Orochimaru had developed a special hallucinogen to deal with Jinchūriki; one pill had directly killed the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, B.
The smoke bomb Shinma threw contained Orochimaru's hallucinogen. The Five-Tails, with its massive lung capacity, inhaled a great deal of the smoke.
Hatake Sakumo looked up and saw a drastic change in the Five-Tails' eyes.
Previously, its eyes were full of a desire for freedom and hatred for the Iwa-nin.
Now, the Five-Tails' eyes were fierce and savage, clearly agitated.
It raised its head and let out a loud, clear howl—so high-pitched and prolonged that its voice grew hoarse by the end.
"Retreat! Retreat quickly!"
Seeing the Five-Tails go berserk, the Konoha ninja hastily leaped away.
After putting distance between them, Hatake Sakumo stared in shock at the rampaging Five-Tails in the distance, then turned to look at Shinma.
Without waiting for any order from Sakumo, Pakkun instantly took action, leading the Eight Ninja Hounds to bite Shinma's hands and feet.
"Pakkun!" Shinma cried out first: "What are you doing!"
The largest of the hounds, Bordeaux, bit down hard on Shinma's dominant right hand.
Ten-centimeter-long fangs pierced through Shinma's palm.
Hatake Sakumo's eyes wavered for a moment, but then he immediately made his decision.
Fox's warning wasn't baseless.
The White Fang Short Sword thrust forward, piercing Shinma's heart!
Shinma's eyes rolled horrifiedly, adjusting their focus to stare at the Hatake Sakumo before him.
Lord Sakumo...
Why kill him?
How could he bring himself to kill him?
He wasn't like this before...
Blood splattered, landing on Namikaze Minato's face.
Namikaze Minato's expression changed dramatically. Wasn't Shinma Sensei's subordinate? Why did Sensei suddenly kill Shinma?
Minato, being close, heard Pakkun mutter softly: "Good, we didn't disappoint that person."
That person... who was that person?
Hatake Sakumo pulled out the White Fang Short Sword and said to Yamashiro-dera: "Yamashiro-dera! Read the intelligence in his brain!"
Yamashiro-dera possessed a mind-reading secret technique similar to the Yamanaka clan's, allowing him to extract information from an enemy's mind.
After getting over his initial shock, Yamashiro-dera quickly went to Shinma's side and placed his hand on Shinma's forehead.
The first image shocked him.
When they left the Land of Grass capital, Shinma had actually met alone with a hooded figure!
Shinma received a smoke bomb from that person.
"This is a poison smoke bomb that can make the Five-Tails rampage and go mad. Use the poison smoke to stimulate the Five-Tails, break..."
Shinma began to convulse; his nervous system was collapsing.
Yamashiro-dera wanted to get more information from Shinma's memories but discovered that some dark force had destroyed Shinma's brain!
Yamashiro-dera stood up and said to Hatake Sakumo:
"Sakumo! Shinma was under some strange seal.
He met a mysterious person before setting off. The seal destroyed Shinma's brain; I can't see anything!
I only heard half a sentence before his brain self-destructed!
Someone gave Shinma a smoke bomb potent enough to cause a Tailed Beast to rampage!"
Hatake Sakumo nodded and said to the others:
"Our mission is to prevent the Five-Tails from destroying the tribes of the Land of Grass.
Shinma was bribed by a spy and betrayed us. He tried to sabotage our mission, so I executed him."
Yamashiro-dera was fine with it, quickly accepting this fact.
Shinobi killed so many; killing Shinma was somewhat unexpected, but when killing a traitor, the quicker, the better.
Having seen Shinma contact the mysterious person with his own eyes, what Yamashiro-dera wanted to know more was who could give Shinma such a powerful hallucinogenic smoke bomb that it could affect a massive Tailed Beast.
Hayama's heart was pounding fast; he was usually closest to Shinma.
Now that Yamashiro-dera had identified Shinma as a traitor through his secret technique, Hayama thought carefully and said:
"Lord Sakumo, Shinma did show abnormalities recently.
