Inside the Six Paths Temple, incense smoke curled gently through the air.
Uchiha Izumichi and Senju Shuichi knelt side by side before the portrait of the Sage of the Six Paths, Arisu. Their hands were clasped together, their expressions extremely respectful.
"Sage of the Six Paths above, please bless us so we can successfully deal with that old man!", The two spoke in unison, their solemn voices echoing through the empty temple.
They reached out and picked up the incense sticks on the altar, lighting them with the candle flame.
After devoutly bowing three times, they placed the incense into the burner and bowed once more in worship.
"Don't worry. The Sage of the Six Paths will definitely bless us.", Uchiha Izumichi stood up and said in a deep voice while looking at the portrait.
Senju Shuichi silently nodded. The usual carefree expression on his face was gone, leaving only seriousness.
After the ritual was finished, the two walked out of the Six Paths Temple side by side and immediately made an agreement.
The Uchiha and Senju clans would temporarily cease hostilities for two months. After resolving the matter of the mysterious old man, they would resume their clan conflict.
In short: finish the business first, then go back to fighting.
At this moment, Arisu, who the two had already set as their number one target, had no idea about the conspiracy being planned against him.
Arisu was leisurely wandering across various places in the ninja world, traveling through the human world and quietly observing the many conditions of the mortal realm. His state of mind was calm and relaxed.
———
Among the endless mountains in the northern part of the ninja world, greenery covered everything and streams flowed with clear ringing sounds.
The Two-Tails, Matatabi, was playing beside a stream in a valley. Her cat paws lightly brushed across the clear water surface, scattering the reflections of clouds in the water.
Now recognized by the ninja world as an auspicious beast, she no longer needed to hide or flee. Instead, she often took the initiative to help others.
She pushed fishing boats that had run aground at the foot of the mountain back into deeper water, jumped into rivers to rescue passersby who accidentally fell in, and did countless good deeds.
"Hehe, thanks to Teacher, I'm also an auspicious being in the human world now…"
Matatabi swayed her tail, her heart filled with joy.
Now people no longer feared her fierce appearance. Instead, they respected her greatly. The nearby villages and nations would even send delicacies every few days as offerings.
Such peaceful and comfortable days were something she had never even dared to imagine before.
Just as Matatabi was about to get up and leave, a sudden change occurred.
Several chains glowing with an earthy yellow spiritual light suddenly burst out of the ground, shooting through the air like venomous snakes.
Immediately afterward, a pair of scarlet Mangekyo Sharingan suddenly lit up within the shadows of the dense forest, radiating fierce killing intent.
"Beast, submit to me!", Uchiha Izumichi's figure appeared out of nowhere. He shouted coldly as his ocular power instantly pressed down on Matatabi like a vast tide.
"What!?"
The Two-Tails Matatabi was shocked. All the fur on her body instantly stood on end. She had been completely unprepared.
She had long grown used to being respected by people and never imagined that someone would suddenly try to kill her.
"Monster Strength Punch!"
Before she could react, Senju Shuichi's figure suddenly appeared above her head. Carrying the terrifying monstrous strength of the Senju clan, he slammed a heavy punch down.
BOOM!
The loud crash shook the entire valley. The Two-Tails Matatabi was smashed directly into the ground by the punch, creating a deep crater as dust flew everywhere.
"Earth Release: Chain Technique!"
Senju Shuichi rapidly formed hand seals. The earth trembled violently as countless thick earth-style chains burst wildly out from underground, layer upon layer tightly wrapping around Matatabi's body and trapping her in the crater so she could not move.
"You humans!? Why are you doing this!"
The Two-Tails Matatabi shouted angrily, her voice filled with disbelief and fury as her strange eyes glared at the two in front of her.
"Hm? Is it a woman?", Senju Shuichi was slightly startled when he heard her voice.
His heart stirred suddenly. 'The voice of this tailed beast was actually a woman's voice?'
