Chapter 124: The Second Great Ninja War Begins
The wide-open desert clearing, while spared from the raging sandstorm due to the presence of the One-Tails, Shukaku, was nonetheless an oppressive environment.
The dim, yellowish light that pierced the sand, the low wind-howl seeping in from the surrounding storm, and the savage roars emanating from Shukaku in the sealing array—all combined to press down on the people within, creating a suffocating and stressful atmosphere.
A middle-aged woman wearing a windproof robe, standing near the Tailed Beast Sealing Array, frowned slightly as she watched the unrestrained Shukaku within. Her thin lips delivered a cold, absolute command: "Even if you must pour in your very life force, the One-Tails must be kept here today! Hold on until the Kazekage arrives, and you will be the heroes who bring about the rise of the Land of Wind, a source of pride for your families and friends!"
The ninja seated at the array's nodal points were invigorated by her words. Without further hesitation, they cried out in affirmation.
Pfft, pfft, pfft—
Blood, vividly red and striking, sprayed from the noses, mouths, and all seven orifices of the seated Sealing Squad ninja. Immediately afterward, wisps of pale-blue, pure life force and spiritual energy continuously escaped from their bodies, mouths, and noses. These gathered into streams of pale-blue energy, transforming into the purest chakra, which was then injected into the sealing array beneath them.
Smelling the increasingly thick scent of blood in the air, the middle-aged woman sighed softly. She knew that the pale-blue energy escaping the Sealing Squad ninja was their very life force and spiritual energy. Having lost it, these ninja would not live long.
A look of faint regret and worry crossed the woman's brow as she watched the ninja sacrifice their lives one by one. After all, training a single Sealing Squad ninja was an exceptionally difficult process that required considerable resources.
If they were to fail again at this final hurdle...
She lifted her head, looking at the arrogant Tailed Beast in the sealing array. Usually wise and calm, even she felt her composure threatened.
Suddenly, the middle-aged woman sensed a familiar aura. Her spirit instantly jolted, and she turned to look behind her.
A line of sixteen powerful Suna ninja were sprinting toward them from a high sand dune. Leading the group was the long-awaited Second Kazekage, Hōsai Nagai.
She let out a heavy sigh of relief.
Hōsai Nagai stopped beside the woman, his deep eyes fixed on the One-Tails in the array, his gaze complex and unreadable.
The woman calmed herself and said with a tone of relief: "If you had arrived a moment later, years of effort would have been wasted. Gathering the resources for another Tailed Beast Sealing Array would require an unimaginable amount of effort and cost! The Sealing Squad's strength is still too weak. Have the men you brought relieve them and take turns entering the array!"
Hōsai Nagai regained his focus. He glanced at the seated Sealing Squad ninja, who were bleeding from their orifices, with a few already having exhausted their life force and passed on. He answered decisively: "Understood, Lady Chiyo!"
The Second Kazekage gestured to the fifteen Suna Jōnin behind him. The fifteen men quickly moved behind the Sealing Squad ninja, taking their positions and one by one replacing the exhausted members.
Chiyo's gaze remained focused on the array's changes.
As the original Sealing Squad ninja were replaced, the fifteen powerful Jōnin brought by the Second Kazekage began to pour their surging chakra into the Tailed Beast Sealing Array. The array's restraint and sealing power grew stronger and stronger, causing the previously playful One-Tails, Shukaku, to let out roars of frustrated rage.
Sound waves echoed through the desert, and the Tailed Beast's savage presence swirled in the air, but none of it disturbed Chiyo's or Hōsai Nagai's concentration.
After the fifteen Suna Jōnin had completely replaced the original squad, the entire enormous array, nearly a hundred meters in diameter, emitted a slight tremor. Every line, every esoteric jutsu formula on the array, began to glow with a shimmering, pale-blue chakra light.
Hōsai Nagai looked toward the Land of Wind's strongest sealing and puppetry expert, Chiyo, who was also the original designer of this Tailed Beast Sealing Array.
Chiyo offered a satisfied smile and nodded at the Second Kazekage.
Then, she walked to the most crucial nodal point of the Sealing Array, sat down, and instantly unleashed a powerful surge of aura and chakra from her body.
With Chiyo in position, the massive, intricate Sealing Array seemed to have life instantly breathed into it, waking up like an enormous, fierce beast.
The entire grand array let out another low tremor. The pressure and restraint placed upon the One-Tails, Shukaku, instantly increased severalfold. The sheer, sudden force pushed its massive body downward, making it sink slightly.
