At the other end of the battlefield, the symphony of thunder and beast roars was equally deafening, yet it presented a scene entirely different from the Sage battlefield.
In the sky, a massive purple-gold dragon coiled and spiraled, letting out a long, soul-shaking dragon roar as it engaged in a protracted struggle with the Eight-Tails beast wildly waving its tentacles on the ground.
This was exactly the "Kujaku Myōhō: Dragon God" manipulated by the Collector!
It used golden chains containing the properties of the Adamantine Sealing Chains as a resilient skeleton, with flesh and scale armor forged from massive, condensed Chakra.
Every pounce and bite carried the sealing power aimed at Tailed Beasts, forcing the Eight-Tails to roar repeatedly.
Fierce tentacles, carrying enough power to crush mountains, swung out violently, but they were always nimbly dodged by the dragon's wings or crashed into the condensed and tough dragon body, only creating ripples of Chakra without truly tearing it.
"Roar!"
The Eight-Tails' massive body stirred up dust and smoke; every angry strike made the earth tremble, kicking up waves of soil over ten zhang high.
However, the strength it took such pride in was perfectly countered by the opponent.
The purple-gold dragon did not simply clash head-on; it drew elegant yet deadly arcs in the sky, utilizing its absolute height advantage to constantly dive, feint, and entangle, testing for weaknesses under the Eight-Tails' solid skin with dragon claws and fangs wrapped in sealing power.
Several Adamantine Sealing Chains were hidden beneath the flowing colors of the dragon's Chakra, like lurking venomous snakes, ready to deliver a fatal blow at any moment.
"Dammit! Slippery as a loach!" Inside the sealing space, Killer Bee's original body also restrained his usual hip-hop style.
The heavy voice of the Eight-Tails echoed in his heart: "Bee, be careful! This guy's Chakra... counters me very much!"
"..."
How could Killer Bee not know? He had already sensed the strangeness of that Dragon God's power.
The opponent's raw strength might be slightly inferior to his own Perfect Form, but the sealing properties contained in its power were a blade hanging over his head!
Once truly entangled and bound, what awaited him would likely be falling into an endless dark prison again. This was a deep fear shared by him and the Eight-Tails, who had both experienced the pain of being sealed!
"Yo! Cunning guy playing dirty in the sky—idiot, jerk!"
Killer Bee maintained his usual rhythm with his words, but his movements became increasingly solemn.
On the other hand, the Collector in the air, his gray robes fluttering, mask still hidden in the shadow of the hood, only those eyes flashing with sharp light stared intently at every move of the Eight-Tails.
To him, this stalemate was still under control. The Dragon God's defense and flexibility had reached satisfactory levels, enough to contend with the fully Tailed Beast-fied Eight-Tails.
The only regret was the lack of a super destructive technique like the Tailed Beast Ball, and—
His gaze swept over the Eight-Tails' flying massive tentacles; those were tempting targets.
"A pity—too alert," The Collector thought to himself.
It wasn't that he didn't have the chance to forcibly tear off a few tentacles. Tailed Beast limbs, rich in powerful Chakra and vitality, were one of his goals for this trip.
But the Eight-Tails Killer Bee had clearly learned a painful lesson from the earlier encounter of Yugito, and his protection of his limbs was exceptionally tight. Every time the dragon tried to bite forcibly, it would be met with a desperate, frantic counterattack from the opponent, resulting in a sharp increase in Dragon God Chakra consumption.
Forcing a move would not be worth the cost.
If this continued and he couldn't get the Eight-Tails' Chakra, then his action this time would truly be a loss.
Although he hadn't paid too much, if he didn't earn enough, isn't that just a loss?
A cold thought flashed through the Collector's mind.
What he pursued was not just a stalemate, but absolute advantage and greater harvest! He must find an opportunity to break the situation!
Just then, a sudden change occurred!
"Big Brother!!!"
