Though the Tailed Beasts had never cared for the endless conflicts of humankind, they could never escape being dragged into them.
Either they were taken and used as weapons by war-hungry shinobi—men like Uchiha Madara.
Or they were feared for their overwhelming strength and sealed away by powerful shinobi.
And the one who had once subdued them so effortlessly… was none other than Senju Hashirama.
Even now, the Nine-Tails remembered those days vividly, as though they had happened yesterday.
Especially that man known as the God of Shinobi—the way he had crushed the beast's will, the way he had chained it down and sealed it.
That shadow could never be erased.
And now, looking at Senju Haruto, the Nine-Tails felt an ominous premonition stir deep within its chest.
"Y–you… bastard!"
An inexplicable dread rose inside the fox, clawing at its heart. Fear. Pure, unbidden fear.
So strong was the feeling that the Nine-Tails even stopped tugging on Naruto's chakra. Instead, it immediately gathered its strength, condensing a Tailed Beast Bomb.
Not just one—four enormous orbs of destruction took shape all at once.
The beast hurled them toward Haruto with a roar, unleashing its deadliest assault without hesitation.
Even Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina were startled by the sudden ferocity of the attack.
But before either could leap forward to help—
The entire space trembled violently. From the ground, massive wooden vines erupted upward, shooting toward the sky, twisting and weaving together.
In the blink of an eye, they grew into colossal wooden dragons that lunged at the incoming Tailed Beast Bombs.
Some swallowed the orbs whole. Others intercepted them head-on.
The blasts detonated against the dragons' bodies, ripping them apart—but the wooden constructs did not care in the slightest, defending Haruto without hesitation.
"Your power really is too strong, Nine-Tails."
Haruto's voice rumbled low as he gathered more chakra.
It wasn't that he truly believed the fox was invincible. It was more of a muttered complaint, an irrepressible jab.
After all, this scene… this was one of the most iconic moments in all of Naruto's history.
Still, Haruto could not forget one fact: this battlefield existed only within Naruto's spiritual world. His chakra here was limited.
Even in Sage Mode, his strength was suppressed to a certain extent.
His wooden dragons had managed to block only two Tailed Beast Bombs before being obliterated entirely.
Even if he summoned a Wood Golem, he doubted he could hold the Nine-Tails down for long.
And besides—
Haruto wanted to test a new technique.
Since acquiring Sage Mode, he had never once had the chance to use it.
The world of Naruto was simply too small. If he went all out in reality, he might change the very map of the continent.
But here, in this mindscape, there was no such concern.
"Sage Art: Wood Style – True Several Thousand Hands!"
The moment Haruto's voice rang out, the Nine-Tails froze.
Its pupils dilated. Its entire body stiffened.
A flood of memories surged back, crashing into its mind like a tidal wave.
This power…
This was the exact same nightmare it had endured at the hands of Senju Hashirama!
"Damn it… he really inherited that man's power!"
The Nine-Tails shuddered violently.
"Naruto! This chance will only come once. Don't waste it!" Haruto barked, turning his head to glance at the boy.
Even in his weakened state, unable to enter Sage Mode, Naruto still had the ability to rip chakra from the beast—so long as the Nine-Tails no longer resisted.
Minato and Kushina both tensed, ready to throw their full strength behind Haruto to suppress the fox and create that opportunity.
Especially after hearing his words—"only one chance"—they assumed he wasn't confident.
They thought Haruto was admitting he couldn't hold the beast for long.
But then—
The entire space expanded, swelling outward as though the very world was stretching.
The ground beneath Haruto's feet quaked, trembling harder than it ever had before. Cracks ripped across the earth in every direction, splitting open into vast chasms.
And from those fractures…
A colossal Buddha statue rose slowly, towering higher and higher into the sky.
Its size dwarfed the Nine-Tails a hundredfold.
And behind it—thousands upon thousands of arms unfurled like a halo, stretching outward in an endless sea of hands.
"Th–this… is still ninjutsu?"
Minato's voice shook.
As Fourth Hokage, he had thought he had seen everything. He had fought Uchiha Madara himself on the night of the Nine-Tails' attack, and even then, he had managed to triumph.
But the power Haruto displayed… exceeded everything he had ever known.
Kushina stood frozen, her mouth forming an "O" of shock.
Her mind reeled.
Wait—what had Haruto said earlier?
"Your power is too strong, Nine-Tails"?
Shouldn't it have been the other way around?
Shouldn't he have said: my power is too strong—you'd better watch out?
It was almost laughable.
At that moment, the Nine-Tails itself seemed to abandon all will to fight.
It did not condense another Tailed Beast Bomb.
It did not lunge forward.
It didn't even tug on Naruto's chakra anymore.
It simply crouched down where it was, wide eyes fixed on the Buddha statue as it emerged fully into view.
Its body trembled slightly, as though it had accepted its fate.
"Never thought… this jutsu would drain so much chakra."
Haruto stood atop the Buddha's head, gazing down at the Nine-Tails from above. The fox suddenly looked… so small.
"If I'm not being conservative, I could probably only use this three times before Sage Mode ends."
He muttered in frustration.
His real body had far more chakra than this projection, which meant his True Several Thousand Hands there would be even larger—and stronger.
At most, five uses, and his Sage Mode would still collapse.
Unless, of course, he supplemented it with Tailed Beast chakra.
For the first time since arriving in this world, Haruto truly felt a sense of chakra insufficiency.
But in truth—did he even need a second use?
Even Uchiha Madara, cloaked in the terrifying armor of Perfect Susanoo, had been crushed by just one round of this jutsu.
And below him, Minato and Kushina were utterly speechless.
Did Haruto… really need their help?
Could they even interfere in this battle between him and the Nine-Tails?
No—this wasn't a battle at all.
It was a massacre.
A one-sided, overwhelming beatdown.
So much so that, for some strange reason, both Minato and Kushina found themselves looking at the Nine-Tails with pity.
Especially seeing the beast crouched down, unmoving, as though it had surrendered itself to fate…
Why did it suddenly feel so heartbreaking?
"Nine-Tails!"
Haruto raised his voice deliberately, worried the fox might not hear him clearly.
The massive Buddha beneath his feet lurched forward. A thousand hands clenched into fists at once, each one drawing back and then driving forward with crushing force.
The sky seemed to darken as the storm of fists descended.
The Nine-Tails stared up at the oncoming assault.
Its entire body shivered uncontrollably.
It was trembling.
Shaking all over.
The mighty Nine-Tails… was quaking in fear.
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