“Die, brat!”
“Sorry to disappoint you.”
Shikatoki chuckled.
His shadow had successfully made contact with Pakura’s.
“Arise!”
Pakura’s shadow warrior rose and positioned itself directly in front of Shikatoki.
The blazing sphere struck it head-on.
The shadow was destroyed.
Pakura was just about to press her advantage when—
Bang!
It felt as though a heavy blow had slammed into her abdomen.
Before she could react, her vision blurred and she fell into an illusion.
Shikatoki seized the opportunity.
With a Body Flicker Technique, he appeared beside Pakura.
“Checkmate.”
“Senbon Barrage!”
“Shikatoki, beneath your feet!”
Arata Hyūga shouted a warning.
A wooden puppet suddenly burst out of the yellow sand beneath Shikatoki.
Countless poisoned senbon shot toward him.
Pakura’s shadow appeared again.
It moved in front of Shikatoki and blocked the poisoned needles.
The shadow was destroyed once more.
Pakura, who had only just recovered from the previous blow, was struck again.
“Ugh!”
She coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Internally, she could only curse.
What the hell is happening?!
Seeing that the two puppeteers still had enough attention to interfere elsewhere, Sakumo Hatake intensified his assault.
His strikes became even more ferocious.
Murasuna and Yōsuke immediately began struggling to defend themselves.
“Murasuna, fire a signal flare!
Call for reinforcements!”
Murasuna quickly pulled out a signal flare and launched it into the sky.
Sakumo remained calm.
“Finish this quickly.”
The White Fang short blade in his hand became even faster.
“Master Bunpuku!”
Using his puppet to hold Sakumo back, Yōsuke moved toward Bunpuku.
“We need the One-Tail’s power.”
Bunpuku sighed.
“I understand.”
“Shukaku.”
“Come out.”
“Hahahaha!”
A wild laugh erupted from within him.
“Finally!
Uncle Shukaku gets to come out and play!”
An enormous surge of chakra erupted from Bunpuku.
Shikatoki immediately abandoned Pakura.
“Minato!”
“Coming!”
Minato had already prepared a Flying Thunder God mark.
With a flash, he appeared beside Shikatoki.
Then another flash— and the two teleported directly in front of Bunpuku.
“It’s useless!”
Shukaku’s arrogant voice boomed from within him.
“Uncle Shukaku is finally coming out!
I’m going to have some fun!”
Shikatoki sneered.
The instant he touched Bunpuku— the Sealing Technique activated.
Shikatoki had considerable experience when it came to sealing Tailed Beasts.
His teacher, Mito Uzumaki, was the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
During his studies of fūinjutsu, Shikatoki had even come into contact with the Nine-Tails itself.
After repeated experimentation, he had discovered something interesting.
He didn’t actually need to seal the Tailed Beast.
Nor did he need to seal the Jinchūriki.
He only needed to seal— the connection between them.
That consumed far less chakra.
And it effectively prevented the Jinchūriki from transforming into the Tailed Beast.
After all, if the two sides had no way to communicate with each other, Bunpuku could no longer voluntarily release Shukaku.
If Shukaku still wanted to come out— he would have to break through the original seal by force.
Bunpuku’s transformation stopped abruptly.
Even Bunpuku himself looked surprised.
“Young friend…
impressive technique.”
Inside the seal, Shukaku’s grin froze.
Then he began roaring furiously.
“What the hell happened?!”
“Bunpuku?!”
“Old monk?!”
“Where the hell did you go?!”
Yōsuke and Murasuna both froze.
“Retreat!”
“Retreat?”
Sakumo’s voice suddenly sounded beside them.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Die!”
That single instant of hesitation was enough.
Sakumo had already broken through the puppets.
The White Fang short blade flashed.
Slash!
It swept across both of their throats.
The two puppeteers clutched their necks helplessly before collapsing onto the sand.
“Captain!”
Arata suddenly shouted.
“Someone’s approaching!”
Sakumo immediately issued an order.
“Take the One-Tail Jinchūriki.”
“Retreat!”
“Yes!”
The Konoha squad withdrew without hesitation.
Not long afterward, Sunagakure’s reinforcements arrived.
“Boss Rasa!
There are bodies ahead!”
A Sand shinobi shouted.
“Move in.”
When they reached the bodies, Rasa’s expression turned extremely ugly.
“Murasuna and Yōsuke…
are both dead?!”
“But she’s in critical condition!”
“Treat her immediately.”
Rasa made his decision without hesitation.
“Take Murasuna and Yōsuke’s bodies as well.”