Especially at the Evergreen Sacred Mountain, he was distracted three or four times, which never happened before."
Namikaze Minato looked at his Sensei, then at Shinma's corpse.
He recovered from the shock. One must give everything for friends and teammates, just as Sensei usually did for them, but towards enemies, they must be killed immediately.
If Shinma hadn't been killed quickly, he might have gotten others killed.
Yamashiro-dera suddenly remembered something. He leaned close to Hatake Sakumo and whispered:
"The village once heavily promoted Orochimaru's achievements. Orochimaru is not only an excellent combatant but also a once-in-decades genius in ninjutsu research.
Orochimaru once used hallucinogenic pills to cause the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki to rampage, eliminating Kumogakure's Eight-Tails Jinchūriki.
Sakumo, do you think this hallucinogenic poison smoke could be from Orochimaru?
Could the person Shinma met be one of Orochimaru's subordinates?"
Everyone in the village knew that Hatake Sakumo and Orochimaru were both competing to be the Fourth Hokage.
Could it be Orochimaru secretly harming them?
Hatake Sakumo frowned.
The Third Hokage favored Orochimaru as the Fourth, but Hatake Sakumo had his own ideas; he hoped to realize his political ideals.
If Orochimaru was also involved...
Hatake Sakumo said: "This matter is too significant. Let's not assume an answer for now. I will find a way to investigate."
Sakumo planned to ask Fox for help. Fox had warned him in advance; he must know something.
Yamashiro-dera picked up Shinma's Chakra Metal Short Sword, feeling a wave of melancholy.
Shinma had once been Sakumo's most ardent admirer. He and his brother Shinna had spent most of their mission savings on this Chakra Metal Short Sword, imitating the White Fang and developing his own secret techniques.
Who would have thought Shinma would die by the very White Fang Short Sword he admired so much.
Yamashiro-dera looked at Sakumo, who gestured with his head towards Namikaze Minato.
Yamashiro-dera handed the short sword to Namikaze Minato, saying:
"Minato, you just became a Chūnin. This is a critical period for your growth. This Chakra Metal Short Sword is for you."
Minato took the short sword, unconsciously glancing again at Sensei's White Fang.
With a Chakra Metal Short Sword, he was becoming more and more like Sensei.
"Thank you, Jōnin Yamashiro-dera!"
Minato excitedly rubbed the Chakra Metal Short Sword.
Chakra metal wasn't something one could buy just with money; it required luck.
Hayama, standing nearby, said: "Minato, I haven't given you a gift since you became a Chūnin."
He took out a scroll and said:
"You and I share the same Wind chakra affinity.
This is a ninjutsu scroll for the Vacuum Blade. It also contains my technique for forming one-handed seals for the Vacuum Blade.
Don't look down on me just being a Special Jōnin, but when it comes to using the Wind Release: Vacuum Blade, I dare say I'm at least top two in Konoha."
"Thank you, Brother Hayama!"
"No need to thank me," Hayama said. "The Wind Release: Vacuum Blade was taught to me by Lord Sakumo. It happens to suit you too."
Minato's two teammates, Akimichi Yoshimaru and Anzumi, looked on with envy.
For shinobi, strength was everything. Minato had displayed astonishing strength, which was why he received special care from his teacher and seniors.
Although Shinma's trouble was resolved, the Five-Tails mission continued, as the beast was still wreaking havoc.
The enraged Five-Tails had completely lost its mind, leaving only one last thought: to escape as far as possible!
It loathed the Land of Earth, loathed being sealed.
Instinctively identifying the direction deeper into the grasslands, the Five-Tails ran at full speed, its four hooves trampling the grass as it charged towards the heart of the plains.
Hatake Sakumo used Body Flicker to appear beside Kitsuchi. Glancing at the sweat on Kitsuchi's forehead, he said:
"Kitsuchi, my mission is to stop the Five-Tails, yours is to seal it. We can cooperate."
