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"Hey, damn monk?"
Even though it was Shukaku who had a large hole blown through its own stomach, it instinctively trembled and called out softly to its Jinchuriki.
It could sense him with its Chakra, but it still lowered its head to look at the old man, whose life had been like a flickering candle in the wind since the battle began, protected within its thick sand defense.
Then, in its dim yellow pupils, the broken body of Bunpuku was reflected, as if a circular void had sliced through the right side of his body, turning him into nothingness.
Bunpuku's body was precariously balanced on the edge of Shukaku's support, blood uncontrollably flowing from his nose and mouth.
As a Tailed Beast coexisting with its Jinchuriki, Shukaku could clearly feel Bunpuku's life rapidly expiring by the second.
The only human it recognized in this world was about to die.
"Shukaku…"
However, even in this situation, Bunpuku still managed to speak, and a gentle smile, as if finally relieved, appeared on his face, which had been solemn since the beginning of the battle.
His current state seemed like a final burst of energy, or perhaps the lightness brought by a sublimation of his state of mind, as he spoke without any hesitation.
"You are a pure-hearted child."
"So, after this old man dies, you will surely meet another, another person who is willing to protect and guide you."
"Shukaku… Shukaku…"
Even as he spoke, blood continued to flow from his nose and mouth.
That last attack, which seemed capable of crushing even space, had instantly annihilated most of his internal organs, and even Shukaku itself could feel the Chakra that should have been part of its body being completely destroyed.
Bunpuku, being human, was naturally no exception.
However, the only thing he couldn't let go of in this life was the Tailed Beast that had accompanied him throughout his life.
He painstakingly extended his remaining left hand.
In the center of his palm, a character was drawn.
Bunpuku slowly placed his hand over his slowly beating heart.
—'Receive' and 'Heart', combined, form 'Love'.
This was the last thing he could give to Shukaku.
The old man slowly closed his eyes.
Shukaku's body remained frozen in place, seemingly at a loss as it looked down at him.
For a thousand years, all the humans it had encountered seemed to treat it like an ignorant beast, driving it away, hunting it, killing it, and wanting to use it.
Only after being sealed by that bastard, Shukaku, did it finally meet a human who was willing to treat it with sincerity, like the Sage of Six Paths of old.
Although human life was incredibly short, Bunpuku used his entire life to make Shukaku understand the differences among humans.
At this very moment, this only human who was willing to communicate with it had died here.
"Buzz—!"
The moment it suddenly realized this, the vast, ocean-like Chakra within Shukaku suddenly erupted.
It knew that soon it would collapse and dissipate like Bunpuku, returning to the world's essence as it had countless times before, awaiting its next rebirth.
Death was already commonplace for it.
But this time, Shukaku let out an almost uncontrollable, earth-shattering roar.
"Human—!"
"I'm going to kill you!"
The Chakra on the surface of its body had even begun to scatter like dandelions, but Shukaku, at all costs, concentrated it once more for this final moment before death.
Its cross-shaped eyes stared intently at the man standing in the center of the distant sand pit, as if to engrave his image deep into its memory, never to be forgotten even after rebirth.
Uncharacteristically, it moved on all fours like a true beast, its sand-formed tail dragging long on the ground, pulling its bloated body at the fastest speed of its life, stomping heavily on the ground, and charging towards Sawara Kiri in a near-crazed manner amidst the intense, earthquake-like tremors.
"Magnet Release: Desert Layered Imperial Funeral Seal!"
A massive amount of Chakra, comparable to that of countless tens of thousands of people, seemed to alter the actual gravity of this area, causing heavy sand dunes to float up one by one.
All of them rushed towards the man in front of it.
At this moment, Shukaku, on the verge of death, no longer cared about anything.
It had only one goal.
Kill him!
Tens of thousands of tons of sand and stone swarmed towards Sawara Kiri, completely different in scale from the Sealing Technique attack he had encountered from Rasa before.
It even exceeded the limits of imagination.
However, Sawara Kiri still looked at it calmly, a calmness that made even the Tailed Beast feel a chill.
Shukaku, however, paid no attention to this; more and more sand particles drifted from its body surface as its Chakra dissipated, like a thin, dim yellow mist rising from its body.
The Chakra of the entire world continuously drained away.
A desert pyramid, hundreds of meters tall, instantly materialized, and the sealing runes on its body continued to spread upwards, forming a giant Sealing Technique capable of fixing anyone in its center.
Its body began to dissipate from its back, returning with its life.
Yet, it continued to condense its last Chakra in its mouth.
That was its final attack.
"Super Biju Bomb!"
A gigantic Biju Bomb, far exceeding the previous one in both total volume and size by more than tenfold, instantly materialized.
This time, Shukaku did not advise Bunpuku to keep his distance as before; instead, it pressed its entire head almost against the surface of the pyramid it had just created.
Lock down movement, then unleash the attack.
Although it was a Tailed Beast, its intelligence was by no means inferior to any human.
Shukaku clearly remembered that when the man in front of it took a Biju Bomb head-on earlier, his internal Chakra was greatly depleted due to the previous defensive technique.
If this attack could hit…
Bunpuku.
With that intensely strong thought, Shukaku painfully swallowed the immense Biju Bomb.
—Breath.
