The Sand Hidden Camp, now razed to the ground, was a scene of utter devastation.
Everywhere were the brutal traces of Shukaku's rampage; an entire forest had been turned into a wasteland, and the original appearance of the camp was long unrecognizable.
In the air of what was once a camp and was now a barren land, Shukaku's cold chakra still lingered, its oppressive presence not yet dissipated.
Where Shukaku had stood, a ninja in a black cloak now stood.
This person was none other than the current leader of the Sand Hidden Village, and also its most outstanding and powerful ninja—the Third Kazekage.
On the barren ground, black sand and dust were scattered. He glanced at a fainted monk lying on the ground beside him.
The monk's skin was burned all over, but his vitality was recovering at an unusual speed.
Even to the Third Kazekage, this was an incredibly astonishing sight.
"Any ordinary Jinchuriki would have died long ago... What a tenacious fellow," he muttered to himself.
Shukaku was the Tailed Beast that the Sand Hidden Village had possessed since ancient times.
However, because the Tailed Beast's power was too immense, for ordinary ninjas, let alone approaching it, just a distant glance would evoke fear from their very souls.
Therefore, it was necessary to seal the Tailed Beast within a human body using sealing jutsu, treating this human as a sacrificial Jinchuriki, to store the Tailed Beast's power and bring it out for use when necessary.
And this monk was their Sand Hidden Village's Shukaku Jinchuriki.
"Lord Kazekage!"
A large group of Sand Ninjas rushed to the scene. A rough count revealed four to five hundred people, all elite ninjas of the Sand Hidden Village.
One of the Jonin came forward. Seeing that the Jinchuriki was unharmed, he visibly relaxed and looked at the Third Kazekage with worship and respect.
The Third Kazekage nodded to these Sand Ninjas.
"As expected of Lord Kazekage, Shukaku should be calm for a while now."
Regarding the Jonin's judgment, the Third Kazekage shook his head and said, "It's not that easy. Bunbuku still refuses to cooperate. If he were willing to cooperate, I wouldn't have resorted to other means to provoke Shukaku."
Bunbuku was the monk's name.
As a Jinchuriki, he had a very good relationship with Shukaku, the Tailed Beast sealed within him. Because of this, Shukaku had been sealed very stably all these years.
However, there were also problems.
Bunbuku was compassionate and a Jinchuriki who disliked conflict.
For this reason, during the reign of the Second Kazekage, Shamon, the Second Kazekage imprisoned Bunbuku to militarize Shukaku's power, studying the Tailed Beast's power within him and developing a series of Magnet Release ninjutsu.
Even so, Bunbuku did not yield to the Second Kazekage.
After the Second Kazekage Shamon passed away, his disciple, the Third Kazekage, succeeded him and naturally inherited the former Kazekage's will, pondering how to militarize the Tailed Beast.
This time was an attempt to use the Tailed Beast's power to catch Konoha off guard and plunder the rich resources of the Land of Fire.
However, the effect was not very good. Due to Bunbuku's non-cooperation, Shukaku's mood had been very unstable recently. If he hadn't sensed a problem with the sealing formula, he wouldn't have rushed here immediately to reseal the rampaging Shukaku back into the Jinchuriki's body.
"What do we do next, Lord Kazekage?" the Jonin asked.
"Never mind the Jinchuriki for now. There will always be a way to make this stubborn fellow Bunbuku cooperate. But what's the situation with the Konoha ninjas appearing here?"
Suppressing Shukaku didn't take much effort, as his ninjutsu was developed precisely for that purpose.
Compared to the exposure of Shukaku's location, the sudden attack by Konoha ninjas was, in the Third Kazekage's opinion, the crucial point.
Deploying a Tailed Beast to the battlefield had to be done covertly to crush the Konoha ninjas with lightning speed and invade the heart of the Land of Fire.
"We don't know either. Those Konoha ninjas just suddenly attacked," the answering Jonin replied with a grim expression.
The Tailed Beast matter should be of utmost importance, with no possibility of leakage.
"Thoroughly re-investigate the personnel here," the Third Kazekage ordered.
"Yes!" The Jonin nodded seriously.
At present, the possibility of an insider in the village was higher.
"Oh, and what about those Konoha ninjas?"
"Don't worry, when I arrived, I had already dispatched a unit to pursue and kill those Konoha ninjas. I believe we will receive good news very soon."
The Third Kazekage gazed calmly into the distance, full of confidence in the Sand Ninjas sent to pursue the Konoha ninjas.
The Jonin nodded and instructed the fainted monk to be carried on someone's shoulder.
