Shimizu pushed himself to his limits, racing toward the designated rendezvous point at full speed. Without hesitation, he unleashed Water Severing Wave, tearing open a breach in the defenses and slipping through it in one swift motion. In the next instant, he had already crossed beyond the perimeter of Sunagakure.
Behind him, the shattered barrier triggered an immediate response. Sirens blared across the village as shinobi began converging rapidly on the breach.
"Sensei!"
"Shimizu!"
"Uzuki-senpai!"
Shisui, Arai, Amane, and Hayakumo had been waiting there for some time.
Shimizu bent forward, breathing heavily. The intense drain on his chakra left him struggling to recover. "We need to move—now. Shukaku is coming after us."
"Isn't Shukaku supposed to be sealed inside a guarded prison?" Arai asked, confusion written all over his face.
"I don't know how, but it got out. My shadow clones didn't even last two minutes…" Shimizu shook his head, unable to make sense of it. But there was no time to dwell on the mystery. "Are the traps ready?"
"Don't worry," Amane said, thumping his chest with confidence. "We've prepared a nice 'gift' for Sunagakure."
"Hayakumo, keep watch on the Sand ninja."
"Yes, sir!"
Hyūga Hayakumo immediately activated his Byakugan. Though its bulging veins gave it a somewhat fearsome appearance, this bloodline ability was their greatest safeguard against running straight into an enemy encirclement.
"Move. We're heading north."
The five of them took off at full speed.
Not long after they departed, a series of explosions rang out behind them—Amane's traps detonating one after another.
Then came a far larger blast.
Even from a distance, a small mushroom cloud rose along the edge of Sunagakure.
That single strike likely cost the village dearly.
"A late New Year's gift," Amane joked.
"Any enemies nearby?" Shimizu asked again.
"None," Hayakumo replied with absolute certainty.
At last, it seemed they had shaken off the Sand shinobi. Freedom was within reach…
But as the mushroom cloud slowly dissipated, a colossal silhouette emerged from within the smoke.
The One-Tail… Shukaku?!
Everyone's heart sank.
Shukaku suddenly threw its head back and howled, its voice brimming with manic delight. "Freedom again! Ahahaha!"
Like an inescapable nightmare…
"Do we have any explosive tags left?" Shimizu asked.
"All used up." Amane shrugged helplessly.
"I've found five little Konoha pests!" Shukaku roared, extending a massive claw to point directly at them. "Now let me… bury you!"
The thunderous rumble of its footsteps grew louder and louder, each step shaking the ground as it closed the distance.
No matter how fast they ran now, there was no escaping that monster.
And with their current strength… there was simply no way they could stand against it.
Without a summon of comparable size or an overwhelming large-scale jutsu, harming Shukaku was nothing more than a foolish dream.
Despair settled over them like a suffocating weight.
At the critical moment, Shimizu clenched his teeth and made a decision. "We split up—five directions. It can't chase all of us at once. Whoever can escape… does."
"…Alright." Arai was the first to agree.
Amane and Hayakumo voiced no objections.
"But if we do that," Shisui said, looking straight at Shimizu, "whoever gets targeted is as good as dead. If we stay together, we might still be able to carve out a path to survive…"
The moment the words were spoken, something in Shimizu seemed to lift. The burden in his chest eased, as if he had already reached his conclusion. Deep down, he knew—Shukaku was most likely after him.
If he used any of them as bait… even if they survived, he would never escape that guilt for the rest of his life.
"Stick together, and we all die," Shimizu said calmly.
"If one of us gets targeted, at least the others gain time."
He paused, then added firmly, "That's an order."
"…Yes." Shisui lowered his head, no longer arguing.
"Use your clones to confuse it if you can… Take care, everyone."
Moments later, the five split apart, each heading in a different direction.
Soon, only Shimizu remained, continuing north alone.
But the thunder of those massive footsteps was already closing in…
As expected, Shukaku charged straight at him without the slightest hesitation.
…Of course it would.
A heavy sigh echoed in Shimizu's heart.
Before he could gather his thoughts, a massive shadow suddenly swept over his head—
Boom!
Shukaku landed squarely in front of him, the ground trembling beneath its weight.
"Where do you think you're going, little Konoha insect?" it jeered, its long tail swaying with eager excitement.
At this point, there was no use clinging to futile hopes.
He still had about half his chakra left…
There was only one path forward.
Fight.
Shimizu bit his finger and formed hand seals in an instant.
Summoning Jutsu!
As the smoke cleared, a flicker of disappointment crossed his eyes.
As I thought… Garaga is still asleep.
In its place, a pale green serpent appeared abruptly on the battlefield. It was enormous—nearly thirty meters long—but still noticeably smaller than Manda or Garaga.
Without waiting for instructions, the snake lunged at Shukaku the moment it laid eyes on it.
But it didn't even get close—
Boom!
With a casual flick of its tail, Shukaku sent the serpent flying, as easily as an adult swatting aside a child.
The snake reeled from the impact, barely conscious, and before it could recover, a Wind Release Air Bullet was already upon it.
Boom!
Scales and flesh exploded into the air. In just a single exchange, the massive serpent was left on the brink of death.
The gap in strength… was overwhelming.
Shimizu didn't hesitate.
He formed seals again—twice in rapid succession.
Two more summoning circles flashed.
This time, two gray serpents appeared one after the other, each roughly the same size as the first.
But still… neither was Garaga.
He abandoned the thought of forcing that summoning.
"Still don't get it?" Shukaku laughed loudly. "Snakes at this level can't even scratch me!"
Shimizu narrowed his eyes.
Someone had to restrain it—even for a moment—if he wanted any chance of getting close… and climbing onto its back.
That was likely the blind spot of its massive body.
The two gray serpents moved at the same time, attacking from both sides.
But in the next instant, an enormous tide of sand surged up behind Shukaku, rising like a living wall before crashing down in a suffocating wave.
Shimizu's plan to slip in unnoticed collapsed once again. Shukaku was clearly on guard against close-range attacks.
That painful memory of being forced to swallow half a Tailed Beast Bomb last time had not faded.
Against a wary opponent… everything became far more difficult.
So there was only one option left.
No tricks. No shortcuts.
After several rapid Body Flicker movements to escape the reach of the sand, Shimizu immediately began forming hand seals again, taking advantage of the brief distraction provided by the two summoned snakes.
Boom!
The surging sand engulfed both serpents in an instant, swallowing them whole as they struggled helplessly within the soft, shifting mass.
Shukaku lunged forward, grabbed each snake by the tail, and began spinning them like windmills.
"HAHAHA! Isn't this fun?!"
Faster and faster it spun, the force whipping up violent currents of air until a raging cyclone formed around it.
Sand filled the sky, swirling wildly.
At the peak of its rotation, Shukaku hurled the two serpents high into the air—
Wind Release: Air Bullet!
Two massive spheres of compressed wind shot upward, striking their targets with perfect precision.
In an instant, the sky rained down a gruesome storm of shredded scales and flesh.
"HAHAHA! Two more enemies—completely eliminated!" Shukaku declared, clearly pleased with itself. "Got any more little snakes for me to play with?"
What answered it… was a surge of brilliant blue.
An immense volume of water appeared out of nowhere, flooding into the desert like a rising sea. In the blink of an eye, the vast expanse of sand was swallowed whole, and as the water level surged higher and higher, it soon submerged half of Shukaku's massive body.
For a moment… even Shukaku froze.
Waves crashed relentlessly against its form, churning and roaring.
"…I've never seen the ocean before in my life."