A cold voice, like the whisper of the Shinigami, sounded from behind and to the side of Kisame!
Kakashi! He appeared like a ghost in the blind spot of Kisame's vision, where it was hardest to track!
His entire body shone with blinding blue-white lightning. His right hand, condensing destructive energy, stabbed directly toward the charred wound on Kisame's right shoulder—a wound torn open by lightning and exposed because he had just blocked Guy's attack!
Fast! Accurate! Ruthless!
The Sharingan had perceived the weakest point in Kisame's defense at this moment!
Kisame's pupils constricted! He felt the icy chill of death!
The timing and angle of Kakashi's strike were incredibly tricky, coming exactly at the moment when his blood was churning and his movements were sluggish after Guy's heavy blow!
"Damn it!"
Kisame roared in his heart, wanting to force his body to twist and swing Samehada to parry, but the intense pain and paralysis made his movements half a beat too slow!
Squelch!!!
At the critical moment, relying on his superb combat instincts, Kisame managed to jerk his neck to the side, narrowly avoiding a fatal angle!
Kakashi's right hand, glowing with the light of Lightning Blade, accompanied by a piercing roar of thunder, grazed the side of Kisame's neck and stabbed deep into his charred right shoulder blade!
"Argh!!!"
Pain even more intense than the previous lightning strike instantly flooded Kisame!
Lightning Nature chakra surged frantically into his body, clashing violently with and destroying his own chakra!
"Good job, Kakashi!" Guy roared, seizing the moment when Kisame stiffened from the pain to close in once more!
"Morning Peacock!!!"
Guy's fists swung frantically at a speed invisible to the naked eye!
Every punch carried a scorching fireball generated by high-speed friction with the air!
In an instant, it was as if countless burning cannonballs were blasting from all directions toward the heavily wounded and severely restricted Kisame!
The dense fireballs wove into a devastating firestorm, completely swallowing Kisame and the space around him!
Boom boom boom boom boom!!!
The continuous explosions were deafening!
Kisame's figure was like a lonely boat in a Berserk Sea amidst the violent fire shockwaves, blown this way and that.
The charred wounds on his body burst open again, and blood finally splattered out, mixed with scorched flesh!
"Water Style: Water Prison Shark Dance!!!"
From within the firestorm came Kisame's roar, filled with extreme pain and fury!
Despite suffering consecutive heavy blows, the vitality and ferocity of this "Tailed Beast without a Tail" were completely triggered at this moment!
Ignoring the intense pain and the massive consumption of chakra, he forcibly squeezed out his power!
A water sphere, much smaller than before but extremely condensed and rotating at high speed, exploded outward with him at the center!
The rotating water wall, carrying the power to cut through anything, forcibly ground out the subsequent fireballs of Guy's Morning Peacock!
Countless smaller and faster "Mad Sharks," composed of concentrated Water Style chakra, formed within the water sphere, frantically biting at everything that approached!
This was no longer an offensive skill, but an ultimate defensive technique Kisame deployed with his last strength after suffering a fatal blow, intended to temporarily repel the enemy and gain a moment to breathe!
"Tch!"
Guy was forced to stop his attack, crossing his arms to block, driven back several steps by the high-speed rotating water wall and the charging mad sharks.
Kakashi also stopped cautiously a short distance away, his Sharingan staring fixedly through the turbid and violent water curtain at the swaying but still stubbornly standing figure within.
Kisame was covered in blood, charred black and crimson red intertwined. The wound on his right shoulder was particularly shocking, and Samehada appeared listless.
But his shark-like eyes burned with animalistic madness, locking onto Kakashi and Guy!
"Truly... troublesome prey!" Kisame's voice was hoarse and low, heavy with panting.
"But... the game isn't over yet!"
...
On another battlefield, the fury of the brothers Raikage Ay and Killer Bee was like physical lightning, pouring violently onto Kakuzu.
"Bee! Let's go!"
"Yo! Big Bro, let this miser see the bond of brothers, bakayaro konoyaro!"
Raikage Ay's entire body erupted with lightning, pushing his Lightning Release Chakra Mode to the limit. He transformed into a streak of blue electricity that tore through the air, lunging in front of Kakuzu in an instant at a speed almost impossible to track!
There were no fancy tricks, only the purest speed and power!
"Lariat!!!"
His thick arm, wrapped in violent Lightning Release, slashed toward Kakuzu's neck with a force capable of splitting mountains! The air was compressed, letting out a sharp whistle!
"Hmph!"
A flash of gloom and solemnity crossed Kakuzu's green eyes.
Facing this unavoidable lightning strike, the Earth Grudge Fear tentacles behind him surged frantically!
"Earth Release: Earth Spear!"
His body, covered in stitch lines, instantly hardened, taking on a rock-like grayish-brown hue.
