Chapter 76 – Bunpuku
The old monk exhaled softly, his gaze clouded with unease. He had been given a strict order before the battle:
If the tide of war turns against Sunagakure, then you must unleash the power sealed within you—no matter the cost.
That was why he, a man sentenced to a lifetime of imprisonment, had been brought here under the watch of the Sand's sealing corps.
If it were up to him, he would never willingly release that monster inside his body. Yet if Sunagakure's fate hung in the balance, he could not stand idle and watch his village be destroyed.
No matter how unwilling, he might be forced to set that terrifying existence free.
For now, he kept his composure, carefully observing the battlefield. He prayed that Sunagakure's situation would hold steady so that he would not have to act.
But the Kazekage was at a disadvantage. Chiyo too was faltering. Of the other two clashes, no clear outcome could yet be seen.
The monk's heart wavered for just a moment. That lapse in focus allowed the monster within him to leak the faintest trace of its chakra.
His eyes widened. He immediately steadied himself and forced the beast back down.
Not yet. This is not the moment. Not unless we truly face ruin.
—
Meanwhile, Nan showed little interest in deciding victory or defeat against Pakura. He had been fighting half-heartedly all along.
With the Sharingan's keen perception and his own agile body, he dodged her attacks with apparent ease. Since he wasn't planning a counteroffensive, his movements looked effortless, as though he were merely playing defense.
This left his attention free to maintain sensory awareness across the battlefield.
When he noticed Konoha's forces steadily gaining the upper hand, his heart lifted.
Good. If this continues, Konoha will surely win. The plot will stay on track, and I won't have to reveal too much. I can keep my head down and let things play out.
But just as Nan felt reassured, a sudden surge of chakra flared from within the Sand ranks.
It was brief—so brief he wondered if he had imagined it.
In truth, it was that momentary lapse when the old monk nearly lost control, letting the monster inside him stir. Though swiftly suppressed, the burst was enough for Nan to sense.
And what he felt shook him to the core.
That chakra was vast—far greater than anything he had ever perceived.
Until now, the strongest chakra Nan had sensed belonged to Tsunade, descendant of both the Senju and Uzumaki clans. Yet the force he had just detected eclipsed hers a hundredfold. This was not power that a human could possess.
There was only one explanation: Sunagakure's One-Tail Jinchūriki.
The thought struck him like a thunderbolt. His concentration wavered, nearly costing him as Pakura's flames brushed close.
At the last instant, Nan refocused, evading her strike and unleashing a host of shadow clones to occupy her.
Using the smoke from the clones' appearance as cover, his true body sank into the ground with Earth Release. Moments later, he resurfaced atop a hill that no one was watching.
From there, his Sharingan scanned the battlefield toward the source of that chakra. The Sharingan lacked the Byakugan's clarity, but its long-range perception was still enough from his vantage point.
And then—he saw him.
An old monk.
Unlike the other combatants locked in battle, this man stood apart, surrounded by several shinobi who guarded him closely. They weren't fighting—only watching him, as though both protecting and restraining him at once.
The sight made Nan's eyes narrow. Recognition struck immediately.
Bunpuku…!
This was the monk who had once been the host of the One-Tail, Shukaku—Gaara's predecessor.
Though his appearance in the original tale was fleeting, less than a minute, he had left a lasting impression. Even Shukaku had compared him to the Sage of Six Paths.
Nan's mind raced.
Wasn't Bunpuku supposed to be imprisoned for life? How is he here on the battlefield? Isn't Sunagakure afraid that Shukaku might lose control and rampage against their own forces?
From birth, Bunpuku had been Shukaku's vessel, uniquely suited to suppressing the beast. Yet for that very reason, he had been confined by the Kazekage of that era—Reto, who had sought to weaponize the tailed beasts.
In the original timeline, Bunpuku had remained imprisoned until his death, never once stepping beyond Sunagakure's walls.
And yet, here he was.
In the original storyline, Sunagakure never deployed their tailed beast. Likely, it was because Chiyo's deadly poisons had already inflicted devastating casualties on Konoha. By the time Tsunade had developed an antidote, Konoha had suffered heavy losses, leaving Suna with no need to risk unleashing the One-Tail.
But things were different now. With Nan's interference, Konoha's strength in this decisive battle far surpassed what it had been in the original timeline. Realizing this, Sunagakure, desperate and with no other options, decided to send Bunpuku—the jinchūriki of Shukaku—onto the battlefield as their hidden trump card.
To be fair, Suna's move wasn't entirely reckless. They had already prepared an ambush with their elite forces and four top-level shinobi at Kikyō Mountain. What they hadn't expected was that Konoha would dispatch an even stronger contingent—one led by the Hokage himself and backed by his two legendary disciples.
In comparison, Konoha clearly had the upper hand. Under such circumstances, the terrifying power of Shukaku might truly be Suna's only hope of turning the tide.
Nan, seeing a character appear here who hadn't in the original plot, immediately guessed this must be the ripple effect of his own presence. That realization made him uneasy.
Though Bunpuku showed no signs of making a move yet, Nan knew the longer the battle dragged on, the more desperate Sunagakure would become. Sooner or later, they would force Bunpuku into action, whether he wished it or not. That, Nan suspected, was precisely why the surrounding shinobi were stationed there—to restrain Bunpuku if necessary and compel him to release Shukaku.
After all, the Suna higher-ups had little faith that Bunpuku would willingly unleash the beast sealed inside him. Should their forces falter, they would drive him forward, tear open the seal, and let Shukaku run rampant through the battlefield.
Shukaku excelled in sealing techniques but lacked sheer destructive power compared to other tailed beasts. Under normal circumstances, the Third Hokage, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru could easily suppress it. But now, all three were locked in battles against foes of equal caliber. If Shukaku was released, none of them would be able to disengage in time. Containing the beast would be nearly impossible.
And Nan knew the script all too well. In countless transmigration stories he had read, this was always the setup:
The protagonist—himself—would be "forced" to step in.
He would unveil his hidden Mangekyō Sharingan, crush Shukaku effortlessly, and become renowned throughout the shinobi world.
But that fame would draw the gaze of lurking monsters like Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu, plunging him into endless troubles.
For someone like Nan, who lived by the creed "lay low, don't show off, and survive above all else", that outcome was unacceptable.
"No. I won't make a move," Nan decided firmly. "And even if I must, I won't do it as myself."
Casting a glance back, he saw that Pakura was still tied down by his shadow clones. Unsure of how long it would take him to track down the source of that strange chakra, Nan had instructed the clones to prioritize delay over confrontation.
Thus, instead of clashing head-on, they danced around Pakura with swift, evasive maneuvers.
Unaware that she was fighting nothing but clones, Pakura wasted time and chakra trying to locate his true body among them.
With the clones holding her off for the foreseeable future and no one noticing his real form, a plan began to take shape in Nan's mind.