With both of its claws—its most lethal weapons—temporarily disabled, Shukaku found itself almost entirely incapable of posing any real threat to Manda and Garaga in close combat.
The only attack it could still rely on was the sweeping strike of its long tail—but even that was repeatedly intercepted by earthen walls conjured by Orochimaru.
Seizing the advantage, the two massive snakes pressed forward relentlessly, launching wave after wave of brutal assaults. Their fighting style was crude yet overwhelmingly forceful, driving Shukaku backward step by step, forcing it out of Kikyo Castle through sheer, unyielding pressure.
Boom… boom… BOOM…
The battlefield thundered with deafening crashes as the titanic creatures collided again and again. Each impact sent invisible shockwaves rippling outward, tearing through the city and reducing everything in their vicinity to rubble.
In what felt like moments, this entire district had been leveled.
Yet for all the destruction, neither Shimizu nor Orochimaru could think of a better way.
If they wanted to drive Shukaku out of Kikyo Castle, this crude, violent method was their only option.
Because the power of that Tailed Beast Bomb was simply too terrifying.
Both men—and both snakes—shared a single, unspoken understanding:
They could not, under any circumstances, allow Shukaku to unleash that attack within the city.
At last, after dozens of relentless collisions, the enormous sand tanuki was finally knocked rolling beyond the boundaries of Kikyo Castle.
"You… damn you all!" Shukaku snarled, its head spinning from the repeated impacts, barely able to steady itself.
It seemed so overwhelmed by the continuous assault that it hadn't even realized it had already been forced outside the city.
"This time, it's my turn to—"
Before it could even finish, a massive fireball—nearly the size of its own head—came crashing directly into its face, silencing its declaration of revenge in an instant.
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion roared across the sky as crimson flames surged upward, reaching toward the clouds.
In the blink of an eye, Shukaku was blasted flat onto the ground by the devastating fire release.
"Hot! Hot—damn it, it's burning!!"
Writhing in pain under the searing heat, it rolled across the ground in an attempt to extinguish the flames, the earth itself trembling under its weight.
An opening.
Without hesitation, Garaga sprayed a large amount of petrifying venom onto Shukaku's left leg.
At the same time, Manda coiled tightly around its right leg, opening his enormous jaws to inject another dose of paralyzing toxin.
Shimizu cast a glance at Orochimaru, who was still rapidly forming hand seals, his movements a blur. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of astonishing jutsu the man was preparing this time.
After all, even a simple C-rank Wind Release like Great Breakthrough would be nothing more than a gust of wind in Shimizu's hands—
But in Orochimaru's hands, it would become a howling tempest capable of instilling fear.
That was the difference.
One of the legendary Sannin.
Back during the Second Great Ninja War, Orochimaru's mastery of Wind Release and his venomous snakes had earned him the ominous title of "Wind Calamity."
And that wasn't all—his Lightning, Earth, and Fire Release techniques were equally formidable. He had no real weaknesses.
Trained under the Third Hokage—revered as the "Professor of Ninjutsu"—it was almost certain that his Water Release was just as refined.
And yet…
Even a shinobi as versatile as him, much like Shimizu himself, was unable to master senjutsu for certain reasons—forever barred from reaching that higher realm of power.
So… we're alike in that way, huh?
"Garaga, get closer. I'm going to use a technique."
Shimizu had already made his decision—he would use his most powerful offensive jutsu to crush Shukaku completely. But to ensure it landed, he needed to close the distance.
He couldn't give Shukaku any chance to dodge or escape.
"I'm fine with that—but you? Orochimaru's Earth Release won't be able to protect you up close!"
"I've got large-scale Water Release defensive jutsu. As long as you're tough enough to take a few hits from Shukaku without dying, we'll be fine."
"Hah! That's more like it—then let's go!"
With a sudden twist of his massive body, Garaga accelerated forward, charging straight toward Shukaku.
"If we let it recover from this, we might never get another chance…"
In a flash, Garaga's high-speed advance brought him right up to Shukaku—
And at that exact moment, Orochimaru completed his hand seals.
Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!
From his mouth burst forth roaring flames that twisted and surged like a ferocious dragon, splitting into three streams—front, left, and right—as they converged upon Shukaku in a blazing assault.
This was a Fire Release technique of extraordinary destructive power—flames that writhed and roared like living dragons, capable of reducing an enemy to ashes in an instant.
Controlling such violent, dragon-shaped fire, however, was no simple feat. Only highly skilled shinobi could bend it to their will.
