Damn, this is probably my favourite fight of the series right now. I knew there was no way I was gonna be able to release this first thing in the morning, it very nearly made it to the 6000 word mark. I'm not sure if there's anything in the previous chapter that really needs explaining, so I'll leave that this time around. I still get the feeling I didn't exactly do Kirabi jutice, so I guess I've still got some growing to do. Let me know what you think, cos I'll be ashamed if I mess up someone like him.


An attack by the killer bee is one left undesired

The seven sword style utilised by Kirabi was like nothing Naruto had ever seen before. No attack made by those thin blades was intended to be the end of a string; every strike was followed seamlessly by another. Each time Kirabi turned his body Naruto had to avoid at least two sword slashes; it was seriously like all the Hachibi Jinchuuriki was doing was an obscure dance. Naruto managed to dodge most of the blades quite well, but with so many of them he couldn't help receiving cuts and grazes all over his body. Yet in spite of the pain he often felt, he wore a grin like he had not been able to use since the first time he had mastered the Ekokaeten's zweihaender form.

"This is incredible!" he thought to himself, as he stabbed the Ekokaeten into the ground and created a wall between himself and Kirabi. Yet even though he had had only a short time to garner expectations for this dark skinned Shinobi, even with this he wasn't disappointed. Three of Kirabi's blades struck the Ekokaeten, blocking that attack. Yet without even pausing for breath, the Kumo nin used this to whip around and slash at Naruto from behind. The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki managed to spin away and pull his blade from the ground, but at the cost of a pretty bad cut to his right arm. "Looks like that fox's chakra is gonna have to go into overtime!"

It didn't take him long to see that he was at a serious disadvantage here. With his giant sword he may be unmatched at heavy weapon combat, but this speed based style meant the Ekokaeten was being reduced to little more than a shield. The only things he had succeeded in cutting were the trees and ground. If he wasn't careful, Kirabi was going to hurt his name as a swordsman. The idea of that made him chuckle, but only as long as it took him to imagine the look on Kisame's face should such a thing happen. Of course, even then he wasn't stopped from enjoying this wild and unpredictable fight.

"Alright, let's see how he likes this!" he thought, hurling his blade into the air. He then performed a quick back flip and thrusted his legs at Kirabi's chest, forcing the bulky guy to stumble back a bit. Even as the Ekokaeten fell through the air, Naruto's hands formed together in the cross ram seal. If Kirabi wanted to use more blades than his hands could handle, who was to say that Naruto couldn't do exactly that same thing. "Shadow Blade Imitation Jutsu!" he cried, creating a cloud of smoke high above ground. Both Naruto and Kirabi had to dart back to avoid being guillotined, as several Ekokaeten's fell from the sky.

Even as those multiple swords struck the ground, the distance between the two Jinchuuriki was fast being eliminated. Naruto pulled out a couple of the fake Ekokaeten's straight from the ground and held them to either side, before jumping up and using the others as footing. "Taste my hooks bitch!" he called, whirling through the air as he descended upon Kirabi's approaching form. His first blade met Kirabi's with a resounding clash, while the second was forced in for a lethal stab. However to Naruto's great shock, the Hachibi Jinchuuriki countered this strike using the blade gripped in his mouth. That alone wasn't so great, but the lightning sparking from the blade definitely caught Naruto's attention.

Suddenly all seven of Kirabi's blades were subject to this strange phenomenon. Each of them became lit up in a blue light as electricity coursed across the metal, buzzing loudly like the bee Kirabi so fondly referred to. It wasn't until those blades began cutting through the fake Ekokaeten's however, that Naruto became truly worried. "You fool, for messing with me!" rapped the Kumo Shinobi, as the Jutsu on the great-swords broke and they both disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Cos I float like a butterfly, and sting like a bee!"

Naruto landed a good few metres away from this rhyming warrior, his hands already holding a pair of new blades. He anticipated an immediate follow up as Kirabi had usually done, so was confused when he saw the bulky ninja straighten up with a frown on his face. "Shit… I already used that beat before didn't I?" he muttered to himself, without the blade slipping an inch. He then appeared to forget this battle altogether, slipping his blades back into their sheaths and procuring what appeared to be a pad of paper. "Don't wanna be a star that uses the same rhymes!"

