Hidan was stabbed all over by Sasori's poisoned needles. Yugito, meanwhile, was tangled up with Hidan—despite doing her best to evade, she was still hit by several of the poison needles.
Hidan shot an annoyed look at Sasori.
"Hey, Sasori—you stabbed me too!"
Sasori replied indifferently, "You won't die anyway."
The potent poison carried by the needles entered Yugito's body. She felt her cells being rapidly destroyed, a wave of weakness washing over her. She dropped to one knee and spat out a large mouthful of blood.
A-Fei, playing his role as the atmosphere-maker, clapped his hands enthusiastically.
"Sasori-senpai succeeded! Looks like Sasori-senpai is way stronger than Hidan-senpai~"
Hidan immediately flew into a rage.
"A-Fei, you bastard! I'm way stronger than Sasori!"
While A-Fei and Hidan bickered back and forth, Yugito's condition worsened.
To stop the poison from continuing to destroy her body, Yugito voluntarily entered her tailed-beast state.
Sasori watched her transformation with interest.
"So this is Kumogakure's specialty—the so-called perfect jinchūriki who can completely control a tailed beast…"
Fully transformed, Yugito spat a fiercely burning fireball toward Sasori.
Sasori flicked the tail stinger on his back, batting the fireball aside. The blazing flames spread outward, setting the surrounding buildings ablaze.
Yugito threw her head back and let out a roar. Massive amounts of chakra gathered, forming a Tailed Beast Ball in her mouth.
At that moment, the argument between Hidan and A-Fei came to an end. Hidan turned to A-Fei and said,
"Watch closely, rookie—this is my true power!"
Hidan dragged his finger through the blood-soaked dirt left behind by Yugito, then licked the blood clinging to his fingertip.
He proceeded to draw a ritual circle on the ground—formed by a circle and a triangle—and stepped into it.
Hidan's skin instantly turned pitch-black, white markings spreading across his body.
"You've been cursed! The ritual begins now—come on, experience the greatest pain with me!"
Hidan pulled out a long spear that could extend and retract at will and thrust it violently into his own abdomen.
Yugito's tailed-beast body staggered. An identical wound appeared on her abdomen, and the Tailed Beast Ball she had just formed lost control and detonated on its own. Yugito was blasted away by the shockwave.
Hidan burst into manic laughter.
"If it were a vital point, it wouldn't end at this level! But this kind of pain is the best! The pain others feel at the moment of death has already been engraved into my body! Transcending pain—turning it into pleasure!"
"So where should we try next? Here? Or here?"
Hidan pulled out the spear and excitedly gestured at various parts of his body.
Zetsu warned him, "Hidan, don't kill the jinchūriki. If the jinchūriki dies, the tailed beast dies as well. We'd have to wait a very long time for it to revive. Don't waste time."
Hidan replied impatiently, "Yeah, yeah, you're so annoying! In that case, I'll just cripple all her limbs!"
In a frenzy, Hidan stabbed the spear through his own arms and legs. Yugito's limbs were pierced with matching wounds, and she collapsed to the ground. The tailed-beast cloak around her body completely dissipated.
"Hidan-senpai is amazing!" A-Fei seized the opportunity to flatter him.
"So this is all the strength a jinchūriki has?" Hidan said with disappointment. "What a letdown."
He slung his Blood-Slicked Triple-Bladed Scythe over his shoulder and returned to the group.
Zetsu explained, "After all, it's only the Two-Tails. Although tailed beasts aren't ranked purely by the number of tails, the Two-Tails is still among the weakest."
Sasori wrapped the heavily injured Yugito up with his tail stinger and said coldly, "Since the Eight-Tails isn't in Kumogakure, let's leave."
Just as the six of them were about to depart, a massive octopus tentacle dropped from the sky, blocking their path.
"Idiot! Bastard! Yeah! Ah! The battle's already started—every last one of you is going to be buried here!"
A rapid-fire rap echoed through the area. The tentacle withdrew, revealing a dark-skinned man with light-blond hair and black sunglasses.
"Killer Bee…"
"Oh? The Eight-Tails' jinchūriki, Killer Bee… How lucky," Kakuzu said, his eyes lighting up.
Although the special nature of a jinchūriki meant he couldn't be killed immediately, once the tailed beast was extracted, the corpse of Killer Bee—partner and sworn brother of the Fourth Raikage—would fetch an excellent price on the black market.
Kakuzu eagerly tore open his Akatsuki cloak, revealing a body covered in stitched scars, along with four masks on his back.
Using his forbidden technique, Earth Grudge Fear, Kakuzu's body began to twist. The black threads unraveled, and the masks detached from his body, transforming into four distinct, independent Earth Grudge Fear entities.
A-Fei said excitedly, "Yo, Kakuzu-senpai is really fired up too!"
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
From the Wind-mask Earth Grudge Fear, a high-pressure sphere of wind blasted toward Killer Bee. The swirling tempest exploded over a wide area, its immense power flattening all surrounding buildings.
Inside the Raikage's office, Mabui was shocked when she received news that Yugito had been defeated and that Killer Bee had already arrived at the scene and was engaged in battle.
Only a short time had passed, yet Yugito—an elite jōnin and jinchūriki—had already been defeated. Just how powerful were the ones who had invaded Kumogakure?
Mabui immediately realized that the intruders' true objective was the jinchūriki. The so-called "immortal duo" that had been wreaking havoc in the village had suddenly withdrawn, and soon after came the report of Yugito's defeat.
It was clear that the destruction of Kumogakure had merely been a smokescreen—the real goal was to confirm the jinchūriki's location.
Now that the enemy numbers had increased to six, Mabui's expression turned grave. She had to notify the Raikage immediately.
She quickly recorded everything that had happened in Kumogakure onto a scroll.
After forming hand seals, Mabui pressed her palm against the scroll.
"Ninja Art: Heavenly Transfer Technique!"
The scroll vanished instantly.
The Heavenly Transfer Technique was a space–time ninjutsu that ignored distance and terrain, instantly transporting objects to any location at the speed of light.
This was precisely why Mabui had remained behind in Kumogakure—to deal with emergencies like this.
However, the Heavenly Transfer Technique was mainly used to transport objects, not people. Ordinary human bodies couldn't withstand the transfer speed and would be torn apart. Only the Third Raikage in the past, and the Fourth Raikage—who inherited his bloodline—were able to endure this technique.
Having just arrived at the front lines and taken command, preparing to face Kirigakure once the war began in full force, the Fourth Raikage, A, received Mabui's scroll.
After reading it, Raikage A smashed his fist into a nearby tree in fury, toppling it instantly.
"How dare those bastards!" he roared.
After venting his anger, Raikage A calmed himself.
"Darui, you stay here with part of the forces. Everyone else—come with me back to Kumogakure!"
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