The fierce battle between the rage-fueled Ozora and Hachibi was nearing its climax.
The chakra aura surrounding Ozora's black diamond giant seemed to intensify, reflecting its user's burning anger.
The eight-tailed beast, though severely injured and missing one of its horns, began to gather all of its remaining massive chakra to create another Bijuudama.
However, this time its size was far greater and more terrifying than before.
The purplish-black chakra ball continued to grow, perhaps as large as the Bijuudama used by the Kyuubi when fighting the legendary Juubi in the future.
The power radiating from that terrifying chakra ball was immense, making the sky above them seem to tremble and the surrounding clouds distort under the pressure of the extraordinary energy.
'Damn it, that big... this could destroy the entire valley!' Ginga thought in horror.
Meanwhile, Ozora, inside the chest of his black diamond giant, made his final preparations.
The giant raised its two massive black diamond swords, ready to swing them with all its might.
However, unlike previous swings, Ozora seemed to be exerting himself even more, evidenced by the blood tears streaming from both his eye sockets down his cheeks.
Despite this, he remained unwavering, the two giant swords radiating a different aura than before.
Their blades looked even sharper and harder, emitting a terrifying black gleam, as if they had just been forged with extraordinary energy.
The increase in the giant swords' power was clearly a result of Ozora's newly awakened and evolved eye abilities.
In Ozora's mind, filled with anger and sadness, a special eye technique hidden in his right eye activated.
That technique granted him the unique ability to make anything he desired far sharper than before.
Meanwhile, his left eye also possessed an equally terrifying eye technique, which could harden anything he wished to be stronger than steel or even diamond.
This time, with burning determination, Ozora used both of his eye techniques simultaneously on the two giant swords, combining the unique power of both eyes to create the deadliest attack.
After the preparations were complete, the giant Bijuudama began to be forcefully spewed from Hachibi's wide-open mouth, hurtling with astonishing speed towards them like a meteor striking the earth.
At the same time, with an ear-splitting roar, Ozora made his diamond giant swing both swords several times in incredibly fast and powerful motions, creating countless black energy slashes.
An earth-shattering collision occurred between the two immensely powerful chakra monsters.
The deafening sound of the impact was like a nuclear bomb exploding, and the entire area shook violently.
Strong winds and powerful shockwaves spread in all directions, knocking down trees and shattering surrounding rocks.
After only a moment, the giant Bijuudama was finally torn to pieces by the multiple black diamond sword slashes unleashed by Ozora with all his might.
The power of the slashes was so great that it managed to penetrate the Bijuudama released with all of Hachibi's power.
Then, the remaining force of those slashes hurtled at high speed towards Hachibi's massive body.
The bull-headed octopus monster was unable to dodge or defend against the attack that was so fast, powerful, and unexpected.
The end of that terrifying battle was tragic for Hachibi.
Its giant body was torn into several separate pieces, lying lifeless on the surface of the lake, which was now red with its blood.
A crushing defeat for the mighty eight-tailed Bijuu.
After successfully defeating his formidable opponent, Ozora showed no smile of victory or any other expression of joy.
Even with his evolved Rettōgan granting him extraordinary power, he couldn't feel the slightest happiness.
The awakening of such incredible eye power came at a very heavy price: the death of his beloved younger brother, Tsubasa.
If he had to choose, he would have preferred never to awaken this power because the cost was too high.
The sacrifice of his only living sibling was exchanged for great power; he felt it was not worth the profound sense of loss.
After that, the valiant black diamond giant began to disappear little by little, returning to a collection of chakra that merged back into Ozora's now limp body.
Everyone inside the giant also managed to land on the ground slowly and safely.
However, although they had all survived that terrifying battle, not a single person showed an expression of relief or happiness on their face.
They all displayed a mixture of various expressions such as gloom, disbelief, and deep sadness.
An atmosphere of mourning and loss enveloped them due to Tsubasa's death, which they had just witnessed with their own eyes.
Finally, Kyoya was the first to break the oppressive silence among them.
