Shukaku was never the strongest of the nine Tailed Beasts...but in terms of violent temper,
he was definitely top-tier.
Even the Nine-Tails got barking matches from him.
The moment he stepped out of Bunpuku's subconscious and into the physical world,
the giant tanuki's eyes gleamed with pure madness.
"GYAHAHA!!
Perfect timing! I just came out, and I already see someone worth killing!"
His massive body—tens of meters tall—loomed over Shiki.
To any normal shinobi, a tailed beast was an instant death sentence.
The sheer pressure of his chakra alone was enough to make grown men collapse.
But Shiki was no ordinary shinobi.
"Split."
In the momentary stillness, a golden sword-arc burst upward from the ground,
slicing into Shukaku's chest.
BOOOOM!!!
A long, jagged crack tore open across the One-Tail's sandy body.
"…what?"
Both Konoha and Suna shinobi froze.
They just watched a tailed beast get cut open.
Even though Shukaku's body was made of sand and repaired instantly, the fact it had been cut at all sent the battlefield into murmurs.
"YOU LITTLE SHIT—
YOU DARED TO HURT ME?! DIE!!!"
Shukaku roared, eyes bloodshot.
"Wind Release — Air Bullet!"
A massive compressed wind sphere blasted toward Shiki—
then another—
then another—
"GRAAAAAAHHH!!!
TAKE! THEM! ALL!"
The air bullets rained down like meteor showers.
Shiki flicked his blade upward:
"—Hup. Swish."
Two arcs of golden sword-energy cleaved apart the nearest ones.
Then he moved.
Not even looking at the incoming blasts,
Shiki dodged with effortless footwork guided by Observation Haki, slipping through the explosions like he'd already seen them coming.
"STOP DODGING!
IF YOU'RE A MAN, STAND STILL!!"
Shukaku stomped and shrieked like a tantrum-throwing demon child.
He couldn't hit him—not even once.
Shiki smirked.
"You want me to stop running?"
He lifted his sword and pointed it at the enormous beast.
"Fine. Have it your way."
Finally… a worthy target to test himself against.
A tailed beast.
Perfect.
Shukaku snarled.
"DIE, YOU ANT!!!
Wind Release — Drilling Air Bullet Barrage!"
He inhaled—and the desert trembled.
A super-compressed tornado blast fired at Shiki, dragging sand, stone, and chakra in its wake.
Shiki's grin widened.
He shifted his stance.
His blade turned black with Armament Haki, and wind rippled around his body like a lion unfurling its mane.
"Lion Might—
IMPERIAL COIL!"
He charged forward.
No hesitation.
Shiki's golden aura surged, slicing through the incoming sandstorm with overwhelming force.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
Shukaku's jutsu was blown apart—
and Shiki shot forward like a cannonball,
storming straight toward the One-Tail's face.
"Huh? …You can fly?"
For a moment, Shukaku actually froze.
A human... a brat...was flying straight toward him?
Even for a tailed beast, that was shocking.
While the One-Tail was still staring in disbelief,
Shiki was already in front of him...eyes sharp, blades raised.
He crossed his two swords.
"Lion Might — Senkiri Valley!"
Shiki's arms blurred.
Twin blades whipped through the air with impossible speed, releasing countless arcs of golden sword-energy, each one slamming into Shukaku's massive body.
PENG! PENG! PENG!
Explosions of light scattered across the One-Tail's sandy flesh.
Shukaku stumbled backward...a fifty-meter monster looking like he was being pelted by artillery fire.
"GRAAAAAH!!
What the hell kind of ability is this?!"
Shukaku's eyes—huge, round like coins—went bloodshot with rage.
Pure sword-energy.
From a human.
What kind of sick joke was this?
"You little ant!"
Shukaku roared, furious and humiliated.
Shiki hovered in midair, looking down on him with a disgustingly calm smirk.
"Huh. Is that all you can say?
'Stinky ant' this, 'stinky ant' that.
You've got the vocabulary of a drunk toddler."
That expression...
that tone...
that arrogance...
It made Shukaku's entire body shake with fury.
"YOU… YOU DAMN BRAT!!!"
Chakra surged.
Dark, dense, violently compressed chakra began gathering in Shukaku's mouth,
twisting into a spinning black sphere with a purple core.
The surrounding air rumbled.
The sand beneath Shukaku's feet spiraled upward into a storm.
Pressure flooded the battlefield like a living thing.
Even Konoha and Suna shinobi far away felt their hearts clench.
"A Tailed Beast Bomb?!"
Shiki's eyes narrowed.
Yes.
A fully materialized Tailed Beast Bomb—
the signature move of any bijū.
A pure chakra annihilation sphere that could level an entire section of the battlefield.
Shiki didn't run.
Didn't even think of retreat.
Retreating would mean admitting fear.
The Golden Lion did not retreat.
He lifted his swords...crossing them in front of him.
Armament Haki spread across the blades, turning them jet-black, crackling subtly.
"Come on then," Shiki muttered, grin widening.
"You're a tailed beast…
I'm a king."
Shukaku roared.
"DIE, BRAT!!!
TAILED BEAST BOMB!!!"
The black sphere launched...a point of annihilation screaming straight toward Shiki.
Shiki exhaled.
His muscles tensed.
His golden aura flared like a lion exploding into fury.
Then...
He swung.
His two crossed blades cleaved downward in one decisive motion.
--
"It's going to be over!"
The shockwaves from Shiki and Shukaku's clash were so massive that the entire battlefield noticed.
At first, when Chiyo saw Konoha produce another swordsmanship prodigy after the White Fang, she was secretly annoyed.
What is wrong with Konoha? Why do your geniuses spawn like weeds?
But when she saw Shukaku preparing a Tailed Beast Bomb and Shiki not running, but preparing to meet it head-on…
Chiyo burst out laughing.
"Children will always be children."
She smiled viciously.
"He really thinks he can take on Shukaku?
Ridiculous!"
"Peng!"
Tsunade crushed another puppet with a single monstrous punch.
"Hmph! You don't have the right to judge my man."
"Your man?"
Chiyo's brows twitched.
Since when did the Princess of the Senju Clan have a man?
But she quickly snorted.
"Well, that's too bad!
Looks like you'll be a widow in a minute!"
Her tone dripped with mockery.
To her, a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy standing in front of a Tailed Beast Bomb was suicide.
Genius or not—if he hadn't fully matured, he was still nothing.
Tsunade didn't bother arguing.
She just clenched her jaw, eyes trembling with worry.
'Don't do anything reckless… Shiki…'
--
"Shikaku!"
On another part of the battlefield, Yamanaka Inoichi shouted nervously.
Shiki's situation was clearly visible from afar, and even they couldn't help worrying.
"Sand Release — Iron Sand Shuriken!"
The Third Kazekage seized that moment of distraction.
Black, razor-sharp iron sand spun through the air like a deadly storm.
"Ninja Art — Super Expansion Jutsu!"
Akimichi Chōza reacted instantly, becoming gigantic as he took the attack head-on for Inoichi.
"Thanks, Chōza!" Inoichi breathed out, sweat dripping down his temple.
He truly hadn't reacted fast enough.
Chōza gave his usual goofy grin.
"Don't mention it!
We're partners, right?"
"Mm."
Nara Shikaku also tightened his stance beside them, eyes still calm despite everything.
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