Chapter 96: Crushing the Nine-Tails, Splitting It in Two
"Wood Release! Who the hell are you?!"
The Nine-Tails raised its head and looked up at Ling Yu floating in the sky. Its emotions were extremely agitated, and shock was clearly visible in its eyes.
It finally understood why it felt such a familiar sensation from Ling Yu—he could use the very same Wood Release that had once suppressed it completely. The immense life force radiating from him was exactly like Hashirama Senju's from decades ago—even stronger.
"Remember my name—Senju Ling Yu. This will be your nightmare from now on."
Floating in the air, Ling Yu looked down at the Nine-Tails with pure disdain and spoke arrogantly.
"Senju Ling Yu? Another damn Senju!"
Seeing the contempt in Ling Yu's eyes, the Nine-Tails erupted in fury. Its massive body began thrashing wildly.
But right now, it was tightly bound by the incredibly tough Wood Release. The branches continued to drain its chakra nonstop, and the paralyzing toxins hidden in the pollen were taking effect.
The Nine-Tails could clearly feel its power slowly being weakened. If this continued, it would definitely be captured alive.
A ruthless glint flashed in its eyes. The Tailed Beast Ball began forming in its mouth once again—but this time, the target wasn't the enemy. It was itself.
BOOM!
A massive explosion rang out.
The Wood Release binding its body was shattered. The Nine-Tails broke free, leaped high into the air, and escaped the range of the Advent of a World of Flowering Trees. It landed on all fours, baring its teeth and cautiously watching Ling Yu.
Even with the Nine-Tails' powerful defenses, the Tailed Beast Ball—known as the strongest attack of tailed beasts—still caused it considerable damage. Its entire body still throbbed painfully from the blast.
"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"
Seeing the Nine-Tails use such a method to escape the Wood Release bindings, Ling Yu was slightly surprised but still sneered coldly.
He formed hand seals again. Countless thick trees erupted from the ground and rapidly coalesced. In moments, a hundred-meter-tall wooden giant appeared in the center of the battlefield.
At the same time, a thick wooden dragon formed on the giant's arm. Once fully formed, it shot toward the Nine-Tails like a released arrow.
The Nine-Tails' pupils shrank. It dodged nimbly, narrowly avoiding the wooden dragon's charge—but a sharp, piercing sound came from behind, making its fur stand on end.
It whipped around violently. The Nine-Tails brought its tails in front of its body to block the incoming attack, but Ling Yu's strike was too fast. Before the tails could fully protect it, the enormous wooden fist had already smashed into its head.
BANG!
The first clash between two titans ended with the Nine-Tails being blasted away by Ling Yu's wooden giant. It flew hundreds of meters through the air before crashing into the barrier. The incredibly sturdy Four Red Yang Formation actually bulged outward from the impact.
The entire barrier had now become an arena for Ling Yu and the Nine-Tails.
"ROAR—Senju Ling Yu! I'm going to kill you!"
Rising furiously, the Nine-Tails once again felt the terror of being suppressed by Wood Release. A massive Tailed Beast Ball began forming in its mouth. In an instant, a purple-black sphere fifty meters in diameter appeared.
Among the nine tailed beasts, the Nine-Tails possessed the largest chakra reserves. Otherwise, in the original story, Naruto wouldn't have used the Nine-Tails as a living battery to give the Allied Shinobi Forces the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode buff. Even after Ling Yu had already absorbed part of its chakra, it could still unleash such an enormous attack.
"This is bad. A Tailed Beast Ball of this size—if it hits the barrier, the Four Red Yang Formation won't hold. Konoha itself could suffer damage."
The Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball had exceeded everyone's expectations. If this attack struck, everything within several kilometers would be obliterated by the explosion.
They could only pray that Ling Yu could stop the Tailed Beast Ball and prevent it from reaching Konoha behind them.
"Susanoo!"
The instant before the Tailed Beast Ball could hit him, Ling Yu activated his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. Golden tengu armor enveloped the wooden giant.
"Draw Sword – Slash!"
The hundreds-of-meters-tall armored giant drew the Totsuka Blade from its waist. With terrifying sword pressure, it swung horizontally toward the Tailed Beast Ball at blinding speed—like a streak of light.
Slash—
Under Ling Yu's Draw Sword – Slash, the gigantic Tailed Beast Ball was cleaved in half. A massive explosion erupted. At the same time the blade sliced through the Tailed Beast Ball, a hundreds-of-meters-wide golden sword wave burst from the edge of the blade.
The sword wave continued onward with undiminished power, rushing straight toward the Nine-Tails. Terrified of taking the attack head-on, the Nine-Tails leaped away.
But it still couldn't completely avoid it. The sword wave sliced off two of the Nine-Tails' tails without any resistance and also cut through the Four Red Yang Formation, causing backlash to Jiraiya and the others maintaining it.
"Pfft—This is the power of the Uchiha clan… Impossible! Why does Senju Ling Yu possess the Uchiha clan's Sharingan?!"
Danzō spat out a mouthful of blood. Being the closest, he suffered the strongest backlash. His already injured body was now in even worse condition. His pupils trembled with disbelief.
"Sharingan…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi also showed shock, then his expression grew grave. Looking at the imposing figure of Ling Yu on the battlefield, he fell into deep thought.
"ROAR—"
Injured by the sword wave, the Nine-Tails let out a pained howl. The agony of losing its tails made it roll wildly on the ground. It didn't even notice that the barrier behind it had disappeared.
"Wood Release: All Bag Technique!"
Taking advantage of this opening, Ling Yu used Wood Release once again.
In the next moment, several giant hands burst from the ground and firmly restrained the Nine-Tails' four limbs and remaining tails. The wooden dragon also emerged from the side and wrapped around the Nine-Tails' entire body.
With the Nine-Tails now completely pinned down, Ling Yu dispersed Susanoo from the wooden giant. To be extra safe, he had the wooden giant's hands press down on the Nine-Tails once more.
This time—the Nine-Tails had been thoroughly captured alive by Ling Yu.
Jumping down from the wooden giant's head, Ling Yu landed on top of the Nine-Tails. He opened his Rinnegan and stared straight into the Nine-Tails' furious eyes, invading its mind.
Inside the Tailed Beast space
"Who the hell are you? Why do you have those eyes? And what exactly do you want now that you've entered my body?"
The Nine-Tails furiously questioned Ling Yu, who had suddenly appeared inside its space and was now firmly controlling it with the Rinnegan.
"Didn't I already tell you? I will be your nightmare from now on. As for what I'm about to do—you'll find out very soon."
Floating in front of the Nine-Tails, Ling Yu activated his Perfect Susanoo once more. He drew the Totsuka Blade and pointed the sword directly at the Nine-Tails in front of him.
"System—is it okay to cut here?"
At the same time, Ling Yu asked the system in his mind.
Ding! No matter how much you cut, the system can fulfill the host's request. The required exchange points will depend on how much you cut.
"Exchange points, huh? I've got plenty. Let's cut it in half then."
Ending the conversation with the system, Ling Yu controlled Susanoo to raise the Totsuka Blade high. Under the Nine-Tails' horrified gaze, he swung down with full force.
Slash!
In the next instant, the Nine-Tails was cleaved in two by the sharp Totsuka Blade. The severed body instantly transformed into two massive deep-red flames.
The two flames writhed and condensed frantically. It looked as though they were about to form two separate Nine-Tails.
Seizing the perfect moment, Ling Yu controlled Susanoo to reach out and grab one of the flames, pulling it directly into his system space.
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