"Not good! Everyone, dodge!"
Natsuki shouted a warning and flashed to Naruto's side, shoving him away.
But the chains curved on their own, still chasing Naruto. In the next instant, they latched onto him—binding the Nine-Tails inside him and starting to yank it out.
It wasn't just Naruto. Gaara, Fuu, and Killer Bee all got hit, too.
Sasuke managed to block the chains with Susanoo's defense, but he couldn't celebrate for long.
Seeing this, Madara suddenly surged into a fierce offensive. Rinnegan repulsive force erupted, actually shattering Sasuke's Susanoo—and the chains successfully connected to Sasuke's back.
"This is bad!"
Natsuki grimaced in frustration.
Sure enough, sometimes you can't get complacent just because you're winning.
Everyone thought the enemy was finished. After all, aside from Madara—who was truly dangerous—the others were all manageable. The Ten-Tails was missing hands and legs and was practically on its last breath. By all logic, there shouldn't have been any way for them to turn the tables.
And yet, until the very last moment, victory and defeat are never decided. You can't afford to get careless.
Because everyone believed the win was secured, they relaxed their guard—and that was exactly how Madara pulled off his desperate counterattack.
The Statue's Chains—shooting chains from the mouth of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path—was a technique specialized for sealing tailed beasts and retrieving them. Now that the Ten-Tails was using it, its power was overwhelming.
The tailed beasts couldn't resist at all.
Sure enough, Sasuke, Naruto, Fuu, Gaara, and Killer Bee all felt their strength drain away as the power inside them was forcibly extracted.
A, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and the others all paled. They rushed forward and grabbed the chains—only to feel their own chakra being pulled out the moment they made contact.
These chains were brutally domineering.
Natsuki didn't lose his composure. He immediately fired a Vortex Boil Bomb at Obito—if he could eliminate the one using the technique, the problem should resolve itself.
But in the next second, Madara dropped from above and swatted the Vortex Boil Bomb away with his war fan—sending it flying right back.
Natsuki reached out and caught the Vortex Boil Bomb again, using Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique) to send it behind the Ten-Tails to where the wood-style positioning was—except the Ten-Tails' back was pressed to the ground. The Vortex Boil Bomb instead appeared on its belly and detonated with a thunderous blast.
Even so, the Ten-Tails forced itself to hang on and didn't loosen the chains. If anything, it dragged even harder, determined to pull every tailed beast back.
Maybe it understood: if it didn't absorb them, recovery was impossible. Worse—it might actually be killed by these people. So it had to save itself.
As the Ten-Tails struggled desperately, several tailed beasts were yanked out completely, beyond anyone's control.
Sasuke felt powerless. "Kaifuu… sorry. The promise I made you… I'm afraid I can't keep it."
But the Three-Tails replied, "Sasuke, you won't die. So remember to save me."
As it spoke, it severed one of its tails on its own initiative and left it inside Sasuke—something it had deliberately learned earlier, back on Fish-Man Island, from the Eight-Tails, Gyuki. It hadn't expected it would truly come in handy.
Maybe the tailed beasts all felt the danger now.
Maybe they were all thinking the same thing—what if they really got absorbed by the Ten-Tails? What would they do then?
And Gyuki's answer had been simple: leave a tail behind inside the jinchuuriki. Let the jinchuuriki live—so the jinchuuriki can save everyone later.
The tailed beasts didn't trust humans, but if it truly came to that… they might have no other choice. And besides, right now, they were actually getting along reasonably well with their jinchuuriki.
So this was the only play.
The Seven-Tails and Eight-Tails made the same decision as the Three-Tails. Even the Nine-Tails hesitated awkwardly before finally leaving a tail behind as well.
Only Shukaku was helpless. "Sorry, red-haired brat. Shukaku only has one tail. I can't cut it off for you. You might have to die. But those days playing cards with you… were pretty fun."
Gaara only felt guilt. "Sorry, Shukaku. I couldn't protect you."
Shukaku fell silent—then was dragged away by the chains, forcibly.
The other four tailed beasts were the same, ripped away and pulled into the Ten-Tails. And then the Ten-Tails—previously weak and crippled—suddenly began to change.
Its limbs regrew, and it rose upright.
Its formerly gaunt body swelled with strength, and its ten tails thrashed wildly like living things.
It let out an earthshaking roar, proclaiming its rebirth and venting its joy. Its massive silhouette seemed to pierce the sky itself, flooding everyone with suffocating pressure.
Madara burst into laughter again. "Hahahaha! Obito, nicely done! For once, you were actually useful!"
Obito said nothing, his expression dark and unreadable.
It was obvious: the Ten-Tails had gathered the power of the nine great tailed beasts. Even if it was still incomplete, it was already terrifyingly strong. If someone became the Ten-Tails' jinchuuriki, they might obtain the power of the Sage of Six Paths.
And Obito was never going to hand that opportunity to Madara—so their internal struggle was about to begin.
Natsuki's expression was ugly. He hadn't expected to get played like this. In the end, he still wasn't urgent enough, and that was why he'd made such a mistake.
But at least the jinchuuriki were still alive… wait—no!
Natsuki flashed to Gaara's side and stuffed ten senzu beans into Gaara's mouth in one go.
Right after a tailed beast is extracted, the jinchuuriki's life hasn't fully dissipated yet—and this wasn't spiritual damage, either—so the senzu beans should work.
If they didn't, then the only option left would be reviving him with the Rinnegan.
Naruto cradled Gaara as tears pattered down his face. His voice broke. "Gaara… wake up! You can't die! Gaara!"
Everyone else looked stricken, too. Temari, as his sister, collapsed to the ground, crying so hard she could barely breathe.
Then in the next moment, Gaara suddenly sat up—bright-eyed and full of vigor, without the slightest trace of severe injury.
"Huh?! Gaara, you—you're not dead?!" Naruto blurted in shock.
"Gaara!" Temari threw herself at him, hugging him and sobbing uncontrollably.
Gaara was still dazed. "Wasn't I supposed to die after having my tailed beast extracted? What… what's going on?"
No one understood, either. They all looked to Natsuki—because just now, it seemed like he'd fed Gaara something.
Natsuki spread his hands. "Just a little something good. It's very precious. So don't you dare die again. If you die again, I won't have any way to save you!"
He couldn't talk about the senzu beans, because he only had ninety-some left. Between saving Lee earlier and saving Gaara now, he'd burned two senzu beans total.
Two. Whole. Beans.
It was basically like carving flesh off his own body.
If Gaara hadn't been about to die, Natsuki never would've taken them out. It was way too wasteful.
Hearing that, everyone nodded solemnly. Something that could bring a dying person back was practically a divine medicine—Natsuki having even a small amount was already miraculous. There was no way he could have much more.
And besides, none of them wanted to experience death. Dying and coming back to life was even more unthinkable.
(End of Chapter)
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