Naruto was a little thrown by Kirabi's compulsive attitude. What had first looked like a fight on a scale Naruto could really get into had turned into something that was just plain weird. He dispelled his fake blades and picked up the real Ekokaeten, staying prepared in case he was being lulled into a false sense of security. "The ebony king from Kaminari!" Kirabi murmured, smirking to himself as he scrawled down a rap with a tiny and well used pencil. "The god of lightning, from Kumogakure! They call me the superstar, Kirabi! And I am the baddest Jinchuuriki!"

The air split as Kirabi disappeared, displaying an awesome feat of speed. Naruto leapt back as Kirabi pulled his blades out again, gripping them in his hands, elbows, armpits and teeth as he ran straight to his opponent. With just a couple of feet distance between them, he ducked down to the ground and performed a sweeping knew that if he just dodged he would get cut, and so flipped backwards with the Ekokaeten held behind him. "Bad move, baby."

Shlikt!

Naruto gasped as Kirabi pulled him into a bear hug, one that stabbed four of his seven blades directly into Naruto's chest. The pain he felt was dulled by the Raiton chakra pumped through the blades, numbing his body so he was powerless to resist. He fell to the ground on his side, sliding through the dirt while Kirabi landed on his feet. The Hachibi Jinchuuriki then moved in for the kill, whirling his blades in the air before jumping and readying himself to staple Naruto into the ground. "So long baby!"

"LIKE HELL!"

Kirabi cried out in shock as a sudden blast of wind hit him in mid air, throwing him off course and straight through a tree. The giant plant collapsed on top of the Kumo nin, but he rolled out of the way just in time to see a second Naruto appear on the field. "Another one?" he thought, looking to the other Naruto lying on the ground. This had to be the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu; it made sense since the boy seemed capable of copying his sword as well. "Then that first one was a fake."

"Grrah!"

Blood spilled on the ground as one of the swords hit the dirt, wounds from Naruto's gut staining his flak vest red. Kirabi was shocked to find that his idea was wrong, that the original was the one he had attacked first. Even now the Kage Bunshin disappeared, and he was left watching as Naruto drew himself closer to his grave. "Fool's gonna bleed out like that." He noted, whirling his blades around his hands. "If he's gon' go that far, then I guess I'll have to talk to one of the other Jinchuuriki in that village."

Dust scattered like a dense mist as he ran towards Naruto, moving in to finish the job. The light danced off the surface of his swords as he leapt into the air, aiming to make another descending attack. "Goodnight Kyuubi boy!" he called out, flipping the sword in his mouth so that it was gripped by his neck. He reached Naruto just as the boy pulled out the last blade, and rolled on his back to make a last ditch attempt at defence.

"URGH!"

The cry came not from Naruto. Kirabi's mouth gaped open as the air was removed from his stomach with the assistance of Naruto's feet. His swords each were lost from his grip, falling to the ground with a dull clatter. "No way… not with those cuts…" was all Kirabi managed to think, before he was forced high in the air with the propulsion of Fuuton chakra. The pain of being pummelled in his stomach by something like that left him even more winded. "Looks like this kid don't know when he's had enough!"

Naruto swung his legs around in the air, using the manoeuvre to get back onto his feet. He checked himself over thoroughly, stunned by the fact that none of his wounds were bleeding any further. This rate of healing was beyond what the Kyuubi was capable of, so how the hell was he able to stand already. "Damn it, don't got time to think about it!" he realised, as he saw Kirabi correct his position in the air.

He grabbed hold of the Ekokaeten again and ran for the nearest tree, intending to take a safer route as he intercepted that dangerous nin. Unbeknownst to him, he passed by none other than Utakata, who stood on the opposite side of that very same tree. The bubble nin's skin was a skeletal apparel of black and white, his lips stained with dripping blood. "Think I'll stay out of this for now, looks a little dangerous." He thought, looking through the leaves as Naruto jumped off the tree and at Kirabi. "Besides, Naruto has it under control at the moment."

