The massive bck-scaled snake instantly drew everyone's attention as it appeared otlefield.

  "Orochimaru?" This was the Fourth Raikage's first rea. Several Kumo jonin near him tensed.

  "Those scales are different..." one of his anders muttered, but the Raikage had already dismissed the thought.

  Why would someone suddenly atta ally they had just cooperated with?

  If that were the case, what's the point of defeg? Where's the loyalty in the shinobi world?

  "Konoha still has someone like this?" he was slightly surprised but uned.

  It was just a summoned beast.

  "Let Yugito deal with it!" he ordered before turning back to charge toward Jiraiya. Lightning chakra crackled around his body.

  His main goal was to prevent the Toad Sannin from p up like st time.

  The Lightning Release Chakra Mode was undeniably powerful and effective in most bat situations. However, its weakness y in its ck of wide-scale destructive capabilities, making it iive as a battlefield sweeper.

  Thus, the Fourth Raikage's only aim this time was to stop Jiraiya from activating his enhas.

  Without his Sage Mode, the Fourth Raikage was fident he could prevent Jiraiya from fog on killing ordinary Kumo ninjas.

  With his Lightning Release Chakra Mode fully activated, he tore into the Konoha ninjas' ranks like a hot khrough butter, brushing aside those in his path like paper.

  Bodies flew through the air, some still twitg from the lightning c through them.

  "The Raikage himself!" a Konoha ninja shouted in panic.

  "Don't engage! Fall back to formation!" another ander yelled, pulling his subordinates back.

  He charged all the way to the base of Gamabunta. The giant toad had no time to react before the Raikage, cloaked in lightning, unched a punch directly at Jiraiya.

  ---

  Elsewhere, the jonin of both sides were locked in fierce battles.

  In the distance, Masashi merely g the se before refog on the fully transformed Two-Tails jinchūriki.

  On his way there, Kuro had already trampled tless Kumo ninjas underfoot.

  Due to the nature of their ninjutsu systems, Kumo and Iwa favored dense formations fe-scale battles.

  But the serpents from Ryūchi Cave were natural ters to suations.

  The ordinary Kumo ninjas' Lightning Release Taijutsu was utterly iive against the serpent's defenses. And for elemental ninjutsu, mid-to-lower-level ninjas often relied on explosive tags food reason.

  "Reform the lines! Don't scatter!" a Kumo ander shouted desperately.

  "It's breaking through everything!" came the panicked response as another line colpsed.

  While Lightning Release Taijutsu was among the most cost-effective teiques fenin ninjas, there were limits to its effectiveness.

  Additionally, Lightning Release Taijutsu was distinct from the advanced Lightning Release Chakra Mode used by higher-ranking ninjas. Without jonin-level expertise, it was impossible to master the tter.

  Most Kumo ninjas practiced a basi of Lightning Release Taijutsu, using the pierg properties of Lightning Release to enhaheir melee attacks.

  Teically, the highest level of this art would be something like Kakashi's initial version of the Chidori. Ordinary Kumo ninjas, however, were far from reag such mastery.

  As such, Masashi didn't even bother to equip Kuro with advanced defensive enhas.

  Kuro's path was littered with age.

  Kumo ninjas were either ignored and crushed underfoot, spped into paste by its tail, or sent flying with a casual shake. Blood and broken bodies marked its path through their ranks, the screams of the dying mixing with orders to retreat.

  Though Kumo ninjas were known for their bravery, they weren't reckless.

  Faced with this unstoppable force, the Kumo ninjas retreated in haste.

  At the end of the battlefield stood Yugito, fully transformed into her Tailed Beast Form. Blue fmes flickered around her massive form as chakra swirled violently.

  Like Killer B, she erfect jinchūriki, now in the plete form of her tailed beast.

  At this moment, she was literally a giant cat.

  As this massive cat opes mouth wide, far in the distance, Masashi csped his hands together.

  The ground trembled as enormous ied arms burst forth, targeting the retreating Kumo ninjas.

  In the instant, the arms swung violently.

  A barrage of ice spikes rained down across the battlefield.

  The sudden, rge-scale attack caught many Kumo ninjas off guard. Those who couldn't escape in time were pio the ground, blood spttering everywhere.

  Some were pierced through their limbs, others through their stomachs, and some lost their heads entirely.

  "When did he set up those seals?" a Konoha jonin whispered.

  "He phis from the start..." another replied, watg the devastation unfold.

  Witnessing this, Yugito, enraged, unleashed a Tailed Beast Bomb.

  While the bomb took some time to charge, its release was swift. In moments, it reached the bck serpent.

  But in front of everyohe bomb was captured by a Flying Thunder God barrier, swallowed whole, and redirected to the icy wastend created by Masashi's earlier attack.

  A brilliant light erupted from the site, blinding all who looked.

  The sudden white light caused the ground to quake, twist, crack, and surge.

  At the explosion's epiter, all matter was vaporized. Around it, bodies were flung into the air by the shockwave, only to crash back to the ground.

  The extreme heat and pressure distorted the surrounding air. Debris, dust, and fragments of the ground rose high into the sky, f a mushroom cloud.

