Chapter 497: Killer Bee and the Eight-Tails Once Again Understand Each Other
So what exactly happened?
To explain that, we first need to go over the background.
First of all, the Kumogakure Village generally has slightly stronger physical abilities compared to other villages.
Their recovery speed is faster as well, which means the prerequisite state for Sage Mode training—the so-called "Sage state"—doesn't last very long.
That's the general situation. On an individual level, Motoi was also a single man.
That basically meant both his "race stats" and "individual stats" were maxed out.
The biggest problem, however, was that Motoi and Killer Bee had already reconciled.
On top of that, the guilt from his earlier assassination attempt and other emotions all suddenly exploded inside Motoi's mind.
And right at the moment his emotions were surging, he forcibly began Sage Mode training.
This was basically equivalent to thinking about Killer Bee while trying to take a shortcut into Sage Mode.
Does that sound familiar?
That's right—Naruto and Sasuke went through something similar a while ago.
To make sure Naruto's mind focused only on him during that period, Sasuke used a genjutsu where no one else existed except him.
After completing the "shortcut", Motoi was about to enter Sage Mode. When he worked with the owl on his back to condense senjutsu chakra, he subconsciously opened his eyes and glanced at Killer Bee.
Although Killer Bee was also a Kumogakure shinobi with slightly higher-than-average "racial stats", he was also a bit of a lecherous pervert in a repressed way. On top of that, he trained his arms for the Lariat technique, so his "individual stats" were relatively lower.
Because of that, Killer Bee entered the preparatory "sage state" faster than Motoi.
But this "sage state" was only the first step before actual Sage Mode.
Since Killer Bee needed his tailed beast's cooperation to condense natural energy, the required amount was enormous, so the time needed couldn't be compared to ordinary cases.
The only advantage was that the difficulty of this method was mostly handled by the Eight-Tails, Gyūki.
For Killer Bee himself, even if his chakra failed or the balance of senjutsu chakra was off, it wouldn't cause any serious issue.
Similarly, if it were an ordinary summoning beast, the weaker the summoned creature, the less help it could provide if the user made a mistake.
Motoi's situation was exactly like that.
From Naruto's learning of Summoning Jutsu, it could be seen that summoning is directly tied to chakra.
Motoi was only a Chūnin, and the owl he summoned with Chūnin-level chakra naturally wasn't particularly strong either.
When Motoi opened his eyes and saw Killer Bee on the other side had already completed the Sage Mode prerequisite and… hadn't properly covered himself afterward, his mind wavered.
Impure thoughts surged back into his mind, and his body instantly exited the "sage state" and returned to normal.
The senjutsu chakra he was forming completely collapsed.
Even the owl behind him, despite doing its best to stabilize the natural energy, couldn't hold it down.
Fortunately, the Eight-Tails noticed Motoi's abnormal state and quickly woke Killer Bee up.
Killer Bee and the Eight-Tails stopped their Sage Mode training one after another and rushed over to check on Motoi.
"Motoi, are you okay?"
Killer Bee was extremely worried.
Naruto had said that failed Sage Mode training at Mount Myōboku could turn someone into a stone toad.
As for what would happen with this "shortcut" method, no one knew.
Everyone who had trained it so far had succeeded on their first try.
Killer Bee checked Motoi anxiously.
"Oh no, Motoi is already starting to turn to stone!"
"'Oh no' my ass—you're touching the wrong place!"
The Eight-Tails' speech echoed in Killer Bee's mind, completely speechless.
"Wait, that can't be right?"
Killer Bee looked again carefully—and it really wasn't.
But why?
Could it be that Motoi started condensing senjutsu chakra before completing the shortcut?
That didn't make sense.
Killer Bee suddenly switched into detective mode and began examining the surroundings.
He quickly found clues.
According to the evidence… Motoi had indeed completed everything properly.
That made it even stranger.
What exactly caused Motoi's training to go out of control?
Killer Bee carried the unconscious Motoi aside.
He had already checked—Motoi's condition wasn't serious. Fortunately, his summoned owl had reduced the damage. Motoi had only suffered a mental shock and fainted.
His body wasn't heavily injured.
Killer Bee returned to the spot where Motoi had been sitting and tried to imagine himself as Motoi—what he would have seen.
Suddenly, Killer Bee's eyes snapped open. He broke into a cold sweat and stood up trembling.
"Danger… this is too dangerous!"
Killer Bee felt he could no longer be alone with Motoi.
After fleeing the cave, he then felt it would be irresponsible to just leave it at that—after all, Motoi really was the best candidate for this training.
As long as Killer Bee himself wasn't interfering, the next attempt would definitely succeed.
So Killer Bee found a Kumogakure shinobi stationed on Turtle Island, explained the situation, and then immediately ran off again.
He didn't report it to Raikage-sama.
If he did, his big brother would definitely think he was just making excuses to sneak off and have fun.
On a ship leaving Turtle Island, Killer Bee felt a lingering fear.
"Gyuki, I finally understand how you feel."
Killer Bee wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Only after leaving Turtle Island did he truly feel what "peace of mind" meant.
What Killer Bee was referring to was the prophecy from the Great Toad Sage that the Eight-Tails had told him about.
Because he and Naruto were somewhat friends, Killer Bee had previously thought the prophecy might just be wrong and didn't take it seriously.
But now, after personally experiencing that spine-chilling sense of danger, he finally understood the Eight-Tails' suffering.
This was truly a precious moment of mutual understanding between jinchūriki and the tailed beast. (deeply moved)
Kumogakure Village.
After learning that his younger brother had once again vanished and run off somewhere, the Raikage had already gotten used to it and didn't even bother getting angry anymore.
He only hoped that while Killer Bee was out having fun, he would also manage to successfully train Sage Mode.
Otherwise, according to intelligence about the Ōtsutsuki clan, tailed beasts, being condensed masses of chakra, were basically gourmet delicacies to them.
The Raikage sent for Kakashi.
"Kakashi, our people have been selected and are currently training. We might have results in a few days."
The Raikage told Kakashi about Motoi's progress on Turtle Island.
After Killer Bee left, Motoi finally stabilized his mind and was able to smoothly enter and maintain the Sage state.
"Then congratulations, Raikage-sama."
Kakashi gave a formal congratulations and then stopped, waiting for the Raikage to continue.
The Raikage wouldn't have called him over just to say that.
"Kakashi, I'm glad your group first came to Kumogakure Village. Have you decided where you'll go next?"
"Not yet."
Kakashi's eyes sharpened. He knew the real topic was coming.
"Then I have a suggestion. I hope your next destination will be the Iwagakure Village."
The Raikage tapped his fingers on the desk and revealed his idea.
(End of this chapter)