CHI-KRASH!

Wood and earth exploded as the two Jinchuuriki burst straight through several trees. Massive splinters rained the ground like a dark hail, falling into the sea of dust and forming a graveyard for the surrounding plant life. The ground shook for several moments as this place's oldest monuments were brought down with a trembling crash. The greatest wounds here were the ones done to nature. But the two responsible for such a thing were completely black hearted about it.

Naruto stopped himself early, while Kirabi rolled across the dirt. Like Naruto however the Kumo nin was not the sort to stay lying down for long. Within moments he had flipped onto all fours, before charging at Naruto in a powerful tackling motion. Naruto ran to meet with his bull like opponent, glancing at the Ekokaeten in his hand. "Eko managed to absorb some of that Raiton chakra… but since Raiton doesn't mix well with Fuuton it's not all that useful." He thought, slipping the sword back in place on his back. "I'll keep it there if I need it, but for now I'm better off without it."

When the two ninja once again reached each other, their fight became something of intense Taijutsu. In contrast to the elegant and complex sword style Kirabi used, it seemed his hand to hand style was based entirely on slugging the opponent as hard as he could. As Naruto was soon to learn, he was very good at that sort of thing. At least, that was what his gut told him, once it was done screaming in pain. Naruto gave as good as he got however, augmenting his own punches with Fuuton chakra to give them more impact.

Naruto felt a slight sensation of triumph as his fist hit Kirabi's waist, causing the large man to grunt in pain. This moment was soon forgotten however as his head was thrown to the side by Kirabi's fist, before then receiving an elbow from the same arm straight in his face. Seriously disoriented by this attack, the easiest counter Naruto had was a sweep kick that Kirabi painlessly jumped over. This was followed up however by a Reppushou that took advantage of Kirabi's sudden departure from ground, and sent him airborne once again.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto called, with his hands held in the cross ram seal. Together he and three copies leapt up from the ground, Reppushou's boosting their flying speed to something that could only be measured in terms of mach. When these Naruto's reached Kirabi, they all rapidly set to work at their assigned tasks. The original dealt a palm strike to the Hachibi Jinchuuriki's chin, while the copies grabbed onto the limbs of the stunned Shinobi. While they turned him in the air, Naruto gripped Kirabi's waist and locked his legs behind his opponent's back. "Super Secret Taijutsu: Uzumaki Piledriver!"

With the combined weight of himself and his four clones, Naruto forced Kirabi's head hard into the earth. The ground cracked under the sheer force of the drop, the shockwaves powerful enough to dispel the Kage Bunshin where they sat. The real Naruto rolled back and onto his feet, watching as Kirabi remained upside down for several long moments. "Damn… think I overdid it…" he thought, when he saw that Kirabi wasn't moving. His own breathing was heavy, and his body covered in streaked blood. He was about ready to call this match to an end. "Hey… you ready to calm down now?"

The momentary idea Naruto had that his attack had rendered Kirabi unconscious was thrown away as that person placed his hands firmly on the ground. With only the slightest sound of effort, Kirabi pushed himself out of the ground and stood on his hands, looking at Naruto without the slightest misconception of mirth. "Messing up my rhymes, stealing my phrases, and now copying my moves…" he said, before throwing himself into the air and flipping onto his feet. The posture he took was not that of a prideful man, but of a breathless beast ready to go in for the kill. "You better run boy, 'cos there's no way I'm gon' forgive you!"

With that said the Hachibi Jinchuuriki threw his arm into the air, his hand taking on the sign of the horns. This seemed to be a battle pose of sorts, for just as he made this sign he threw his head high to look at his gesture, opening his mouth wide. "Now for the eighth tail!" he called out, before clenching his teeth tight and releasing a war-cry that suggested nothing short of full power. "UHWHEEEEEE!"

Naruto took a step back in shock as the Nehangan was subjected to a purely awesome sight. The pulsing aura, that represented the Bijuu's power, threw itself out from Kirabi and through the trees like an immense tidal wave. Red chakra began to bubble from Kirabi's skin, slowly forming a cloak around him that Naruto was steadily growing more familiar with. However, the level of energies his eyes were seeing was nothing like what he had witnessed with Yagura. In fact, this state alone seemed far more powerful than Yagura even when that person progressed to two full tails.