  The Kumo ninja army at the site was pletely obliterated.

  Despite the ck of full charge time, Yugito's Tailed Beast Bomb demonstrated the strategic value of jinchūriki as ons of mass destru.

  Unfortunately for her, not a single Konoha ninja was killed.

  An icy wall, creaking and groaning, had blocked the deadly shockwave from reag the Konoha forces.

  Meanwhile, Kuro, now the chakra armor of Sage Art: Majestic Attire, gleamed brilliantly uhe sunlight.

  Obediently following Masashi's orders, she charged toward the distant tailed beast.

  The Majestic Attire hadn't slowed it down in the slightest, and now, no obstacles remained.

  The faces of the Kumo jonin ged drastically at the sudden turn of events.

  ---

  The Fourth Raikage stared at the battlefield.

  "Flying Thunder God?"

  Having once lost to Minato in terms of speed, he had thhly iigated his rival's abilities.

  As one of the Five Kage, he had access to the intelligeworks necessary to uhe truth behind the Yellow Fsh.

  Thus, he khat Minato's speed was not simply due to raw ability, but because of a space-time ninjutsu: the Flying Thunder God.

  "Support Yugito!" he ordered decisively.

  He turned and prepared to rush back to aid her.

  "Hold them off!" Jiraiya anded simultaneously.

  Abandoning his earlier cautious approach, he leaped from Gamabunta's head. The Sage Toads from Mount Myōboku perched on his shoulders, their bined efforts finally activating Sage Mode.

  His toad-like eyes opened wide as he charged toward the Raikage.

  The Konoha jonin acted swiftly, intercepting the Kumo jonin and holding them back with all their might. Everyone on the Konoha side khat as long as no oerfered, Yugito would iably fall to Masashi.

  This guy was even strohan during that fateful night.

  Still, the Konoha forces couldn't help but feel a bit disheartehe top prize for this battle's merit?

  Out of reaow.

  No ce of peting for it.

  They'd have to settle for sed pce, losing out on ten million ryō.

  After all, this was an Uchiha. Geniuses were ed out every geion—it was just how it was.

  A mere 19-year-old Kage-level ninja? Sure, why not.

  With these thoughts in mind, the jonin from various s fought fiercely, determio hold off the Kumo jonin.

  Though Jiraiya couldn't match the Raikage in speed, his Sage Mode gave him enough power to hold his ground, creating a stalemate betweewo.

  ---

  Meanwhile, Kuro under Masashi's trol coiled tightly around Yugito, restraining her.

  Before she could break free, his hands fshed through a series of seals, summoning water serpents that erupted from his palms and shot toward their target.

  With supernatural speed, the water serpents tched onto Yugito, their fangs sinking deep into the Tailed Beast's Chakra Form. Where they bit, id dark sealing marks spread in tandem, f patterns across her massive body.

  She roared in fury as the Two-Tails chakra weakened with eaew seal, ice crag as it spread alongside the marks.

  In that frozen moment of vulnerability, tless more water serpeed, f a massive hat trapped her.

  Kuro quickly coiled tightly around the enemy, immediately starting to strict her own body.

  Though the snakes of Ryūchi Cave were extraordinary creatures nurtured by natural energy, they still retained many of their inal animal instincts.

  Masashi watched as her movements followed the same pattern he'd studied tless times.

  For example, relying on judgment during battle.

  They would strike to kill only when fident of a o kill—when holding an absolute advantage—using their judgment and focus to secure victory.

  If it were a typical living creature, being ed by Kuro like this would meaher death or bei with "half a life."

  The snake's crushing force could pulverize rock, let alone flesh and bone.

  Unfortunately, the plete Tailed Beast Transformation was essentially the ultimate version of the Tailed Beast Chakra Cloak.

  Thus, fito, as long as this chakra cloak wasn't destroyed, she'd be perfectly fine.

  What really posed a threat to her were the "sealing snakes" wielded by Masashi.

  These snakes were sealing off her trol over the tailed ceast chakra.

  ---

  The Two-Tails, Matatabi, sealed within her, was very familiar with this kind of teique.

  "Yugito, these snakes are likely his version of the Uzumaki 's Adamantine Sealing s. They seal our chakra." Matatabi, whose voice was distinctly feminine, appeared as a rge cat covered entirely in blue chakra fmes.

  Her tone was gentle, uhe rough-and-tumble vibe of her siailed "brother."

  Shukaku was the type to start spouting gang jargon as soon as it opes mouth.

  Still, even Matatabi was getting anxious now.

  It wasn't for its own sake—after all, being a tailed beast, it couldn't die anyway.

  But it didn't want Yugito to die. Sis creation, it had had many hosts, but Yugito was the only o genuinely cared for. Their bo beyond mere tainer and taihey were true partners.

  To be blunt, the tailed beasts had different temperaments. The more docile ones had grown somewhat aced to being sealed over the years. Their expectations had shifted—from "not being sealed at all" to simply hoping their hosts had a pleasant personality.

