"What the hell is that?!"
"Konoha has something this terrifying?!"
Off to the side, the Cloud and Stone captives who'd just regained consciousness opened their eyes—and instantly got their souls punched out of their bodies by what they saw.
That pressure.
That crimson violence.
Two hundred elite shinobi—people who could normally slaughter their way through a battlefield—were now like insects pinned under a giant hand.
Breathing became a luxury.
Their limbs went limp.
They collapsed where they sat, teeth chattering, shaking, screaming as they tried to crawl away from this land like it was cursed.
They swore to the heavens: if there's a next time, someone else can come die here.
"This… this is the Nine-Tails?"
Raikage A swallowed hard, his heart hammering.
"So strong…"
A bitter emptiness surfaced on his face.
With a monster like that in Konoha… did they ever truly have a chance?
"ROAAAR!!!"
The air detonated with a violent boom.
Then a colossal tailed beast, wreathed in red flame and pure menace, rose into existence—
Thirty zhang tall, a calamity made flesh.
It lifted a claw… and slammed it down.
BOOOOM!
Sonic booms ripped through the sky.
The target was the blue giant still hopping and clutching its own mouth—
Matatabi.
BANG!!!
That claw felt like it was rebuilding the Death Forest by destroying it again.
"MEOW—!!!"
Matatabi finally snapped out of its choking panic and noticed what was in front of it.
It looked up—
And terror instantly flooded its entire being.
"Nine-Tails?! How is that thing out?!"
Its scream was sharp and shrill now—nothing like the deep growl earlier.
"Damn it! Are Konoha's humans trying to die together?!"
Nine-Tails.
It didn't want to admit it, but Matatabi's power was nothing compared to that beast.
No—more accurately…
Even if the other eight tailed beasts jumped Nine-Tails together, all that meant was Nine-Tails would take a little longer to finish.
That was a truth proven countless times since a thousand years ago.
Matatabi's mind went blank.
Fear erupted.
Blue flames burst wildly off its body in frantic sprays—
But it didn't even have time for a second thought.
The red claw was already descending like the sky.
CRUNCH—!
HISS—!
Like swatting a fly, the Nine-Tails slammed its paw straight into Matatabi's right foreleg—
The same claw that had crushed Naruto's throat earlier.
CRACK!
SSSSS!
The sound of bone exploding and flesh searing spread through the entire Death Forest, clear enough to make scalps tighten.
"AOOOOW—W-W-WAAAAAH!!!"
Matatabi's scream became the most miserable shriek it had made since appearing.
Pain.
Pure pain.
Its proud, massive paw—under Nine-Tails' raw force—
Was no sturdier than dead branches.
It twisted.
It crumpled.
It broke.
The cat's paw was done.
But that was only the opening bell.
Nine-Tails looked down at the wailing "blue cat" with utter disdain.
Then the red paw pressed harder.
RUMBLE—!!!
The massive trench Ōnoki had carved earlier shook like an earthquake.
The ground buckled.
The trench widened into a crater—
And Matatabi's enormous body got shoved straight into it like a nail being hammered into wood.
Only its head remained above ground.
Thrashing.
Panicking.
"Wait—WAIT!"
In that moment, Matatabi finally found a gap to speak.
"Nine-Tails! We're brothers!"
Fast. Desperate.
One second slower and it knew it would be torn apart.
"Oh?" Nine-Tails' voice was rough and ancient, dripping with contempt. "You're just a raggedy cat."
Each syllable carried absolute dominance—so heavy it crushed the battlefield into silence.
Every living thing felt their spirit tremble.
"Who gave you the nerve—"
Nine-Tails lowered its massive head. The heat from its breath nearly burned the air away.
"—to touch my things?!"
SHKRRRT—!
The instant the last word fell, Nine-Tails shoved its paw down again—
And then the claws hooked and scraped.
Clean.
Brutal.
Precise.
"MEEEOOOW—AAGHHHHHH!!!"
The scream that followed was ten times worse than the broken paw.
It wasn't pain in flesh.
It was pain in the soul.
As if thick steel needles were drilling into its skull, stabbing straight into its mind—into the deepest part of its spirit.
Plop.
Plop.
Chunks of blue flame—Matatabi's burning "fur"—peeled off in pieces and dropped like shedding skin.
"AAAAH! Stop! Stop! Nine-Tails—you lunatic!!"
Matatabi's voice cracked into hysterical rage.
Its chakra surged, roaring, trying to break free.
It failed.
Its speed and strength, once its pride, were nothing before Nine-Tails' brute force.
Like dry instant noodles.
Pinch it—crushes.
Touch it—breaks.
And then Nine-Tails did something even more humiliating—
It lifted Matatabi by the head.
One-handed.
Dangling it in midair like a toy.
Spinning.
Displaying it to everyone.
Matatabi's mentality shattered completely.
"Damn you, Nine-Tails! If you're so strong then just kill me!"
SMACK!
Nine-Tails answered with a slap so clean it sounded like thunder.
Behind it, its red tails whipped wildly.
"Slapping me?! Nine-Tails, you—"
SMACK!
SMACK-SMACK!
"I swear to—Nine-Tails you're—!"
SMACK-SMACK-SMACK!
"AH—STOP! STOP! I'M SOR—"
SMACK-SMACK-SMACK!
"Don't hit me! I'm sorry! I'M SORRY!"
The tails finally slowed.
Nine-Tails looked down at the miserable old "brother" and curled its lips in satisfaction.
Then, with a heavy voice, it asked:
"Fine. Then tell me."
"Between me and Shukaku… who's the big brother, and who's the little brother?"
This time Matatabi didn't hesitate even half a breath.
"Shukaku is the little brother!"
"The littlest little brother!!"
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