After the previous attack by Deidara and Sasori, the condition of the Seven-Tails' jinchūriki had already been unstable. No one expected that this time the seal would outright rupture, triggering a full tailed-beast transformation inside the village.
"Don't look at me—I'm just a researcher." Feeling Tsunade's stare, Orochimaru shifted his gaze and shrugged with deliberate indifference.
Hearing that, Ryoma frowned. Troubles really never came alone.
Just after settling the matter of the Stone of Gelel, a fully transformed tailed beast appeared in another region, as though an invisible hand were deliberately orchestrating each disaster.
"Did anyone already head there?" Ryoma asked.
"Yes. Kakashi and Obito happened to be on assignment nearby, and they were the first to report the situation to me," Tsunade answered at once. "They should've reached Takigakure by now."
"It's those two brats, huh?"
Ryoma raised a brow. Originally, he'd planned to handle the unruly little beast himself.
But the moment he heard Kakashi and Obito were already en route to Takigakure, Ryoma's previous intentions disappeared.
This incident would serve perfectly as a field test for both disciples.
Since he had placed a little insurance inside their forehead protectors earlier, Ryoma closed his eyes and immediately sensed the current state of the two…
Takigakure—once peaceful and quiet—had fallen into chaos. Screams and wails filled the air.
A massive monster hovered above the village, unleashing devastation below.
Chōmei, the Seven-Tails, was enormous like the other tailed beasts—shaped like a giant armored beetle with six wings and a long tail. The metallic sheen of its shell and the great horns on its head reflected the sun like polished steel.
With a thunderous flap of its massive wings, a blast of wind roared outward, cracking like compressed air exploding. In an instant, Chōmei surged forward nearly a kilometer and descended upon the heart of the village.
Boom!
The moment the Seven-Tails struck the ground, the earth caved several meters downward. Shocks rippled outward in visible waves, tearing through more than ten streets.
The ground quaked violently. Buildings collapsed in rapid succession.
Most Takigakure shinobi clutched their ears and staggered; the creature's sonic shockwaves left them half-deaf and disoriented. The stronger jōnin barely maintained their footing, while the weaker genin swayed like drunkards about to collapse.
"Not good! The Seven-Tails has completely rampaged! Evacuate the civilians—now!" a Taki shinobi shouted as he pushed his comrades into motion.
Dozens of Takigakure shinobi launched ninjutsu and weapons toward Chōmei, but a mere flap of its wings unleashed another violent hurricane. Their jutsu scattered. Their kunai and shuriken spun back uselessly.
Their attacks weren't even enough to make Chōmei notice.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Two voices cut through the chaos from above. Twin fireballs—far larger than any the Taki shinobi had produced—slammed into Chōmei's shell, eliciting a sharp, screeching roar.
Two figures descended.
One wore a masked face beneath silver hair. The other had short black hair, with three tomoe spinning within his blood-red Sharingan. Both wore Konoha forehead protectors, their cloaks flickering in the rushing wind.
"Leave things here to us. Evacuate the civilians!"
Kakashi called out sternly without turning back.
"That's Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Obito!"
The Taki jōnin instantly recognized them. As Ryoma's disciples, those two were far more active than the quiet, low-key Rin, and had already made names for themselves in high-level missions.
Knowing they would only hinder the fight, the Taki shinobi retreated immediately to guide civilians away.
ROAR!!
Agitated by the earlier fireballs, Chōmei reared back and bellowed.
Basketball-sized chakra bullets materialized around its body.
"Whoosh! Sou! Sou!"
The projectiles fired in rapid succession—
A barrage of chakra shells fired out like a rapid-fire cannon. Seeing this, Kakashi and Obito instantly slammed their palms onto the ground.
Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall.
A massive earthen bulwark surged upward, shielding the area behind them.
The exploding chakra shells blanketed the battlefield in a radius of several hundred meters.
When the smoke thinned, Kakashi glanced back—everything outside their protected zone had been reduced to scorched ruin. Entire blocks were vaporized into ash. The shockwave tore past, making his cloak snap with a sharp crack.
"Damn it!"
Lightning burst from Kakashi's palm, reshaping into a feral electric form.
"Lightning Release: Thunder Tiger Rampage!"
A massive lightning beast—its wolf-like frame easily two meters tall—sprang forward from Kakashi's hand, eyes glowing crimson as it charged like a predator scenting prey.
Obito formed seals, inhaling deeply.
Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flame!
A roaring tide of fire swept across the battlefield, surging toward Chōmei with overwhelming heat.
But the Seven-Tails only showed disdain.
A flash of chakra flickered across its massive horn. The horn extended abruptly—sharp and gleaming like a chakra-forged blade—as it swept forward.
The thunder wolf shattered instantly.
The firestorm broke apart in a violent explosion of embers.
The sweeping horn narrowly grazed both Kakashi and Obito, then carved through a distant building nearly three hundred meters away, slicing the structure cleanly in half before it toppled with a thunderous crash.
"Holy— that was way too close…" Obito exhaled, a bead of cold sweat rolling down his temple. Without his Sharingan's dynamic vision, that strike would've cut him clean through.
"Are you done refining?" Kakashi asked without looking away from the raging beast.
"Almost. You?"
"It's been done. Just waiting for you."
As they spoke, orange pigmentation spread around their eyes. Both had entered Sage Mode.
Across from them, Chōmei sensed the shift. Its six wings vibrated wildly—preparing to shoot into the air and regain distance.
"Don't think so!"
In a single step, Kakashi vanished—an arrow released from a taut bowstring.
Blue lightning tore from his palm, screeching like a piercing wind. The air screamed as the concentrated chakra drilled forward.
"Chidori!"
Though Kakashi's body was tiny compared to Chōmei's massive frame, the impact was staggering.
His strike slammed into the tailed beast's armored shell, forcing its enormous form to stumble backward. Lightning surged into Chōmei's body, and the Seven-Tails shrieked in pain.
Obito arrived a heartbeat later, ramming his full weight into the wobbling giant.
Chōmei lost balance entirely and crashed to the ground, the impact fracturing the earth in every direction.
Obito leapt upward, hands flashing through seals.
Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!
A massive serpentine inferno erupted from his mouth, engulfing Chōmei where it lay.
The explosion shook the entire village.
Smoke and dust blasted skyward in a towering pillar, swallowing the battlefield whole.