"Cooperate?" Kitsuchi stared at Konoha's White Fang with a wary look, saying:
"Ridiculous. Your man just threw a smoke bomb that caused the Five-Tails to go completely berserk.
And now you want to cooperate?"
"What just happened was an accident. You saw me kill the traitor," Hatake Sakumo said:
"You can remain wary of me.
Even if I were to sabotage you, it would be when you are sealing the Five-Tails.
Before that, neither of us wants to see the Five-Tails run wild.
If the Five-Tails runs too far, not just us Konoha, but maybe even Kumogakure would get ideas about coming to the Land of Grass.
I've met the Two-Tails Jinchūriki, Ryūjin. Iwagakure's sealing techniques are far inferior to Kumogakure's."
Kitsuchi swallowed hard with difficulty.
"Damn Kumogakure, they looted too many sealing techniques from the destroyed Uzumaki clan. Their sealing arts are naturally stronger than ours."
Kitsuchi had a large build, but his will was not firm at this moment.
Remembering the scene of Konoha's White Fang killing his own subordinate, he said: "Fine, I believe you also don't want to see the Five-Tails charge into some tribal encampment. We can cooperate temporarily."
Hatake Sakumo vanished with a Body Flicker.
He chased the Five-Tails until he was in front of it.
Holding the White Fang Short Sword, Hatake Sakumo's gaze was cold and severe.
The fifty-meter-tall giant beast, its hooves churning, the earth shaking, placed immense pressure on Hatake Sakumo.
Hatake Sakumo accelerated, charging towards the Five-Tails.
"White Fang Consecutive Blades!"
His arm swung rapidly. Three consecutive White Fang blade gleams appeared before the White Fang sword.
The slender blade gleams, like crescent moons, overlapped and shot forward, striking the Five-Tails' right foreleg.
The Five-Tails roared in pain.
The Five-Tails' right foreleg was severed, bone and all, by the White Fang Consecutive Blades!
Its massive body crashed forward and sideways, collapsing with a thunderous impact.
Kitsuchi shouted: "Now's our chance!"
Taking advantage of the Five-Tails' fall, Kitsuchi used the Mountain Soil Technique again.
Caught between the earthen hemispheres, the Five-Tails was restrained once more.
The sealing battalion was about to climb onto the earthen hemispheres of the Mountain Soil Technique when Kitsuchi stopped them.
"Don't go! The Five-Tails is resisting fiercely!"
The Iwa-nin looked over and saw the earthen hemispheres trembling.
The hundred-meter-diameter earthen hemispheres actually couldn't suppress the Five-Tails.
Sweat dripped from Kitsuchi's forehead. "Don't rush! Sealing the Five-Tails won't happen in one or two attempts. Its chakra reserve is too vast. Prepare for a prolonged battle!"
Large amounts of steam billowed from within the earthen hemispheres.
The steam obscured the shinobi's vision, and the roars from within the steam were unsettling.
Kitsuchi, who originally had both hands pressed to the ground, suddenly retreated in an instant.
The Five-Tails, reputedly the Tailed Beast with the greatest physical strength, bolstered by its Boil Release steam, broke free from Kitsuchi's Mountain Soil Technique.
Kitsuchi panted. His father said he still had a long way to go; in his twenties, he was still too inexperienced.
Namikaze Minato looked up and watched the Five-Tails burst out of the steam in the distance.
Why was such a massive body so fast?
Beneath the Five-Tails' hooves was boiling steam, providing it with powerful propulsion.
Namikaze Minato thought to himself that this was very similar to his Wind Release Chakra Condensation.
Then, Minato saw steam also emanating from the Five-Tails' body. The steam propelled its massive form, granting it terrifying agility.
Boil Release was the Five-Tails' special ability.
Namikaze Minato was greatly inspired. Could he learn from the Five-Tails and condense Wind Release chakra on his back, shoulders, hips, and other locations to increase his body's speed?
Yōkō had reset the timeline, yet Namikaze Minato twice comprehended the same developmental direction for his Wind Release.
***
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(End of Chapter)