Chiyo sat at the nodal point, slowly extending her hands from beneath her robe and placing them in front of her. In the next instant, a series of intricate and complex hand signs were rapidly woven, leaving trails of afterimages.
The array, glowing with pale-blue chakra, was now being infused with chakra simultaneously by fifteen Suna Jōnin. Under Chiyo's control, this astonishing power was channeled, unleashing a terrifying force many times stronger than before.
One by one, thick, solid, deep-blue chakra giant hands, each the thickness of several people joined, swarmed out of the Sealing Array.
Unlike before, these chakra hands were thicker and more condensed. On one of the deep-blue, materialized arms, one could even clearly see the bulging, snake-like blood vessels and chakra pathways.
The entire array, nearly a hundred meters wide, seemed to connect to a bottomless swamp. A total of ten deep-blue chakra hands, controlled by Chiyo and working with the array's powerful restraining force, slowly dragged the still-roaring and rampaging One-Tails into the Sealing Array.
As Shukaku's giant body was pulled inch by inch into the array, the Tailed Beast's terrifying, savage aura and chakra rapidly weakened, becoming powerless.
When the last segment of its tail vanished, the Suna ninja at the scene only heard a final, angry, frustrated roar echoing in the air, which gradually faded away.
In that instant, the sandstorm disaster across the entire southern Land of Wind abruptly trembled, as if losing its source and strength, and slowly dissipated, revealing a clear sky.
The Host and the Declaration
Around the Tailed Beast Sealing Array.
Seeing the One-Tails, Shukaku, fully sealed within the array, Chiyo's face lit up with joy. She called out loudly: "Kazekage-sama!"
Hōsai Nagai's eyes were stern. His body shook, and the aura and chakra of a Kage-level master surged from his form.
He tore open his upper robe, exposing his muscular chest and well-defined abdominal muscles.
Surprisingly, his naturally tanned abdomen was covered by a complex sealing array that spanned his entire midsection. A closer look revealed that the array was a miniaturized version of the massive Tailed Beast Sealing Array in the desert clearing.
Seeing that Hōsai Nagai was ready, Chiyo did not hesitate or delay. Her hands, weaving hand signs, slammed together with a loud Clap—. The massive array on the ground, nearly a hundred meters in diameter, was instantly activated.
The esoteric, pitch-black jutsu formulas on the array instantly moved like advancing columns of ants, rapidly contracting inward. The entire array transformed into a black sphere within a few breaths, which, under Chiyo's control, shot into the sealing array on Hōsai Nagai's abdomen with a Swoosh.
The moment the Tailed Beast Sealing Array touched Hōsai Nagai's body, the air within a ten-meter radius of the few ninja world's elite Kage-level figures seemed to violently shake. "Boom—" A dull thud was heard, and a half-meter deep, circular sand crater sank into the ground beneath him.
The strange array on his abdomen retracted inward toward his navel, disappearing into his body in the blink of an eye.
Hōsai Nagai's normally tranquil face immediately contorted in pain. Intense agony spread from his abdomen throughout his entire body. Hōsai Nagai could hear the roars of the Tailed Beast inside him—roars filled with anger, defiance, savagery, and madness.
Unstoppable cold sweat streamed down his forehead and back, soaking his clothes.
It was a full fifteen minutes before Chiyo finally calmed and stabilized the chakra fluctuations in her body caused by activating the Sealing Array. She immediately went to the Kazekage's side, watching him with a concerned look.
The fifteen Suna Jōnin also gradually stabilized their chakra systems and gathered around the Kazekage. They dared not make a sound, fearing they would disturb Hōsai Nagai during the critical process of sealing the Tailed Beast and becoming a Jinchūriki.
Everyone waited anxiously, listening to the Second Kazekage's low groans, which were caused by the immense, unbearable pain.
After an unknown period, the Kazekage, whose clothes were completely soaked with cold sweat, stood firm, head bowed. The groans and heavy breathing had finally ceased.
Sensing the change, Chiyo couldn't help but call out with concern: "Kazekage-sama!"
Hōsai Nagai slowly lifted his head. His deep eyes were unprecedentedly resolute as he gazed toward the east, in the direction of the Land of Fire. He spoke slowly, emphasizing every word:
"Notify all Suna ninja of Chūnin rank and above to begin a secret mobilization immediately, and send word to Hanzō of the Amegakure (Hidden Rain Village).
Starting today, we of Sunagakure shall announce to the world that the Second Great Ninja War has officially begun!"
The surrounding Suna ninja, listening to the Second Kazekage's declaration, felt their blood boil like water in a pot. They roared their affirmation in unison.
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