No one knew how long it took, but at last the Three-Tails' roar faded. Blood-red eyes scanned the ruined forest, searching for something unseen.
Suddenly, the beast seemed to find its direction. With ponderous steps, it began to lumber forward, each movement sending tremors through the ground. Every leaf in the forest shivered as the sharp spikes on its shell carved a path of destruction. Trees as thick as a man's leg toppled like wheat before a scythe, falling in its wake.
"Not good! It's heading straight for the Hidden Mist Village!" Master Genshi's face drained of color.
The village was already locked in battle with rebel forces—there was no one left with the strength to seal a rampaging tailed beast. If the Three-Tails broke into the village, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"Aming, take your squad and draw its attention! Don't try to fight it head-on—just stall it, keep it out of the village. It's slow, so don't get caught!" Genshi barked.
"Yes! You guys, with me!" Aming shouted, wasting no time as she raced toward the beast.
"Get the chains ready! As soon as I bring it over, loop them around its head!" Aming called out, vaulting into the air. She clambered up the Three-Tails' spiked shell with the agility of a monkey, quickly reaching its massive head.
"Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique!"
She spun midair, hands cupped like a blowpipe, and blasted a jet of yellow acidic mist straight at the beast's eyes.
Instantly, the Three-Tails' head was engulfed in the corrosive fog. Its armored shell and spikes hissed, white smoke rising as the acid gnawed at its defenses.
The monster squeezed its eyes shut, howling in agony. Its thick legs and three flat tails thrashed wildly, flattening whole swaths of forest.
"Chains—now!" Aming shouted as she landed.
Mist ninja hurled a heavy iron chain, looping it around the beast's head in seconds.
"Don't pull—just get ready!" Aming gripped the chain, bracing herself.
The Three-Tails, eyes squeezed shut, opened its jaws wide. Chakra surged in its mouth, forming a Tailed Beast Ball—aimed straight at the village.
"Hold steady, don't move!" Aming commanded, voice ice-cold.
A black sphere of chakra grew, pulsing with lethal energy.
"Hold steady, don't move!" she repeated, holding her nerve.
Just as the Three-Tails was about to fire, Aming yanked the chain tight and shouted, "Now! Pull right! Quick!"
Thirty Mist ninja heaved on the steel chains, bodies straining like river trackers hauling a ship upstream. The chains dug into their shoulders, their bodies nearly flattened to the ground.
Even a warship would shudder under that force—let alone the head of a giant turtle.
The Three-Tails' massive head was wrenched to the right, sending the Tailed Beast Ball veering off course.
It tore through the forest, pulverizing trees and launching debris sky-high. The sphere barreled onward until it slammed into a distant hill, detonating with a thunderous blast that carved a crescent-shaped crater and sent tremors rippling like an earthquake.
"Scatter! Move, now!" Aming's instincts were razor-sharp. As she'd predicted, the beast—furious at being yanked off course—turned its rage on the Mist ninja, stomping toward them.
Fortunately, the Three-Tails was slow, and Aming's orders came fast. No one was hurt.
"It seems the Three-Tails is slow—if you dodge in time, it's not much of a threat," Fugaku Uchiha observed from the sidelines.
But Koharu Utatane shook her head. "Fugaku, you're wrong. No tailed beast is simple. They're all monsters—capable of moving mountains and swallowing seas. Each excels in a different battlefield. According to Hashirama Senju's 'Tailed Beast Chronicles,' the Three-Tails, Isobu, is a giant turtle—deadly in water combat.
In the ocean, its speed is unmatched. Even on land, it has one ultimate technique."
"What technique?" Fugaku asked, eyes narrowing.
Koharu watched as the beast slowly curled in on itself, her voice low and tense. "Shadow Stroke—look, here it comes! We need to back off, or we'll get caught in the crossfire. Let's wait until the Mist ninja are spent before we move."
The Three-Tails arched its body, unfolding its massive shell to cover itself. Its form became a spiked, monstrous wheel, then slowly began to spin—rolling straight toward the Mist ninja.
"Dodge!" Master Genshi screamed.
Mist ninja leapt away in panic.
The Three-Tails spun faster and faster, its shell a blur of deadly spikes. It locked onto one ninja and barreled after him, relentless.
No matter how the ninja dodged, the beast stayed on him, crushing everything in its path. Under its immense weight, the forest was obliterated.
It didn't take long—the Three-Tails' speed outstripped the ninja's. The poor soul didn't even have time to scream before he was ground to pulp, leaving nothing behind.
"Spread out! Crisscross! Don't let it target you!" Aming shouted, desperate to minimize casualties.
But the strategy barely helped. The Three-Tails was stubborn—once it locked onto someone, it chased them to the end, ignoring all distractions. With its speed ramping up, Mist ninja had nowhere to run. In just a few rounds, several more fell under its crushing advance.
"This Three-Tails is being controlled—its attacks are too precise," Fugaku observed, perched in a tree.
"Not just 'seems'—it's definitely being controlled. The beast doesn't have tactical sense like this," Koharu replied, voice hard as steel.
"Whoever's behind this knows how to use genjutsu pills. It's probably an agent planted in Konoha by that shadowy organization!"
"So how do we subdue the Three-Tails?" Fugaku asked.
Koharu fell silent, watching Mist ninja die one after another while the Three-Tails raged on. Trying to wear down its chakra would just mean every Mist ninja dying for nothing. And once they were gone, what then? Just her, Kakashi, and Fugaku? Even together, they couldn't survive a single roll from that monster.
"The genjutsu pill works by trapping the jinchūriki in illusion—controlling the beast through them. Fugaku, when the time comes, you need to get close to the Three-Tails. See if you can break Rin out of the genjutsu!"
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