"Roar!"
Just as Naruto was about to finish off Ay, a furious roar echoed through the air.
Naruto turned to see Bee on all fours, his body covered in a skeletal structure of white Chakra, his head tilted back.
The Yin and Yang Nature Chakra in his mouth condensed and turned into a small ball.
"I was planning to deal with you later, but it seems you can't wait, huh?"
Facing Bee's fully charged Tailed Beast Ball, Naruto simply raised his hand. There was no need to dodge such an attack.
At that moment, a violent surge of Chakra erupted as Bee launched the Tailed Beast Ball without hesitation.
However, to Naruto's surprise, just before firing, Bee suddenly twisted his body, redirecting the Tailed Beast Ball toward the central structures of the Land of Rain's massive crater.
If that Tailed Beast Bomb hit, all the progress the Land of Rain had made over the past few days would be reduced to nothing.
"Haha, you are quite clever."
Though caught off guard, Naruto remained calm. In a flash, he appeared in front of the Tailed Beast Ball.
He raised both hands, and a barrier materialized before him. A terrifying suction force emanated from it.
Then, Tailed Beast Ball melted at a speed visible to naked eye, just like snow under the scorching sun.
"Brother! Let's go!"
Bee didn't take the opportunity to attack Naruto while he was occupied with the Tailed Beast Bomb. Instead, he rushed to Ay's side.
Hearing Bee's voice, Ay immediately emerged from the rubble. Without a second thought or even a glance at Naruto, he turned and fled with Bee toward the Land of Earth.
They were too far from Kumogakure, and they couldn't risk leading the threat back home. So redirecting the danger toward Iwagakure and forcing Onoki to intervene was their best option now.
In just a few seconds, the Tailed Beast Ball, which Bee had spent a significant amount of Tailed Beast Chakra to create, vanished in Naruto's hands.
However, in those same few seconds, Ay and Bee had already disappeared from sight.
"Futile struggle."
A cold smile played on Naruto's lips.
Sensing the Flying Thunder God's mark he had left on Ay, Naruto vanished in a flash.
But to his slight surprise, when he reappeared, he found only a few bloodied chunks of flesh.
'It seemed that guy had cut off the parts of his body marked with the Flying Thunder God's mark.'
"Quite the resolve!"
Naruto couldn't help but admire the move, though he abandoned the idea of tracking them through the Flying Thunder God's mark.
Instead, he focused on their Chakra signatures. Once he located their escape route, he began relentlessly pursuing them using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Naruto's current Ocular Power allowed him to place Flying Thunder God's marks hundreds of meters away, covering vast distances in an instant.
Similarly, with his immense Chakra Reserves, the cost of such rapid teleportation was negligible.
Meanwhile, Ay and Bee's speed had slowed due to Ay's injuries.
As one side gained strength while the other lost strength, the distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer.
"Damn it! Fool! Idiot!"
On the other side, Bee and Ay, who are running at full speed, sensed Naruto rapidly closing in. Fear and anger surged within them.
That was the Tailed Beast Ball, a devastating attack capable of destroying entire villages. Yet, it had been neutralized so easily.
"I'm sorry, Bee. This is my fault. I was too reckless and dragged you into this."
Ay's voice was heavy with regret. If he had known earlier, he would have listened to Mabui. But there was no cure for regret.
"Brother, what are you talking about? Fool! Idiot!"
Despite his frustration, Bee harbored no resentment toward his brother.
After running for a while longer, they could feel Naruto getting dangerously close. Although they had entered the Land of Earth, they were still far from Iwagakure.
It was only a matter of time before they were caught.
At this time, Ay finally made a decision.
"Bee, I'll hold him off. You run and don't look back!"
"Brother! I..."
"Listen to me!"
Before Bee could protest, Ay cut him off. "You're the Eight-Tails' Jinchuriki. The Eight-Tails is more important to the village than I am. You must return it to the village."
After saying that, Ay came to a sudden stop. As Bee tried to do the same, Ay kicked him hard in the rear, sending him flying dozens of meters away.
Bee quickly adjusted his posture mid-air, glancing back at his brother, who was now running in the opposite direction.
He couldn't help but curse inwardly.
'What a mess! Fool! Idiot!'
---
Naruto soon spotted Raikage A, who had stopped running and was now charging toward him.
'Planning to sacrifice yourself to protect the Tailed Beast, huh?'
'But who gave you the confidence to think you could stop me?'
Naruto immediately understood Ay's intentions. His purple eyes grew colder as he began charging his Dojutsu.
Crackle--
By the time Naruto saw Ay, Ay had also spotted Naruto.
He leaped into the air, pushing his Lightning Release Chakra Mode to its limits. His speed surpassed even his previous peak.
His body radiated intense lightning, and his hand transformed into a palm knife. A massive amount of Lightning Nature Chakra condensed into a sharp, electrified edge as he slashed toward Naruto.
"Lightning Oppression Horizontal!"
Although this was only a C-Rank Jutsu, after countless refinements by Ay, it had become one of his most lethal techniques.
In the original work, he can even destroy Sasuke's Susanoo's ribcage with this Jutsu.
However, facing Ay's full-powered strike, Naruto didn't dodge. Instead, he charged straight at him.
As Ay's palm knife closed in on Naruto's forehead, instead of feeling triumph, Ay's heart grew heavier.
Because Naruto's face showed no concern, only disdain.
The Dojutsu Naruto had been charging was unleashed in an instant.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Boom!
Just as Ay's palm knife was about to strike Naruto, a sudden burst of repulsive force slammed into him.
"Puff--"
Ay spat out a mouthful of blood, his body hurled backward like a cannonball. Blood arced through the air.
And his right arm, which is once bulging with exaggerated muscles, now hung limp and lifeless, as if all the strength had been drained from it.
The arm swung loosely, as though it had no bones left.
In fact, not a single bone in his body remained intact.
Taking a fully charged Shinra Tensei head-on without preparation, it was a miracle he was still alive.
"What... what kind of power is this?"
Ay's mind was in turmoil. He hadn't expected to be so utterly powerless to even slow Naruto down.
But soon, as he continued to fly backward, a crushing sense of heaviness overwhelmed him. Weakness flooded his body.
His vision blurred as he stared at the distant golden-haired figure. Memories of his argument with Mabui flashed before his eyes.
His only thought now was a desperate hope that Bee would escape and that, once Kumogakure learned the truth, they wouldn't seek revenge for him.
'This guy... was a true monster.'