"I gotta make some distance!" he thought, turning around and darting off. He took to the trees, where the Bijuu aura was still blasting past him, and sought to get as far away from the initial attack that he knew was going to come. He placed the Ekokaeten on his back for security purposes, ready to utilise its barrier if he needed it. But for now his focus was getting out of here as fast he could possibly manage. "Alright, what do I do here? Hitting Yagura with the wind blade barrage was fine for him, but this needs something stronger. Should I use the Kyuubi?"

It was then that Naruto remembered Gerotora back up on the hill. That toad was his key to the Kyuubi's power, yet it was that very same toad who was standing in his way. With this once in a blue moon situation he knew that he needed to act in a certain way. If Gerotora was watching then he could use this as an opportunity. But only if he didn't get himself killed first. Unfortunately that was a big if, as already he could hear the sound of a fast approaching Kirabi.

"Power of the Hachibi pouring through my soul, GRANT ME VENGEANCE FROM WHAT THIS FOOL STOLE!"

Naruto turned his head back, shocked to see a red mass of bull shaped chakra flying straight in his direction, with three tails of the chakra swirling behind. Kirabi was dashing through the trees in the same tackling motion from before, smashing the wooden pillars aside without a second of thought. The massive horns protruding from either side of his head carved through the trees like a knife to hot butter, losing not the slightest bit of speed as he hurled his massive form straight at Naruto.

"HEDDO BATTO!"


There was no explosion of dust like all of Kirabi's attacks had created before. No shroud of splinters from trees raining down on the ground. Naruto did not cry in pain, nor was any of his blood spilt. He had not been able to maintain his footing, and had been forced back several long metres. Kirabi was just inches away from him, his mouth gaping wide in a silent roar. The Ekokaeten stood between them, its huge blade touching the Hachibi Jinchuuriki's head plate.

The cloak of chakra was mostly gone; the red aura around Kirabi's head and shoulders completely disappeared. It was not the cloak which had hit the Ekokaeten, but Kirabi's own skull. It was for that reason that the Kumo beast was stunned. The force of running at over seventy miles an hour before coming to a breakneck stop had sent a powerful shockwave coursing through his entire body. If he wasn't dead, he was most probably unconscious.

Naruto stood firm, his hand gripping the hilt of the Ekokaeten so tight that his knuckles paled. The resolution on his face showed that he knew just what had happened; Eko's chakra barrier had erased all active chakra in its immediate proximity. It had ridded Kirabi of the one thing that could protect him from such a halt, and kept Naruto safe for the time being. Even though Kirabi seemed still Naruto remained in that position. If he moved his body too much then the barrier would break.

He looked at Kirabi for the longest time, watching as the mental, physical and Bijuu energies dwindled. He could tell just by looking that the Hachibi Jinchuuriki was still alive; as Naruto hoped all he had done was knock his fellow monster down for the count. With a sigh of relief he relaxed his body, returning the Ekokaeten to it's place on his back. "Thanks Eko… you saved my neck." He thought, as Kirabi fell to the ground in a slump. He pressed his hand against his stomach once again, thinking about the stab wounds that had been dealt to him, and how they almost miraculously disappeared. "Wasn't I on the other side of this situation not so long ago? Damn it, if this hurts so bad I can't tell what Yagura felt. Should I apolo-"

BA-BOOMP!

Naruto froze as something blasted through him, another wave of Bijuu energy. His wide eyes stared in horror as Kirabi's energies began to suddenly rise once again. Before he knew it that chakra cloud re-emerged, this time with a heart stopping eight tails. "Think you can stop ME?" Kirabi called out, placing his hands on the ground and half pushing himself up. He glared at Naruto with blood dripping lips, before attention was drawn away by the bulges gathering at his back. From the base of his spine burst out eight lumps of flesh that were steadily growing larger, paling and producing strange sucker like things. "LETS SEE WHAT YOU THINK… OF THE HACHIBI!"

