Despite verbally agreeing to a temporary ceasefire, Hayashi's body told the truth more honestly than his words. It was like someone claiming they would only touch gently but in reality failing to keep a promise. Shukaku, a mighty Tailed Beast that had existed since the era of the Sage of Six Paths, had once been naive. But after being deceived countless times, it no longer trusted a single word from Hayashi or any human.
Through a haze of dusty wind resisting the sharp gusts of Wind Release chakra, Shukaku opened its gaping jaw. A dense black sphere of chakra began forming within it.
Hayashi was unable to fire his own finishing cannon technique in time, so with great reluctance, Shukaku launched it on its own.
Smoke and sand blocked Hayashi's vision. He had already exited Sage Mode, so he could not see the attack forming, but Dabai had a sense of it.
Once Dabai explained the danger, Hayashi's expression tightened. There was no time to disrupt the blast before it fired.
A Technique like Triple Rashomon Gate might be strong enough to block it, but it would consume an immense amount of chakra. There were no Konoha ninja nearby, so using Rashomon would be impractical and irresponsible.
With that realization, Hayashi's speed spiked, and he began dodging with precise footwork.
Boom
A black sphere blasted outward from the smoke like a huge iron cannonball, heading for the spot where Hayashi had just stood. The explosion that followed was blinding, the flash and force erupting into the sky.
Shockwaves rippled out instantly, flattening everything directly in front of Shukaku with a ferocity far greater than Hayashi's earlier Rasenshuriken. The force was devastating.
But Shukaku was not finished. It sensed that Hayashi had moved from the original blast point, so it immediately fired a second energy sphere from even farther away. The explosion thudded in the distance again, shaking the ground.
Meanwhile, at the border of the Land of Rivers, a large contingent of ninja advanced in formation.
Sudden tremors from the ground forced the thousand‑strong team to halt.
"An earthquake?"
"Is the Land of Rivers having an earthquake?"
As the vibrations grew stronger, the allied ninja murmured among themselves.
"Captain, this is…" One of the stronger shinobi, Yokogi, was the first to sense something was seriously wrong. This felt like aftershocks from a massive ninjutsu explosion, not an earthquake.
What could cause tremors this violent at such a distance?
"It has to be a Tailed Beast Ball, without a doubt," Captain Kato Dan said gravely.
Yokogi's eyes widened in shock. "A Tailed Beast Ball? Is a Tailed Beast in the Land of Rivers?"
"It must be a Jinchuriki, the One‑Tail's host," Kato Dan said. "Before we left, the Third Hokage instructed that if we reached this region, we were to support Hayashi. It must be him fighting that Jinchuriki."
"Hayashi, Konoha's Lightning Flash, the Uchiha Hayashi?" Yokogi asked, surprised.
"Who else could face a Jinchuriki like this?" Kato Dan replied with a serious expression.
Yokogi clicked his tongue and sighed. "Truly ferocious, worthy of being my idol."
"What? Aren't I your idol? How did Hayashi take that spot?" Kato Dan replied with a laugh.
Yokogi scratched his head and chuckled. "You both are. Both of you."
"Enough joking around. Gather five Elite Jonin and prepare to move in support right now," Kato Dan said, his face clearing.
"What about the rest of the troops?"
"They'll hold position here. It would be reckless to send them against a Tailed Beast."
"Yes sir!"
Back on the battlefield, Hayashi frowned as he felt the distant tremors continue to pulse.
Shukaku was no longer holding back. The beast was venting its rage recklessly across the landscape.
In a short span of time, it had already fired four or five Tailed Beast Balls, and the explosions were spreading farther apart with each blast.
This was unacceptable. The Land of Rivers was a country with villages and civilians. So much destruction could easily strike innocent towns.
With that in mind, Hayashi dispelled his Shadow Clone and entered Sage Mode again. Feeling the flow of natural energy within him, he unrolled three chakra scrolls that bore the kanji for Sage.
"Still daring to come?" Shukaku snorted coldly as a massive paw slammed toward him.
Hayashi moved with lightning‑fast reflexes powered by his heightened Lightning Release activation, twisting his body just in time to avoid the blow.
Immediately after dodging, the crackling light of Chidori Sharp Spear ignited in his hand. He drove it upward, piercing deeply into Shukaku's paw. The spear carved a linear path as Hayashi moved with unmatched speed.
In terms of sensation, cutting into a Tailed Beast's flesh was no harder than cutting through a solid body of a ninja. It was just that after the limb fell, another regenerated instantly.
That was the terrifying pace of Shukaku's healing.
Hayashi did not pause. He sidestepped a subsequent blast of Wind Release and charged forward until he was close to the towering form of Shukaku.
The beast grinned, a sinister black sphere of chakra pulsing in its mouth.
In the world of Tailed Beast Ball usage, there were two known methods. The first was the standard complete sphere fired at full strength. The second was detonating the sphere right at the beast's mouth, then expelling the explosive force forward with intense wind pressure, creating a fan‑shaped blast at close range.
Shukaku was using this second method now. Knowing Hayashi's speed made a direct hit unlikely, it deliberately aimed wide.
Hayashi instinctively bit his finger and formed hand seals in rapid succession: Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram.
Ninja Art Summoning Technique Triple Rashomon Gate
Three colossal iron gates stamped with intense chakra erupted around him in an instant. At the same time, Hayashi layered Earth Release defenses across his body.
Boom
An earth‑shaking blast rocked the battlefield. The air tore with violent vibration and sand churned like ocean waves.
Hayashi was swallowed in a tide of sand and dust, Chidori Current flickering across his form.
After time passed and the explosions quieted again, the three Rashomon Gates leaned heavily but remained standing, fused into the sandy ground.
"Hehe, dead already?" Shukaku's shrill voice echoed, gleeful with excitement.
Yet at that moment, four silvery white chakra chains shot from beneath the earth, wrapping tightly around Shukaku's enormous neck.
"Chakra Chains. Damn it!" Shukaku roared, its expression shifting wildly as it struggled against the restraints.
Hayashi stood up out of the sand and exhaled, his stance steady.
Even with Kushina's expertise, fully suppressing a Tailed Beast was near impossible. A scroll containing Adamantine Sealing Chains could only restrain a lesser entity. Shukaku far exceeded that level.
He knew these chains would not last long before Shukaku broke them, but they would buy precious moments.
Hayashi formed seals once more and his eyes gleamed with resolve.
"It is time to test Sage Arts under Snake Sage Mode."
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