In Naruto: Reborn With Talent

A loud explosion resounded through the surroundings and B in the form of Hachibi was forced to leap to the side, mowing several trees with his body as it unceremoniously landed on the ground and caused a small earthquake.

A larger and much more powerful earthquake followed shortly afterward when the attack B had just evaded reached its final stage and released the last and most powerful blast of energy as it ceased to exist.

The resounding shockwave was powerful enough to push even Hachibi's massive form a few tens of meters, creating a large trench in its wake. Needless to say, if the force of the shockwave could push even Hachibi, the nearby trees and nature had no chance. The final result was a large crater with no semblance of greenery anywhere in it.

"You are quite nimble for an octopus crossed with a bull!" Mei, in the form of her bijuu, Auburn, cheerfully but loudly exclaimed. Unfortunately for the local fauna, her booming chakra-enhanced voice generated another shockwave that erased everything living in a two hundred-meter radius around her. Not that Mei noticed.

"Do it again!" She childishly ordered before starting to charge another attack.

Hachibi's eyes widened as he saw the insane woman in front of him charging another attack similar to a bijuudama, yet so very different. A red ball similar to magma appeared in front of Auburn's maw, growing larger by the second and angrily pulsing as if whatever was inside wanted to break free...

Hachibi barely managed to propel himself away with his tentacles, before the ball shot from Auburn's maw and as if teleported to the place where he was just a moment ago.

For a second, the ball compressed... before exploding outward, releasing yet another loud explosion followed by shockwave after shockwave, leaving another deep crater in its wake once it finally ceased to exist.

Mei cheered, finding the way Hachibi moved around with its tentacles very funny.

He was just so fast! It was exciting! She just wanted to see it aga-

B and Hachibi saw the gleam in Auburn's eyes and before they even registered it, they were already charging a bijuudama in Mei's and Auburn's direction.

Subconsciously, they both realized that unless they attack, Mei would just continue shooting these balls of doom at them because she seemed to have a lot of fun doing so.

The bijuudama shot towards Auburn and Hachibi-clad B wondered why his opponent didn't charge a counter-attack... before Auburn just casually slapped the flying bijuudama away with her paw, causing the eight-tailed jinchuuriki to gape at her.

The deflected bijuudama flew through the air before it impacted a place a few hundred meters from Mei and B, generating another earthquake.

This finally woke B up from his bewilderment, only to notice that Hachibi took over for a second... perks of being so in tune with the beast... and he was already in the middle of changing position and charging another bijuudama at Auburn-clad Mei.

'Spacing out here can get us killed B.' Hachibi mentally said and B seriously nodded.

'She is too strong! We need to go more bonk-bonk!' B rapped, but his voice didn't hold his usual uncaring 'my-pace' tone.

Mei raised her eyebrow when she saw her opponent trying out yet another bijuudama.

Too curious about her opponent's plan, she didn't counter-attack or even move from her spot. She only stood her ground, deflecting the bijuudama once more.

This time, however, she didn't even manage to pull a smug look at her opponent before her eyebrows raised as she noticed another bijuudama already flying at her.

Auburn quickly swished one of her tails, smashing it against the bijuudama and sending it flying away to the distance as if it was just a ball.

Not a second passed, and another bijuudama already flew at her.

Auburn deflected that one in a similar manner.

And then the next one.

And the next one.

And another one...

Hachibi was charging and shooting bijuudamas and shooting them at Auburn like a machine gun, flabbergasting even B.

Despite their good relationship, B never gave Hachibi the freedom of just taking over and Hachibi never did it on his own. This was a special situation where B knew he stood no chance so he let Hachibi be in charge.

He could have never imagined Hachibi was capable of... that.

Just one bijuudama could level most of a hidden village with the ground and he could shoot them as often and as quickly as a jonin could throw a kunai?

B couldn't help but gain new-founded respect for the Third Raikage who faced the bijuu without getting even a scratch in return.

While B was having his enlightenment, Auburn was flicking her tails left and right, decimating the surrounding country with deflected bijuudamas, not letting even one hit her.

But it was getting a bit annoying and both Auburn and Mei decided to cut this short. Pulling one of her tails away from the defensive, they both focused and started mixing their chakra, creating a seemingly solidified ball of misty substance that visibly boiled.

