Orochimaru stared at the four masks on Kakuzu's back—only to notice that one of them was now shattered.
But I didn't destroy any of those masked monsters...
A subtle, dangerous glint flickered across his eyes.
Four masks and the main body. That's five hearts... five lives?
But before he could speak to warn Sarutobi Hiruzen, a surge of dread swelled in his gut.
There was no chakra fluctuation in his sensory range—but his instincts screamed danger.
He didn't even have time to shout a warning.
Orochimaru's body darted left in an instant.
"Ugh!"
A violent impact struck his right shoulder.
White coral erupted immediately from the contact point, feeding on his chakra as it spread like a parasite.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was not as lucky.
Although he sensed the incoming threat, his aged body couldn't react fast enough.
The attack slammed directly into his back, sending him crashing forward. He slid over ten meters across the battlefield.
Enma, in the form of the Vajra Staff, immediately transformed back into his full monkey form. With a leap, he landed beside Hiruzen and struck swiftly.
His five claws elongated, and with a heavy swipe, he scraped off a layer of skin where the white coral had latched onto Hiruzen's back.
The sloughed coral hit Enma's arm—and immediately began to grow wildly there instead.
"Hiruzen… looks like I won't be able to help you any further..."
"You're on your own now."
Bang~
With that, Enma dispersed in a puff of smoke, returning to the Summoning Realm.
"...Tch. I'll handle it. Thanks for everything, Enma."
Orochimaru used the Great Serpent Substitution Technique, consuming a large chunk of chakra to escape the coral's effects.
The discarded snake skin was instantly consumed by the parasitic coral.
Then, Orochimaru's eyes fell on the small figure before him—barely taller than 1.4 meters.
But the danger radiating from him was on another level.
Unlike Kakuzu or Hidan, this opponent was a different beast entirely.
He wasn't just a strong shinobi—he was a Kage. And worse, a Jinchūriki.
The Fourth Mizukage... Yagura.
Even the Mizukage himself has entered the battlefield...?
Sarutobi Hiruzen returned to Orochimaru's side. Upon seeing the new enemy, his expression turned grave.
"Yagura...!"
"As Mizukage, don't you understand that war brings nothing but suffering?!"
"Why did you start this conflict?!"
Yagura's gaze flickered, a momentary shadow of inner turmoil crossing his face—but it vanished just as quickly, replaced by cold indifference.
He raised his coral scepter horizontally in front of him, ready to strike.
"No reason. Just killing."
"It proves the worth of Kirigakure shinobi."
A massive, blue-gray tail covered in hard spikes extended from Yagura's lower back.
It coiled forward, wrapping completely around his small frame.
In the next second, his entire body transformed into a giant, rotating ball—like a monstrous wheel.
He launched forward with terrifying momentum, tearing across the battlefield toward Orochimaru and Hiruzen.
"Shadow!"
His tail churned the earth beneath it, spikes shredding the stone and flinging debris in every direction.
Orochimaru and Hiruzen immediately responded with earth-style defense.
"Earth Style: Double Earth-Style Wall!"
Twin walls of hardened earth surged up from the ground between them and the incoming projectile.
BOOM!
The walls crumbled instantly under Yagura's rolling assault.
Orochimaru and Hiruzen were forced to leap to opposite sides, narrowly avoiding the spinning tail.
Yagura didn't stop.
He pursued them like a possessed wheel of death, charging again and again while the two Konoha shinobi evaded and counterattacked.
They unleashed wave after wave of ninjutsu, but none of it stopped the assault.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. There was no clear way to break through that spinning defense.
The chakra forming the tail came from Isobu—the Three-Tails.
Isobu's core nature wasn't just that of a tailed beast.
It was a turtle.
And everyone knew—turtle-type chakra beasts had some of the most absurd defenses in the ninja world.
But this one wasn't just a turtle.
It was a tailed beast turtle.
Their attacks had barely left a scratch.
After several high-speed collisions, Yagura finally stopped, staggering a little from dizziness.
It seemed even he had trouble handling the g-forces.
Orochimaru and Sarutobi Hiruzen let out a brief sigh of relief.
But that moment of hope turned to dread in an instant.
A red chakra shroud began to bubble up from Yagura's body.
It coiled around him, thick and wild.
The tailed beast cloak.
The three tails of Isobu wrapped tightly around him—then began to spin again.
His entire body turned a deep crimson.
The pressure in the air grew thick.
Violence. Bloodlust. Hatred.
A flood of negative emotions exploded from Yagura like a wave.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, observing Yagura's transformation.
He can control it... completely.
He's a Perfect Jinchūriki...
Things just got significantly worse.
Orochimaru had assumed that Yagura's control over Isobu was partial—like the former Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, Blue B, from the Hidden Cloud. Someone who used pure willpower to hold the beast back.
But this was different.
There was no loss of reason. No rampage.
He was in full control.
Like Killer Bee, the current Jinchūriki of the Eight-Tails.
A Perfect Jinchūriki.
Yagura shot forward again.
This time, his target was Sarutobi Hiruzen.
In his half-transformed state, Yagura's physical strength, chakra, and speed had all multiplied.
In a single breath, he closed the 40-meter distance between them.
The three tails merged into one and lashed out—a massive tail whip aimed straight at Hiruzen's chest!
If it landed—
The sternum would shatter. The heart would burst.
It would be instant death.
In that life-or-death moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt time slow.
He raised his arms, bracing in front of his chest.
BOOM!
His body flew backward like a ragdoll.
He crashed through three enormous rocks before finally skidding to a halt more than fifty meters away.
Cough! Cough!
Two mouthfuls of dark red blood sprayed from his lips.
Even with chakra reinforcement and protective armor on his arms, the bones in both forearms were crushed.
His internal organs had taken severe damage.
He lay slumped against a stone, blood dripping from his mouth, gasping for breath.
"...So this is... the power of a Perfect Jinchūriki..."
Hunched over and wheezing, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked up at Yagura, now cloaked in crimson, and bitterness welled in his chest.
If I had sealed a tailed beast into myself back then...
Tch... Damn it... (╯︵╰,)
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Bonus Chapter at 150 Power Stone
Second Bonus Chapter - 300 Power Stones
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