"Then, Lord Kazekage, I will go and re-settle the Jinchuriki first."
"Go. Afterwards, I will appropriately increase the guard's strength. No more accidents this time."
"Yes!"
◎
Land of Rivers, at the bottom of a forest cliff gorge.
"Ah!"
After plunging a kunai into the enemy's chest, Shiraishi gasped heavily, took a step back, and then wearily sat on the ground, clutching his blood-red side.
"These guys are really tough... Wind Blades, huh?"
Easily leaving such deep and long cuts on his body, which had been enhanced by natural energy, the Wind Blades, a common ninjutsu of Sand Hidden elite ninjas, were indeed incredibly sharp.
Shiraishi frowned, and a faint green light flickered around the hand covering his side, beginning to heal the wound.
Beside him, Ruri and Ayane also sat, gasping for breath, their clothes covered in dust, consuming soldier pills to restore their chakra.
Around them, twenty-one Sand Ninjas lay in pools of blood, with kunai and shuriken scattered everywhere.
Among them, three Jonin led the team, and the rest were all Chunin.
Annihilating this unit here came at a heavy price for Shiraishi and his two companions.
Shiraishi healed the wound on his side and rummaged through his ninja pouch. It was almost empty, with only two sealing scrolls and a test tube for collecting Shukaku's chakra remaining.
"Are there any soldier pills left?"
Using taijutsu didn't consume chakra, but medical ninjutsu did, and his ninja pouch was already out of soldier pills.
Even if he were to make them on the spot, he would have to consider the Sand Ninjas who might attack again at any moment.
"None left. That was the last one just now," Ayane replied apologetically.
Ruri also shook her head. The main purpose of soldier pills was to satisfy hunger; restoring chakra was only for emergencies.
Even the special soldier pills made by Shiraishi could only restore a limited amount of chakra.
Shiraishi sighed helplessly and struggled to get up, walking towards the fallen Sand Ninjas to see if their ninja pouches contained any usable equipment.
He was in luck. He checked the first corpse, and its ninja pouch still contained a few undamaged kunai and two explosive tags.
Shiraishi put all of these into his own ninja pouch.
Suddenly, a fallen Sand Ninja abruptly opened his eyes, sharp wind swirling around his hand, and swung a Wind Blade towards Shiraishi's body.
Shiraishi was startled, not expecting someone to be playing dead here.
Without thinking, he twisted his body, and a few strands of hair floated down.
A cold sweat broke out on Shiraishi's face as he rolled clumsily away.
The Sand Ninja, taking advantage of the situation, covered in blood and with a ferocious, ghastly expression, charged at Shiraishi.
Boom!
A fireball struck.
The Sand Ninja had no time to defend, struggling and roaring in the flames, before finally collapsing weakly, turning into a charred corpse.
Ruri took a deep breath, looking even more exhausted.
That last fireball had almost completely depleted her remaining chakra.
Further chakra depletion would be fatal.
"Idiot, you couldn't even tell the difference between a dead person and a living one."
"Sorry."
Shiraishi awkwardly got up from the ground, patting the dust off his clothes.
He continued to search the bodies, but with the previous lesson in mind, Shiraishi was much more cautious when doing so.
Before touching each corpse, he would throw a kunai to ensure no one was playing dead.
Fortunately, this worry was unnecessary; only the one just now hadn't died completely among these Sand Ninjas.
In the end, Shiraishi acquired a total of forty to fifty kunai and shuriken, sixteen soldier pills, and about ten explosive tags.
He brought these to Ruri and Ayane, who were too exhausted to move, and began to distribute the spoils.
Ruri and Ayane didn't stand on ceremony, mainly because this time had been too rough.
Of the sixteen soldier pills, Shiraishi and Ayane each took four, while Ruri, whose ninjutsu were all high-consumption, took half.
The three immediately consumed the soldier pills on the spot to replenish their chakra.
Once recovered, Shiraishi prepared to use healing jutsu to treat Ruri and Ayane's wounds.
"No need. These are just minor injuries; we can bear with them," Ruri said, picking up a white bandage and skillfully wrapping her bleeding calves and arms. Even though the pain from the wounds was deep, she didn't even frown.
"Ruri's right. Our situation isn't completely safe yet, and these injuries won't affect our combat strength for now. There's no need to waste chakra."
Ayane nodded, mimicking Ruri by wrapping her wounds with medical bandages, just enough to stop the bleeding.
"Alright then."
Shiraishi didn't insist.
A cold wind swept through the valley, blowing directly at them, making the three of them instinctively clutch their collars, feeling a chill.
