The Hidden Cloud ANBU squad stationed halfway up the mountain tensed in unison.
They'd heard that monstrous roar—it was the Eight-Tails!
"This is bad! The Eight-Tails is rampaging!"
The ANBU squad sprinted toward the summit.
But after only a few steps, they skidded to a halt.
A figure in a hooded cloak, wearing a fox mask, slowly emerged from the ascending stone steps.
"Your opponent is me. Don't disturb Orochimaru-sama. He'll be… displeased."
The Cloud ANBU captain narrowed his eyes. "You just openly admitted who the attacker is? Is this a setup? A diversion?"
His first thought—this had to be a trap.
No enemy would be foolish enough to name their ally unless they wanted to mislead.
Yako thought to himself: Orochimaru came here because Hatake Sakumo had stolen the spotlight.
If Sakumo could slice through a Tailed Beast Bomb, then Orochimaru had to do something even more outrageous.
Of course he wanted everyone to know it was him—he might even summon Manda.
Tough break for the Hidden Cloud.
Up on the peak, the ground trembled.
Yako looked up—and sure enough, saw the monstrous form of Manda.
The Giant Snake smashed through the summit and the mountaintop structures.
And from beneath it, the Eight-Tails burst forth.
"A giant snake summon…"
Seeing the two towering beasts, the ANBU captain finally understood.
Orochimaru of Konoha… was truly here.
"Get out of the way! Kill him!" the captain roared.
Two squads split to flank Yako in a pincer maneuver.
Yako formed a single seal.
Water Release: Water Severing Wave!
The ANBU captain's heart clenched—so fast!
A razor-thin line of water sliced clean across the battlefield—cutting from the left squad all the way to the right.
Eight shinobi. Not a single survivor.
The most precise chakra pathway. A double-vortex launch modeled after a gear pump. The technique's speed and power had stepped into a new realm.
Yako reminded himself: He was the Copper Fox now—not the White Ghost.
The Copper Fox specialized in Earth, Water, and Sealing techniques.
Mixing them up would be fatal. If the small account got exposed, it was game over.
And if the big one got exposed, the small one wouldn't survive either.
"Copper Fox! That mask—he's the Copper Fox from Konoha!"
The Cloud ANBU captain finally remembered.
One of Konoha's strongest ANBU—renowned for his Absolute Defense Techniques and devastating Water Release.
This Water Release—signature of the Second Hokage—existed only in Konoha's legacy.
"Don't close in! Use ninjutsu! He has an Absolute Defense Technique!"
Yako smirked under the mask.
'Ninjutsu? Perfect. That's exactly what I excel at now.'
Lightning crackled like spiderwebs across the ground, stabbing toward Yako like bolts from the sky.
A glance at the lightning web told him Earth Spears were out of the question—he focused instead on Water Severing Wave.
He leapt into the air, dodging the lightning crawling across the ground.
Each wave of water scythed through the Cloud ninja—every sweep taking down several at once.
Within seconds, as Yako landed, only one Cloud ANBU remained: the captain.
Yako grinned beneath the mask.
Damn. My lips are going numb.
The Water Severing Wave occasionally struck lightning, and the current jolted back—numbing his jaw.
Just then, a boulder—several meters wide—came crashing down.
The fight between Manda and the Eight-Tails had reached them.
The Eight-Tails was now fully unleashed—a giant beast with an ox's head and octopus tails.
Driven into a frenzy by Manda's provocation, it began forming a Tailed Beast Ball in its mouth.
And not the human-sized version seen with Jinchūriki cloaks—this was the full-bodied Eight-Tails' complete form!
The Eight-Tails had gone berserk.
The Cloud ANBU captain, realizing ninjutsu wasn't enough, lunged with his blade.
The strike hit Yako's shoulder—but it clanged off like metal.
Yako grabbed the blade with one hand.
"Nice sword. Didn't break."
He lashed out with a kick.
His foot, coated in Bronze Light, shattered the captain's chest on impact.
As the Cloud captain reeled, Yako saw it—
A blazing flash of blue lightning.
Crackling, screaming, falling from the sky like a meteor.
The Third Raikage!
"Hell Stab – Four-Finger Piercing!"
Yako's scalp went numb.
Semi-Absolute Defense: Ringed Snake activated instantly.
A water-chakra construct as thick as a man's arm formed, spinning furiously.
Yako poured all his chakra into it—the dense water chakra coiled within.
The Raikage's four-fingered spear strike collided with the spinning ring.
The Raikage's expression twisted—he felt resistance.
Refined water chakra exploded into torrents, blunting the impact.
The Ringed Snake hovered outside Yako's body, even insulating him from the lightning's paralysis.
Half a second later—the Hell Stab punched through.
But by then, the water flow had slowed the Raikage significantly.
When the strike landed on Yako's chest, its force was already diminished.
All of Yako's chakra was focused on Ringed Snake and Bronze Light.
He was sent flying.
In mid-air, Yako first felt the intense fatigue from chakra overuse—then the fracture in his chest.
But—he wasn't dead.
He crashed down over a hundred meters away—shattering steps, snapping trees, leveling rooftops.
The Raikage's lightning had overcome Bronze Light—fracturing the defense, ripping into his chest.
But thanks to the Ringed Snake, his vital organs had been spared.
Mid-air, he cast Water Healing Technique, patching the wound before he even hit the ground.
Afraid of dying? Stack defenses.
Two defensive jutsu and a healing jutsu—he'd survived the Four-Finger Hell Stab.
Yako's defensive ability, certified by the Third Raikage himself, had reached the top tier of the shinobi world.
The Raikage stared in shock as his target slowly stood.
He? Still alive?
Yako wiped away the remaining healing water.
A tail from the Eight-Tails swept overhead, its massive shadow slicing the moonlight.
Not aimed at Yako—just random destruction.
No one cared about the Fox anymore.
Because the Eight-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball had launched—fired straight into the Hidden Cloud village.
It exploded on a mountain, carving off a third of it.
Everyone living there… was gone.
The Raikage's face twisted in anguish—then hardened.
Orochimaru appeared beside Yako, blinking in disbelief.
Fox tanked the Raikage's Hell Stab? His defense was that strong?
His chest was scorched, blood soaking through—but his movements weren't hindered.
Orochimaru had thought he respected Fox enough.
Clearly, not enough.
He glanced sideways. "I was hoping to get your corpse, you know. Earth and Water both at elite jōnin level—top-tier experimental material.
But the Raikage… how disappointing."
"Orochimaru-sama," Yako coughed, "sometimes a little tact helps build rapport.
If you want me to help in your experiments, we can talk. But if you're just drooling over my body—that's crossing a line."
"No time," Orochimaru muttered. "The Eight-Tails has lost control. Let the Cloud shinobi handle it."
The Raikage charged again—but Orochimaru and Yako had already vanished underground.
The Raikage wanted to rip them to shreds, but the second Tailed Beast Ball forming in the Eight-Tails' mouth demanded his attention.
He leapt into the air—and punched the Eight-Tails in the face.
Far away, Orochimaru and Yako emerged atop another peak.
They both turned and saw the punch land—
The massive beast collapsed, sliding halfway down the mountain.
Orochimaru nodded inwardly.
It wasn't that the Raikage was weak.
It was just that Fox's defense… was that strong.
"Fox, ah… no wonder I picked you as my spy.
You've really impressed me..."