Chapter 80: Nine-Tails
Su Xiao turned his head to look at Naruto in the distance. At this moment, Naruto's blue pupils had turned a pale red, and the whisker-like marks on his cheeks were more pronounced.
"Could it be..."
Su Xiao's brow furrowed. This guy was clearly stimulated and about to erupt.
"Kakashi-sensei... is dead?"
Naruto's blood-red pupils stared at Kakashi's corpse. A faint red chakra surfaced on his body, wrapping around him like flowing water, forming a layer of Tailed Beast Cloak.
At this moment, Naruto had already burst out one tail, and his consciousness was beginning to blur. The Nine-Tails' chakra was violently raging. The more tails he released, the foggier his mind became. If nine chakra tails appeared behind Naruto, he would be completely controlled by the Nine-Tails.
Su Xiao had no interest in fighting Naruto. He could handle Naruto within four tails, but anything beyond that was a real headache.
Boom~
A surge of dark red chakra spread around Naruto, blowing away the surrounding building debris as a fierce gust expanded outward.
Su Xiao raised a hand to shield his face. Having absorbed the chakra of two tailed beasts before, his perception of tailed beast chakra was quite sharp.
At this point, he could no longer sense Naruto's own presence. The Nine-Tails' raging chakra had completely engulfed Naruto.
A dark red energy sphere about six or seven meters in diameter appeared. Inside, Naruto was fully wrapped in dark red chakra, transforming into a fox-like creature.
The fox-like Naruto resembled an energy being. This chakra was burning his skin.
"ROAR!!"
The tailed beast-form Naruto let out a skyward roar. His facial features were no longer distinguishable, leaving only two white glowing eye sockets and a gaping maw.
Four chakra tails swayed behind Naruto. He had actually jumped from one tail straight to four tails!
Su Xiao became alert, gripping the Dragon-Slaying Flash tightly.
Whoosh, whoosh~
Several figures appeared nearby—members of the Anbu from Konoha.
"What is this?"
One Anbu looked at Naruto, whose aura was overwhelmingly strong.
"This is a tailed beast-form jinchuriki. Could a jinchuriki be attacking the village?"
"No, I remember this chakra. It's the Nine-Tails!"
"Go inform the Hokage. Tell them... our village's jinchuriki has lost control!"
One Anbu flashed away, while the remaining few stared intently at the tailed beast-form Naruto, occasionally glancing at Su Xiao as well.
The tailed beast-form Naruto crouched blankly on the ground, his white eye sockets scanning the surroundings.
He first swept over the Anbu members. Just as he was about to kill them, his peripheral vision caught sight of Su Xiao.
A sudden impulse surged within the tailed beast-form Naruto: he had to kill this guy. He absolutely had to.
The tailed beast-form Naruto dropped to all fours like a wild beast, glaring viciously at Su Xiao.
Seeing this, Su Xiao lowered his body, muscles tensing slightly.
"Here it comes."
With a whoosh, the tailed beast-form Naruto vanished from his spot, the ground beneath him shattering with a boom.
Su Xiao felt his hair stand on end. The four-tail state Naruto was stronger than expected.
The tailed beast-form Naruto suddenly appeared in front of Su Xiao, a dark red claw swiping at his head. If one looked behind Naruto at that moment, they would notice the dark red chakra tails had become five! Bony protrusions began forming on the surface of the tailed beast-form Naruto's body.
Su Xiao formed an energy shield in front of him with 200 mana points of strength. The tailed beast-form Naruto's claw slammed into the shield.
With a crack, the shield was smashed open with a bowl-sized hole, and the claw reached for Su Xiao's face.
He ducked to dodge the claw, but unexpectedly, Naruto's claw extended further, shifting its target from his face to his chest.
Slash.
Blood splattered. Four claw marks appeared on Su Xiao's chest, the wounds extremely deep.
A numbing sensation spread through his chest. Though severely injured, Su Xiao wasn't about to wait for death. He slashed his blade at Naruto's claw.