It was even said that among the thousands of jutsu mastered by the Third Hokage, this technique still ranked among the most powerful offensive ones.
Orochimaru clearly intended to end the battle in a single strike.
"Garaga! Stop—don't move!"
At this distance… it was enough.
Shimizu immediately began forming hand seals.
"Got it!"
But fate was not on their side. Garaga had rushed in at precisely the moment Shukaku descended into a frenzy. The searing flames from Orochimaru's jutsu had already scorched its body, pushing it into a state of unbearable agony.
Its howls grew wild and unrestrained as its massive tail lashed out in every direction—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Blow after blow crashed down upon Garaga's body.
In an instant, large patches of crimson scales were torn away, leaving behind mangled flesh and blood.
Yet even that wasn't enough to satisfy Shukaku's raging hatred.
With its limbs immobilized and its body burning under the relentless assault of the fire dragons, it completely lost control and unleashed a frenzied barrage of Wind Release: Air Bullets.
In mere moments, dozens of massive wind-chakra spheres were fired in rapid succession, filling the sky in a relentless storm.
It was a reckless, overwhelming assault—one that spared no thought for chakra consumption.
"I'll kill you all!!"
Boom… BOOM… BOOM…
The continuous explosions were so powerful that they briefly scattered the surrounding sandstorm. The deafening blasts echoed across the horizon, their force so immense that even distant Kikyo Castle trembled under their reverberation.
"Hahaha! At this distance, there's no way you can escape!"
"You're dead!"
"Now you know how powerful I am!!"
Under the combined effects of the fire's searing damage, the petrification, and the paralytic venom, Shukaku now looked as though it were on the brink of collapse—its strength nearly spent, its life flickering.
But to it… none of that mattered.
Because it believed it had won.
It had seen it with its own eyes—both Manda and Garaga had each taken nearly ten direct hits from the Air Bullets.
These were massive spheres infused with wind chakra—attacks so devastating that, in all its long existence, only other Tailed Beasts had ever endured multiple strikes of such magnitude.
And then—
A streak of azure water shot forward at incredible speed.
It was too close.
Too fast.
There was no way to dodge.
Shukaku's dark yellow eyes contracted sharply—
Slash.
In a single, clean motion, its head was severed.
Boom!
The grotesque, massive head crashed heavily to the ground.
"…That should do it, right?" Shimizu gasped for breath. By this point, even his chakra was nearly depleted.
His legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground.
To guard against a desperate counterattack from Shukaku, he had first erected a Water Formation Wall as a final line of defense for himself and Garaga—only then daring to unleash Water Severing Wave as a decisive counterstrike.
From behind a cluster of earthen walls, Orochimaru slowly stepped forward. Watching as Shukaku's body gradually crumbled back into drifting sand, he offered a rare word of praise:
"Well done."
Shimizu finally allowed himself to relax, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "I thought we only had two snakes… turns out, we had two dragons."
The performance of Manda and Garaga had been nothing short of fearless.
To ensure that he and Orochimaru's techniques would land cleanly—and to maximize their destructive effect—they had pushed themselves into extreme close range, enduring Shukaku's relentless barrage head-on.
Although Shimizu and Orochimaru had each managed to block part of the assault, at least several of those devastating Air Bullets had struck the snakes directly.
And now, the two "dragons" looked utterly battered.
More than half of Manda's scales had been stripped away, his body covered in deep, jagged wounds carved by wind chakra.
As for Garaga… his condition was even worse. His flesh was torn and bloodied, and even his single eye could barely remain open.
"Ryūchi Cave is the domain of dragons, after all!" Shimizu's affirmation always seemed to lift Garaga's spirits.
Being praised… didn't feel so bad, did it?
"Hmph. Snakes pretending to be dragons… childish." Even after fighting side by side through life and death, Manda showed no intention of indulging either of them.
"Manda, who are you talking about?!" Garaga immediately raised his head, tongue flicking, hostility flaring.
"You know exactly who I mean."
"Say that again and I'll devour you right now!" Garaga coiled his body, ready to strike at any moment.
But Manda ignored him, turning instead to Orochimaru. "Don't forget what you promised me."
He was referring to the two hundred human sacrifices.
At that moment, Shimizu suddenly realized just how troublesome this arrangement truly was…
Every time Orochimaru summoned Manda, he had to provide that many living offerings.
Just where had he even found so many people to feed it all this time?