Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 361 Black Zetsu's Perception

Bang!

The Eight-Tails landed on the river at the foot of the mountain, its ferocious maw unleashing a... rap rap at Sasuke below.

"Oh... Is this all the Akatsuki has? In that case, I'll send you all to hell right away... my darlings!"

After saying that, the Eight-Tails looked up to the sky and was about to condense the Tailed Beast Ball when the water surface suddenly expanded. It was Suigetsu who used his water transformation ability to control a large amount of water flow to form a huge water element monster comparable to the Eight-Tails and pushed it over.

Enraged by the interruption of his spellcasting, the Eight-Tails immediately engaged in battle with the water monster formed from the Water Moon.

Taking advantage of the moment, Xianglin quickly rolled up her sleeves and stretched out her arm to Sasuke's mouth.

"Quick, Sasuke!"

Crack!

Without hesitation, Sasuke took a bite. With that bite, the wounds on his body from Killer Bee's longsword healed, his chakra recovered, and the stinging pain in his eyes lessened considerably.

"Try my Tailed Beast Ball, yay!"

The water monster was ultimately just a water monster formed from the moon and water, not a real monster. It found an opportunity in the instant that the eight-tailed fox pushed it away.

Boom!

The Eight-Tails quickly condensed its Tailed Beast Ball, or rather, it released it prematurely before it could even form a complete sphere.

Even so, the terrifying energy impact of the Tailed Beast Ball that erupted prematurely still instantly evaporated the enormous water monster and shattered two mountains before subsiding.

Such a terrifying commotion naturally attracted the attention of the surrounding Cloud Village ninja.

"Over there... is where Lord Killer Bee trains!"

"Oh no! Lord Killer Bee has been attacked!"

Once they realized what was happening, some of the Cloud Village ninja rushed to Killer Bee's location, while others returned to the village to report to the Fourth Raikage and seek reinforcements.

At this moment, on the water's surface, Shuiyue had become a melting ginseng, with only a little chakra maintaining her weak life force.

Li Yao, whose earth clone was on a distant mountaintop, sensed Shuiyue's current state and was slightly surprised.

Shuiyue's water transformation technique has developed in another direction, and it is no longer as simple as just being immune to physical attacks.

He has truly transformed into a water elemental life form, and in critical moments, he can maintain his body in a state of suspended animation by using a process similar to dehydration and hibernation.

In this state, his vitality is very strong.

He survived a close-range energy blast from a Tailed Beast Ball.

"good!"

Li Yao gave a good review to Obito's clone.

"It seems Sasuke's mission to capture the Eight-Tails is going to fail!"

Black Zetsu emerged from the ground next to Li Yao's Obito clone and spoke.

Li Yao's Obito clone said calmly, "No rush, Sasuke still has hidden power that hasn't been unleashed yet."

"The ability of the Mangekyou Sharingan!" Black Zetsu's eyes showed anticipation; he was also curious about what Sasuke's Mangekyou Sharingan ability was.

"Solved one... Yay!"

On the river, the Eight-Tails glanced at the Water Moon floating on the surface, then turned its gaze toward Sasuke.

"what!"

When Xianglin saw the Eight-Tails' huge black bull eyes staring at her, she instinctively screamed in fear and hid tightly behind Sasuke.

Sasuke glanced at the clump of water floating on the surface of the water beside him, then looked at the Eight-Tails in front of him, feeling a faint stinging sensation in his eyes. He knew that at this moment, he could only rely on himself.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he activated his Mangekyou Sharingan once more, staring intently at the Eight-Tails. His left Mangekyou Sharingan spun rapidly, and intense ocular chakra surged into his left eye, putting immense pressure on it, causing blood to spill from it.

"Amaterasu!"

Just as the Eight-Tails charged forward, Sasuke activated the Mangekyou Sharingan in his left eye, and a dark Hokage suddenly appeared in the focus of his left eye—the head of the Eight-Tails' bull.

"what……"

The black Amaterasu flames can burn anything, even chakra, and the Eight-Tails' body quickly burst into flames.

The Eight-Tails cried out in pain, but still struggled to get over, its eight tails striking at Sasuke and Karin.

Boom!

The ground was shattered by a tail. Before Karin could regain her footing, another tail descended from the sky and was about to hit her when Sasuke intervened. His Chidori Spear severed the tail, but Karin was burned by the Amaterasu flames on the tail.

"Ah..." Xiang Lin cried out in pain, but even though she submerged herself in the water, it was no use; the black flames continued to burn.

Before long, she fainted from the pain and floated to the surface, where Amaterasu flames burned on her back.

Seeing this, Sasuke was panting heavily.

Xiang Lin cannot die. Without Xiang Lin's chakra being restored, he cannot escape, and the Cloud Village ninjas will arrive soon.

Thinking of this, Sasuke's right Mangekyou Sharingan spun rapidly again, his ocular chakra surging into it as he stared intently at the Amaterasu flames on Karin's back.

A short while later, the Amaterasu flames on Xianglin's back disappeared.

Sasuke then focused his gaze on the Eight-Tails. After a while, the Amaterasu flames on the Eight-Tails disappeared, and the Eight-Tails exited its Perfect Form mode. Killer Bee's charred body floated on the water.

"Spiritualism!"

Sasuke summoned an eagle, put Killer Bee on its back, and then carried one in each hand, along with Karin and Suigetsu, and quickly left.

The Cloud Village ninja who had rushed to the scene happened to see this through their binoculars.

"Amaterasu, just like Itachi's, is quite an impressive ability!"

Black Zetsu, who had watched the whole thing, said this, but he remained very calm.

However, Amaterasu's physical attack ability had no effect on either Obito or Madara, as both of them could easily neutralize it.

"Now only the Nine-Tails is left!"

"Shall we go back... um?" Black Zetsu looked at Obito, who wasn't ready to leave, and asked疑惑地问道, "What's wrong?"

Li Yao's Obito clone also looked at Black Zetsu, somewhat puzzled. He felt that Black Zetsu's perception ability in this world was a bit weak.

Didn't he sense that Killer Bee was cutting off his tail to survive? The real Killer Bee was hiding in the tail segment that Sasuke had severed.

Sasuke only took a section of the Eight-Tails' tail.

In Li Yao's perception of Obito's clone's chakra, it was obvious that the enormous amount of chakra in the real Killer Bee was far beyond what he could possibly have.

With such a massive amount of chakra, Li Yao's Obito clone probably thought Black Zetsu could sense it too.

It now appears that Black Zetsu possesses sensory abilities, but his perception of clones is not strong. He cannot distinguish between the clone and the original, especially the clone created using a segment of the Eight-Tails' tail, which looks indistinguishable from the real one.

"What's wrong, Obito!"

Black Zetsu felt a chill run down his spine as he watched Li Yao's Obito clone. He felt that something was beyond his expectations and control, but he couldn't figure it out. This shocked him so much that he called out Obito's name directly.

Li Yao, Obito's clone, shook his head and said, "Killer Bee wasn't captured by Sasuke. What Sasuke took away was just a clone transformed from the Eight-Tails' tail."

"How is that possible?"

Upon hearing this, Black Zetsu was shocked again. How could a clone possibly withstand the burning of Amaterasu's flames and still maintain its form?

Unless… Black Zetsu thought of a possibility.

Li Yao's Obito clone said calmly, "You're right. Killer Bee didn't take Sasuke and the others seriously at all; he was just playing around."

(End of this chapter)