"Was it successful?"
Kakashi and Obito landed lightly, both staring into the billowing smoke. The Senjutsu-enhanced ninjutsu had definitely struck Chōmei, but they needed confirmation.
A heartbeat later, an enraged bellow erupted from within the haze, making both their pupils shrink.
A violent gale blasted outward, sweeping the dust away in a single gust.
There—where the Seven-Tails hovered—blue, red, and black chakra bubbles spiraled toward its massive horn, rapidly condensing into a high-density Tailed Beast Ball.
They didn't know the exact destructive output, but the threat rolling off it was enough to make their scalps prickle.
"This guy is pissed," Obito muttered.
"Even in Sage Mode… taking that head-on means game over," Kakashi said grimly.
The two exchanged a sharp glance—and charged.
This was their window. Their only window.
Kakashi's hands blurred through seals, blue lightning erupting in his palms as he became a streak of thunder rushing toward Chōmei.
But this time, Chōmei had learned.
Swoosh!
The Tailed Beast Ball tore through the air with a deafening break of sound, firing directly at Kakashi.
"Damn—!"
The aura of death hit him first. Kakashi twisted in mid-air, narrowly avoiding the jet-black chakra sphere.
But although he escaped the direct hit, the shockwave and heat ripped his clothes apart and blasted him backwards like a rag doll.
He crashed through a building—
then another—
and finally plowed into a third before the entire structure collapsed on top of him.
Obito skidded to a halt mid-charge, horror snapping through him. He pivoted instantly, sprinting toward the ruins.
Behind him, the Tailed Beast Ball slammed into the ground.
BOOM!!!
A mountainous roar crushed the entire Takigakure valley. A colossal mushroom cloud surged skyward, the shockwave pulverizing the surrounding forest into ash.
When the cloud finally dissipated, the once-lush forest was gone—only a yawning crater remained.
"Kakashi! Answer me!"
Obito shouted toward the rubble just as a shadow burst free from the debris.
"Careless…" Kakashi muttered, disheveled and covered in dirt. Then he exhaled sharply. "We're using that technique."
Obito blinked. Kakashi—ever the cautious one—volunteering something this risky?
"You serious?"
"It's not perfected…but without it, we can't subdue this beast."
Kakashi's eyes hardened.
Obito stared at him for a moment—then nodded.
"All right. But don't slip. One mistake and we're the ones cornered."
He leapt back dozens of meters, making space.
Obito's ten fingers ignited with crimson flame—each bead flaring with a low rumble.
"Haaah!"
With a shout, he slammed both palms onto the ground, pouring chakra into the earth.
A moment later—a roaring inferno erupted outward, forming a massive blazing barrier around Chōmei.
Uchiha Flame Formation — Uchiha Karyū Enjin.
A powerful barrier technique Ryoma had once taught Obito—an enhanced form of traditional barrier ninjutsu.
In the original timeline, this was the move Obito used to shield the Gedō Mazō—a barrier so resilient that even the Eight-Tails struggled to break it.
Within the blazing ring, any attempt to force an escape resulted in the flames surging violently, burning the intruder with karmic fire born from the earth's heat.
Chōmei slammed against it—
and instantly recoiled, white smoke hissing off its carapace.
It roared furiously, but there was no breaking out.
And then—it noticed something.
Kakashi was inside the barrier with it.
Chōmei surged upward, diving toward him like a falling mountain. Its sheer mass could crush a small hill.
But Kakashi didn't panic.
Sage Mode enhanced his reactions—he flickered upward with lightning-fast body movement, evading the impact in a burst of wind.
Then—
he inhaled, throat swelling—
And fired several massive fireballs straight into the sky.
Not at Chōmei.
Into the heavens above.
BOOM!
Thunder cracked in response.
A faint grin tugged at Kakashi's lips.
It was coming together.
The searing heat of the Uchiha Flame Formation had already twisted the airflow within the barrier. Combined with Kakashi's relentless stream of Fire Release techniques, the rising thermal currents surged upward—feeding the sky until two pitch-black cumulonimbus clouds formed overhead.
This was the moment he had been preparing for.
BOOM!
Lightning cracked across the heavens. Kakashi's pupils constricted sharply.
"Now!"
He forced his battered body upward with everything Sage Mode could offer. His right hand gathered the blazing edge of Raikiri, the lightning screaming as it sharpened.
A bestial roar tore through the churning thundercloud—a sound so deep it felt like it came from the bones of the sky itself.
Bolts of blue lightning writhed wildly, converging as a colossal thunder beast ripped free of the cloud mass.
Lightning Release: Kirin—complete.
"Fall!"
With a roar, Kakashi swung Raikiri downward. The thunder beast obeyed his command, crashing from the sky like a living calamity. Its vast jaws clamped down on Chōmei, the Seven-Tails, swallowing it in a blinding cascade of blue-white lightning.
CRACK—BOOOOOOOM!
The explosion shook the very earth. Light engulfed the entire Takigakure valley, turning the barrier interior into a sea of roaring electricity.
Seconds passed.
The blue brilliance faded.
Obito lowered the barrier.
Chōmei lay collapsed on the scorched ground, its carapace blackened and smoking. Nearby, Kakashi kneeled, chest heaving, sweat and soot smearing his face.
"We did it…" Kakashi managed a tired laugh.
Obito placed a hand on his shoulder. "You never cease to surprise me, Kakashi. I set up the field—but you were the one inside it the whole time. That took guts."
Their combined tactic had worked perfectly: Obito's flame barrier had hemmed the beast in and generated the thermal updraft needed to birth thunderclouds; Kakashi's lightning strike had turned that storm into a weapon. But inside the barrier, Kakashi had faced far greater danger.
Obito bent down to help him up—
RUMBLE.
A sudden tremor rocked the ground. Both their expressions shifted instantly.
Chōmei's massive horn came crashing toward them.
"Damn—!"
They had burned almost all their chakra. They couldn't dodge.
Just as despair flashed through their minds—
A gigantic wooden humanoid appeared in an instant.
With effortless force, the towering Wood Release: Wood Human Technique pressed its palm down like someone restraining a mischievous puppy, slamming Chōmei into the earth.
BOOM!
The Tailed Beast thrashed violently—but it was meaningless. Compared to the titanic wooden construct pinning it, Chōmei looked no bigger than an insect.
Only one person could create such a scene.
"Your performance was decent," a familiar voice said, descending from above, "but you got careless at the end. I'll give you… sixty points."
Ryoma landed lightly before his two disciples, speaking like a strict instructor grading homework.
"If you'd confirmed the Seven-Tails' condition and secured it properly, you might've earned eighty."
Kakashi sighed, helpless.
"Teacher… since you were watching, couldn't you have stepped in a bit earlier? Obito and I were about to die. We're completely out of chakra. Even if we noticed the ambush, we couldn't have stopped it."
Obito nodded vigorously beside him.
They were already well into the jonin elite—practically at the cusp of Kage level.
Yet in their teacher's eyes… they were still "not quite up to standard."