“We’re heading directly to the Land of Rain encampment.”
They had rushed over from the Sunagakure position in the Land of Rain after seeing the signal flare.
There was no reason to return to the village first.
At Sunagakure’s encampment in the Land of Rain— the Third Kazekage’s face was dark with anger.
“What did you say?!”
“Murasuna and Yōsuke were killed?”
“And the Jinchūriki is missing?!”
“Who did it?”
Rasa shook his head.
“We don’t know.”
“By the time we arrived, the enemy was already gone.”
“Pakura survived, but she was critically wounded.”
“She’s currently receiving emergency treatment.”
Suddenly— a woman stormed into the tent.
Chakra surged violently around her body, almost completely out of control.
“Sister, calm down!”
Ebizō followed close behind.
“Calm down?!”
Chiyo roared.
“My son and daughter-in-law are dead!”
“How am I supposed to calm down?!”
She turned toward Rasa.
“Who?!”
“Who killed my son and daughter-in-law?!”
“Chiyo, don’t rush.”
The Third Kazekage could only try to pacify her.
“Once Pakura wakes up, we’ll have our answer.”
“Third Kazekage!”
A shinobi rushed into the tent.
“Pakura is awake!”
Everyone immediately moved to Pakura’s side.
“Pakura!”
Chiyo practically screamed the question.
“Who killed Murasuna and Yōsuke?!”
“Cough…
cough…”
Pakura coughed weakly.
“The White Fang.”
“Konoha’s White Fang.”
“White Fang!”
“Konoha!”
Chiyo shot to her feet.
“I’ll kill every last one of you!”
“Gather all our shinobi!”
“We’re attacking Konoha’s encampment!”
The Third Kazekage immediately stopped her.
“Chiyo, now is not the time.”
“Not the time?!”
Chiyo glared at him.
“Then when is the time?!”
“My son is dead!”
“The moment we launch a full-scale battle with Konoha, Hanzō of the Land of Rain will take advantage of it.”
The Third Kazekage spoke firmly.
“If we exhaust ourselves against Konoha, Amegakure will strike us from behind.”
“When that happens, Sunagakure will lose this war.”
“I promise you—”
“The moment an opportunity appears, I will give you my full support in taking revenge.”
Of course Chiyo understood all of this.
But the rage inside her had nowhere to go.
Seeing that she had finally fallen silent, the Third Kazekage breathed a little easier.
He looked back toward Pakura.
“Other than the White Fang, who else was there?”
“And what happened to the Jinchūriki?”
“There were three others.”
Pakura’s breathing remained weak.
“One was from the Hyūga Clan.
His strength was nothing particularly impressive.”
“The other two were children.”
“They looked about ten years old.”
“One was blond and used the Flying Thunder God Technique.”
“The other had black hair.”
Pakura paused.
“He instantly sealed Master Bunpuku just as the One-Tail was beginning to emerge.”
The tent became so quiet that everyone could hear each other breathing.
“And that black-haired brat’s ninjutsu was extremely strange.”
“He could pull my shadow out of my body.”
“When I destroyed the shadow, I suffered a heavy blow myself.”
“And then I was trapped in an illusion.”
Ebizō immediately shook his head.
“Impossible!”
“How could a child possess fūinjutsu of that level?!”
“That was the One-Tail already beginning to break free!”
“Is the brat some kind of Sage?!”
“Our entire sealing corps couldn’t accomplish something like that instantly!”
Ebizō was responsible for intelligence and sealing matters.
He understood better than almost anyone just how difficult it was to restrain a Tailed Beast.
“Flying Thunder God…”
“Fūinjutsu capable of restraining a Tailed Beast…”
“And bizarre shadow techniques…”
The Third Kazekage murmured to himself.
His expression gradually twisted.
“Konoha…”
“Heh.”
“Tobirama Senju has barely been dead for any time at all, and two more talents like this already appear?”
His voice was filled with jealousy.
“Why do geniuses like these always come from Konoha?!”
In complete contrast to Sunagakure’s disastrous defeat—
Sakumo’s team successfully returned to Konoha with Bunpuku.
A proper sealing team then reinforced the seal and completely restrained him.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was delighted.
“Excellent!”
“Excellent!”
“Sakumo, you’ve accomplished a tremendous feat!”
“Not only did you prevent the One-Tail Jinchūriki from reaching the battlefield—”
“You captured him alive and brought him back to Konoha!”
Sakumo didn’t attempt to claim all the credit.
“It was the result of everyone working together.”
“Arata’s Byakugan.”
“Minato’s Flying Thunder God Technique.”