The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki threw himself as far back as he could manage, as the Hachibi Jinchuuriki was lifted above ground by the eight tentacles growing from his back. His arms bulged out to large proportions, and four horns grew from his skull, one broken at the end. Every passing second resulted in him growing more colossal and less human, becoming something along the lines of a huge half bull half octopus. It supported itself with its massive forearms, the eight "tails" keeping its rear. Naruto had managed to make over a hundred yards distance from where he had stood, but even then the Hachibi was still bearing down on him.

"Th-that's a Bijuu?" Naruto thought, taking a panicked step back as for the first time in his life he got a good look at what a tailed beast looked like. This thing, the Hachibi, was as big as the mountains Naruto trained on. That such a thing could support its own weight seemed impossible to Naruto, it far exceeded even the largest beasts he already knew of. What was more, the aura his Nehangan saw created a pulse so strong it filled Naruto's entire body before moving straight on past. This was a level of immensity he had never truly imagined. "Impossible!"

"OH YEAH, THE EIGHTH TAIL HAS RISEN TO ROCK YOU TO THE GROUND!" roared the Hachibi, somehow still possessing Kirabi's rhyming voice. It looked like it was true that that Jinchuuriki could control his Bijuu, but Naruto had had no idea that it was actually possible to become the Bijuu. Yet as he looked, the giant ox like monster threw its giant hand in the air, forming the sign of the horns just like Kirabi had, before releasing that very same war cry "UHWHEEEEEEE!"

Then with that very same hand, the Hachibi brought its fist straight down upon Naruto. The earth exploded as shards of dirt as big as wagons were thrown into the air. Trees were little more than splinters to the Hachibi's fist. Naruto was even less significant. It was for that very reason that the giant ox-octopus didn't notice when its target leapt across the flying debris to gain verticality. Naruto soon attained level with the ox's eyes, where he was finally noticed.

"This thing is way too big!" Naruto thought, his teeth baring as the Hachibi opened its titanic jaws to swallow Naruto whole. It was a powerful Reppushou that saved him from being consumed, yet threw him seriously out of range from any possible counterattack. He was shaken by the fact that when the Hachibi closed his jaws the shockwave added to the effect that he caused. "Damn it, I need a Jutsu for taking out giant bastards too?"

In that brief moment he had to plan his next move, Naruto wasted not a fraction of it. If he used the Tajuu Kage Bunshin he could Barrage the Ichibi with attacks and maybe knock it out that way. Against an opponent like this he didn't have to worry about holding back, so going all out with the Shiroken shouldn't present any problems. The main concern was whether or not the Hachibi had any automatic preservation techniques, like Gaara's sand or his own regenerative capability.

Unfortunately thinking like this did him little good, as the Hachibi was already opening for its next attack, literally. It spread its jaws wide open again, and before Naruto's very eyes he witnessed a black orb of energy growing and gyrating dangerously. This orb grew and grew until it was almost as big as the Hachibi's head. Then, in a shocking firework display, the orb exploded into blinding white light that was heading straight for its near defenceless target.

"Shit!" was all Naruto could think, as he grabbed onto the hilt of the Ekokaeten and pulled it in front of him. He managed to build up the barrier just as that mass of white chakra struck, but for the longest time he felt the full brunt of the pressure Eko experienced. The barrier couldn't hold up against attacks of this magnitude; he could already feel that he was getting thrown back at a much greater velocity than he could manage on his own.

Thankfully the white chakra disintegrated without killing or maiming the person it was targeted at. Naruto could feel himself soaring through the blue sky, feel the wind on his body as he passed. Somehow he was still alive. But the Hachibi was very aware of this, and prepared to finish the job once and for all. It was then that Naruto was struck dumb, time slowing down as he suddenly felt something pass by him.

At first he had thought it was his dogs, leaping in to take on the threat to his master. It really looked like that, the way they flew past with outstretched wings. But then he realised that those were not wings at all, but arms. His jaw slowly dropped as he found those four figures were not his dogs at all, but the passing forms of Gaara, Yagura, Utakata and Han. Sound and sight escaped Naruto as he focused on his fellow Jinchuuriki, seeing them looking back at him from the corners of their eyes.