In an instant, brilliant light filled the sky, as if a holy spirit was displaying its power.
Only a thousand suns could compete with its radiance.
In the center of the desert, it was as if a bubble burst, expanding to its extreme with the entire pyramid as its center, amidst a strange 'pop' sound.
The moment the bubble burst.
Everyone in Sunagakure finally felt an extreme intensity of light and heat; their eardrums seemed to shatter instantly, and only a buzzing sound, seemingly from bone conduction, remained in their heads.
No matter what the Ninja were doing a second ago, they all fell to the ground in unison, the earth beneath their feet shaking violently like a cardboard in a mischievous child's hand.
Over eighty percent of the buildings in the entire Sunagakure were destroyed in that instant.
Even the Sand Ninja, who were most familiar with Shukaku in the entire Land of Wind, had never imagined that a Tailed Beast could unleash such terrifying power.
As for the Konoha Ninja at this time, they were even more concerned about the person fighting this monster.
At the same time, a hint of doubt arose in their hearts.
What kind of battle, and which strong individual, could force such a powerful Tailed Beast to this point?
"Whoosh—!"
The wind and sand swept away, and the dust settled.
After exhausting all its strength to unleash this attack, only a very small part of Shukaku's body remained.
Its remnant body, on the verge of death, still stared intently at the desert pyramid it had collapsed.
Looking at the base of the pyramid, which had turned into a pool of molten lava, and the perfectly intact rune seal, a difficult smile finally appeared on Shukaku's raccoon-like face.
Bunpuku.
I have avenged you.
The moment that thought fell, the last part of its body finally turned into sand and dust, dissipating into the world.
The entire world seemed to fall silent at this moment.
Until…
"Phew."
"That was really dangerous."
Looking at the completely destroyed pyramid base in the distance, and Shukaku's body, which had vanished after exhausting all its Chakra, Mr. Sawara, standing far away, theatrically wiped away non-existent cold sweat from his forehead, as if he had just experienced an extremely perilous scene, sighing with emotion.
"I really owe it to you, Minato."
He said, and gratefully patted Namikaze Minato's shoulder.
"Huff huff…"
However, Namikaze Minato at this moment was truly out of breath, lying on the ground and sweating profusely, clearly having exhausted his Chakra to the extreme.
The sequence of events was simple.
As usual, everyone in the Sawara Squad carried a special three-pronged Kunai from Namikaze Minato as a locator.
The moment Shukaku unleashed its last attack, Minato had already gone back and forth using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
However, because the range was within the pyramid seal, and he himself was not in his peak state, just this few kilometers of displacement almost completely exhausted his Chakra.
Looking at Sawara Kiri, who still seemed perfectly fine, Minato gave him an annoyed glance, then said helplessly:
"You…"
Just looking at the two of them now, he seemed more like the one who had just gone through that entire great battle.
What an incredible monster.
Minato turned his head to look at him.
Although Sawara Kiri's total Chakra amount was clearly much less than at the beginning, for some reason, perhaps due to his very active life force, he still gave off the impression of being in his prime, as if he could tear another Tailed Beast apart.
'Also, Ichibi Shukaku should be the weakest of the Nine Tailed Beasts, right?'
'Could it really unleash such terrifying combat power just now?'
'Then why, on Kushina's side…'
One moment he had just experienced a brush with death, the next Minato suddenly thought of his beloved Kushina, his mind filled with thoughts of how to help her control the Nine-Tailed.
If she could be like that old monk just now, even if she had to go to the front lines of the Ninja World battlefield, she would certainly have the ability to protect herself.
As for how Kushina could gain more credit, Namikaze Minato couldn't say he didn't think about it at all, but it could also be said he didn't think about it at all.
In his heart, Kushina being able to protect herself was the most important thing.
Of course—
Namikaze Minato thought this, glancing at Sawara Kiri, who still seemed to be at ease.
—that is, in situations where he wouldn't have to confront this guy directly.
However, are there really people stronger than Kiri in the Ninja World?
A subtle question arose in his heart.
"Minato, are you rested?"
Just as Minato was thinking, Sawara Kiri patted his shoulder again, making a gesture as if to lift him up, and pointed to Sunagakure ahead:
"Everyone is still fighting; we can't fall behind."
Seeing his grinning appearance, Minato seemed to suddenly remember something, and his expression abruptly changed:
"…Wait!"
No sooner had he spoken than Sawara Kiri, to Minato's horror, hoisted him onto his shoulder, adopting a sprinting posture.
"Let's go—!"
The next moment, a series of dense sonic booms echoed behind the two of them.
In Sunagakure.
The two groups of Sand Ninja and Konoha Ninja were still unable to determine the battle situation outside due to Shukaku's final attack and its gradually dissipating figure, and they were all somewhat stunned.
Hatake Sakumo, however, seemed to have keenly sensed something, and his expression changed.
"So fast!"
"What is that?"
Almost at the same moment that thought occurred to him.
Under the night sky, a figure as dazzling as a meteor crashed into the very center of Sunagakure with a perfectly executed superhero knee-drop landing, emitting an extremely loud boom.
Feeling the Chakra that had suddenly appeared, Hatake Sakumo stood in place.
A relieved smile slowly appeared on his face.
"These two kids…"
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