Among the Nine Tailed Beasts, Shukaku's power was not the greatest — but his temper was second to none.
He submitted to no one. Even before the Nine-Tails, he would still bark back without hesitation.
"How wonderful! The moment I'm free, I see someone worth killing!" Shukaku bellowed, his enormous eyes glaring down at Aoyama Ryuyun.
The words were clearly meant for him.
Standing several dozen meters tall, Shukaku made every shinobi beneath him seem like an insect — one that could be crushed with a flick of his paw. The oppressive weight of his chakra alone was enough to make most nin tremble.
"Zanpa."
In the next instant, a golden slash of sword energy shot upward, cleaving through the air toward Shukaku.
Boom!
A crack split open across the sand tanuki's body.
"This…"
Both Konoha and Sunagakure shinobi froze.
Shukaku was injured? Impossible!
But the truth was visible to all. Though his body was made of sand and could regenerate quickly, that single strike had drawn blood — metaphorically and literally.
The wound vanished almost instantly, yet Shukaku's fury only deepened.
"You damn insect! You dare to wound me? DIE!"
Wind Release — Air Bullet Barrage!
A barrage of massive wind bullets erupted from Shukaku's maw, each one carrying the force of a hurricane.
"Swish! Swish!"
Two slashes of Ryuyun's sword cut through the first volley with ease. The others he dodged effortlessly, relying purely on Kenbunshoku Haki — Observation Haki — to sense their trajectory without even glancing up.
"Coward! If you've got any guts, stop dodging!"
Shukaku's roars shook the desert as the young swordsman blurred through the air, his movements too fast to track.
"Heh. As you wish."
Ryuyun raised one blade, his calm eyes locking onto the beast towering above.
Compared to the small fry he'd cut down before, Shukaku was the perfect opponent to test his current limits.
"Perfect," he muttered. "Let's see how far I've come."
"Damn ant! I'll crush you!"
Wind Release — Infinite Sand Cloud: Great Breakthrough!
Wind infused with sand swept across the desert like a living storm.
"Shishi Odoshi — Earth Scroll!"
Ryuyun didn't retreat. The blade in his hand glowed with Armament Haki, golden light coiling around it like fire.
He swung — and a colossal lion-shaped blast of sword energy roared upward.
Boom!
The two forces collided midair, splitting the desert apart. Sand and dust filled the sky.
"Wait—he's flying?!"
Even Shukaku was stunned.
The human was literally airborne — floating upward like a golden flame.
Before the Tailed Beast could process it, Ryuyun was already in front of him, dual blades poised.
"Shishi Odoshi — Kirigiridani!"
With focused precision, he unleashed a storm of slashes.
Golden arcs of sword energy rained down endlessly, shredding through Shukaku's sandy armor.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Cracks spread across Shukaku's massive frame as he stumbled backward, roaring in pain and rage.
"Damn it! What is this power?!"
It wasn't chakra. It wasn't any ninjutsu he'd ever seen. It was pure will, forged into blades of light.
"You filthy ant!"
When Ryuyun finally halted his assault and hovered midair again, Shukaku's body was cracked and battered.
Ryuyun smirked coldly. "After all that bluster, is that all you can manage?"
Floating calmly, golden light glinting off his swords, he looked less like a boy — and more like a monarch gazing down upon his prey.
"You… you insolent brat!"
Furious, Shukaku began gathering chakra at his maw. The surrounding air trembled, and the sand itself rose as if alive.
"Is that… a Tailed Beast Ball?"
Ryuyun narrowed his eyes. The atmosphere thickened — a vortex of raw chakra spiraling into a black orb.
Even from afar, the destructive pressure was suffocating.
The Tailed Beast Ball — the pinnacle of bijū power, a condensed sphere of positive and negative chakra meant to erase everything in its path.
Ryuyun's expression hardened. He didn't intend to run.
The proud "Golden Lion" would never turn his back to an enemy — not even a Tailed Beast.
He crossed his blades, golden energy swirling around him like an aura of roaring lions.
"Come, then. Let's see whose will breaks first."
---
"It's about to end," murmured Granny Chiyo, glancing at the distant explosion site.
The power radiating from that battlefield dwarfed all others.
At first, she had resented Konoha — always birthing one prodigy after another: Senju, Uchiha, White Fang… and now this Golden Lion.
But when she saw Ryuyun preparing to meet Shukaku's Tailed Beast Ball head-on, she could only sneer.
"He's still too young… thinks he can overpower a Tailed Beast."
Boom!
At that moment, Tsunade shattered another puppet with a thunderous punch.
"Hmph! You don't need to worry about my man."
"Your man?"
Chiyo blinked. Since when did Konoha's Princess Tsunade have a lover?
But the thought only made her laugh louder.
"Hahahaha! Then what a pity — you're about to be a widow!"
Her words dripped with mockery. To her, a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy couldn't possibly withstand the might of a Tailed Beast Ball — genius or not.
Tsunade glared back coldly, cracking her knuckles. "We'll see who's laughing when this is over."
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