A heart-wrenching roar that completely abandoned all rhythm and pretense, like the mourning of a wounded giant beast, suddenly exploded from Killer Bee's mouth, echoing through the clouds!
Although they were not biological brothers, their past interactions had made their connection exceed that of normal brothers, exploding to the extreme in a moment of life and death!
Through the churning dust and energy turbulence, the massive eyes of the tens-of-meters-tall Eight-Tails beast clearly perceived that heart-stopping scene on the distant battlefield.
His big brother, the Fourth Raikage Ay, who used to be as majestic as a mountain, was now covered in blood, his arms hanging down twisted and deformed, his Lightning Style Armor dimmed almost to extinction, being pinned down by a terrifying Sage Jutsu energy storm.
Fear! Fury! Instantly submerged all of Killer Bee's reason!
"Roar!!!"
This time, it was no longer the roar of the Eight-Tails, but a blood-and-tears cry from the depths of the souls of both Killer Bee and Gyūki, solely to protect their loved one! Those massive beast pupils suddenly turned blood-red!
"Bee! No time to think! Go save Big Brother!"
Gyūki's voice was urgent and resolute; it understood Killer Bee's obsession and regard for this emotion!
Without any hesitation! The Eight-Tails' massive body suddenly abandoned all defensive postures and charged headlong toward the Raikage's direction, regardless of anything!
It poured massive Chakra recklessly into its legs. Every time its giant feet stepped on the ground, they left craters like meteorite craters. Rocks flew like rain, and the entire battlefield seemed like the surface of water into which a stone had been thrown, violently fluctuating, cracking, and vibrating with it as the center!
What purple-gold dragon! What sealing threat! What biting and testing! At this moment, they were completely erased from Killer Bee's heart!
In his vision, there was only that precarious figure! That figure who was like both a father and a brother!
The massive figure crashed through the dust, unstoppable!
"An opportunity!" The Collector's pupils suddenly contracted.
His superior perception allowed him to instantly understand the reason for Killer Bee's madness.
The Fourth Raikage was actually pushed to such a desperate situation in such a short time? Even he was surprised.
One must know that the Fourth Raikage was already in his thirties, and his strength could be said to have reached its peak. He was definitely not one of those newcomers who had just stepped into the Kage-level; in this era, he was among the few powerful ones.
But even such a powerhouse, facing Jiraiya's incomplete Sage Mode, actually only lasted this long before being on the verge of death—
The power of Sage Mode is truly terrifying!
Although Jiraiya's Sage Mode was not as perfect as Naruto's, his own strength was much stronger than the Naruto of that time.
This power, although estimated to be inferior to Sage Naruto, should have barely touched the threshold of the peak Kage-level!
Such strength, placed at this point in time, indeed feels like a dimensional reduction strike.
Although he could understand Killer Bee's extreme concern for his brother.
But at this time, the Eight-Tails' defenses were wide open, and its back was completely exposed! A once-in-a-lifetime hunting opportunity—he could not miss it!
The next moment, an extremely cold light ignited in his eyes.
Target locked!
The Collector controlled the purple-gold dragon to bite off one of the Eight-Tails' thick tentacles amidst its roar.
But facing the purple-gold dragon's attack, Killer Bee completely ignored it. Such an injury was just an injury; the most important thing now was to reach the place where the Fourth Raikage was and save his big brother!
The massive tentacle fell to the ground, making a violent vibration sound.
The size of this tentacle was perhaps no less than the one Sasuke cut off in the original work.
Even this one tentacle could barely serve as a substitute for the Eight-Tails to be fed to the Gedo Statue; one can imagine the value in it.
But, since he could obtain more, this little bit was not enough!
The Collector took a deep breath.
The purple-gold dragon in the air let out a heaven-shaking dragon roar, its massive body instantly turning into a dazzling torrent of Chakra and dissipating.
The power instantly returned to the Collector's body. The massive Chakra wings on his back flapped violently, accompanied by a piercing sonic boom, as he became a gray-purple stream of light tearing through space, biting hard onto that galloping giant back!
