The massive explosion rocked the battlefield, followed by a thunderous roar. A, still trading blows with Minato, knew that sound instantly. It was Killer B. It was the Eight-Tails.
He wanted to break off and help, but the Yellow Flash was impossible to pin down. Every attack slid right past. That was the problem with space-time ninjutsu. Without a counter, the user could hit and vanish whenever he wanted.
One Cloud jonin had already died to Minato's Rasengan because of a single careless moment. Hearing that roar now, A knew the fight was over.
"Buiina, get out of here. Tell the ships to stop waiting for us," A barked after forcing Minato back with a heavy punch.
The Cloud jonin glanced at him, then toward the rising mushroom cloud in the distance. She nodded once and sprinted for the coast.
Minato had no intention of letting her escape. Today had gone too well. He wanted every last Cloud ninja dead in the Land of Rivers.
There were no Flying Thunder God markers in that direction, so he had to chase with Body Flicker. A was faster in raw speed, though. The two fights finally settled into clean one-on-ones.
"A, did you ever think it would end like this? You could've taken your loot and gone home to the Land of Lightning. Why come all this way to hit Konoha?"
Minato was genuinely curious. Cloud had spent two months raiding Wind Country, lost half their force—mostly chunin—and still come out ahead. In the eyes of any village leader, chunin were replaceable. As long as the jonin survived, the village stayed strong.
They should've secured their gains and gone home. Instead they circled around and attacked Konoha. Was it just to slap the Leaf while it watched from the sidelines?
A didn't answer. What was he supposed to say? That he hated how Konoha sat back and did nothing? That he wanted to make them pay for it? The plan had been working until surprise after surprise ruined everything—first that skeletal giant, now this ambush. Cloud had taken a brutal hit.
"Since you don't feel like talking, A, let's finish this the old way."
Minato vanished.
A's eyes sharpened. He scanned every marked kunai he'd spotted earlier. One second. Two. Nothing. After nearly thirty seconds of waiting, his face twisted.
"Damn you, Minato! You sneaky bastard!"
Lightning exploded around him as he shot toward Killer B's position.
Taiichi had it easier fighting the massive Eight-Tails alone. The beast had size and thick skin, but no real power advantage over him. It was just hard to land clean hits.
Killer B was already regretting going full tailed beast. Against someone like Taiichi, he should've stayed human. Now he was huge and strong, but he couldn't touch the guy. Dropping the transformation was too risky—Taiichi would end him the second he tried.
Then Minato appeared beside Taiichi.
They didn't need words. They split up and hit the Eight-Tails with everything they had.
Killer B snapped back into focus. Water Style. Fire Style. Rasengan. The attacks hammered into him and he roared in pain.
But the Eight-Tails was built different. Tougher than Shukaku by far. They kept pounding it, yet it just kept screaming without going down.
"Taiichi, we're running out of time," Minato shouted. A was close.
Taiichi made his decision. He released the Yin Seal on his forehead. Fresh chakra flooded his system. His short blade ignited with golden flames.
He threw three Flying Thunder God kunai toward the Eight-Tails' head. They multiplied in the air—one became two, two became four—until over a hundred kunai flew upward.
Killer B swatted most of them away with his tails, but one real marked kunai slipped through.
Taiichi teleported above the beast. He poured everything into his blade. The golden flames stretched into a three-meter burning sword.
He brought it down hard, aiming to split the Eight-Tails in two.
At the last second the beast jerked its head. One of its horns took the full hit.
Taiichi pushed harder, chakra and raw strength behind the strike. The flaming blade sheared straight through.
The Eight-Tails howled in agony. First the Third Raikage had taken one horn. Now this brat had taken the other. At least they matched.
The beast seized full control. Its eight tails whipped wildly, weaving a dense net above its head.
Taiichi had been ready to follow up. He decided retreat was smarter. Too bad. That had been a real shot at finishing it.
He glanced over. A streak of lightning was racing toward them—A, moving at full speed.
"B! Stop fighting! We need to pull out now!" A shouted as he reached them.
Killer B was still raging, but he forced himself back in control. The tails stopped thrashing. A leapt onto the beast's head.
