There was a legendary dish known as braised prawns in oil. When served, its glossy red appearance was said to stimulate the appetite instantly.
Unfortunately, only a master chef like Jiraiya could pull off that kind of cooking.
Hagoromo could not.
The reason was simple.
When using senjutsu, Hagoromo didn't have a toad around to spray all-natural, pollution-free animal oil.
So—without a single drop of cooking oil involved—
The Seven-Tails had been charcoal-grilled.
Not deep-fried. Healthier.
As for the taste… probably like eating ashes.
As sizzling sounds—like cold water dripping onto a hot pan—echoed across the lake, Hagoromo's Sage Art Fire Release finally came to a halt. As the steam on the water's surface slowly thinned, the Seven-Tails' form emerged once more.
But it was no longer the same.
Chōmei's body was now pitch-black, as though it had donned a layer of armor. In fact, it looked far more imposing than before—
If one ignored the "overcooked" undertone.
Its three pairs of wings had curled inward from the intense heat. At this point, even if it wanted to fly, it probably couldn't.
"Did I… overdo it a little?" Hagoromo thought.
With the phosphorescent scale powder burned away, his vision naturally returned.
Historically speaking, no tailed beast had ever been recorded as being burned to death—but the absence of precedent didn't mean impossibility.
After all, without the so-called cosmic correction, Amaterasu burning a tailed beast to death was entirely feasible.
Hagoromo's Sage Art: Fire Release — Kirin couldn't compare to Amaterasu—after all, black flames burned anything—but with this scale of Fire Release, how weak could it possibly be?
Even when compared to black flames.
This was a powerful composite ninjutsu, one that reached the legendary realm of 1 + 1 + 1 > 2.
And considering a tailed beast's monstrous vitality, defense, and regenerative power, Hagoromo had deliberately stacked Fire Release to the extreme.
Heavy ingredients demanded a fierce flame.
Even so, it was unlikely that the Seven-Tails had been outright burned to death.
But it was definitely burned senseless.
Its combat capability had dropped to the level of "barely functional."
Still—
Just in case.
Could tailed beasts play dead under extreme conditions, only to counterattack later?
After all, despite the damage, Chōmei still hadn't collapsed.
Hagoromo wasn't a particularly honest person.
While saying he might have gone too far, he prepared to go even further.
He could be worse.
Grabbing his left shadow clone by the arm, Hagoromo spun several times on the spot, using centrifugal force and inertia to hurl the clone straight at the tailed beast.
Then—
The second clone followed.
Hagoromo said nothing.
Hagoromo threw two Hagoromos at you.
With senjutsu-enhanced strength, this acceleration required no Lightning Release assistance. The two clones shot forward like arrows released from a bow.
Just before the first clone crossed past Chōmei's massive body, Chidori Blade flashed into existence in its hand.
The lightning blade and Hagoromo's forearm aligned vertically upward, while his left arm braced behind it in a cross formation—
A violent vibration erupted.
A short, high-frequency screech filled the air, like an axe striking a taut steel cable.
One of the Seven-Tails' forelimbs was severed cleanly, spinning away before crashing into the lake with an enormous splash.
Though tailed beasts were fundamentally chakra constructs, they possessed mass proportional to their size. That limb hit the water like a falling boulder.
But before it even landed—
Another Hagoromo was already in motion.
This was no longer a one-man fight.
It was three-on-one.
The second clone charged straight into the Seven-Tails' chest, driving Chidori Sharp Spear clean through it from front to back.
After the strike, the clone released its grip and fell back into the lake, retreating from the beast.
Though the technique had already left his hand, the Chidori Spear maintained its shape—like a tangible, slender blade—still embedded in Chōmei's body.
Even though the torso had been pierced, the sensation Chōmei felt was more like being shot through the knees.
Finally—
The Seven-Tails collapsed.
Seeing this, the spectators snapped out of their shock.
Even someone completely ignorant of combat could tell—
The battle was over.
Leader Shibuki gently patted Fū on the back of the head, then took her hand and started forward. A tailed beast in this state wasn't flipping the table anytime soon. It was time to prepare the sealing ritual.
After all, the legendary salted-fish reversal required two steps:
First—become a salted fish.
Second—flip over.
Science had proven that 99.9% of beings only completed the first step.
The second could be treated as nonexistent.
However—
Hagoromo himself was already walking, step by step, toward the half-floating, seemingly unconscious Seven-Tails.
He stopped beside it.
Because his back was turned, those approaching from the waterfall entrance couldn't see his face—
They couldn't see the change in his eyes.
They only saw him pause briefly.
Then his arm rose over his shoulder, circling behind his head.
A third Chidori Sharp Spear appeared.
Perhaps it was an illusion, but when Hagoromo used this technique personally, the lightning seemed unusually bright.
And then—
The motion that followed could only be described as textbook precision.
Raise hand.
Bring blade down.
The approaching group froze.
An inexplicable suffocating sensation seized them.
Before their eyes, the Seven-Tails' massive body disintegrated instantly—fragment by fragment, inch by inch—vanishing into nothingness.
Someone even rubbed their eyes.
Where did our tailed beast go?
Your tailed beast is dead.
Undeniably so.
And with a significant probability—dead for good.
For a long moment, no one knew what to say. Or what to do.
After standing there briefly, Hagoromo dispelled his shadow clones and turned back toward the stunned group.
"I'm really sorry," he said calmly.
"My final strike lacked precision. I used too much force."
"The Seven-Tails… seems to have died."
"During your sealing ritual, the tailed beast can't resist at all. I originally intended to weaken it to the absolute limit to ensure success…"
The sealing process itself was still Takigakure's responsibility. Hagoromo and the others were merely contingencies.
After all, even the most open-minded people wouldn't feel secure letting another village handle something like this.
And the Eight Diagrams Seal was top-secret—it could never be used on another village's jinchūriki.
When Hagoromo first spoke, the distinctive Sage Mode markings were still visible on his face.
By the time he finished—
They had already receded back into the mark on his forehead.
The battle was over.
He had released Sage Mode.
At that moment, however, Fū noticed something.
The man who had just brutalized a tailed beast seemed to wink at her playfully.
From a societal ethics standpoint, flirting with a child was obviously immoral.
But in this case, it only meant one thing—
Hagoromo was in a very good mood.
First, Sage Mode's power had been thoroughly validated. His evaluation of it consisted of just three words:
Worth the effort.
In the past, whenever he fought tailed beasts, it was usually long-range bombardment. Effective, sometimes overwhelmingly so—but those victories belonged to Academy City.
This time—
This was a victory that belonged entirely to a shinobi.
Second, unlike the Three-Tails, Hagoromo felt that the Seven-Tails might truly be dead.
Not because of deeper theoretical understanding—
But because of a vague, indescribable feel.
Like shooting a three-pointer from thirty meters away.
Sometimes, the moment the ball leaves your hand, you know it's going in.
And it does.
But now—
How exactly was one supposed to describe the old village leader's expression?
The feeling of being force-fed something he absolutely did not want to swallow?
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