On a relatively intact rocky outcrop on the periphery of Hell Valley, Darui was in a state of extreme disarray.
His signature white spiky hair was caked with dust and blood. His dark Kumogakure's Jonin flak jacket was torn in multiple places, revealing blood-soaked bandages beneath.
He leaned against a large weathered rock, breathing heavily, his eyes filled with indescribable shock and powerlessness.
Beside him, C was half-kneeling on the ground, his hands emitting a soft green chakra glow as he pressed them against Toroi's mangled, bloody chest.
Toroi's face was deathly pale, his breathing shallow. His giant magnetized shuriken lay discarded to the side, covered in cracks and scorch marks.
The three other surviving Anbu were either sitting or lying down, all wounded, their auras weak. Their masks were shattered, the faces revealed etched with the terror of a narrow escape and bone-deep exhaustion.
They had just endured the combined assault of nine bizarre summoned creatures, Kakuzu, and Kisame.
If not for Darui's Storm Release desperately holding the line, C's timely medical support, and the Tailed Beast Bomb clash in the main battlefield forcing both sides to expend all effort to escape the core combat zone, this elite squad would likely have fared even worse.
Even so, Toroi was critically injured and near death, while the others had lost all combat ability.
"Dammit! Nine of those bizarre summoned creatures!" Darui coughed, remembering the battle three years ago when Shura had driven them back to the very steps of the Raikage's office.
Two floating summoned creatures had kept them running ragged back then, and now there were more!
And there were also two other powerful Ninja, with their strength far exceeding that of ordinary Elite Jonin.
'Where did Shura even recruit such Ninjas?'
However, before Darui and the others could even process their own wretched state, their attention was seized by the terrifying battle unfolding in the canyon's center, a conflict that surpassed mortal imagination.
Deafening roars and earth-shattering collision sounds rolled in like continuous thunder from the heart of Hell Valley. Each tremendous boom made the ground beneath their feet tremble.
Even from thousands of meters away, the violent energy fluctuations felt like a tangible gale, making their clothes snap and their cheeks sting.
Darui forced his body up, climbing to the edge of the rocky outcrop. The pupils under his white hair constricted sharply.
Boom-!!!!
In his field of vision, two mountain-like behemoths were locked in a frenzied battle!
The deep purple Eight-Tails, its eight tentacles flailing wildly, let out pained roars.
The ghostly blue Two-Tails, its burning flames flickering, slammed its massive cat paws down again and again with grief and fury.
And their opponent was also covered in a Tailed Beast Cloak, condensing a terrifying dark red Tailed Beast Bomb!
The Tailed Beast Bombs fired by the Eight-Tails and Two-Tails, and an even colder, more savage dark red Tailed Beast Bomb, shot towards each other like three falling stars of death. With a shriek that tore through space, they collided with a thunderous impact! (T/N: I don't understand why there are another Tailed Beast Bombs clash, when just before, it was explained they ran after Tailed Beast Bombs collision.)
Boom-!!!
An indescribably terrifying explosion occurred! Blinding light instantly devoured everything in sight!
Even from thousands of meters away, Darui and the others saw only stark white. Their ears rang from the deafening roar, causing temporary deafness!
The ensuing shockwave, like an invisible giant wall, slammed into their rocky hiding place, shaking loose stones and debris!
A massive ball of light, a chaotic mix of three-colored destructive energy, rose like a newborn sun from the center of Hell Valley, yet it emitted an aura of death which could annihilate everything!
"A Tailed Beast Bomb clash..." Darui murmured, his voice failing him. The destructive bright light carried a powerful air current impacting towards them.
The surrounding soil and rubble were sent flying by the violent wind. He instinctively formed hand seals with both hands, performing an Earth Release Ninjutsu to block the strong airflow for his comrades.
But at the same time, Darui looked towards the center of the battlefield, even more worried now.
'To force Kumogakure's two Perfect Jinchuriki into the desperate situation of having to resort to using Tailed Beast Bombs... and Raikage-sama seemed to be at a disadvantage too...'
'Just how terrifying was this Shura's power?!'
Suddenly, a drastic change occurred!
Amidst the smoke after the explosion, an even larger figure than the Eight-Tails and Two-Tails appeared!
"That... that is..." Darui's voice was hoarse and raspy, trembling with disbelief.
Through the smoke, a Nine-Tailed Fox appeared. Its entire body dark red, nine massive tails thrashing like burning blood-red flames. It radiated a sinister, savage aura that made souls tremble!
With an unmatched momentum, it charged forward, firmly suppressing the Eight-Tails!
It sent the Two-Tails, which tried to charge in, flying with a single swipe of its tail!
Every claw strike, every tail whip, carried terrifying power enough to shatter mountains and break cliffs, leaving deep, bone-deep wounds and corrosive dark red energy on the massive bodies of the Eight-Tails and Two-Tails!
