Yōkō slammed both hands onto the tree trunk beneath him.
Wood Release chakra coursed through the Advent of a World of Flowering Trees. Countless Iron Vines suddenly surged around Han.
The vines wrapped around Han's body, creating a bizarre image of a large man covered in writhing tendrils.
The Iron Vines absorbed Han's chakra. Han possessed a massive chakra reserve, quickly overloading and bursting some of the vines, which shattered.
However, the number of vines was simply overwhelming.
By the time the Tailed Beast Ball was fired, it had already shrunk from the size of a fist to the size of an egg.
Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!
Concentric arcs of wooden planks appeared, protecting Yōkō like an eggshell.
The shrunken, egg-sized Tailed Beast Ball exploded in front of the Wood Locking Wall.
The wooden wall didn't even suffer a scratch.
As the wooden planks dispersed, Yōkō saw the Five-Tails Jinchūriki, Han, panting heavily.
Leave professional matters to professionals.
When dealing with a Jinchūriki with immense chakra reserves, Wood Release was the professional choice.
Yōkō ignored Han, turned around again, and charged towards the next squad of Iwa-nin.
These Iwa-nin lacked the strength to break free from the Iron Vines and were utterly defenseless.
Dozens of wooden spikes shot out, impaling the Iwa-nin and bursting from their backs like thorny brambles.
Another bestial roar erupted from behind him.
Han had finally erupted his fifth tail.
The two Iwa-nin Battalion Commanders were deeply uneasy. They had received intelligence to go to the Evergreen Sacred Mountain to deal with Konoha's Guardian Ninja. If Han went on a rampage here, how could they possibly complete the mission?
But the pressure from the Wood Release was immense!
Tree trunks were everywhere, along with chakra-absorbing vines.
The Tailed Beast's chakra was exceptionally torrential.
Yōkō turned around, now treating the five-tailed Han with seriousness.
The Iwa-nin Battalion Commanders seized the chance to rescue their comrades trapped by the Iron Vines.
Watching the back of Konoha's Copper Fox, the Battalion Commander's heart trembled.
Is this the power of Konoha's Deputy Anbu Commander?
When he decides to slaughter ordinary Iwa-nin, they don't even have the ability to fight back.
The ordinary Iwa-nin are strung up, killed at will.
Copper Fox possessed all the typical traits of an Anbu: he killed without blinking. He had killed over 50 people in a short time without the slightest hesitation.
Yōkō looked at Han, who had five tails erupted, feeling a bit regretful.
He had used this month's resurrection opportunity for the time reversal, so he couldn't afford to die at the hands of the Five-Tails Jinchūriki now, or he could have gained Kage-level chakra reserves again.
Yōkō slammed his hands onto the tree trunk beneath him.
One after another, Iron Vines shot out, charging towards Han.
However, Han's power had increased dramatically. His five tails whirled and flailed, smashing all the Iron Vines to pieces.
The strength of the Iron Vines was now insufficient.
Facing the charging Han, Yōkō thrust his palm forward, and a wooden spike several centimeters thick shot out from his palm.
The spike struck Han precisely in the chest.
However, the Tailed Beast chakra cloak was extremely tough, shattering the spike's tip.
Not bad...
The next second, Yōkō was sent flying by a powerful kick.
The Five-Tails Jinchūriki's limbs weren't claws, but hooves like a horse's.
This kick was immensely powerful. Yōkō was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing through one thick tree trunk after another.
The Iwa-nin Battalion Commander's heart surged with excitement. Was Copper Fox no match for Han?
Soon, the Battalion Commander's expression turned grim.
A watery chakra coiling snake appeared around Copper Fox's body. With each impact against a tree trunk, it created a huge splash.
The water absorbed the kinetic energy. The impacts looked violent, but the damage to Copper Fox was minimal.
The Battalion Commander watched helplessly as Copper Fox stood up as if nothing had happened, brushing the wood chips from his clothes.
