Hatake Tatsuya in Naruto

"Tatsuya! Behind you!"

Although he had been thrust into the air, Hatake Sakumo barely opened his eyes. He wasn't seriously injured. Upon spotting the situation below, he warned Tatsuya with urgency.

There was no need for Sakumo's reminder.

Chakras of such magnitude that 99.9% of ninjas worldwide couldn't match them permeated the attack. Only a handful could boast such immense chakra.

Tatsuya halted his preparation to cleave down A's head and turned his gaze towards it.

A colossal creature, akin in size to a mountain with a body resembling that of a bull-headed octopus, bellowed and thrashed its octopus-like limbs.

Eight Tails—Gyūki!

"Complete tailed beast transformation?"

Tatsuya sidestepped.

However, in this state, it was a challenge for killer B to maintain reason in his full-tailed beast form.

In the brief interval when Tatsuya evaded sideways, Eight Tails' other octopus tentacles swiftly darted through the opening, ensnaring B's consciousness.

"Can they still be sane when the tailed beast's chakra goes berserk?"

Rin exclaimed in astonishment.

She had heard that Jinchūriki who went berserk transformed into mindless destructive entities. But with Killer B before them, despite his loss of sanity, he hadn't descended into complete madness.

"It's dire, Lord Toroi!"

Other Cloud Shinobi inquired of Toroi, who ranked only below A and Killer B in combat prowess:

"Master A is injured and Master Killer B is hardly controlling the Gyuki, what should we do now?"

On the opposite side, Sakumo had plummeted to the ground from mid-air.

Yet, right after landing, Eight Tails' raging octopus tentacle lashed out like a whip, compelling him to retreat once more.

Despite having achieved the level of a Kage, he still lacked the formidable Chakra akin to that of the Senju and Uzumaki clans.

After expending too much chakra in his Lightning Kenjutsu, his Chakra had dwindled.

"Everyone, keep your distance!"

Shikaku ordered. Confronting creatures of this magnitude required Kage-level abilities. However, Killer B's complete transformation occurred unexpectedly quickly. When Shikaku issued his command, the second wave of attacks was already upon them.

"Uh!"

In a panic, Rin swiftly turned, dropped to the ground, and shielded her head.

Eight Tails' octopus limb smashed into the nearby rock, grazing perilously close to her back.

"Rin, come here!"

At that moment, a familiar voice resounded in Rin's ears.

Rin glanced up, her eyes meeting a resolute, heroic face.

"Tsunade, Lady Tsunade?"

Rin was taken aback but instinctively moved toward her.

"Why are you here? Weren't you on the Western Battlefield?"

As she posed this question, each of Eight Tails' colossal octopus limbs, capable of rending mountainsides, indiscriminately attacked their surroundings.

Tsunade grasped Rin's wrist and explained as they fled, "I'm here as reinforcements. Don't ask questions; just run!"

Tsunade's explanation left Rin filled with questions.

What had she just heard? Run away?

Master Tatsuya was still on the battlefield.

Considering Miss Tsunade's relationship with him, how could she possibly suggest fleeing instead of assisting?

With this thought in mind, Rin suddenly wrenched herself free from her opponent's grasp.

Tsunade felt something amiss, turned his head, and inquired, "What's wrong?"

"You..."

A suspicion slowly crept into Rin's eyes. The sound of something slicing through the air pierced the silence.

A blade accurately found its mark, piercing "Tsunade's" throat and pinning it to the ground.

"What!?"

Even though doubts lingered in her heart, the sight of her most respected teacher impaled on the ground sent shivers down Rin's spine.

In the next moment, Tsunade's body began to liquefy, transforming into a pale, bizarre humanoid form with only the left half of the face intact.

"What is this?"

Rin was so terrified that she tumbled to the ground.

Swish!

Tatsuya suddenly descended from the sky, extracting Zanpakutō from White Zetsu's throat.

"It's finally here," Tatsuya muttered to himself.

"Master Tatsuya!"

Rin turned towards Tatsuya, a mix of astonishment and relief in their eyes. She pointed at White Zetsu's lifeless body on the ground, wearing a puzzled expression. "This... what is..."

"It's too complicated to explain," Tatsuya replied tersely.

He held a blade in his right hand, cradled Rin beneath his left arm, and shouted, "Retreat!"

Although Tatsuya hadn't been granted any official military authority, powerful individuals wielded the ability to make decisions on the battlefield. Especially with another Eight-Tails, vastly stronger than the One-Tail encountered in the Land of Wind five years ago.

"Tatsuya, what's going on here?" Sakumo inquired upon reaching Tatsuya, noticing the absence of the dead body of a human on the ground, but the eerie creature pale creature like White Zetsu.

"I dislike explaining complicated matters. You'll find out later. For now, retreat."

Tatsuya maintained his posture, holding Rin close, and pivoted to head back to their stronghold.

Observing this, Sakumo refrained from further questioning.

But he didn't rush ahead like Tatsuya. Instead, he remained vigilant, ensuring Eight-Tails wouldn't attack their comrades.

For Tatsuya, comrades?

What did that even mean?

Did it hold any significance?

...

...

As Konoha's forces commenced their evacuation, Eight-Tails, to everyone's surprise, made no pursuit. It didn't attack the nearby Cloud Shinobi either.

Instead, it gently set down A, who was tangled in one of its octopus tentacles, on the ground and made a few humming sounds toward the Cloud Shinobi army.

"Isn't this entirely inexplicable?" Toroi exclaimed, suddenly comprehending Eight Tails' intentions, and yelled, "Quick! Medical Ninjas! Quickly!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, neither side took notice.

Near the White Zetsu's lifeless body, a strange plant-like entity emerged from the ground.

White Zetsu slowly raised its hand devoured the clone's remains, and then merged back into the earth.

"How did this happen? How did they discern our transformation technique?" White Zetsu, submerged in the earth, muttered in confusion.

"This is problematic. The mission has failed. We need to report back to Madara, right?"

Black Zetsu surfaced from the soil on the opposite side.

"No way, Madara has chosen that kid named Obito, and that kid's love is solely focused on that girl."

Black Zetsu grumbled and swiftly returned to the base with White Zetsu.

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