"This thing is obviously overweight. It's fat like a cream puff, except the color is off. So… do you think we can soak it open with water?"
Hagoromo naturally ignored Shukaku's shouting. Instead, he asked the three people in front of him this question, discussing how to dig the jinchūriki out of the One-Tail.
It was just a little dumb and unreliable.
But… soak? Did he think this was brewing tea? Hagoromo's line of thought left Mirai and the other two speechless, because they had no idea how to respond.
Still too young. Hagoromo shook his head, slightly dissatisfied. Their thinking had to be broader. Boldly hypothesize, carefully verify—that was scientific research. They should not be so constrained.
At this moment, however, Shukaku seemed to realize it was being ignored, and grew even angrier. Still, as Hagoromo had said, this thing really did look like a patient suffering from obesity. Its belly bulged like a taiko drum.
Then Shukaku spread one arm and slapped its own belly.
Scaled down two thousand times, that action would count as acting cute. At its current size, however, it could only be taken as intimidation…
And an attack.
Across Shukaku's enormous sandy body were layers of violet markings, representing the power of "wind."
The One-Tail commonly attacked with Wind Release. Now, a massive amount of wind-nature chakra mixed with air currents gathered in its mouth, and it spat a wind sphere with tremendous cutting power toward Hagoromo.
Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet.
This attack seemed to make use of air pressure principles as well.
However, the Drilling Air Bullet's speed, force, direction, and attack range were all perfect. Its only problem was…
Its power was lacking.
Friend, against someone like Hagoromo, even going straight to a Tailed Beast Ball would still feel insufficient, all right?
With Hagoromo's hand speed, by the time Shukaku finished slapping its belly and launched its attack, his hand seals were already complete—shinobi do not die from bad breath.
A white stream of water, spinning left and right, condensed into a long water ribbon and angled toward Shukaku's incoming attack.
Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet intercepted Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet, and the two high-level ninjutsu collided head-on in midair.
With a thunderous boom, the Drilling Air Bullet's force was completely neutralized, while Hagoromo's Water Dragon Bullet seemed to have been struck by an invisible giant hammer, exploding into a monochrome firework that splashed in all directions.
Hagoromo-400 land-based close-in missile interception system: interception successful.
He had expected this result from the start. By now, Hagoromo had already bent forward slightly, preparing for his next strike.
Mirai and the other two understood Hagoromo fairly well. Seeing that movement, they scattered without a word…
In short, the farther from him, the better.
In an instant, the lightning of Chidori Current covered Hagoromo's entire body. He stamped down with both feet, and though the movement looked small, the force contained within it was absolutely not to be underestimated. The ground beneath his feet instantly collapsed in a ring, and using that recoil, his body shot diagonally upward at a slight angle.
After he launched himself, the ground seemed unable to bear the force all at once, and further out, layer after layer of secondary collapse occurred.
Fortunately, the destruction became shallower the farther it spread.
Even so, Mirai and the other two still had not run fast enough and were shaken until they were covered in dust.
The pancake-shaped curtain of water formed from the compressed Water Dragon Bullet was still suspended in midair due to its momentum, while Hagoromo moved like a lightning arrow, piercing straight through the center of that water curtain as though hitting the bullseye.
Even though contact lasted only an instant, the powerful Lightning Release Hagoromo maintained spread from the center of the water curtain outward, dyeing the entire thing with lightning patterns.
First a screen, then a blitz attack. He was already very skilled at this combo. But Shukaku clearly had not expected the enemy's counterattack to arrive so quickly. A tiny dot rapidly enlarged in its eyes.
However, Hagoromo was not aiming for Shukaku's head. He was aiming at a spot to the left of Shukaku's head, slightly above the shoulder.
His hands were empty, but he held them at the left side of his body as if gripping a sword. Then, just before passing Shukaku, an even brighter blazing-white light appeared between his hands.
Hagoromo held the Chidori Sharp Spear horizontally, almost parallel to the ground. As he passed Shukaku's shoulder, the blade met resistance. After a slight moment of obstruction, it became incomparably smooth again.
That meant the Chidori Sharp Spear had cut through Shukaku's neck.
The enormous impact sent that huge head flying into the air.
A big head was no problem. As long as the blade was fast enough, anything was possible.
But…
Weren't they supposed to soak Gaara out with water? Why had he switched to a cutting tool?
Liar. That was not what he had said just now…
Fine. Hagoromo also felt that his previous idea had been a little unreliable. More importantly, using a blade was faster and more efficient.
"Boom!"
That was the slightly muffled rumble caused by the mass of water from the Water Dragon Bullet crashing to the ground.
"Bang!"
That was the sound of Shukaku's sandy head smashing into the ground. The two sounds came one after another, and the latter sounded much more satisfying than the former.
When an object of such mass fell from high altitude, it even caused the ground to tremble quite a bit.
Then a rustling sound rang out, before expanding into a noise like quicksand flowing through the desert…
Because it really was quicksand.
Having lost its head and been separated from its jinchūriki, Shukaku's enormous body had already begun to collapse.
Without a continuous supply of chakra, the sand slowly fell back to the ground under gravity.
As for Shukaku's head, which Hagoromo had slapped down to the ground, it had already collapsed into a lump. Since Shukaku was still awake, it could of course restore itself, and it would not even be especially difficult.
However, Hagoromo was no longer going to allow it to recover…
Because that would be too slow, and there was no point.
He was going to release it completely.
Hagoromo walked over to Gaara, who was half-buried in the sand. After a brief pause, he still reached his hand toward the unconscious boy.
No matter what, he had to continue doing what he had come to do.
The moment Hagoromo's hand touched Gaara's body, there seemed to be the sound of a heavy iron gate, sealed shut for a very long time, opening once more.
What opened was not an iron gate, but something far more serious.
It was the sealing gate of the One-Tail.
At this moment, Shukaku was completely released.
To be honest, with Shukaku's brain, it could not immediately understand what had happened. Weren't they in the middle of fighting? Why would the other side release it?
But for Shukaku, it had always been sealed either inside a pot or inside a person. The taste of freedom had been absent for far, far too long.
Yet before it could deliver a grand speech, just as its enormous body had appeared, five chakra chains suddenly emerged and bound it tightly in midair.
One chakra chain even shot out from Mirai, pierced straight through Shukaku's right shoulder, and nailed it into the ground on the opposite side.
This was what one would call locking the shoulder blade. No matter how powerful someone was, once this happened, they could no longer use their magic powers.
This was the correct way to use the Adamantine Sealing Chains. Using them to poke puppets like Mirai had last time was simply a waste…
However, the sight before him left Hagoromo momentarily dazed. The scene was exactly the same as eighteen years ago, except the girl using the Adamantine Sealing Chains was no longer the same one.
Hagoromo's daze lasted only an instant. The past could no longer bind the current him. And if a tailed beast could be restrained, that was all the better.
He drew the long sword at his waist and walked toward the enormous monster unhurriedly, step by step.
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