As the monstrous wall of sand surged closer, the world itself seemed to dim beneath its shadow.
If that overwhelming mass of sand came crashing down on them—burying them hundreds of meters deep—the consequences would be unimaginable.
"At full speed!" Shimizu shot straight ahead, charging directly toward Shukaku.
"Yes!!" Arai and Amane answered in unison, flanking from the left and right as they closed in.
Across the surface of the lake, three rippling trails cut through the water, reaching Shukaku in the blink of an eye. The massive beast swung its long tail from side to side, remaining constantly on guard against these cunning humans.
"You little insects… what tricks do you have left now?!"
Wind Release: Air Bullet!
A massive sphere of compressed wind chakra burst from Shukaku's mouth, hurtling straight toward Shimizu.
Without hesitation, Shimizu dove into the lake, shifting into his aquatic form as he continued his rapid advance beneath the surface.
Boom!
The explosion sent waves soaring over ten meters high, yet none of the three were caught in the blast.
A sharp, cutting whistle tore through the air—Shukaku's massive tail lashed toward Arai.
At the same time, a second Air Bullet shot toward Amane—
Boom! Boom!!
The violent impacts erupted into towering sprays of water once more.
And in that fleeting opening…
Shimizu had already slipped silently beneath Shukaku's rear.
Through the wavering surface above him, he could barely make out the outline of its lower body.
"Senpai! The target is directly above you!" Hayakumo's voice rang out.
Got it!
With a sudden splash, Shimizu burst out of the water. In both hands, two kunai crackling with blue lightning flew forward in an instant.
Two streaks of blue light shot upward—
—and disappeared into a dark opening.
Boom!
The twin explosions detonated almost simultaneously, sending sand flying in all directions.
It worked!
"WAAARGH!!" Shukaku howled in pain, its massive body twisting violently as it tried to locate the attacker—but Shimizu had already plunged back into the water, vanishing without a trace.
As Shukaku shifted, the terrifying sand wave it had been sustaining gradually lost momentum and began to collapse. It was clear that controlling such an immense mass required its full concentration.
"So it was you, you little bastard!!"
It didn't take long for Shukaku to realize the truth—that strike had come from Shimizu. But the Konoha ninja had all disappeared beneath the water, leaving not a single trace on the surface.
They had dared…
…to attack that place?!
Such shameless, despicable enemies—was burying them in sand really enough?
No.
Far too merciful.
They needed to experience true despair.
Consumed by rage and humiliation, Shukaku roared, "I'll turn all of you… into ashes!!"
In the next instant, a black sphere of chakra began to gather within its mouth.
"Tailed Beast Bomb!!" Hayakumo shouted in alarm.
The moment Shimizu's lightning strike had succeeded, the group had regrouped underwater. Using a Water Wall, he had created a small pocket of breathable space beneath the lake, hoping to use the water as a buffer against the earlier sand catastrophe.
But now, events had spiraled beyond their expectations.
Shukaku intended to annihilate them all with a Tailed Beast Bomb.
Faced with the massive sand wave earlier, Shimizu had still harbored a faint hope—that with enough water and defensive techniques, they might endure the impact.
But this…
A weapon capable of vaporizing half of Mount Kikyo with a mere grazing blow—
There wasn't even the faintest thought of resistance.
It was pure destruction.
"This lunatic… is it trying to kill itself just to drag us down with it?!" Amane shouted in disbelief.
An unbearable sense of despair settled over them.
They were hiding beneath the water—and Shukaku knew it. The target of the Tailed Beast Bomb would undoubtedly be this very lake.
And if that happened…
Shukaku itself would also be caught in the blast.
But a tailed beast was nothing more than a manifestation of immense chakra. No matter how severe the damage, given enough time, it could recover.
A human, however—
Would die without question.
"…Run if you can," Shimizu said.
Before his words had even fully left his mouth, he surged upward toward the surface.
He couldn't stop the Tailed Beast Bomb from forming—
But he could try to change its trajectory.
That… was their only chance.
A figure burst from the surface of the lake like a leaping fish—
Hand seals formed in an instant.
Lightning Release: Chidori!
In the next moment, a blinding streak of lightning tore through the air like a falling star, crashing straight toward Shukaku.
Its piercing force was overwhelming, effortlessly punching through the beast's lower jaw.
But…
It still wasn't enough.
Lightning chakra surged wildly, scattering in all directions as the shrill cries of a thousand birds filled the air.
At last, reflected in those unwavering eyes, an endless blaze of light and heat consumed everything in sight—
BOOM!!
…
In a world of endless darkness, silent and still, a man and a beast sat facing one another.
The old monk's lips were stained with blood, his skin dry and cracked like withered bark.
"Shukaku… this will be our final meeting."
"Old monk… I owe you an apology," Shukaku said, speaking before Bunpuku could respond, its voice uncharacteristically sincere. "I held back."
"To be honest, even now, I can hardly believe it. In that final moment… that kid was actually absorbing my yin and yang chakra. It's the first time I've ever seen something like that…"
"Because of that flow of chakra, I sensed the presence of that old man—the Sage of Six Paths."
"It was faint… but it was definitely his senjutsu chakra."
"Is he the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths?" Bunpuku asked quietly.
"…Maybe. I don't know," Shukaku replied after a pause, recalling distant memories. "That old man was always mysterious, always speaking in riddles. I don't know what connection that kid has to him."
"I see…" Bunpuku's frail body seemed to stoop even further as he spoke softly, "Then I bear you no resentment."
Shukaku looked at the dying man before it. "Thank you."
After a moment, it added with a hint of regret, "It's a shame… there will never be another human like you."
"You're wrong…" Bunpuku murmured, gazing at the two characters resting in his palm. Slowly, he brought his hands together.
They formed a single word—
Love.
"My teacher passed this on to me… and one day, someone else will come to understand its true meaning."
"When that day comes…"
His head lowered gently, as though he had simply fallen asleep.
"…You really left in a hurry, old man," Shukaku sighed.
…
In the Nara Desert, hundreds of Sunagakure shinobi stood gathered around Bunpuku's body, none daring to approach at first.
Even in death, the fear of a jinchūriki did not fade so easily.
"Is Shukaku dead?" someone muttered, kicking the old man's body.
"Probably. He's not moving at all."
"Shukaku's dead… and the Konoha ninja got away… damn it…"
"It's all Shukaku's fault! He let them escape!"
"Yeah, yeah!"
"He's the one to blame!"
"A sinner of Sunagakure!" one shinobi shouted, rushing forward and kicking Bunpuku's corpse in a fit of rage.
Once one person stepped forward, the rest followed.
All the fear they had once harbored… all the anger from their failure… was vented mercilessly upon the motionless body.
"His name… was Bunpuku."
From not far away, the shifting sand began to gather, forming the massive outline of a beast.
The One-Tail—Shukaku.
It had seen everything.
The very village the old monk had given his life for… now treated him like this.
"You… all deserve to die!!" Shukaku roared in fury.
"Shukaku's not dead?!"
"Run!"
"Lord Rasa is here!"
"Lord Rasa—Shukaku's gone berserk!!"
...
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