"Guys…" he thought, barely noticing as Fuu grabbed hold of his falling form and supported him on their descent back to earth. Even as the two of them landed on the peak of one of the mountains, he still watched as his comrades headed off to face the Hachibi. His already stunned face stretched even wider, when those people he called his friends began to pulsate with Bijuu chakra.

"Mo-oh, wake up Naruto-kun!" Fuu complained, shaking Naruto lightly where he now stood. Naruto blinked off his shock just long enough to look at Fuu questioningly. The green haired girl was looking back at him with an upset glare, not quite settled on discomfort or anger. This was only accented when she realised that Naruto in no way knew what was going on around him. "What are you doing fighting something like that all on your own?"

Naruto was caught doing something of a double or triple take as he whipped his head from Fuu to the others, not quite sure where his priorities put him. "I- wait, that's the Hachibi!" he exclaimed, suddenly realising that the others might not know. He struggled against Fuu's grip, her grappling skill was impressive enough to keep even him from moving. As the Ichibi, Sanbi, Gobi and Rokubi Jinchuuriki began to bulge unattractively he tried to join them to make sure they didn't go too far. "They can't kill him!"

"Mo-oh! They know what they're doing!"

"ALL YOU BEASTS CAN'T SCREW WITH ME! I AM THE LEGEND, THE KIRABI!"

Naruto and Fuu both froze as they watched something that possibly no one in this world had ever seen before. The four Jinchuuriki of Yoinokuchi changed shape at a rate close to what Kirabi had managed. The sand from Gaara's gourd grew and covered his body, continuing past what the limits of that sand could possibly reach. Yagura's skin turned to shade of grey and hardened like a shell, before bulging out like Kirabi's had. The steam from Han's armour burst out and took on a strange form, completely hiding the Shinobi within. And a white slime poured out from Utakata's skin, covering him and bulging out in a gelatine like fashion.

The earth shook under the weight of four great beasts landing upon it. Wind blasted through the valleys of the mountains and cast a dust storm out in every direction. Naruto and Fuu both had their hair blown back by the force of it, but neither of them really noticed. Their attentions were completely and totally fixated on the five Bijuu that had been awakened before them.

A huge tanuki made of sand, bearing dark crack like markings and a tail styled somewhat like a long pine cone. A massive turtle with a shell covered in spikes, and three flat tails lying like a stone carpet. An immense hoofed animal with a white furry body, dolphin like head, several fin like ears and five swishing tails. And finally, a giant slug with tiny limbs, a great slimy body and six sticky tails sitting behind it like a fan. These four hideous monsters sat around the Hachibi, the Ichi and Sanbi in the valley between while the Go and Rokubi remained atop mountains to either side. Anyone who could see this terrifying scene would soon either make their peace with the gods, or curse them forever.

Naruto was on the fence in this regard. The sight of these titans where his friends had once been was something he could never have brought himself to imagine in his entire lifetime. He was shaken to his core by the fact that even though they looked like this, he could still distinctly see his fellow Jinchuuriki inside. Gaara and Yagura both stared up at the Hachibi with serious, studious eyes, while Han gave his piercing look to the giant ox. Utakata even managed to make the Rokubi look somehow chipper, if that was conceivable. Yet all the same these five demons released a killing aura so intense that even Naruto felt choked up by it.

"This… this is… the Bijuu?" he thought, gripping the hilt of the Ekokaeten tighter than ever before. Not for years, not for a moment in these past three years, had Naruto ever witnessed anything that truly terrified him. He had thought he had mastered his own fear as a result of Kisame's training, but all he had really done was make himself strong enough that his confidence couldn't easily be broken. It left him unable to say anything then, as in this single moment he realised that between all the Jinchuuriki, right now he and Fuu were the smallest. "… Is this what it means… to be Jinchuuriki?"