He had always refused to kill women, and the punch he threw earlier had been too heavy. He immediately felt a bit of guilt.
"Stop thinking about it. That thing isn't human. It's just a tailed beast.", Uchiha Izumichi glanced at him lightly and reminded him coldly.
Senju Shuichi scratched the back of his head. Right, this was just a tailed beast.
Thinking of that, he no longer hesitated. The chakra around him surged as he attacked again without mercy.
"You two!!"
The Two-Tails Matatabi was completely enraged. A massive surge of tailed beast chakra erupted from her body.
She suddenly opened her mouth and began condensing a dark and menacing Tailed Beast Ball, preparing to blast it toward the two of them.
"Hmph, we've already figured out your tailed beasts' attack patterns."
Uchiha Izumichi snorted coldly. His Mangekyo Sharingan spun as his powerful ocular technique instantly locked onto Matatabi's body.
Matatabi's body suddenly stiffened. The chakra around her instantly became chaotic. The Tailed Beast Ball forming in her mouth shattered with a loud "bang," breaking apart and dispersing into nothing.
Immediately afterward, Uchiha Izumichi and Senju Shuichi attacked together.
Uchiha Izumichi unleashed both ocular techniques and Fire Release ninjutsu, flames and ocular power intertwining as they blasted toward Matatabi.
Meanwhile, Senju Shuichi's right punch dealt high damage, and his left punch dealt even higher damage.
The two coordinated perfectly, their attacks coming like waves. They instantly suppressed the Two-Tails Matatabi completely, then reinforced the sealing with Earth Release ninjutsu, firmly fixing her onto the ground so she could not move at all.
Thick earth-style chains tightly bound Matatabi's body, leaving her unable to struggle.
Matatabi arched her body, her strange vertical pupils burning with towering fury as she glared at Uchiha Izumichi and Senju Shuichi before her.
In the current ninja world, there were only a handful of powerful figures capable of posing a fatal threat to tailed beasts.
But she had unfortunately encountered the combined attack of the Uchiha and Senju clan leaders, leaving her completely suppressed without the slightest strength to resist.
"There's no other choice… I can only fire that…"
Matatabi cried out in her heart. Gritting her teeth, she forcibly gathered the remaining tailed beast chakra in her body and concentrated it in her throat.
A dazzling light-blue chakra beam suddenly shot out from her mouth, blasting straight into the sky and piercing the heavens.
In the next moment, a signature belonging exclusively to the Two-Tails Matatabi appeared high in the sky, glowing brilliantly and clearly reflecting across the entire sky.
This was a distress signal Arisu had specially created for the nine tailed beasts. Whenever a tailed beast encountered danger and launched this signature, the other tailed beasts could rush over to assist immediately.
Senju Shuichi and Uchiha Izumichi raised their heads and looked at the strange light in the sky, both slightly frowning at the same time.
Although they did not know what this aerial signature was for, they instinctively sensed that it was definitely not a good thing. It must be Matatabi's way of calling for help.
The two exchanged glances and instantly reached a tacit understanding.
They raised their hands at the same time, condensing huge amounts of chakra into sharp attacks and blasting them toward the tailed beast signature in the sky.
BOOM!
Under the collision of the two powerful attacks, the brilliant tailed beast signature instantly shattered into countless light particles and disappeared into the sky.
"No!"
The Two-Tails Matatabi could only watch helplessly as the tailed beast signature was destroyed.
———
In the desert, Shukaku was lying on the ground counting stars out of boredom.
"Huh!? Maybe I should make a late-night video call to mess with my brothers and sisters?"
Shukaku came up with a mischievous idea.
The linking technique Teacher developed recently had been extremely helpful, allowing the tailed beasts to contact each other anytime and anywhere.
Shukaku often used this trick to harass Kurama while he was sleeping.
"Hehe, everyone get up and go back to sleep again for me!"
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