Watching Hoshiyomi and Minato standing before them — mostly Hoshiyomi — the people there were positively fanatical.
To them, Hoshiyomi's arrival meant salvation.
A famous name casts a long shadow: everything Hoshiyomi had done over the years had completely won over the people of Konoha. In their eyes he was almost the equal of the First Hokage, Hashirama — worshipped like a deity.
Even in the darkest moment, seeing Hoshiyomi was enough to instill hope. He didn't need to do anything spectacular; merely standing there reassured people and rekindled their fighting spirit.
Because he was Gekko Hoshiyomi — the man who time and again had turned the tide alone and produced miracles.
Seeing the fanatical looks in everyone's eyes, Hiruzen, who was gasping for breath nearby, shook his head somewhat helplessly. Compared to Hoshiyomi, he, a former Kage, really felt humble as dust.
Even so, there was no trace of jealousy or dissatisfaction in Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart. Why would he be dissatisfied?
His years of retirement had allowed him to see himself clearly—he truly wasn't suited for that position. Now that a suitable successor existed, he should feel comforted.
Besides, Hoshiyomi was someone he had personally nurtured and discovered. He was too proud to feel jealous.
The cheers of the crowd here clearly made the Nine-Tails extremely displeased. I'm still here, and they're cheering so loudly! They're showing absolutely no respect for me, the King of Tailed Beasts and the embodiment of destruction!
With that thought, the Nine-Tails roared and extended a claw, slamming it heavily towards the nearby Hoshiyomi. You cheer because of him? Then I'll smash him into meat paste. Let's see if you can still be so smug.
Watching the Nine-Tails' massive claw descending like a shroud, Tsunade, though believing Hoshiyomi would be fine, couldn't help but tense up and shout out of wifely concern:
"Hoshiyomi, be careful!"
Hoshiyomi turned his head and gave Tsunade a smile. He didn't even glance at the Nine-Tails as he casually drew the Mikazuki Munechika from his waist.
The casually swung Mikazuki Munechika met the Nine-Tails' claw head-on. Not only were the onlookers stunned, even the Nine-Tails itself was taken aback.
Clang!
The casually swung Mikazuki Munechika met the Nine-Tails' claw head-on. Not only were the onlookers stunned, even the Nine-Tails itself was taken aback.
That small knife, which looked smaller than a toothpick to the Tailed Beast, actually blocked my claw? This human... he's got something.
But what was even more astonishing came next.
After blocking the Nine-Tails' claw, Hoshiyomi didn't foolishly try to match its strength. He leaped backward and casually unleashed a sword energy
The Nine-Tails looked at the sword energy with disdain. In its view, such a thing couldn't possibly harm the great Nine-Tails. It raised its claw to swat the energy away.
Unexpectedly, the moment its claw met the sword energy, blood suddenly spurted from its paw.
Stung, the Nine-Tails howled in pain toward the sky, its eyes filled with disbelief. How is this possible? This human's attack actually hurt me?
The villagers of Konoha, watching from afar, couldn't help but look at each other. They had risked their lives and couldn't even pluck a single hair from the Nine-Tails, yet Hoshiyomi had made it bleed with a casual slash.
Is the gap between Lord Hoshiyomi and the rest of us truly this vast?
On the other side, the Nine-Tails, having finished its howling, lowered its head and stared fixedly at Hoshiyomi with its blood-red eyes. This damned human, I must make him pay the price.
Thinking this, the chakra around the Nine-Tails suddenly flared intensely. The mere chakra spilling out created a terrifying chakra storm around it.
The Nine-Tails, looking at Hoshiyomi before it, opened its great maw and began rapidly gathering Yin-Yang Release chakra.
Seeing the Tailed Beast Bomb coalescing in the Nine-Tails' mouth, the expressions of the Konoha villagers instantly grew tense. While Lord Hoshiyomi could handle the Nine-Tails' ordinary attacks, could he really deal with a Tailed Beast Bomb?
Minato, who had been observing beside Hoshiyomi, saw the Nine-Tails beginning to gather the Tailed Beast Bomb and hurriedly prepared to use the second stage of the Flying Thunder God, the Flying Thunder God Guiding Thunder
Hoshiyomi, however, raised a hand to stop him:
"No need for that trouble. I'll handle this one myself," Hoshiyomi said calmly.
"You focus on moving the Nine-Tails out of the village. That's the most important thing right now. Once it's outside, we can fight without restraint."
As he spoke, Hoshiyomi's thoughts moved, and in the next instant he entered Perfect Sage Mode. His left hand summoned the Grass Long Sword, Kusanagi Blade, which flew swiftly toward him.
Stepping onto the Grass Long Sword, Kusanagi Blade, Hoshiyomi soared into the air until he was level with the Nine-Tails' head, then began unleashing waves of sword energy.
Although the Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb was stronger than any other beast's, it still required time to fully form. If Hoshiyomi disrupted it before completion, the attack would fizzle before it could unleash its full power.
Having already interrupted such attacks three times before, Hoshiyomi was well-practiced. Under his Phantom Sword Dance, the forming sphere of chakra burst apart midair, detonating before it could stabilize.
The explosion enraged the Nine-Tails even further. It went completely berserk, wildly attacking Hoshiyomi. But Hoshiyomi — master of Shunpo and Dance of the Startled Swan — moved with effortless grace, dodging every blow as if toying with the beast.
Just then, Minato completed the preparations for teleporting the Nine-Tails. After giving Hoshiyomi a signal, Minato's large-scale Flying Thunder God Formation was activated, instantly transporting both the Nine-Tails and Hoshiyomi out of Konoha and onto the vast wilderness outside the village.
The Nine-Tails blinked in confusion as its surroundings abruptly changed, but the moment it spotted Hoshiyomi again — that human it hated to its core — it forgot everything else and charged straight at him.
Hoshiyomi, who had held back inside the village to avoid collateral damage, had been frustrated for a while. Seeing the Nine-Tails attack him again, he finally stopped restraining himself. Raising his sword, he sent out a massive arc of sword energy.
The slash slipped past the beast's claw and struck its exposed belly, bursting open a great spray of blood.
But that wasn't all. Hoshiyomi didn't retreat — instead, he surged forward, pouring more chakra into the Grass Long Sword, Kusanagi Blade as he closed the distance, slashing again and again.
Each strike, empowered by Perfect Sage Mode, carried devastating power. In the blink of an eye, Hoshiyomi had carved several deep gashes into the Nine-Tails' body.
This time, the beast's roars were no longer for show — they were genuine screams of agony.
The power of Hoshiyomi's blades made the Nine-Tails howl in pain, and for the first time in ages, it felt a chilling sense of déjà vu —
the same fear it once knew under the domination of a man named Senju Hashirama.