Darui's voice was hoarse and raspy, trembling with disbelief: "The Nine-Tails? How could Konoha's Nine-Tails be here?!"
He couldn't understand it. He couldn't accept it.
The Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki attacks Kumogakure?
Who would believe that?
The first three Great Ninja Wars were brutal, one even reaching Konoha's doorstep, and they never saw Konoha deploy its Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki!
Xi, who was trying his best to maintain the Medical Ninjutsu, had beads of sweat oozing from his forehead.
Upon hearing this, he lifted his head with difficulty, looking towards the distant silhouettes of the three mythical beasts battling. His eyes were also filled with shock.
"Captain Darui... I... I've never seen the real Nine-Tails either... but that power to suppress the Eight-Tails and Two-Tails... aside from the Nine-Tails, I can't think of anything else... and it's a level only a Perfect Jinchuriki could reach..." His voice was weak from Chakra Depletion and inner turmoil.
Lying on the ground, Toroi, who was slightly more conscious, turned his eyes with difficulty towards the center of the battlefield. On his face, pale from blood loss, muscles twitched slightly. In the end, he could only shook his head heavily.
As an experienced Jonin, he too could feel the terror of that dark red Nine-Tails. That was definitely not power an ordinary Ninja could possess.
C finally stabilized Toroi's injuries for the moment. The green Chakra glow faded from his hands.
He stood up wearily and walked to Darui's side. Looking at the apocalyptic battle unfolding in the distance, his brows furrowed beneath his blond hair: "Captain, should we attempt to intervene? Raikage-sama and B-sama, they..."
He didn't finish, but the meaning was clear… even knowing it was like a moth flying into a flame, they couldn't just watch the pillars of their village fall.
Darui's gaze was fixed on the battlefield, watching the dark red Nine-Tails suppress the Eight-Tails as if playing with it, watching it condense a dark red Tailed Beast Bomb emitting destructive fluctuations in its mouth.
His fists were clenched so tightly his nails almost dug into his palms.
"Intervene?" Darui's voice was low and hoarse, filled with thick bitterness and powerlessness.
"C, look clearly. That level of combat is no longer something we can intervene in. Charging in recklessly would see us turned to ash in an instant."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over his severely wounded comrades behind him, his voice growing even heavier: "Our mission... is now to hold the perimeter, guard against Shura's other accomplices, and be prepared for those bizarre summoned creatures to reappear."
When he mentioned 'summoned creatures', a flicker of lingering fear passed through his eyes.
Those nine summoned creatures of various forms, each possessing the strength of an Elite Jonin, plus the two other mysterious Missing-nin from Kirigakure and Takigakure... this encounter had left their elite Anbu Teams severely damaged, leaving an indelible mark of terror.
As for pursuing the Chinoike Clan?
Darui looked back at Toroi lying on the ground, clinging to life, and the three other Anbu who had almost lost the ability to move. He could only let out a deep, helpless sigh.
The mission has completely failed.
All they could do now was pray for a miracle from Raikage and the other two, or at least try to preserve the lives of these remaining comrades.
The dark red Nine-Tails' overwhelming suppression made Darui and the others watching from the periphery look grim.
As a Tailed Beast Bomb blasted the Eight-Tails into a wretched state, the intense light and roar not yet fully dissipated, an even deeper, more soul-chilling coldness suddenly rose within Darui!
Amidst the smoke and dust at the explosion's center, which hadn't yet cleared, the Black Nine-Tails' massive figure suddenly vanished.
An explosive sphere of light emitting a bizarre white glow was rapidly expanding with a suffocating trajectory of destruction!
Even from a great distance, Darui could feel the terrifying Chakra contained within it!
Instantly, the hairs on his body stood on end!
This sight... this heart-palpitating feeling... Darui knew it all too well!
"That... that is!!!" C also cried out in a lost voice, his face instantly turning as pale as paper.
"Cough... it's... it's that guy's Jutsu... the one that destroyed the Raikage Building last time..." Toroi lay on the ground, coughing with difficulty.
Three years ago, it was this very dark purple energy sphere that had exploded in the center of Kumogakure, destroying half the Raikage Building and claiming the lives of hundreds of Kumogakure's Ninjas!
That hellish scene was still a nightmare that haunted many Kumogakure's Ninjas!
Boom-!!!!
Accompanied by an earth-shattering roar, the giant sphere of light expanded rapidly, like a mushroom suddenly growing from the ground!
Wherever the 'white light mushroom' passed, all matter was annihilated!
The earth collapsed and vanished like a fragile sandcastle!
A giant crater, even deeper and more perfectly formed than the one caused by the Tailed Beast Bombs, its edges flowing with magma like a waterfall, was born amidst the dark purple destructive light!