The Eight-Tails curled its tails around itself, forming a tight ball.
Taiichi and Minato weren't about to let them leave that easily.
Taiichi: Fire Style—Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.
Minato: Wind Style—Great Breakthrough.
Golden flames rode the wind and became a sea of fire swallowing the curled Eight-Tails.
The beast started spinning violently in place. Its massive body created a tornado that ripped trees from the ground and cleared everything for hundreds of meters.
Tailed Beast Eight Coils.
Taiichi and Minato had to use Flying Thunder God to get clear.
When the storm died down, they returned. All that remained was one thick severed tail.
"They got away?" Minato asked.
"That's the Eight-Tails' tail escape technique. Hard to kill something like that," Taiichi said. "But we still got something out of it."
He pointed at the tail on the ground and the horn he'd cut off earlier.
"These are solid research material. We'll split them."
Minato nodded with a grin. They sealed the pieces—Taiichi took the horn, Minato the tail.
As they finished cleaning up, Taiichi swept the area with sensing. He spotted something—a ship slowly pulling away from the coast in the distance.
The fight hadn't actually taken that long. The messenger Cloud jonin had only just reached the ship. It hadn't gotten far.
"Minato-senpai, looks like today's haul isn't done yet," Taiichi said, pointing toward the sea. "That ship's still close."
Minato's eyes lit up. "Let's go."
They sprinted toward the coast.
Less than two kilometers. They reached it fast. The ship was still in sight. They ran across the water without hesitation.
The Cloud ninja on board had already fled. Only regular civilians remained. Taiichi and Minato left a shadow clone to watch them and searched the ship.
Soon Minato called out. Taiichi teleported over.
Several large boxes of storage scrolls sat in front of them.
"These… these have to be the loot Cloud stole from Wind Country," Taiichi said, stunned.
Minato unsealed one. Raw ore and minerals spilled out.
"It is," he laughed. "We just hit the jackpot. Cloud lost the wife and the army on this one."
They grinned at each other and started securing everything.
Then they realized the problem—how the hell were they going to move all this?
If it had been easy to carry, the Cloud forces would've taken it when they retreated.
Happy problems.
"What if I have the toads take it to Mount Myoboku first?" Minato suggested.
"Good idea."
They laughed again.
By the time they finished securing the ship and the battlefield corpses, it was already evening. Cleaning up had taken longer than the fight.
They looked at each other and vanished with Flying Thunder God.
They reappeared back at the Leaf camp.
Taiichi headed straight for the main command tent. Minato caught up at the entrance.
They walked in together.
Jiraiya was still frowning over reports when they shouted, "Jiraiya-sensei, we're back!"
He jumped, startled. Then he saw their faces and knew something good had happened. Minato wouldn't be joking around otherwise.
"What is it? Good news? How many Cloud bastards did you take out?"
Taiichi nodded at Minato to report.
"Everyone except the new AB combo and one jonin," Minato said. "We wiped out the entire strike force that hit us."
Jiraiya's eyes went wide. The staff officers in the corner stopped talking and stared.
No way. That was too big.
Minato pulled out the storage scroll with the Cloud corpses and unsealed them one by one.
Jiraiya threw his head back and laughed loud and long. The tension of the last few days finally broke.
"That's not all," Minato added. "We recovered everything Cloud stole from Wind Country. Five big boxes of storage scrolls full of ore."
Jiraiya didn't even know what to say. Cloud had basically run a free errand for Konoha—traveled all the way to Wind Country, lost people, then handed over the loot.
"Where's the cargo now?" he asked.
"Don't worry, sensei. I had the toads take it to Mount Myoboku."
"Good. Good. Good." Jiraiya nodded three times. He turned to Taiichi. "Taiichi, head back to the village right now. Report this to the Hokage."
He grabbed a scroll from the table. "This is my report on the Yang Ping situation. Take it with you."
Taiichi's eyes lit up. Jiraiya had already handled the plan they'd discussed. Reliable as always.
"No problem, sensei. I'll go right now and give the Hokage the good news."
He activated Flying Thunder God and disappeared.
The staff officers watched him go and shared the same thought.
Taiichi really was a lucky charm. The second he showed up, everything turned around.