To slow down the Sand Ninjas' pursuit, the three took a long detour, entering the river valley gorge in the Land of Rivers.
The terrain here was complex, the environment harsh, and the top was covered in thick mist.
Up close, it was white mist, but deep within the mist, it was pitch black, like a giant black hole swirling above their heads.
The three rested for a while, finally recovering some stamina, and began to search for an exit.
All around were damp rock walls. The further they walked, the darker the environment became, with cold, thick mist filling the deep valley, chilling their skin.
The three walked on in silence, not saying a word.
Mainly, they didn't want to waste unnecessary energy; at such a time, every bit of stamina they could conserve was beneficial.
Ayane, using the chakra restored by the soldier pills, activated her Byakugan.
In such a dim environment, there were actually very few visible objects, but she could determine if anyone was ambushing them based on the flow of chakra through their circulatory system.
"Someone's coming. It must be the Sand Ninjas," Ayane stopped and said.
Shiraishi and Ruri merely exhaled softly, saying nothing.
"How many?" Ruri asked after a moment of silence.
"Eleven."
"I have a way to deal with them all at once, Ayane. Find a narrow passage for me. We'll annihilate them there."
Ruri's words surprised Shiraishi and Ayane.
But seeing the confident look on Ruri's face, Ayane chose to believe she had such an ability.
"I understand."
The Sand Ninjas were still some distance away, which gave them enough time to find a narrow passage.
Although she didn't know Ruri's exact method, as the core combatant among the three, Ruri wouldn't be the type to exaggerate.
Soon, Ayane found a narrow passage with only two small paths, front and back, for travel. Both sides were jagged, towering rock walls, blocking any retreat.
"Is this suitable?"
"It's enough. How much longer until they arrive?" Ruri's expression was solemn, as if she had made up her mind.
"At this speed, about two more minutes."
"Remind me at the ten-second mark."
Ayane nodded in agreement.
Shiraishi frowned. Although he trusted Ruri's strength, he had never heard of Ruri practicing more powerful ninjutsu, nor had any information been revealed before.
Therefore, Shiraishi was skeptical of Ruri's method of dealing with an elite Sand Ninja unit all at once.
However, for now, he could only hope Ruri's method would work.
Time passed by, second by second, with Ruri standing at the very front.
Her stern posture, standing firm like a flower on a ridge against a storm, was more admirable than anything else.
"They're here!" Ayane announced as the final ten seconds arrived.
Ruri didn't hesitate and began to form hand signs, a very standard set for Fire Release jutsu.
She gathered all her chakra and natural energy in her mouth, forcing them to merge without a safe experiment.
Then, Ruri felt an incredibly terrifying energy fill her entire body.
This powerful sensation was a strength Ruri had never experienced before.
As she had thought, although the guiding experiment for natural energy was completed by Shiraishi, in the application of this energy, Ruri believed she had already surpassed Shiraishi, the experiment's developer.
It was precisely because of this that she had the confidence, without the prerequisite of a safe experiment, to merge her remaining chakra and natural energy, forming the power-doubling Sage Mode chakra.
"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"
"Wait, Ruri—"
Shiraishi discovered the problem.
With Ruri's current chakra, it was simply insufficient to unleash a large-scale Fire Style attack like Great Fire Annihilation.
If the chakra supply was insufficient, it would not only reduce the jutsu's power but also potentially backfire on the user.
However, by the time the sea of fire appeared, Shiraishi's voice was already drowned out.
And even if she heard it, Ruri had no intention of following Shiraishi's method.
She wasn't good at methodology and experiments, but in combat, she would not submit to anyone.
The torrent of flames, surging like a tsunami deep within the valley, took on the form of a devouring beast. The area, previously filled with cold air, immediately gave one the illusion of being in a scorching hell.
The group of Sand Ninjas, before even encountering their enemies, were instantly terrified, their minds blank.
There was no escaping.
There was no resisting.
The darkness was being consumed by fire.
The air here became distorted, a terrifying sight caused by the extreme heat.
Time fell into a deathly silence, with only the surging sound of the sea of fire spitting out its fiery tongues.
The skin-cracking high temperature continued to intensify, and the sea of fire continued to grow in the narrow space, relentlessly devouring all living things in its path.
Standing beside Ruri, Shiraishi and Ayane couldn't help but gasp for air, only to find their throats felt as if scalding boiling water had poured in, becoming constricted and painful.
The rock walls, scoured by the sea of fire, had turned into glowing, reddish, flame-like crystals.
And in front, the eleven Sand Ninjas, who had no escape route, had already been reduced to ashes, their bodies nowhere to be found, cremated into thin air.