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Chapter 18 - Chapter 18: Walk the Dog in Moderation!

Seeing his fellow ninja beside him, wide-eyed and legs shaking at the sudden appearance of the One-Tail Shukaku, Gintoki clicked his tongue in annoyance before shouting loudly.

"Pull yourselves together! That old hag won't be able to control that monster for long! Hold out until the main forces retreat!"

Thanks to Gintoki's vigorous shouts, the Konoha ninja snapped out of their daze and tightly gripped their kunai, facing the enormous beast head-on.

"At least die like a proper ninja on the battlefield!"

Someone yelled this, and the rest of the Konoha ninja clenched their kunai, using loud shouts to dispel their fear as they charged straight at the behemoth!

"Fight while retreating! Once we reach the Land of Rain, that monster won't be able to follow!"

As the commander, Gintoki kept shouting orders.

In this situation, there was no other choice—sacrificing a few to ensure the main forces' successful retreat!

Even so, the casualties among the Konoha ninja were far too many.

With the One-Tail Shukaku joining the battle, this battlefield had truly become a meat grinder!

Watching his comrades fall one by one, Gintoki's eyes unknowingly took on a bloody hue, his expression growing darker and darker.

If they didn't find a way to deal with the One-Tail Shukaku, the number of their own ninja who would survive and successfully retreat into the Land of Rain today might be pitifully few!

Forget about defeating it—just stalling such a colossal creature would require something equally massive!

The only ones who could barely manage that were the summoning beasts of the Three Ninja!

But Jiraiya had been reassigned to another battlefield, Orochimaru hadn't arrived yet, and Tsunade's slug... probably didn't have the capability.

"Whatever!"

Gritting his teeth, Gintoki suddenly stopped and performed a summoning jutsu—one he had never used before, personally taught to him by Sakumo.

In his heart, Gintoki prayed furiously.

'Please give me something big! Not some tiny dog like Kakashi had in the manga! Give me the biggest one there is! A godlike dog—there's gotta be one, right?! Come out already! I'm begging you!'

"Summoning Jutsu!"

After the white smoke cleared, a familiar white, fluffy creature appeared before Gintoki.

The next moment, Gintoki's head was clamped inside the fluffy white giant dog's mouth.

"You actually gave me a dog god?!"

Prying open Sadaharu's jaws, Gintoki—his forehead bleeding profusely—widened his eyes in utter disbelief.

This was a development he had never anticipated.

"Why did it have to be you, Sadaharu?!"

"Woof!" Sadaharu, overjoyed at their reunion, affectionately nuzzled Gintoki.

"Fine, Sadaharu, go find the heavily injured and carry them to retreat with the main forces. I'll come for you later!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Gintoki noticed Sadaharu lowering his head to chew on something.

Upon closer inspection, it was his own waist pouch.

"Stop eating that! I'll have Kakashi buy you dog food when we get back."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Gintoki suddenly noticed something was off with Sadaharu, which reminded him of the provisions stored in his pouch.

A bottle of milk, a box of strawberries...

Blinking his bewildered eyes as a thought struck him, sweat immediately began beading on his forehead.

Watching Sadaharu's uncontrollably growing form, his once fluffy and adorable head gradually transforming into something ferocious, Gintoki's eye twitched violently.

"ROOOAR—!!!"

The earth-shaking roar once again silenced the battlefield.

The massive, fanged beast instantly rekindled hope in the hearts of all Konoha shinobi!

Perhaps due to his growth in Gintama, Sadaharu's transformation didn't rob him of reason—evidenced by the clarity still present in his eyes.

"Sadaharu! You..." Gintoki's eyes widened before he steeled his resolve.

"Sadaharu, see that one-tailed bastard over there? Try to hold it back. I'll be right there with you."

"ARF!"

As Sadaharu pounced toward Shukaku, Gintoki didn't have time to think.

Turning to his allies, he shouted: "Retreat! Withdraw now! Get the hell out of here immediately!"

With that, Gintoki swiftly chased after Sadaharu.

Letting the dog fight alone was never an option.

.....

The battle finally reached its conclusion.

The transformed Sadaharu, together with the giant snake Orochimaru summoned (who arrived fashionably late), managed to restrain Shukaku long enough for the main forces to retreat safely.

Of course, after the battle ended, Sadaharu exhausted himself and returned to normal size... or so one would think!

.....

At their encampment in the Land of Rain.

Watching Sadaharu—now normal-sized yet brimming with energy as he chased Inuzuka clan dogs around camp—Gintoki found this anomaly utterly perplexing.

Even more astonishingly, all injuries Sadaharu sustained during his transformation had completely healed!

"That dog is... interesting. I can sense energy from the earth flowing into its body..."

Hearing Orochimaru's observation as the Sannin studied Sadaharu, Gintoki suddenly realized something.

Sadaharu was inherently connected to the Dragon Vein as a Komainu.

In this world, the Dragon Vein and Altana had their counterpart—the natural energy used in Sage Mode!

No wonder Sadaharu could absorb this energy!

"Sadaharu, come here."

"WOOF!"

Abandoning his pursuit of the Inuzuka hounds, Sadaharu bolted toward Gintoki and... promptly engulfed his master's head in his jaws once more.

...

Late at night, watching the sleeping dog, Gintoki couldn't help but think of a certain girl with twin buns and a glasses wearing a man.

Sadaharu couldn't speak, so he couldn't explain his origins.

But if Sadaharu was here, did that mean Kagura and the others might appear too?

"I'll look into this when we get back..."

...

Land of Grass.

A sealed underground cavern.

Madara listened with closed eyes as Tobi recounted Takasugi's performance in the war, nodding approvingly—clearly satisfied with the young man.

"Madara-sama, that belongs to Shinsuke, doesn't it?"

Tobi pointed at the row of five peculiar drinks with straws on the mottled stone bench.

These were a type of beverage Takasugi had discovered during his travels over the past few years.

From Tobi's observations, Takasugi was quite fond of this drink.

Every time he encountered a lone vending machine in the wilderness, he would buy some and bring them back to store.

Because of this, on one occasion, Takasugi even hauled back an entire refrigerator just to store these strange beverages.

"Madara-sama, Takasugi will be angry if he finds out, right? I remember there was only that row left in the fridge. Takasugi even left a note saying to save it for him. I didn't drink any after seeing the note..."

"Hmph!" Madara snorted.

He had no interest in a brat's things!

He had only picked it up out of boredom to take a look!

He didn't like this sour-sweet stuff at all!

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Sadaharu was originally an Inugami (aka Dog God) of destruction and attack.

Sadaharu becomes a monster after being fed with strawberry milk

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