  Of course, getting along wasn't enough to achieve Perfect Jinchūriki status. It was only one of the necessary ditions. The host also had to possess the ability to perfectly trol the tailed beast's chakra.

  Yugito, struggling against the sealing teique, was taken aback. "How an Uchiha know Uzumaki sealing teiques?"

  The Uzumaki had beeroyed long ago, though that wasirely accurate.

  Uzushio had indeed beeroyed, and many members of the Uzumaki had been scattered across various tries, living under assumed identities.

  Among them were even direct desdants. However, some had chosen to join the Land of Fire. A few of them, those with intact legacies, joined Konoha.

  Though they had difficulty accepting the fall of Uzushio emotionally, they didn't hold Konoha responsible.

  After all, Konoha had arrived te but hadn't been indifferent.

  Even from a pragmatic standpoint, Konoha couldn't have allowed the Uzumaki to disappear pletely. Su oute would have tarnished not just its reputation, but that of the Hokage's lineage.

  Faced with the near-universal assault on the Uzumaki by the shinobi world at the time, Konoha's decision was to deploy troops to aid them.

  The Third Hokage had even prepared for an all-out war with Kiri.

  During that war, Danzō fought at the frontlines, losing an eye in battle. If it hadn't been fami, he would've died.

  Those who survived built a new shrihin Konoha's territory and reanized Konoha's sealing squad. Before this, the sealing squad was not an indepe department but merely a unit type within the Konoha forces.

  From then on, the Uzumaki 's sealing teiques were ied into Konoha in a retively plete form.

  This marked the beginning of Konoha's dominan the field of sealing arts in the shinobi world.

  However, the surviving Uzumaki members remained haunted by memories of the past. They no lahemselves as a ninja , and many ceased to be shinobi altogether.

  During the Third Hokage's tenure, aside from Kushina, there wasn't a single promi shinobi with the Uzumaki name in Konoha's forces.

  As Minato became Hokage, the Uzumaki survivors began residering direct service to Konoha.

  It seemed that when Kushina transitioo being the Hokage's wife, the Uzumaki started being more open to the idea of identifying as Konoha shinobi.

  However, the Adamantine Sealing s, a core legacy of the , were beyond even Minato.

  In the inal Uzumaki , very few people had mastered this teique.

  pared to teiques like the Reaper Death Seal, which demanded life as its cost, the Adamantine Sealing s were the true hallmark of the Uzumaki .

  During the Warring States Period, Uzumaki powerhouses used s instead of ninja tools in bat. Oruck, their enemies were effectively finished.

  Yugito had certainly heard of the Adamantine Sealing s.

  "So, this is the Uchiha's version of Adamantine Sealing s?" Yugito realized.

  While it was true that the sealing teiques of Kumo were inferior to those of Konoha, the fact that they had mao produce Perfect Jinchūriki showed their profi sealing arts. Thus, her knowledge and instincts were sharp.

  The sealing arts of all Five Great Vilges weren't g—Konoha's were just s that they made the others look weak.

  When Masashi unleashed his sealing snakes, Yugito knew she against a formidable foe.

  She had beeing, but it felt like tug-of-war. When you saw the other team's arms were thicker than your team's legs, you pretty muew the result in your heart.

  Struggling was human nature.

  Only when fag death could one realize how skilled they were at ging to life.

  In her fully transformed tailed beast state, she activated the corrosive effects of her chakra cloak. Blue fmes intensified, eating away at everything they touched.

  Kuro screeched in pain, scales sizzling uhe caustic chakra.

  "Sorry, Kuro," Masashi muttered, gng at his summon. Manda's going to be insufferable about this. He decisively dismissed the summoning.

  The ime he entered Manda, he was sure to be cursed at.

  Kuro vanished back to Ryūchi Cave in a puff of smoke, and he began to fall.

  Using the momentum of his fall, he gave a mighty tug, trying to pull Matatabi's chakra downward.

  Yugito initially rejoiced, but quickly realized something was wrong.

  Reag swiftly, she adjusted her body to follow Masashi's doull.

  Otherwise, her Tailed Beast Chakra ight have been stripped away.

  After all, it was merely a yer of chakra attached to her body, not the real Matatabi.

  Landing on the ground, Masashi hat the chakra cloak had remained intact. He quickly formed a single-hand seal, summoning multiple arms from the surrounding area that grasped toward her.

  At the same time, an iake emerged from the grouh him, mirr Kuro's previous movements as it coiled around Yugito.

  Standing atop the snake's head, he met her gaze directly.

  The fiery Sage Markings on his face seemed to truly burn, a refle of Sage Mode pushed to its peak. Chakra swirled around him in visible waves.

  The Sharingan's tomoe spun rapidly as they met the fierce gaze of the Two-Tails' host.

  Masashi could only use Kagutsuchi in Sage Mode for a simple reason: with Sage Mode's amplification, his Sharingan's ocur power could reach the base level of the Mangekyō Sharingan.

  This revetion had e to him during his time studying the Sage Mode.

  Illusionary teiques through the Sharingan were pushed to their limit, assailing Yugito's will.