A flash of reddish-copper skin was visible for a moment—Copper Fox's absolute defense secret technique.
What a headache. With Wood Release for offense and a secret technique for defense, how can someone like Copper Fox even be killed?
Han's four hooves pounded the ground, his speed immense as he charged again.
This time, however, Yōkō had no intention of taking the hit head-on.
He formed a one-handed seal and used an Earth Clone.
Han's front hooves stomped a puddle of mud into oblivion.
The Iwa-nin Battalion Commander in the distance thought, This is bad. Although a rampaging Han was much more powerful, he had almost lost his sanity, operating only on combat instinct.
Copper Fox didn't need to face him directly. Simple techniques like substitution would be impossible for Han to distinguish in this state.
Han's advantage lay in his massive attack range.
After two consecutive charges resulted only in shattered mud, Han instinctively grew agitated.
He threw his head back and condensed a Tailed Beast Ball the size of a human head.
The wooden vines appeared again, taking advantage of Han's momentary immobility to absorb a portion of the Tailed Beast chakra.
Han, with five tails, was significantly stronger. The Iron Vines only made the Tailed Beast cloak dim slightly; the Tailed Beast Ball still threatened with imposing force.
Yōkō considered using the Body Flicker Technique, but reconsidered, realizing it might not escape such a vast explosion radius.
He quickly submerged into the ground.
Once underground, he immediately switched to the Ephemeral Technique.
The Ephemeral Technique allowed him to move hundreds of meters in a single second.
The Tailed Beast Ball exploded within the confines of the Wood Release.
For a moment, the area was engulfed in blinding light. The dazzling glare stabbed into every shinobi's eyes.
Leaf Monkey and the others were fine; they were far enough away to run.
The Iwa-nin trapped within the Wood Release by the Iron Vines were not so lucky. After the explosion, the remaining 30-plus Iwa-nin were killed.
The dust slowly settled. The Wood Release had vanished; the short grass was gone.
The ground was bare, exposed yellow-brown soil.
Opposite Han was a deep crater, empty inside.
An Iwa-nin forehead protector fell from the sky—some unfortunate soul's protector had been blasted upwards and was now falling back down, landing at Han's feet.
Han looked down at the forehead protector. Reflected in its surface, his dolphin-like face showed horror and disbelief.
Just like when he was a child, his rampage had killed his fellow villagers.
Copper Fox's figure slowly emerged from the ground.
"Steam Ninja Han, you actually killed over 30 of your Iwagakure comrades. I didn't do that.
Let's keep our accounts separate. The Iwa-nin I killed are on me, the ones you killed are on you. Don't you dare try to take credit for my work."
In his Tailed Beast state, Han's eyes were two blazing circular holes.
Now, Han turned his dolphin-like head, looking around. The two Iwa-nin Battalion Commanders in the distance had only 40-plus men left behind them.
They were all looking at him with complex expressions.
The irrational Han instinctively realized he had done something terribly wrong.
After a series of roars, Han's form underwent a drastic change!
He was no longer human-sized.
An even more massive amount of chakra surged from Han's body, and along with it came thick, billowing steam.
The white steam rose to a height of over a hundred meters.
Waves of sinister chakra washed over the surroundings.
Yōkō raised his hand, signaling for the Leaf Monkey Squad to retreat further away.
He stood his ground, staring at the white steam.
The two Iwa-nin Battalion Commanders exchanged a glance and immediately made a decision.
"Requesting village backup! The Five-Tails is out!"
A front hoof kicked through the steam, revealing a thick, equine leg.
The steam suddenly exploded outwards in all directions.
A white giant beast appeared before them.
A dolphin's head, with five sharp horns. A white horse's body. Five tails!
The Five-Tails had arrived!
Yōkō formed hand signs and slammed his palms together.
Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!
His tactical objective was achieved; he had intercepted the Five-Tails. But now, he wanted to test the gap between his own strength and that of a full Tailed Beast.
A wooden dragon erupted from the ground in front of Yōkō.