At the same time, he controlled the Wind Release mask monster to rush back for defense, attempting to block the Raikage's attack trajectory with the sharp cutting force of Wind Release.
However, the Raikage was too fast! Just as the wind blade barrier formed by the Wind Release mask monster appeared, the blue lightning had already pierced through!
Clang!!!!
A deafening boom!
The Raikage's Lariat slammed hard against Kakuzu's hardened neck!
Kakuzu's hardened surface let out a groan of being overtaxed. The immense impact caused his feet to sink deep into the sand, plowing two deep furrows.
Although he wasn't immediately decapitated thanks to his powerful Earth Release hardening, the violent vibration caused his blood to churn!
Worse still, an even larger shadow descended from the sky with a sense of devastating pressure!
"Tailed Beast Eight Twists!!!"
The fully transformed Eight-Tails Gyuki let out a heaven-shaking roar!
Eight massive octopus tentacles, like celestial whips, tore through the air with terrifying sonic booms and pure physical power, smashing down toward Kakuzu's location!
The coverage was so vast that it almost sealed off all his space for evasion!
"Damn it!"
Kakuzu's expression changed drastically! His strongest defense was Earth Release hardening, but against pure physical crushing of the Eight-Tails' level, even hardening couldn't completely offset that world-destroying impact!
"Fire Release: Searing Migraine! Wind Release: Pressure Damage!!"
In a life-or-death moment, Kakuzu burst forth with an incredible will to survive!
He forcibly mobilized his chakra. The Fire Release mask monster spat out overwhelming flames capable of incinerating a forest, while the Wind Release mask monster kicked up a violent hurricane that could cut through rock!
The wind fueled the fire! A world-destroying firestorm instantly formed, like a roaring fire tornado, crashing head-on into the Eight-Tails' tentacles descending from the sky!
Rumble!!!!
The firestorm and the Eight-Tails' tentacles collided violently! Scorching air currents mixed with shockwaves spread frantically!
The flames were torn apart by the massive force, and several of the Eight-Tails' tentacles were scorched black and smoking, their movements clearly faltering!
But this was already the limit of the defense Kakuzu could mobilize in his haste!
Splatter! Crack!!!
Two tough tentacles that hadn't been completely blocked by the firestorm acted like massive battering rams.
Carrying the residual violent power, they slammed through the cores of Kakuzu's Wind Release and Fire Release mask monsters!
"Argh!"
Two muffled sounds of shattering rang out! The symbols on the Wind Release mask and Fire Release mask instantly dimmed!
The two mask monsters let out shrill wails and turned into two lumps of lifeless black Earth Grudge Fear tissue, slumping to the ground!
The stitch lines on Kakuzu's body fluctuated violently, signifying that he had lost two more hearts!
"Bastard!" Kakuzu let out a roar of anger mixed with heartache, the green light in his eyes becoming even colder.
These were excellent hearts he had worked hard to collect; the loss of two hearts...
Not only meant a weakening of power, but also a massive loss of "property"!
"It's not over yet! Miser!" Raikage Ay's roar approached again!
Taking advantage of the moment Kakuzu was shaken by the loss of his hearts, the lightning on his body surged again!
"Lariat!!!"
The Raikage's figure turned into countless blue afterimages, flashing frantically around Kakuzu!
Every flash was accompanied by a heavy hand-sword chop capable of splitting mountains!
It was no longer a single attack, but a continuous assault like a torrential storm!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Earth Grudge Fear tentacles around Kakuzu's body danced frantically to block, and his Earth Release hardening was maintained with all his might. The muffled sounds of impact rang out densely like a blacksmith at work!
However, the Raikage's attacks were simply too fast and too fierce!
Under the massive distraction and threat brought by Killer Bee's Eight-Tails tentacles, Kakuzu struggled to cope and could only take the beating passively.
His hardened surface was constantly torn, and the black Tenketsu under the stitch lines were scorched by the violent Lightning Nature chakra.
Although the Earth Grudge Fear tentacles were tough, they began to break under the continuous heavy chops!
Every block was accompanied by splattering fragments of black tissue!
Kakuzu could only rely on the rich combat experience accumulated over decades and the tenacious vitality granted by Earth Grudge Fear to desperately maneuver through the storm of attacks.
He used Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall to create obstacles, trying to divide the battlefield, only to have them leveled by a sweep of the Eight-Tails' tail;
He tried to use Earth Grudge Fear tentacles to entwine the Raikage and limit his speed, but they were forcibly torn apart by the Raikage's brute strength;
He wanted to pull away and use long-range Ninjutsu, but Killer Bee's tail would whistle and extend toward him, forcing him into full defense!
"Damn it! Damn it!!" Kakuzu roared in frustration in his heart.