“And most importantly, Shikatoki’s fūinjutsu.”
“They’re all outstanding children.”
Hiruzen nodded with satisfaction.
“I’ll make sure all of your contributions are recorded.”
“You have one day to rest.”
“Come see me tomorrow.”
“Yes!”
The four members of the squad left.
Hiruzen raised a hand.
An ANBU wearing a mask appeared.
“Owl.”
“Yes, Lord Hokage.”
“Spread word that Konoha has captured the One-Tail Jinchūriki.”
“Have Orochimaru and the others increase pressure on Sunagakure where appropriate.”
“But don’t go too far.”
“The Land of Rain remains the priority.”
“Yes!”
Owl vanished.
Hiruzen turned toward the window and looked into the distance.
“Third Kazekage…”
“Without the Tailed Beast as your trump card…”
“How much longer can Sunagakure endure?”
The ANBU worked quickly.
In only half a day— news that Konoha had captured the One-Tail Jinchūriki spread throughout the shinobi world.
When the Third Kazekage received the information, he clenched his fists so tightly that veins bulged across the backs of his hands.
“Damn it!”
“Spread information about those two brats!”
“Let the entire shinobi world know who they are!”
Kumogakure.
The Third Raikage frowned deeply as he read the intelligence report.
“Is this information confirmed?”
“A child sealed a Tailed Beast?”
“The One-Tail Jinchūriki has definitely been captured, Lord Third.”
“We cannot afford to dismiss this.”
The Third Raikage slammed the report down.
“Investigate them!”
“I want every piece of information available on those two brats!”
“Yes!”
Iwagakure.
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, stared at the intelligence report as though doubting his own eyes.
“Konoha really does produce one talented monster after another.”
“Tobirama Senju has barely been dead, and geniuses of this level are already emerging?”
Ōnoki’s voice was thick with jealousy.
“Find out everything about those two brats.”
“And place bounties on both of them!”
His eyes narrowed.
“A genius is only a genius if they survive long enough to become one.”
Kirigakure.
The Third Mizukage’s expression was equally grim.
Kirigakure’s Hidden Mist Jutsu was heavily countered by the Byakugan.
Meanwhile, Konoha had focused entirely on defence and refused to launch any major offensive.
It was obvious they intended to drag the fighting out.
And now— two more geniuses had appeared.
One could use the Flying Thunder God Technique.
The other could seal Tailed Beasts.
The second one in particular— was an enormous threat.
The Land of Rain.
Hanzō stared at the intelligence report.
A sharp gleam flashed through his eyes.
“Someone.”
“Yes, Lord Hanzō.”
“Send someone to Sunagakure.”
“Tell them I’m interested in forming an alliance.”
The shinobi beside Hanzō hesitated.
“Lord Hanzō…
wouldn’t that be inviting a tiger into our home?”
Hanzō remained completely calm.
“We are currently facing enemies on three fronts.”
“If we draw one of them to our side, we reduce our own pressure while making Sunagakure help kill our enemies.”
“As for how the benefits are divided…”
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“That can only be settled after the war.”
“And by then—”
“Who can say what was originally promised?”
The shinobi’s eyes lit up.
“Lord Hanzō is wise!”
At Konoha’s encampment in the Land of Rain—
Jiraiya excitedly waved the battle report around.
“Orochimaru!
Tsunade!”
“Look!”
“My disciple has really made something of himself!”
“Look at this!”
“He can already help capture the One-Tail Jinchūriki!”
Orochimaru smiled coldly.
“Minato is talented on his own.”
“Apart from helping him obtain the Flying Thunder God Technique, you’ve barely taught him anything.”
Jiraiya didn’t care in the slightest.
Instead, he looked even more smug.
“Hehehe!”
“You’re just jealous.”
“Look at Minato.”
“He’s younger than Nawaki, yet he’s already stronger than him.”
“What does that prove?”
Jiraiya proudly pointed at himself.
“It proves I have excellent judgement!”
Bang!
Tsunade punched Jiraiya across the camp.
“What the hell do you mean by that?!”
“Nawaki is strong too!”
Jiraiya immediately realised he had said the wrong thing.
“My bad, my bad!”
“I spoke too fast!”
Tsunade snorted.
Then she looked down at the report again.
“These brats really did something huge.”
Her expression became slightly more serious.
“I doubt things will stay peaceful for them after this.”
Meanwhile, back in Konoha—
Nawaki stood there listening to rumours spreading throughout the village, completely dumbfounded.
Wait a damn minute.
You two each beat me up once specifically to stop me from going to war…
And then you went to the battlefield yourselves?!