Chapter 27 — The Rampage of Boil Release
At the moment of mortal danger, Yami suddenly seized the two beside him. Just as the annihilating Tailed Beast Bomb was about to swallow all three of them whole, their figures blurred—and vanished from the spot.
In the next instant, the trio reappeared far away.
It was precisely where Yami had hidden a Flying Thunder God–marked kunai in advance.
Having just walked through the gates of death, the shock had yet to fade from their faces. The two stared at Yami again, this time with expressions that looked as though they had seen a ghost.
Perhaps Aburame Shibi did not fully understand the significance of that instantaneous movement—but Nawaki certainly did. This was the forbidden technique developed by his Granduncle. After that man's death, the art had become legend, an unreachable peak. Countless shinobi had tried to master the Flying Thunder God Technique, yet none had ever truly grasped its essence.
"Please keep this a secret for me," Yami said quietly. "This is something I can't let others know."
Those words were directed mainly at Nawaki. Among the three present, aside from Yami himself, only Nawaki truly understood the weight of what he had just witnessed.
Both of them snapped out of their shock and nodded in agreement.
Yami had briefly considered using the Tongue Curse Eradication Seal he had obtained from Root on the two of them. But the technique was far from foolproof—and worse, it would completely destroy the trust between them. After running it through his mind, he decisively abandoned the idea.
For the moment, they had escaped immediate danger.
Yami dispelled the Eight Gates. A wave of exhaustion surged up, but he forcibly suppressed it.
Turning his attention back to the battlefield, he saw the Five-Tails, Kokuō's Tailed Beast Bomb tear through the place where they had stood just moments earlier. Everything in its path was erased with unstoppable force, leaving behind a vast, horrifying void—like land cleaved open by a god's colossal axe.
Just recalling it made all three of them break out in cold sweat, their backs soaked through.
Without the Flying Thunder God Technique, they would already have been reduced to dust—forced to "restart" their lives right there on the spot.
The world-shaking devastation finally alarmed the central encampment where Orochimaru was stationed.
Countless Konoha shinobi poured out of their tents, while Orochimaru himself had already stepped to the front of the formation, his gaze fixed on the roaring behemoth in the distance.
His pupils were filled with gravity. Although Orochimaru did not yet know exactly what had happened, he could not allow the Five-Tails to continue rampaging unchecked and break through the defensive line.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
With a thunderous burst of smoke, an enormous purple serpent appeared, its colossal body coiling at Orochimaru's feet. The moment it manifested, a deep, rumbling voice echoed:
"Orochimaru—did you prepare the sacrifice before summoning me?"
Orochimaru did not answer. His gaze remained fixed on the battlefield ahead. Following his line of sight, Manda's scales bristled, and it roared angrily:
"A Tailed Beast? Orochimaru, you dare—"
"More money. Double the sacrifice," Orochimaru cut in coldly.
Manda's complaints died instantly. Its massive tongue flicked once before it snorted.
"Hmph… I'll do my best. But don't expect me to risk my life for this."
Before the words had even finished echoing, man and serpent shot forward like arrows loosed from a bow. Even with Manda's immense size, it still looked somewhat outmatched before the Five-Tails.
The two titans collided head-on.
The earth shook violently. Shockwaves mixed with flying rubble and roaring air currents swept outward, knocking many Konoha shinobi off their feet.
Relying on momentum and the advantage of initiative, Manda slammed into the Five-Tails, driving it backward dozens of meters.
"Elite squads—prepare combined ninjutsu!"
Orochimaru's hoarse yet piercing command rang across the battlefield.
In the next instant, as if drilled a thousand times, several elite Konoha squads completed their hand seals almost simultaneously. Their movements were perfectly synchronized as chakra fluctuations rapidly converged.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
Dozens of shinobi shouted in unison. Beneath the Five-Tails' feet, the ground softened and collapsed, transforming into a vast, viscous swamp. Kokuō's massive body sank heavily, gradually being pulled down into the mire.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
"Fire Release: Great Flame Bullet!"
"Wind-Fanned Flames—Combined Ninjutsu!"
Fierce winds swept into the raging inferno. Fire borrowed the wind's force, wind amplified the fire's might—instantly swelling into a towering inferno tornado that reached from earth to sky, roaring toward the Five-Tails trapped in the swamp.
Yet at the very moment the combined technique was about to strike, a sudden change occurred.
Facing the coordinated assault, the Five-Tails threw back its head and let out a long roar. Chakra boiled violently throughout its body as enormous amounts of superheated steam compressed inward, forming a shield-like barrier that wrapped around it completely.
Watching from afar, Yami recognized it instantly.
"Boil Release…"
The blazing firestorm slammed into the Five-Tails' steam barrier with a shrill hiss. Vast quantities of vapor were instantly evaporated, white mist billowing everywhere. The once-overwhelming flames weakened rapidly, until they finally dissipated entirely.
"ROAR—!"
The Five-Tails bellowed again. The swamp that had bound it was already carbonized by the extreme heat. Enduring the residual force of the combined ninjutsu head-on, it leapt free from the scorched mire.
The massive horn on its head began to glow white—brighter and brighter—clearly charging for a counterattack.
"Scatter!"
Orochimaru gave the order instantly.
In the very next second, the Five-Tails seemed to cross space itself. With its blazing horn as the vanguard, it surged forward at terrifying speed.
"Boil Release: Horn Cleave," Yami muttered as he watched a single swing carve a vast empty swath across the battlefield.
Beside him, Nawaki stood frozen in shock. Even his retreating steps halted as he stared, muttering:
"Against something like this—a walking natural disaster—how are we supposed to fight?"
"It's simple," Yami replied dryly. "Like your grandfather—clap your hands once and grab it like a toy."
Then he added with a deadpan tone:
"And generously gift it to someone else afterward."
On the front lines, Orochimaru's expression was grim. Such a strike, launched with the combined power of elite shinobi, had barely scratched the enemy. The Five-Tails' counterattack had killed numerous shinobi before they could even react.
"Orochimaru… we should withdraw," Manda's deep voice rumbled beside him, already inclined to retreat.
Orochimaru remained silent, frantically weighing options. Worse still, Iwagakure forces were now visible in the distance, clearly moving in to exploit the chaos and counterattack the Konoha front.
Fortunately, after unleashing such a massive Boil Release technique, the Five-Tails showed signs of fatigue. This brief lull allowed the remaining Konoha forces to widen the distance.
Spotting Ōnoki approaching through the air, Orochimaru suppressed his anger and shouted:
"Tsuchikage! You dare unleash the Five-Tails on a battlefield—how do you plan to clean this up?!"
Ōnoki had clearly prepared his response. Putting on a faintly indignant expression, he replied:
"The Five-Tails wasn't released by Iwagakure."
Before anything more could be said, the Five-Tails shook off its fatigue, its savage gaze once again locking onto the retreating Konoha shinobi.
With the Five-Tails bearing down on them and Ōnoki watching like a vulture, Orochimaru's expression darkened. He was just about to order a full retreat—
When suddenly, thunderous cheers erupted from the Konoha ranks.
With a deafening crash, a mountain-sized summoned beast descended from the sky, catching the Five-Tails completely off guard and pinning it firmly to the ground.