He felt like a sturdy but clumsy punching bag, being ravaged in turns by two tireless machines of destruction.
Of the five hearts he took pride in, he had lost two in a short time, and the remaining Lightning Release and Earth Release mask monsters were also heavily consumed in their all-out defense.
His chakra was depleting rapidly; repairing his body and maintaining Earth Grudge Fear both required immense energy.
"Bee! The final blow!" Raikage Ay saw that Kakuzu's movements were clearly sluggish and the repair speed of the damage on his body had significantly slowed, knowing the opponent was near his limit.
"Got it! Big Bro, let's go, bakayaro konoyaro!" Killer Bee responded in his Version 1 Tailed Beast State.
A massive octopus tentacle rose high, condensing dense Tailed Beast chakra, preparing to deliver a heavy blow to Kakuzu and create a finishing opportunity for the Raikage.
Kakuzu's green eyes stared fixedly at the Raikage, who was again attacking like lightning, and the Eight-Tails' tentacle poised to strike above his head, a flash of ruthlessness and determination in his eyes.
"Wanting to take down this old man... it won't be that easy!"
The blue lightning transformed from Raikage Ay tore through the air, and the mountain-splitting "Lariat" was already before him!
Above, Killer Bee's massive octopus tentacle, condensing destructive energy, also smashed down with a muffled sound of breaking air!
In Kakuzu's green eyes, this finishing storm that simply could not be resisted simultaneously was reflected.
"Tch..."
A short, cold sneer escaped from Kakuzu's charred lips.
Those green eyes, flashing with shrewdness and gloom, showed no hesitation or doubt at this moment; instead, they erupted with a near-mad determination!
Endure Ay's continuous strikes? No matter how strong his Earth Release hardening was, he would inevitably be heavily wounded under an impact of this level, and might even have his three hearts crushed and die on the spot!
Block the Eight-Tails' devastating heavy blow? Even if he managed to catch it, the immense impact would be enough to smash him into a deep pit, losing his mobility and becoming a sitting duck for subsequent attacks!
Not to mention, Ay was incredibly calm right now, and the brothers' cooperation was seamless, leaving him no room to redirect their force or exploit any errors from rage!
Resisting head-on meant certain death!
The icy chill of death ignited the most primal survival instinct in his bones!
His gaze, like a snake's flickering tongue, instantly bypassed the violent figure of Raikage Ay close at hand, and also bypassed the sky-blotting giant claw of the Eight-Tails.
Finally, it locked onto what was behind the two of them.
That densely packed formation of the Allied Shinobi Forces!
In Kakuzu's eyes, those weren't enemies, but mobile "heart storehouses"!
"This old man won't die here!" Kakuzu roared in his heart, his decision made!
Just as the Raikage's hand-sword, containing ten thousand catties of force, was about to strike his neck, and the Eight-Tails' giant claw was less than ten meters above his head in that life-or-death instant...
Kakuzu made a move that neither the Raikage nor Killer Bee expected!
Instead of defending or evading with all his might, he gambled everything, frantically injecting his remaining chakra into the Earth Release mask monster!
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall: Multiple Vaults!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several thick earth walls, not used for defending the front but rising diagonally upward in an arch, instantly appeared above and to the side of Kakuzu's head!
Their angles were incredibly tricky. The goal wasn't to completely block the Eight-Tails' giant claw, but to guide the trajectory of its descent.
Making it smash down with even more ferocious force toward... the dense area of Allied Shinobi to Kakuzu's rear!
At the same time, at the moment the Raikage's hand-sword reached his body, Kakuzu used the brief support provided by Earth Release hardening to forcibly twist his body to the side!
Squelch! Crack!
The Raikage's violent hand-sword slammed hard into the position of Kakuzu's left shoulder blade, which he had exposed after forcibly twisting!
The terrifying Lightning Nature chakra frantically tore through the hardened surface, letting out the piercing sound of bone shattering!
"Ugh!"
Kakuzu let out a muffled groan. The intense pain made his vision go dark, his left arm instantly lost sensation, and yet another heart was forcibly destroyed by this brute strength.
But this impact was exactly what he wanted!
Borrowing the force of the Raikage's strike, along with his own all-out kick-off regardless of his injuries, Kakuzu was like a tattered sandbag sent flying by a giant battering ram.
Carrying splattering blood and shattered black Earth Grudge Fear tissue, he shot out diagonally at a bizarre and rapid speed!
The direction was precisely toward that formation of Shinobi!
"What?!"
Raikage Ay's pupils constricted. He never expected Kakuzu to give up his defense and take a hit just to charge at the ordinary Shinobi!
"Bee! Watch out for the crowd!"
Ay roared, wanting to pursue, but the speed at which Kakuzu was sent flying by the borrowed force was too fast, and the direction was tricky!