While pursuing, his hands had already closed in front of his chest! Violent, shrill-whistling Chakra air currents frantically converged, compressed, and took shape!
A massive shuriken composed of high-speed rotating sharp wind blades, containing devastating cutting energy, was rapidly forming in his palm.
"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"
But it wasn't enough!
Killer Bee's speed was too fast! With pure throwing, the Rasenshuriken's speed might very likely be left behind by the opponent's terrifying charge!
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
The Collector shouted lowly, and dozens of extremely tough golden chains instantly sprouted from under the skin of his back!
They were not used to bind the Eight-Tails, but like living metal vines, they converged and twisted into an even thicker, massive golden chain in the blink of an eye!
One end of the chain was fixed like lightning into the core vortex of the newly formed Rasenshuriken!
The next second, the Collector was like an ancient giant swinging a flail, his arm driving that thick golden chain.
Aided with the massive kinetic energy of high-speed flight, he swung that rotating, hissing Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, which emitted a devastating aura, like a predatory eagle swinging a lethal meteor hammer, towards Killer Bee's unprotected broad back!
"Bee! Watch out!" Eight-Tails let out an extremely shrill alarm inside Killer Bee!
It clearly sensed that terrifying power from behind, enough to obliterate flesh and blood cells!
However.
"Gyūki! Big Brother... is waiting for us!" Killer Bee didn't look back, his violent sprinting speed even increased again!
Fire of recklessness burned in his eyes, with only one thought in his mind.
Rush over! Use his body to block that destructive blue light! For Big Brother... take that lethal Rasengan!
"Puchi!!"
The Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, rotating with a whistle of despair, smashed accurately onto the Eight-Tails' side-back!
A terrifying Wind Release storm instantly erupted!
It was not a simple explosion, but a devastating vortex composed of billions of incomparably sharp energy needles condensed from ultra-high-density Wind Style Chakra!
"Woooaaah!!!"
Some of the octopus tentacles on the Eight-Tails' massive body, at the moment of contact with the wind blade vortex, were like being thrown into a giant meat grinder, instantly ground into pieces of flesh and blood flying all over the sky!
Deep blue blood splashed down like a rainstorm! The skin covered with carapace also vibrated violently, cracked, and shattered amidst the piercing friction sound!
Piercing pain, like thousands of red-hot steel needles, stabbed into his brain!
However—
Even though the intense pain almost made Killer Bee faint, his remaining reason let out a beast-like roar!
Instead of retreating, he advanced, frantically utilizing the thrust generated by the massive explosion shockwave behind him, squeezing the last potential of the Eight-Tails' muscles, his massive body forcing itself through the pain of tearing flesh.
Like a launched giant cannonball, at a speed exceeding limits, carrying a body full of dripping blue blood and shredded meat, he frantically lunged toward the direction where the dazzling blue light was about to swallow his loved one!
In his vision, the light shining from the edges of the falling Sage Art: Rasengan was already clearly visible!
"Big Brother! Hold on!!"
The radiance of death had already touched the Fourth Raikage Ay's hot skin.
The destructive energy contained in the Sage Art: Rasengan could completely evaporate that steel body, which had once looked down upon the Ninja World, into dust in just a breath's time.
A critical moment!
In the last 0.0-something seconds before that blue light representing annihilation swallowed the Raikage, a barrier forged of flesh and will resolutely lay between destruction and life!
"Big Brother!!!"
Accompanied by Killer Bee's roar that tore through all hip-hop rhythms and erupted with the most primitive sorrowful howl from the depths of his soul.
The Eight-Tails's incomparably massive tentacles, like the most loyal shields, frantically spread and intertwined from Killer Bee's original body's flank, instantly wrapping the dying Fourth Raikage Ay in layers!
\No time to think! Time only allowed one choice: use the body to block!
That thick tentacle that first met the Sage Art: Rasengan let out a tooth-aching moan at the moment of contact with the destructive Chakra.