This dragon was over ten meters thick and a hundred meters long.
The Wood Dragon moved with extreme speed, heading straight for the Five-Tails' neck.
The Five-Tails' long, equine neck was instantly ensnared by the Wood Dragon.
The Five-Tails tried to break free, but the Wood Dragon's front claws and body had already locked onto it in a powerful entanglement.
The Five-Tails, having just been freed from its seal, had not yet adapted to this feeling of freedom, the fresh air, the state of having its body under its own control, when it suddenly felt its chakra being drained.
Looking at the Wood Dragon biting its neck, the Five-Tails suddenly remembered a long time ago, when the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, had captured it in exactly this manner.
After a moment of panic, the Five-Tails quickly calmed down.
This Wood Dragon before it was incomparable to the First Hokage's.
Its five tails were extremely flexible and began beating against the Wood Dragon wrapped around its neck and forelimbs!
Yōkō immediately frowned.
The Five-Tails' tails became enveloped in dense steam. Boil Release steam reinforced the tails, and the five heavy, powerful tails took turns smashing down on the Wood Dragon.
The Wood Dragon's scales flew everywhere. In just a few seconds, its forelimbs were shattered.
The earth trembled.
Yōkō thought to himself, My chakra reserves are still far inferior to a Tailed Beast's.
With my current strength, I can probably only delay a Tailed Beast for about two minutes.
He still had some techniques he hadn't used, like the Wood Release: Several Hands Technique for capturing Tailed Beasts, or Kōan's Calming Hands for sealing them.
But there was no need to fight any longer. Forcing the Five-Tails out was enough.
Yōkō sent a wave of chakra into the Wood Dragon, then turned and left without a second glance.
Like a scoundrel who's had his fun, he patted his butt and left.
Yōkō arrived beside the Leaf Monkey Squad and shouted, "Run! The Five-Tails is out!"
Leaf Monkey looked at the colossal Five-Tails in the distance, and the Wood Dragon still entangled with it, thinking, Lord Fox is still incredible. He actually pushed the Jinchūriki to such an extent.
The two Iwa-nin Battalion Commanders felt bitter.
The Five-Tails was completely out.
The mission was a total failure. They shouldn't even think about it anymore.
Damn you, Danzo! They say Danzo loves internal strife, but why did he have to screw us over so badly this time?
The Iwa-nin's task ahead was arduous. The Five-Tails couldn't be allowed to charge into other countries, it couldn't be allowed to enter large towns, it couldn't be allowed to vanish without a trace...
The Konoha Anbu had come, wreaked havoc, and then just patted his butt and left, leaving the Iwa-nin to deal with the aftermath.
Now, the Iwa-nin Battalion Commander actually hoped that Wood Dragon could hold on a little longer, to absorb more of the Five-Tails' chakra.
A few minutes later, when the Five-Tails finally broke free from the Wood Dragon, it saw only the group of Iwa-nin nearby.
"It's you! Iwa-nin! Where is that bastard Ōnoki! How long does he plan to keep me sealed!"
The Iwa-nin Jōnin's mouth felt bitter. Such a giant beast was an unstoppable weapon on the battlefield.
Expecting their remaining forces to deal with the Five-Tails was utterly impossible.
Watching the Five-Tails throw its head back and condense a Tailed Beast Ball—a massive sphere with a diameter of over ten meters—the very air around them seemed to stagnate.
The Iwa-nin Battalion Commander understood that all they could do now was keep track of the Five-Tails, not lose its trail, until the village's main force arrived.
"Scatter!" the Battalion Commander yelled.
"Reconnaissance the Five-Tails from a distance! Sealing Corps, restrain the Five-Tails!"
They had brought the Sealing Corps on this mission. The Sealing Corps could suppress a five-tailed Han, but dealing with the full Five-Tails was a pipe dream.
At this moment, the Iwa-nin Battalion Commander hated Konoha's Copper Fox with a passion.
Is he out of his mind?
***
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(End of Chapter)