At the very moment the Nine-Tails turned its head, it caught a fleeting glimpse of a crimson figure—followed by a flash of silver light.
A sharp tearing sound split the air, and then—
"Clang—!"
"…That hard?!" a voice exclaimed in surprise.
A massive crimson toad flipped gracefully through the air before landing heavily in the distance. With a thunderous boom, dust surged outward in waves.
Its enormous body loomed like a mountain, and in its grasp gleamed a long silver blade, radiating a deadly sheen.
Standing atop its head was a man with bright golden hair—
Minato Namikaze.
"Even that didn't take its head off?" Minato muttered, clearly astonished.
"Didn't expect its hide to be this tough…" the giant toad replied with a low rumble.
"What a shame, Gamabunta. That was a perfect opportunity."
At the mention of his name, Gamabunta let out a puff of smoke, clearly dissatisfied. "Minato, that's the Nine-Tails we're talking about. If I could lop its head off in one swing…"
He paused, glancing back at his smooth, tail-less rear.
"…then I'd probably have grown a few tails myself by now."
After a beat, he added quickly, "Actually, forget that. Tails are ugly as hell."
"You lot…" The Nine-Tails' gaze darkened, its expression turning increasingly sinister.
The lightning-cloaked man… the golden-haired brat with his summoned toad… and where was that white-haired one?
A deep sense of danger began to coil within its chest.
Without warning, it leapt backward, kicking up a massive whirlwind in the process.
At that same instant, an unknown liquid grazed one of its tails as it passed through the air.
After a midair twist, the Nine-Tails landed steadily on an open stretch of ground several hundred meters away. Its eyes flicked briefly to the tail that had been touched—its chakra flow there felt… disrupted.
What is this stuff?! Poison?!
Then it noticed—
At some point, a massive crimson serpent with a single eye had appeared nearby.
Another gigantic summoned creature—and standing atop its head was that white-haired youth.
"Hah? Did that toad just call me ugly?!" Garaga snapped, clearly offended.
Gamabunta narrowed his eyes slightly, sensing the savage aura radiating from the serpent. "Cut the chatter. If you've got time to argue, you'd better focus on the one across from us."
"I didn't expect the Nine-Tails to be this agile, given its size," Shimizu said, genuinely surprised. He had thought that strike would accomplish more.
Instead, Garaga's petrifying attack had only grazed its fur.
"Hahaha…"
Suddenly, the Nine-Tails burst into loud laughter.
"You three… not bad."
"I don't get to come out very often… so if you break too easily—"
"I'd be quite disappointed."
Its voice lowered as it spoke, baring its sharp, menacing fangs while locking its gaze onto the blue figure standing before it.
That strike to its tail… the pain was still fresh in its memory.
Among the three, the greatest threat was undoubtedly that man cloaked in blue lightning.
Far away, the scattered Konoha and Kumogakure shinobi—and even the distant people of Takigakure—could only watch from afar.
Two enormous summoned beasts, one toad and one serpent, stood alongside a lone blue figure, facing off against the monstrous, blood-red Nine-Tails.
Some felt relief. Others burned with anger. And some were filled with unwilling frustration.
In a battle between monsters of this scale, they had no place.
Shisui's Sharingan spun wildly as he tried to find a way to help his teacher… but his genjutsu had no effect whatsoever on the Nine-Tails.
It was far stronger than the One-Tail.
Amani noticed his frustration and offered a quiet reassurance. "At this level of battle, staying alive is already the greatest help we can give them."
"…I know."
Shisui glanced again at Satomi beside him, her Byakugan still fully activated.
For a moment, no one moved.
But everyone understood—
This was merely the calm before the storm.
Within the Nine-Tails, chakra churned violently, building toward something immense.
"Minato, be ready," Gamabunta said, his tone turning serious.
"Shimizu… it's coming," Garaga added, his voice equally grim.
"Got it."
Both of them fixed their full attention on the Nine-Tails, watching as it prepared its next attack.