"What should we do next, Ozora-sama? Will we continue our exploration of the ninja world as we planned, or will we return to the village to deliver this bad news to everyone..." Kyoya said with a gloomy and confused face.
He didn't know how to convey this tragic news to Hotaru and Kotarou.
"I don't know..." Ozora replied in a soft and gentle voice, his tone filled with deep sorrow.
He was still very shocked and in disbelief about what had just happened. 'Tsubasa... why did it have to be you?' he thought with a broken heart.
"Huh!!! Why did it have to be like this, if there had to be a casualty among us, why wasn't it me who died!!!" Benkei suddenly shouted hysterically, punching the large rocks around him in frustration with tears streaming down his cheeks.
Benkei didn't even use chakra to strengthen his punches, so his fists bled profusely from the impact with the hard rocks.
He felt incredibly guilty for not being able to protect Tsubasa.
Hiiro also remained silent, not knowing what to say to comfort this grieving group.
"Tsubasa-sama..." Ginga murmured softly in a tone full of sadness, tears beginning to wet his cheeks.
He couldn't imagine how Yumi and Madoka would react if they heard this bad news.
However, at this moment of deep sadness and despair, a very familiar joking voice was heard from behind them. "Hahaha... it seems everyone missed me so much..." When everyone heard that very familiar voice, they immediately turned around with wide eyes.
"Hi everyone!" Tsubasa greeted them with a friendly and cheerful smile, as if nothing terrible had just happened to him.
His sudden and unexpected appearance shocked everyone present, and they couldn't believe what they were seeing.
Then, without the slightest hesitation, they immediately ran towards Tsubasa with joy and bombarded him with a barrage of questions.
"Tsubasa-sama, are you really alright?" Kyoya asked in a joyful and disbelieving tone, his eyes welling up with tears of relief.
"Tsubasa-sama, thank goodness you're safe! How did you escape that critical situation and the terrifying explosion earlier?" Benkei felt incredibly grateful for Tsubasa's safety while asking curiously about the terrible event they had just witnessed.
"Tsubasa-sama, did you suffer any burns or serious injuries after being hit by that Bijuudama?" Ginga asked in a slightly worried tone while checking Tsubasa's body.
"Thank goodness you are alright, Tsubasa-dono," Hiiro also felt very relieved and grateful for Tsubasa's safety.
Ozora's reaction was the most emotional and uncontrollable.
He immediately ran and hugged Tsubasa tightly while sobbing uncontrollably, "Thank goodness you're safe, Tsubasa! I was so worried!" Tears of gratitude and relief wet his cheeks as he held his younger brother tightly.
After crying in his younger brother's embrace for a while, Ozora finally reached his limit after the fierce battle against Hachibi and the overflowing emotions.
He was physically and emotionally exhausted until he finally fainted in Tsubasa's arms.
Tsubasa looked surprised by his older brother's condition, but after making sure that Ozora had only fainted from exhaustion and not from serious injuries, he calmed down again and let out a sigh of relief.
After a moment, Tsubasa asked Benkei to carefully carry his unconscious older brother's body, while he went towards Hachibi's horn that had been broken off by Ozora's incredibly powerful diamond sword slash.
He sealed the horn first into a special storage scroll, securing the valuable artifact from the Bijuu for future research.
After that, Tsubasa returned to Hachibi's corpse lying in the lake.
However, after seeing the bull-headed octopus monster's corpse from a closer distance, he found something strange and inconsistent with his expectations.
"Hachibi, you're really tough and slippery, it seems you won't die that easily with just that attack," Tsubasa muttered while observing the monster's corpse with a sharp gaze.
"Is that true, Tsubasa-sama? That terrifying monster is still not dead?" Ginga asked in a surprised and slightly worried tone.
"Yes, wasn't Hachibi's corpse already shattered into pieces, how could that creature still be alive after being hit by such a terrifying attack from Ozora-sama?" Kyoya said in disbelief while looking at the remains of Hachibi's body.