The soaring white light sphere rushed towards them rapidly.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!" Darui, seeing it was impossible to move the wounded, formed hand seals, mobilized all the chakra in his body, and performed a defensive Ninjutsu.
Boom-!!!!
The massive white light instantly swallowed them.
Darui gritted his teeth so hard his gums almost bled.
Fortunately, they were on the periphery of the main battlefield. The aftershocks of the explosion stopped there.
"Cough—" Darui looked at Hell Valley, its topography completely altered by the successive explosions, and forced himself to calm down.
He roared hoarsely at C: "C! Look after the wounded! Hold this position!"
Before the words had fully faded, he was already rushing out, disregarding his own injuries and exhaustion, like an arrow released from its bow, desperately sprinting towards the area that had just been consumed by the dark purple destructive light!
He had to confirm the life or death of Raikage and the two Jinchuriki!
The center of Jigoku Valley was utterly transformed.
A massive ring-shaped crater encompassed an even deeper, colossal sinkhole. Molten rock flowed sluggishly at the bottom of the pit and within the fissures, emitting scorching heat waves and a pungent sulfur smell.
The air was thick with the heavy scents of gunpowder smoke, char, and blood.
Darui searched frantically through the chaotic jumble of molten rock and rubble, his heart sinking to the depths.
Finally, at the edge of a deep pit where a rock layer had been overturned and half-buried by a tremendous impact force, he found them!
The scene was so devastating it was suffocating.
The Fourth Raikage, A, was leaning against a scalding hot rock. His bare upper body was covered in charred marks and deep wounds that reached the bone. The most gruesome sight was his left arm!
Everything below the elbow was gone. The stump was charred black, cauterized by violent Lightning Attribute Chakra to stop the bleeding, but the savage cross-section of muscle and bone was still visible.
Raikage's face was deathly pale, his breathing shallow. His remaining right arm hung limply. His eyes were unfocused, but upon seeing Darui, a faint light forced itself to gather in those dilated pupils.
Beside Raikage, Yugito, who had exited her Tailed Beast Transformation, lay unconscious. Her Kumogakure's uniform was in tatters, large areas of pale skin exposed but covered in blood and burns.
Several sharp pieces of rubble were deeply embedded in her chest, the blood staining the rock beneath her.
Her breathing was so faint it was almost imperceptible.
The most severely injured was B.
He had exited his Tailed Beast Transformation. He lay on his back at the edge of the molten pit, his body with almost no intact skin!
Charred wounds reached the bone. His bones were unnaturally twisted in multiple places. Blood had practically soaked the rock beneath him.
He seemed to retain a sliver of consciousness, his lips moving slightly, but no sound emerged.
Darui could clearly see the ground around B's body showed strange, spiral-shaped tear marks.
This was the remnant of the Eight-Tails's ultimate defensive Jutsu, [Tailed Beast Eight Twists]!
Clearly, at the final moment, it was B who had expended all his effort, using his powerful body and Chakra to form a spiral storm, shielding Raikage and Yugito, while he himself bore the brunt of the Great Spiralling Ring's core destructive impact!
"Raikage-sama! B-sama! Yugito-sama!" Darui's voice was choked with tears. He rushed to Raikage's side, wanting to help him up but afraid of touching the horrific arm stump wound.
Raikage turned his eyes with difficulty to look at Darui. A guttural sound came from his throat. Using the last of his strength, he squeezed out a few words, haltingly: "Med-Medical... Nin... call... reinforcements..."
Every word seemed to drain the life from him.
Darui nodded hurriedly, immediately pulling out a signal flare and firing it without hesitation!
A blinding red flame shot into the smoke and dust-shrouded, gloomy sky with a piercing shriek!
After doing this, Darui dropped to one knee beside Raikage. He looked at this man who had once stood firm like an iron tower, now with a severed arm and severe injuries, barely breathing.
He then looked at the prodigy B lying by the molten rock like a broken doll. He looked at the powerful Yugito with countless rubble embedded in her chest.
An indescribable wave of grief and fury and powerlessness washed over him.
Raikage's remaining right hand gripped Darui's arm with surprising strength. His bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at Darui, burning with unwillingness, rage, and a trace of deep-seated wariness he himself was reluctant to admit.
"Cough... Shura..." A's voice was like a broken bellows, filled with deep-seated hatred: "Cough! It must be… Konoha!"
"Cough… Nine-Tails… question… cough!"
He rasped intermittently, coughing up blood every few words.
Images from Ninja World's legends involuntarily surfaced in Raikage's mind… that figure who could capture the Nine Tailed Beasts with his bare hands, who suppressed an era like a god, Senju Hashirama!
'What kind of terrifying power must that have been?!'
And now, the Jinchuriki possessing the Nine-Tails was attacking Kumogakure again and again!
This pushed his anger and suspicion towards Konoha to the limit!
'Damn Konoha! Damn you, Danzo!'