This was one of Mei's specials.

'Time to have a steamed takoyaki!' Mei inwardly grinned as she threw the ball forward with Auburn's tail.

Hachibi was too preoccupied with trying to overpower his enemy with a sheer amount of bijuudamas to notice and that made him react too late to the misty boiling ball that flew at him.

The ball impacted the latest bijuudama Hachibi was charging, setting both itself and the bijuudama off right in front of Hachibi's mouth. The Eight-Tails didn't even manage to widen its eyes before it was engulfed by a short-lived explosion that was smothered by the boiling mist that wrapped around it and started compressing itself.

The world finally grew quiet, no more booming explosions from deflected bijuudamas, nor one earthquake after another plaguing the lands... the only indication it even occurred was the totally destroyed country all around. The only semblance of what was previously forest were a few remains of broken trees among the literal sea of deep craters.

When the mist finally dispersed, it revealed exactly what Mei expected. A steamed form of Hachibi. His skin was brown, his body was somewhat gaunt, and smoke was rising from it as even the last bits of water molecules were being evaporated directly from its body due to the extreme heat.

This boiling misty ball was Mei's first successful attempt at creating a non-world-destroying Jutsu with her own brand of Jutsu creation. Yes, it left her opponent a smoked husk even if it was a bijuu... but Mei thought it was a resounding success! She finally managed to tone down the damage of her self-made Jutsus to a manageable level! They no longer erased continents, now they only erased bijuu.

Before she could celebrate, Mei looked to the side and frowned.

"Do you really think you can escape me like that?" Auburn tilted its head.

No reply came for a few seconds, making Mei seem as if she was a lunatic talking to herself but then...

A small part of a cut-off tentacle, buried deep in one of the craters, stirred, its owner knowing he was found out. With a dejected sigh, Hachibi pushed his chakra into the tentacle, and instantly, his body regrew to its former glory as the smoked husk nearby crumbled down.

"Concentrating all of your chakra into a small part of yourself and then regrow your physical manifestation out of it... I guess you really are just a massive hulk of sentient chakra, aren't you?" Mei spoke as she observed what just happened in front of her.

The way Hachibi just regrew itself was mightily impressive in her opinion and most importantly, gave her new exciting ideas!

Hachibi scowled at her. It knew getting alive out of here was basically impossible. But its pride would not let him just give up. Moreover, he did have a few words for her!

"Are you mad!? Do you want to destroy Konoha? We are not that far away from there!" Hachibi bellowed.

It was a long shot but just maybe this would stop her?

"Ah, don't worry. My hubby gave me a barrier and I activated it when I turned into Auburn. Only our first attack could have been felt over there!"

Apparently not...

Hachibi dejectedly sighed. 'Sorry B. I think this is it for us.'

Well, it was it for B. Hachibi knew he would not stay dead for long. But still... he liked B and it was a bit disheartening to know the man would die here.

Before B could react, Mei suddenly groaned, attracting both Hachibi's and B's attention.

"Muu~, that old sword maniac is finished with your brother." Mei poutily said, causing B to stiffen at her words. Not paying it any attention, Mei carelessly continued, "She just has to ruin my fun! Couldn't she prolong his suffering a bit so I can enjoy myself playing with you? Stupid, stupid, stupid Ringo!" She complained and repeatedly stomped her leg on the ground, most likely forgetting she was in the form of Auburn so with every stomp, the ground shook.

Much to Hachibi's relief, Mei actually started shrinking, taking on her human form.

As careless as that was, Hachibi had no delusion he could win against her and forced B's body to revert back to its human form by draining his chakra from it. The red-head did not seem like she would kill B anymore so...

'Meh.' Hachibi shrugged and left B to the wolves before retreating back to his seal.

B could only uneasily look at Mei in front of him with utter shock, his mind still in the process of registering the fact his partner has just ended his transformation and left him alone to face...

"What are you doing! Your brother made a deal with Ringo. Don't stand and gape at me like an idiot! Come on, we are returning to Konoha." Mei huffed before she turned around and casually strolled through the destroyed landscape in the direction of Konoha.

B... was left speechless. 'What the heck just happened?'