The Tailed Beast skin, tough as steel, was like butter under a hot knife, melting and breaking at a visible speed.
The violent spiral storm invaded the flesh and blood with irresistible force, grinding the internal tissues into blue blood foam flying everywhere!
"Ugh!"
Killer Bee let out a muffled roar of heart-piercing pain, but his giant octopus head did not shift even slightly, his eyes burning with reckless madness!
Pain? Loss of limbs? At this moment, they were all thrown to the back of his mind! More tentacles, regardless of the tragic sacrifice at the front, were like a living tide, wrapping up one after another!
Flesh and blood splattered! Blood was like a waterfall!
Just before the Sage Jutsu energy was about to completely decompose the Raikage through the last gaps in the flesh, the Eight-Tails' massive body finally completely covered that death zone.
The heavy muffled sound was submerged by the shrill whistle of the spiral storm. Killer Bee bore the impact enough to crush mountains, using his scarred giant body to firmly resist the remaining power of the Sage Art: Rasengan. The Eight-Tails' feet plowed several deep gullies in the cracked earth!
"What?!"
The scales of the battle suddenly tilted!
Jiraiya's perception in Sage Mode was incomparably clear; he "saw" the Eight-Tails' movements and expected Killer Bee would come to the rescue, but he never expected the opponent's determination to be so resolute!
That speed exceeding limits, that madness of regarding death as home and even severing limbs to rescue, completely exceeded the scope of rational calculation!
The plan to kill the Raikage fell short in the face of this brotherly affection paid for with flesh and blood!
"Bee!!"
Almost at the same moment he bore the Sage Jutsu attack, rage and intense pain turned into a torrent of destruction!
Killer Bee's eyes were bloodshot, and all the massive tentacles that had not been destroyed and still possessed offensive capabilities turned into hundred-zhang spears, carrying a shrill whistle that tore the air, frantically shooting toward Jiraiya, who was briefly stagnant due to releasing his ultimate move, from all directions and without any blind spots!
The sound of breaking air was sharp and piercing, as if it would even pierce through space!
"Careful, little Jiraiya! This mad beast's attack cannot be taken head-on!" Fukasaku warned sharply, his toad eyes full of solemnity.
Even with a Sage Body, clashing head-on with this desperate, angry strike from a Tailed Beast was definitely not a wise move.
Shima was also extremely nervous: "Retreat quickly!"
"Dammit!" Jiraiya gritted his teeth, suppressing the shock, anger, and regret in his heart.
At this moment, forced confrontation was unwise! His figure flashed rapidly, and the rocks under his feet exploded under the heavy blow of the tentacles! Using the cover of dust and flying stones, he performed consecutive Body Flicker techniques, narrowly avoiding that storm-like violent piercing.
Forcing Jiraiya back! Killer Bee had no intention of continuing the fight!
Using a relatively intact tentacle, he carefully rolled the small "flesh cocoon" wrapping his brother into his internal space; this was the safest protection.
His massive beast eyes quickly scanned the messy battlefield. Big Brother Raikage's aura was weak, his flame of life like a candle in the wind;
The Hidden Cloud army had lost its supreme commander and already showed signs of collapse under absolute military pressure.
"Go!!"
An incomparably heavy decision fell in Killer Bee's heart.
"Moo!" A bull's roar containing sorrow, resolution, and the highest command shook the clouds. The Eight-Tails' voice reached every corner of the battlefield: "All forces, retreat!!!"
The massive sound waves suppressed the sounds of slaughter; it was a signal to retreat, and even more, a final warning!
The mountain-like massive body, carrying a body of dripping blue blood and countless wounds, instantly erupted with its fastest speed!
Completely ignoring terrain obstacles, the massive body, enveloped in dust and gravel, was like an out-of-control land whale, charging headlong toward the Hidden Cloud Village!
With every step, the earth shook violently, leaving deep pits! That was a desperate flight, burning the last bit of Chakra!
There was only one goal: race against time to save Big Brother's life!