As the long blade descended, the tailed beast-form Naruto seemed to sense the threat and quickly retracted his claw. The energy shield separated Su Xiao from the tailed beast-form Naruto.
Su Xiao immediately dispelled the shield. Naruto's other claw came swinging, this time aiming for his neck.
He blocked with the Dragon-Slashing Flash in front of him. The dark red claw struck the blade, sending a tremendous force through it.
As the force hit, Su Xiao tilted the Dragon-Slashing Flash, using Naruto's own momentum to deflect the attack.
With a screech, Naruto's claw scraped across the blade, the heavy strike veering off course and slamming into the ground beside them.
Boom!
Mud splattered, and dust rose.
Within the dust cloud, Su Xiao stepped forward, slashing his long blade at the tailed beast-form Naruto's chest.
Though the tailed beast transformation greatly enhanced Naruto's strength, he was now nothing more than a mindless beast, relying solely on brute force.
The Dragon-Slashing Flash cut through the air, the blade aiming for Naruto's neck.
At this point, Su Xiao no longer cared about capturing the jinchuriki alive. The five-tail state Naruto was too dangerous; any carelessness could cost him his life.
Clang!
The blade struck Naruto's neck, but a layer of bony protrusions blocked the edge. Behind Naruto, another chakra tail appeared, bringing the total to six.
This situation differed from Naruto's fight with Orochimaru. Back then, Naruto released tails one by one. Now, he had jumped from one tail straight to four, and from four to six in under a minute.
In the six-tail state, even Pain's Deva Path would be overwhelmed. Su Xiao realized firsthand that the Nine-Tails was a completely different concept from the other tailed beasts.
He seriously suspected that even all eight other tailed beasts combined might not be a match for a full Nine-Tails.
Keep in mind, the Nine-Tails inside Naruto was only half; the other half was sealed by the Fourth Hokage.
"ROAR!!"
The tailed beast-form Naruto let out a roar, seemingly displeased that a blade was pressed against his neck.
Su Xiao switched from a one-handed grip to two hands, putting all his strength into a downward slash.
Clang.
The blade cut through, breaking the bony protrusions. The tailed beast-form Naruto was slashed across the throat.
The cut was deep, and the Azure Steel Shadow energy annihilated the tailed beast chakra at Naruto's neck. Su Xiao could see Naruto's trachea.
Chakra surged across Naruto's body, and the wound healed rapidly. In less than two seconds, the gash on his neck was completely closed.
Su Xiao's eyes twitched. The tailed beast-form Naruto outclassed him in strength, speed, and recovery. If not for his blade skills and combat experience, he wouldn't have lasted a single exchange.
"Almighty Push."
A shockwave hit, sending Su Xiao flying backward. The tailed beast-form Naruto also tumbled several times. It was the Deva Path arriving.
"Found the Nine-Tails already? Good."
The Deva Path stared expressionlessly at the tailed beast-form Naruto, still unaware of how powerful this thing was.
"Let's begin the capture."
"Wait."
Su Xiao spoke up, and the Deva Path looked puzzled.
"First, deal with the Nine-Tails' reinforcements. Then handle the Nine-Tails. Right now, they're holding back for fear of harming it, but once the Nine-Tails is defeated, they'll step in."
Su Xiao tilted his chin. The Deva Path turned to look. The Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, along with Sakura and others, had arrived.
"Bai Ye, hold off the Nine-Tails for two minutes."
The Deva Path stood still. At the village's edge, the Animal Path abandoned its current opponent and began retreating outside Konoha.
After the Animal Path broke through the barrier around Konoha, it pressed one hand to the ground.
Poof~
White smoke rose. The other four Paths of Pain were summoned nearby by the Animal Path. Now, only Su Xiao and the Deva Path remained inside Konoha.
The Animal Path quickly formed hand seals and slapped the ground with one hand.
"Summoning Jutsu."
Another puff of white smoke erupted. A massive strange bird with a beak like a sharp cone appeared.
This strange bird spread its wings and took flight, heading straight for Su Xiao's location.