"Sealing Technique · Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
With Kyūsei's voice falling, dozens of golden chains burst violently from his body, shooting straight toward the completely unguarded Shukaku!
"W–What is this?!"
"Brat!"
"You dare ambush Lord Shukaku?!"
Shukaku stared in horror as the golden chains slithered over his massive body like living serpents. No matter how violently he struggled, he couldn't break free. Worse still—his chakra was being forcibly suppressed, turning sluggish and unresponsive under the chains' binding power.
"Brat!!!"
"I'll f***ing kill you!!!"
"You little f***er!!!"
"F***!!!"
Realizing his chakra was completely sealed by the dozens of golden chains wrapped around him, Shukaku immediately erupted into a torrent of curses.
The sheer volume of filth pouring out of his mouth made Kyūsei's eye twitch.
"…What an absolute freak."
Already irritated, Kyūsei directly summoned even more Adamantine Chains, compressing them into a massive golden ball and stuffing it straight into Shukaku's mouth.
"Mmnnnghh!!!"
"Mmmnnng!!!"
"Mm!!!"
Shukaku's eyes nearly spat fire. He had finally managed to break free after who knew how long—only to get tied up within three minutes of appearing.
Ignoring the muffled beast's furious thrashing, Kyūsei condensed a Tailed Beast Ball in his hand, carefully controlling its power, and aimed it at the Sunagakure shinobi surrounding Orochimaru.
The sphere of destruction fell straight into the crowd.
Boom!
Blinding white light erupted once more, blooming across the battlefield. At least four to five hundred Sunagakure shinobi were wiped out instantly!
The battlefield fell into dead silence.
Even the shinobi who had been surrounding Orochimaru froze for a brief moment.
Seizing the opening, Orochimaru immediately broke out of the encirclement and rushed toward Kyūsei.
Without hesitation, Kyūsei unleashed four or five more Tailed Beast Balls in rapid succession.
He deliberately avoided using large-scale versions—not only because allies were still present.
His reasoning was the same as during his attack on Kirigakure.
No matter how broken the world became, it still carried a glimmer of hope.
Whether he had the right to say that or not—he didn't care.
"Die!!!"
Watching his comrades fall one after another at Kyūsei's hands, the previously escaped Rasa finally snapped.
Roaring in fury, he hurled his gold dust toward Kyūsei.
A colossal golden giant rose from the ground, swinging its massive fist down with terrifying force!
This was Rasa's full-power strike.
A blow fueled entirely by rage.
Kyūsei calmly stared at the towering figure and clenched his hand in the air.
A gigantic battle axe instantly formed in his grasp.
He met the golden giant head-on.
The axe blade sliced cleanly through the giant's arm. Using it as a foothold, Kyūsei kicked off and shot straight toward Rasa in midair!
"Sometimes," Kyūsei said calmly, "running away is the wiser choice."
Rasa watched as Kyūsei appeared right in front of him, his pupils trembling.
One finger pressed directly against Rasa's chest.
"I'm sorry. I have people I want to protect. You do too."
"But next life—"
"Don't be a shinobi."
A brilliant white beam shot from Kyūsei's fingertip, piercing straight through Rasa's heart. The beam continued onward, streaking far into the distance.
Rasa subconsciously looked down at his chest.
A charred hole the size of a fist gaped there.
So this…
…is the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki…
His body rapidly lost warmth. His consciousness blurred. His eyelids grew heavy. Chakra slipped completely beyond his control.
He knew—this was the end.
Still… dying while protecting his village…
…was at least a dignified end.
Kyūsei didn't spare Rasa another glance as his body fell from the sky.
The future Fourth Kazekage dying here was better than being assassinated by Orochimaru later.
"Are you alright?"
Kyūsei turned to Orochimaru, who was battered and bloodied.
The two barely interacted back in Konoha—at most exchanging nods. In four years, they hadn't spent nearly as much time together as they had in the past two days.
"I'm fine. I'll recover after resting for a while," Orochimaru replied, shaking his head.
Kyūsei didn't press further—and certainly didn't suggest something ridiculous like bite me and you'll heal.
Only kaoru or Nao were allowed to do that. Not this guy.
Kyūsei scanned the battlefield.
The fight was nearly over.
Shukaku was bound like a dog. Out of four to five thousand Sunagakure shinobi, barely half remained. Chiyo's Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu had already been smashed—seven destroyed by Sarutobi alone.
And kaoru —
…Huh?
Where did kaoru go?
Where did my kaoru disappear to?
A flash of golden light.
The blonde girl instantly appeared beside him.
Kyūsei fell silent.
The Flying Thunder God kunai he had used earlier had already been handed back to kaoru —meaning he no longer had her marker.
Which meant—
There was a marker on him.
She had placed one on his body.
Kyūsei suddenly felt a toothache coming on. He had no idea how to bring this up.
"What's wrong?" kaoru asked, tilting her head.
"No—nothing."
"The one you were fighting?"
Kyūsei shook his head. This kind of private topic could wait. Too many people were around.
"Oh, I dealt with him."
"He was pretty strong. Took some effort."
kaoru scratched her head, glancing at Kyūsei strangely.
Akatsuna no Sasori… dead too?
Whatever. People die in war.
Chiyo's heart burned with grief and hatred as she stared at Sarutobi, the urge to drag him down with her nearly overwhelming her.
But she couldn't.
As Sunagakure's elder—with the Kazekage absent—the burden rested on her shoulders.
Rasa was dead. Sasori was dead. Bunpuku had released Shukaku at his age—he wouldn't survive. Two to three thousand shinobi had fallen to that Nine-Tails brat.
Sunagakure was now no different from Kirigakure.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen," Chiyo growled, hatred overflowing, "I will remember this debt."
"When you made your choice," Sarutobi replied coldly, "you should've been prepared to pay the price."
"Fine. Fine!"
"We'll see!"
"Sarutobi Hiruzen—this isn't over!"
Chiyo slammed two purple orbs onto the ground.
Thick violet smoke instantly spread across the battlefield.
Smoke bombs?
No—poison gas!
Seeing the toxic mist rapidly expand, Sarutobi immediately covered his mouth and nose and ordered a retreat.
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