Far ahead the Hachibi stared, its mouth wide open at the sight before it. But unlike Naruto Kirabi inside came to terms with this a whole lot faster, and responded a whole lot quicker. He lowered his stance and bared his teeth, leering out at the other beasts and knowing he was cornered. "ALL YOU FOOLS TRYING TO UPSTAGE ME?" he demanded, barking out his words, with growing intensity. "STEP YO ASS DOWN, AND TAKE ME TO AKATSU-"

That was as far as he was allowed to rhyme, as the Ichibi stepped in to make the first move. It grabbed on to the Hachibi's shoulders and pushed hard, forcing the eight tailed beast to put its weight on its tentacle tails. Then the Ichibi drew in a huge exhale, its stomach expanding to more than half its original size. "FUUTON: RENKUUDAN!" roared Gaara's voice, as the Ichibi pounded its fist into its own stomach. From its mouth released a massive ball of air, that struck the Hachibi at point blank range and force it to begin falling backwards.

Next it was the Sanbi to make its move, stepping in for the Shukaku and firing out its tails. Those tails then wrapped around the Hachibi's arms even as the turtle drew in a sphere of chakra, and like its predecessor released it straight into the Hachibi's chest. This explosion of chakra took the ox off the ground and forced it even further back, but was disallowed its fall to the ground by none other than the Rokubi. Utakata moved his beast so that he was back to back with the Hachibi, using its tails to wrap around the ox's. Then it used the Hachibi's momentum to flip that monster over, making it smash into the ground and cause a tremor throughout the entire valley. Finally, as the Hachibi began to rise again, it was the Gobi who finished the job with a donkey kick that broke the ox's neck clean to one side.

The eight tailed giant ox was frozen in place, its head forced completely on its shoulder. Slowly it succumbed back to gravity, its body receding in on itself. Before its head even hit the ground, it was gone and replaced by a half dead Kirabi, who lay on the ground as a bruised and bloody mess. Around him the other Bijuu began to disappear, until after just a minute more the four Jinchuuriki responsible for taking that monster down stood around the culprit with unsympathetic faces.

"Wait!" Naruto called out, as he and Fuu arrived at the barren wasteland that had once been a luscious forest. All around them were shattered trees and torn up earth, a war zone created before anyone even knew it. He and Fuu reached the others as quickly as possible, Naruto going that extra distance to drop by Kirabi's side. He knew that the others were aware of who he was now, there was no way they could mistake it. "You guys, what are you doing here?"

"That would be because of me."

Naruto's heart stopped for a second, as he heard the voice of someone he had thought to be long gone by now. Looking over his shoulder he watched as Jiraiya approached from the broken trees, walking with his arms folded and his expression stony. "I stuck around to see what you would do about the Kyuubi's key." He said, while Naruto stared silently back at him. "When this guy showed up I alerted your comrades to the situation. This wasn't something you could deal with right now."

The breath in Naruto's lungs slowed to the point where he didn't even notice it. He could feel the eyes of his comrades upon him, and knew now that he was receiving no sympathy for his beliefs regarding the Jinchuuriki. "No!" he thought, as he came to understand just how bad things were. They knew that he had gone behind their backs, even after everything he said. They knew that he had been meeting with Jiraiya of Konoha, and exchanging information. They knew that he had gone against everything he had promised both to them and the villagers, all for the sake of his own desires. They knew.

"Damn it… why are you bastards… standing in my way?"

All eyes turned on Kirabi, who somehow was still awake even after that great ordeal. But now there was no way for him to get back up, his injuries far too great for him to move on his own. His body was filthy and covered in premature bruises, blood slipping out from his lips and dripping down his neck. From behind the group Jiraiya stepped forward, looking down at this proud warrior with great respect and pity. "Kirabi-san… a report has come in from what happened at the summit." He said, speaking in a low and sympathetic voice. "I'm sorry… the Raikage's body is being brought back to Kumo even as we speak."

Once again all eyes turned to Jiraiya, stunned expressions met with gaping mouths. Out of all of these Kirabi was the one with the worst of it, looking at the Sannin as if he were the devil himself. He gritted his teeth tight, tears slipping past his broken sunglasses and dripping down his face. When he could contain himself no more, he turned his head to the sky and let out a roar of pain so strong that it shook the Jinchuuriki harder than anything else Kirabi had dealt that day.