As it flew backward, the dark red chakra continued to dissipate. It smashed through dozens of towering trees along the way, carving a deep trench nearly a thousand meters long across the ground before finally coming to a stop.
The tailed beast chakra that had been gathering around him collapsed under such a heavy blow, and he could no longer even maintain the most basic tailed beast cloak form.
After delivering that earth-shaking punch, the blue steam rising from Might Duy's body suddenly retracted. His body swayed violently, his face turning pale at a visible speed, beads of sweat rolling down like rain. His legs gave out, and he was on the verge of collapsing powerlessly.
Clearly, opening the seventh gate in such a short time and using Hirudora twice had placed a tremendous burden on his body.
'Seriously? Big brother, you're already worn out? You're far behind your son in the future.'
Shinichi couldn't help but complain inwardly, but he also knew he couldn't measure Might Duy by Might Guy's standards. Otherwise, that earlier Hirudora wouldn't have merely shattered Blue B's tailed beast cloak.
He did not choose to pursue the blown-away Blue B, because in the distance within his field of vision, dense reinforcements from the Village Hidden in the Cloud had already appeared in the forest behind Blue B.
In the brief few seconds of combat between him and Blue B, the enemy's main force had already closed in!
More importantly, the cold sense of danger within him, originating from the warning of the Ominous Omen talent, had not disappeared.
To be able to catch up in such a short time indicated that this five-hundred-man Kumogakure unit was not only entirely elite, but also filled with a large number of Jonin, and even quite a few elite Jonin.
With such a lineup, and with the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki nearby, once he was surrounded, even with a clone working in sync, unless Might Duy risked his life to open the eighth gate, it would be a certain death situation.
"Move!"
Shinichi stepped forward in a flash, grabbed the exhausted Might Duy, who could barely stand, and hoisted his arm over his shoulder. Then he turned and sprinted in the same direction as the retreating forces, pushing himself to the absolute limit and fleeing without looking back.
More than a thousand meters away, Blue B took a deep breath, suppressing the churning blood and chakra in his chest, and was about to order his arriving companions to give chase.
Suddenly, a sense of crisis welled up from the bottom of his heart!
Blue B suddenly looked up!
Suddenly, a figure wielding a long staff leaped to the highest point and slammed it down on the Village Hidden in the Cloud army that was about to assemble below, targeting Blue B, who was at the forefront!
The moment it started to fall on the ground, something unexpected happened!
The staff, which was originally only about two meters long, suddenly grew larger in the wind!
ten meters!
Fifty meters!
One hundred meters!
Two hundred meters!
The staff grew larger and longer until it transformed into a true colossal pillar supporting the heavens! Like a pillar supporting the sky collapsing, it crashed down towards the Village Hidden in the Cloud army with a devastating force!
Wherever the staff passed, the air was violently pushed aside, forming a visible vacuum channel! The ground below, unable to withstand the terrifying pressure, began to collapse layer by layer!
"Gyuki!!!"
Blue B's pupils shrank sharply as he shouted in a low voice.
A deep purplish-black tsunami of tailed beast chakra erupted wildly from his body! His body instantly broke through the limits of human form, rapidly expanding, twisting, and deforming!
In the blink of an eye, a colossal, purplish-black beast, tens of meters long, with eight enormous octopus-like tails and two horns on its head, appeared on the ground, replacing Blue B's original position.
Complete Tailed Beast State: Eight-Tails, Gyuki!
In its complete Tailed Beast State, Blue B suddenly raised its hands, and all eight of its massive tails rose up at the same time, like a moving mountain meeting the towering pillar that was falling from the sky!
Rumble! Rumble!! Rumble!!!
An earth-shaking explosion sounded as the heaven-piercing pillar-like Adamantine Nyoi smashed solidly onto the raised hands and eight tails of the Eight-Tails Gyuki!
A terrifying mushroom cloud, thousands of meters high and filled with dust, debris, chakra turbulence, and shockwaves, rose from the ground!!!
The violent shockwave, like a world-ending tsunami, leveled everything within a radius of several kilometers, including trees and rocks, and blew them high into the sky!
As the devastating light and dust dissipated, a huge crater appeared beneath the Eight-Tails, but it remained standing in place. Several of its eight tails, which it had used to block, had gone limp, and its hands showed obvious signs of damage.
But he ultimately withstood the devastating blow thanks to the tailed beast's almost-broken defensive capabilities and its massive chakra.
A moment later, Blue B raised its enormous head, its ferocious, beastly eyes sweeping forward.
But by this time, the figures from Konoha, including Shinichi Higashino and Might Duy, had already vanished without a trace, taking advantage of the chaos and cover caused by this earth-shattering attack.
Blue B was about to say something, but his gaze inadvertently swept over his companions, most of whom… had an undisguised shock and even fear in their eyes.
Upon seeing this, Blue B felt a tremor in his heart. Although he knew that these gazes were not directed at him, but rather at the shock of this sudden and destructive attack.
But...
He fell silent for a moment.
Then, he slowly retreated from his fully Tailed Beast State and returned to human form. He said nothing, just stood there, gazing in the direction where Konoha's ninjas had disappeared.
...
At the edge of Konoha's territory, Shinichi Higashino had just helped the completely exhausted Might Duy reunite with the other members of the fourth battalion who had arrived earlier. As soon as they arrived, everyone eagerly gathered around them.
"Captain!"
"Captain Shinichi! Are you alright?"
"Take care of Might Duy first…"
Shinichi Higashino handed Might Duy over to two team members and gestured for everyone to calm down.
"You all did a great job, remaining calm in the face of danger and retreating decisively, without any losses."
He glanced around, his gaze sweeping over the faces covered in smoke and dust, and nodded slightly, saying, "After a short rest, I will immediately report the details of this encounter to Orochimaru-sama and request merit for all of you."
Request a merit
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other, many of them showing obvious confusion or even astonishment.
Their mission was to survey and sabotage the Village Hidden in the Cloud's supply point, but not only did they fail to find the supply point, but they also abandoned the mission objective and ran straight back. Can they really claim credit for that?
A young Chunin, his face covered in dust, couldn't help but whisper, "But, Captain, our mission failed. We couldn't destroy the Village Hidden in the Cloud's supply point..."
"There is no such supply point at all."
Seeing this, Shinichi Higashino chuckled softly: "That was originally a trap carefully set up by the Village Hidden in the Cloud. They deliberately released false information about supply points to lure people from Konoha deep into the area, and then they would use superior forces, even employing strategic forces like the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, to encircle and annihilate them."