If they wanted their strikes to land against a monster with such terrifying speed and reflexes, they needed to create an opening—no matter how small.
And the moment after it unleashed a full-powered attack… that would be their best chance.
Suddenly, the Nine-Tails threw open its massive jaws.
A shrill, piercing scream burst forth, sweeping across the entire battlefield in an instant. The soundwaves were so dense they felt almost tangible, whipping up a violent shockwave that crashed into everything in its path.
Everyone was caught off guard.
For a brief moment, they couldn't move.
But it didn't end there.
All nine of the Nine-Tails' tails began spinning again—this time in a clockwise direction.
"Move!" Shimizu gritted through the pain, urging Garaga to get out of there.
Without hesitation, Garaga burrowed straight into the ground.
"Gamabunta!"
The toad's powerful hind legs tensed, muscles bulging—
Then exploded with force as he launched himself high into the air.
In the next instant, countless massive wind blades—blue-green and razor-sharp—poured down like a torrential storm, sweeping across the battlefield.
That was close.
Techniques infused with such immense chakra weren't something even summons like Gamabunta or Garaga could withstand for long—let alone in such overwhelming numbers.
The Nine-Tails had fully displayed the vastness of its chakra and the terror of its techniques.
And yet—
That blue figure moved as if completely unfazed.
Ignoring the massive, scythe-like wind blades, the Third Raikage charged straight toward the Nine-Tails.
The beast's heart lurched.
Just moments ago, this very man had inflicted searing pain with only four fingers.
Now—
Three fingers.
What did that mean?
Stop him!
Flaming meteors rained down toward the Third Raikage, crashing one after another in an attempt to block his advance.
But those three fingers tore effortlessly through the burning boulders, shredding them apart—and without losing momentum, the attack sliced across the Nine-Tails' abdomen.
It wasn't a massive wound—
But blood burst forth instantly.
"AAAAUGH!!" The Nine-Tails leapt back at once, retreating from the strike.
"Restrict its movement!" the Third Raikage shouted, accelerating as he gave chase.
This time, his Hell Stab had shifted to two fingers.
"Got it!"
Gamabunta landed and immediately unleashed a barrage of Water Release: Liquid Bullets toward the Nine-Tails.
The ground rumbled violently as Garaga burst from beneath the earth, spraying multiple streams of petrifying fluid infused with dense sage chakra toward the beast.
From three directions, they formed a triangular assault, pressing in with overwhelming force.
"Don't you... get too arrogant!!"
A surge of blood-red chakra erupted from within the Nine-Tails like a tidal wave, instantly sealing the wound on its abdomen. The chakra burned with intense heat, so fierce it seemed to ignite the very air itself.
The air… was burning.
Flames roared skyward, swallowing the battlefield in an inferno that spread even to the distant Konoha and Kumogakure shinobi.
This was hellfire—an apocalyptic blaze that threatened to reduce everything to ash.
Garaga immediately dove back underground.
"Hot, hot, hot!" Even Gamabunta couldn't endure the heat any longer. With a powerful leap, he sprang out of the blazing sea, escaping the inferno below.
From afar, Satomi and Shisui cried out instinctively, "Watch out!!"
Their eyes had already seen it—
Within that sea of flames, an even more violent, destructive mass of chakra was gathering.
That power…
It felt as though it had been waiting all along—for this very moment, for Gamabunta to leap into the air.
But at such a distance, how could their warning possibly reach Minato and Gamabunta in time?
A massive sphere of black-purple chakra suddenly shot forth from the inferno, hurtling straight toward Gamabunta in midair.
"Gamabunta!!" Minato formed hand seals instantly.
Everything happened too fast.
Suspended in the air, Gamabunta didn't even have time to turn.
He could only face it head-on.
The great toad managed to spit out a single Liquid Bullet—but the black sphere devoured the blue water projectile in an instant and closed the distance in the blink of an eye.
Then—
A blinding light erupted, illuminating the entire Takigakure.
For a moment, its brilliance surpassed even the sun in the sky.
"BOOM—!!"
...
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