"Well, it can still live because what's left here is just a tentacle clone. Besides, if a Bijuu really dies, they will definitely revive in the future after some time, because they are basically just a collection of pure chakra," Tsubasa explained the truth about the actual Hachibi they faced.
Hachibi was indeed very strong and slippery in terms of hiding and surviving, as happened with Killer Bee in the future when he fought against Sasuke and Team Taka.
Even though Team Taka had members with super perception abilities like Karin, Killer Bee still managed to escape and trick Team Taka at that time.
After that, because Ozora was still unconscious and it was unknown when he would wake up, they decided not to continue their journey.
They accepted Hiiro's invitation to return to the Chinoike clan's settlement until Ozora regained consciousness and fully recovered.
Once they returned to the forbidden valley, several curious members of the Chinoike clan asked about the terrifying battle that had just occurred above their valley.
The fierce battle between Ozora and Hachibi made the entire forbidden valley feel like it was shaken by a large earthquake, and several simple houses also suffered minor damage.
Fortunately, no members of the Chinoike clan were injured in the incident.
After Hiiro gave a brief explanation to his clan members about what had happened, he took Tsubasa's group back to his house to rest.
That night, while they were having dinner together, Tsubasa explained to Hiiro and Kyoka that their clan should remain careful, because even though Hachibi had escaped, there was still a possibility that Hachibi would return to the lake again in the future.
The married couple was surprised to hear this new fact, and they promised to tell their clan to be more careful.
In addition, they felt very lucky because Tsubasa and his group had protected them by driving Hachibi away from the area around their valley.
Next, Tsubasa apologized to Hiiro because his older brother's fight with Hachibi had taken place in the Chinoike clan's territory and had caused some damage to their settlement.
Hiiro wisely replied that their safety was far more important than any material damage, and he was very grateful to the still unconscious Ozora for successfully driving Hachibi away.
They all agreed to rest and recover before deciding on the next steps they should take.
That night, Tsubasa kept watch near Ozora, anxiously monitoring his older brother's condition.
He hoped Ozora would wake up soon and recover completely.
The next day, Ginga, Kyoya, and Benkei helped the Chinoike clan members repair the minor damage caused by the fight with Hachibi, showing their gratitude for the clan's hospitality.
The relationship between the Yorozuya group and the Chinoike clan grew stronger after this incident, forming a strong bond of friendship and mutual respect.
Two days later, Ozora finally began to show signs of consciousness.
Tsubasa and the others immediately gathered by his side, waiting anxiously as Ozora slowly opened his eyes.
When Ozora finally opened his eyes, his gaze looked blank and confused at first, but slowly he began to recognize the people around him.
The first thing he asked in a hoarse voice was about Tsubasa, making sure that his younger brother was truly safe and unharmed.
Tsubasa smiled in relief and assured Ozora that he was alright, explaining how he managed to escape Hachibi's terrifying Bijuudama attack.
Ozora then recalled his fierce battle with Hachibi and his terrifying transformation, feeling a little scared and confused by the new power that had suddenly appeared within him.
Tsubasa comforted Ozora and explained that the power came from his great love for him, and he was sure that Ozora would be able to control it well over time.
They decided to stay longer in the Chinoike clan's settlement until Ozora fully recovered and was ready to continue their journey.
Tsubasa also used this time to learn more about the Chinoike clan's extraordinary weapon forging abilities.
Hiiro and Kyoka gladly shared their knowledge and secret techniques, showing their hospitality and trust in Tsubasa's group.
After several days of rest and recovery, Ozora felt much better and was ready to continue their journey.
They thanked the Chinoike clan for all their help and hospitality before finally leaving the forbidden valley.
As for the several eagles they had captured at that time, Tsubasa had already ordered his shadow clones to take them back to his ninja village.
Tsubasa also gave Hachibi's broken horn to his shadow clone and ordered it to take it back to his secret laboratory for further research, he smiled slightly imagining the research potential he could get from that horn.