' most painful defeat was undoubtedly its capture by Hashirama Senju.
Aside from that crushing defeat, in its battles with the Hidden Cloud Village, while it suffered considerably and felt intense anger and dissatisfaction towards the village, it hadn't experienced too much humiliation.
At most, it would periodically duel the Third Raikage, fighting until both were exhausted, then the Hidden Cloud Village's main force would seize the opportunity to seal it into the Amber Purifying Pot. From the Eight-Tails' perspective, a loss was a loss. Fighting an individual human to a draw was truly nothing to brag about.
It was nothing like the Nine-Tails, which was repeatedly humiliated by Madara and Hashirama Senju, then chained up like a dog by Mito Uzumaki for decades. The pressure and shame these three brought to the Nine-Tails were far, far greater.
The Eight-Tails had been very annoyed these past two years because the Hidden Cloud Village changed its strategy, using the Iron Armor Seal to stuff it into Burubi's body.
And Burubi was a psychologically unhealthy individual, constantly anxious and suffering about becoming a vessel. With such a mindset, how could he gain the Eight-Tails' approval?
It was Killer B's type, with a cheerful and direct personality and a simple mind, that better suited the Eight-Tails' taste. This is why, years later, he became the Eight-Tails' partner and shone brightly in the Third Great Ninja War—though ultimately becoming a stepping stone to enhance Minato Namikaze's prestige.
"Come on, humans, no matter where you're from, since you dare to appear before Lord Eight-Tails, you must be prepared to face death!"
The Eight-Tails aimed a punch at Orochimaru.
Its enormous size and thick arms meant that a simple punch had destructive power equivalent to what an ordinary ninja could never achieve in their lifetime.
*Boom!*
The ground collapsed, the lake water raged, forming powerful, surging waves.
"Tailed beasts, I really don't know where these things come from, or why they were born. A casual attack can cause such astonishing destruction."
Orochimaru licked his lips. Facing such a massive creature, especially one with numerous flexible octopus tentacles in addition to its two arms, there seemed to be no good way to deal with it other than using ninjutsu.
"But what jutsu should he use? Should he summon Manda?"
"Even if Manda came, it wouldn't be of much use. The strongest summoning beast can't defeat the weakest tailed beast, and the Eight-Tails looks very strong, probably ranking high among tailed beasts."
Orochimaru quickly retreated across the lake, constantly weighing the pros and cons.
Mainly, summoning Manda would result in a battle between two giant beasts, causing too much commotion. The Hidden Cloud Village's people would recognize him as Orochimaru attacking the Eight-Tails jinchuriki from afar.
If the incident spread afterward, Orochimaru would have to explain to the Third Hokage, which was too troublesome. Although he had already come up with a reason—to retaliate against the Hidden Cloud Village—nothing would be a more effective warning than directly attacking the Eight-Tails jinchuriki.
Upon careful consideration, Orochimaru realized he truly lacked powerful means to effectively suppress a tailed beast. This era was far from the point where people would casually deploy 'Gundams,' as seen in the Valley of the End battle and the Fourth Great Ninja War.
Unable to deploy 'Gundams' and without powerful sealing jutsu, Orochimaru was at a loss for how to deal with a powerful tailed beast like the Eight-Tails, second only to the Nine-Tails.
"In that case, I'll try this."
Summoning Jutsu: Triple Rashomon!
Three enormous demonic-faced gates descended from the sky. However, instead of blocking Orochimaru as a shield, they smashed into the Eight-Tails like cannonballs.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!* With three deafening crashes, the Eight-Tails' body was violently slammed into the ground by the three closely descending gates.
"This is my first time using this S-rank summoning jutsu this way. The effect is unexpectedly good." Orochimaru was in high spirits, having found a way to deal with a tailed beast.
Indeed, even Orochimaru hadn't accumulated much combat experience against tailed beasts. The Ninja World only began to extensively use tailed beast weapons starting from the Third Great Ninja War.
After the Third Great Ninja War, if you hadn't prepared jutsu formulas to deal with tailed beasts, you'd be too embarrassed to call yourself Kage-level.