Could this human possess strength rivaling Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju?
Recalling the helplessness she felt in Madara Uchiha's grasp, Matatabi trembled inwardly. She wanted to flee, but the intense sense of crisis screamed that she was in extreme danger; moving even slightly might result in immediate death.
Standing opposite Matatabi, Li Anshi could naturally sense her wariness. The white chakra glow on the flying dagger in his hand intensified. Li Anshi's spirit merged with the dagger. In his perception, countless potential trajectories appeared, piercing Matatabi's body from every angle. Then, one by one, these trajectories faded, until only a single path remained, aimed directly at the center of Matatabi's forehead.
"Roar!"
The lethal danger triggered Matatabi's instinctive reaction. After a terrifying howl, vast amounts of chakra gathered in her mouth, forming a sphere of swirling red and blue energy. This was the ultimate technique of the Tailed Beasts – the Tailed Beast Bomb!
If this Tailed Beast Bomb finished forming, at least a hundred ninjas on the battlefield would likely be caught in its devastating blast. And Li Anshi, standing directly in front of Matatabi, would undoubtedly be the first hit. With his current defenses, Li Anshi stood no chance of withstanding a Tailed Beast Bomb.
However...
"No matter how powerful the technique, as long as I prevent it from being successfully unleashed, it poses no threat to me!"
Li Anshi held the white-glowing dagger vertically before him. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the dagger streaking along the sole trajectory remaining in his perception—
Swish!
A flash of white light momentarily illuminated the battlefield. It pierced straight through Matatabi's forehead, exiting from the back of her skull.
Subsequently, Matatabi froze as if time had stopped, maintaining the posture of forming the Tailed Beast Bomb for several seconds. Then, her chakra began to dissipate like scattered embers. Soon, Matatabi's massive body dissolved, revealing the figure of the Two-Tails Jinchuriki within.
Suspended in mid-air, the Jinchuriki clutched his throat with both hands, but copious amounts of blood still spurted through his fingers.
"Gurgle, gurgle—"
The Jinchuriki opened his mouth but couldn't utter a sound. Finally, as the Tailed Beast chakra completely dispersed, the light faded from his eyes, and he plummeted from the sky.
Thud—
The sound of a ninja falling from seven or eight meters wasn't particularly loud. Yet, at this moment, on this battlefield, it reverberated like rolling thunder, deafeningly loud.
That was a Tailed Beast Jinchuriki!
The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, had desired peace for the ninja world. He believed war occurred because nations lacked the power to deter enemies. If everyone possessed formidable deterrent forces, they would carefully consider the consequences before initiating conflict.
Thus, Hashirama Senju and the Asura of the ninja world, Madara Uchiha, had captured the nine Tailed Beasts scattered across the land. Hashirama had even convened the first Five Kage Summit, intending to distribute the Tailed Beasts freely among the other villages as deterrents.
However, Tobirama Senju had opposed this idea. While he couldn't stop his elder brother's determination to give away the beasts, he could ensure the other villages paid a price for them. This current ninja war marked the first time the villages deployed these ultimate weapons.
It had to be said, although Jinchuriki were prone to rampages before the villages perfected their sealing techniques, their destructive power on the battlefield was something even Kage-level experts struggled to match.
Human ninjas achieved power by utilizing hand seals to maximize chakra efficiency, executing powerful ninjutsu.
Tailed Beasts, on the other hand, lacked such finesse; they were pure chakra. Yet, the quality and quantity of Tailed Beast chakra surpassed even Jonin who had mastered chakra nature transformation.
Through sheer chakra power alone, Tailed Beasts could overwhelm ninety-nine percent of ninjas. Combined with the Tailed Beast Bomb, few besides a handful of legendary figures could withstand them. How else could they be described as "mobile natural disasters"?
But now, just moments ago, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, one of the Cloud Village's key deterrents, had been killed directly by a single Konoha ninja after fully transforming...
If the Two-Tails could be killed, was the Eight-Tails far behind? Without the Eight-Tails, could the Cloud Raikage escape?
Instantly, the morale of the Konoha ninjas soared. Conversely, the morale of the Cloud ninjas visibly plummeted. They had held the upper hand partly because they had Jinchuriki on the battlefield. Now, with the Two-Tails gone, how could they continue fighting Konoha?
After a few seconds of stunned silence, the Cloud commander recognized the inevitable and immediately issued the order to retreat. Seeing the Cloud ninjas withdraw, the Konoha forces, under their own commander's direction, immediately began pursuit.
However, at this critical juncture, the Third Raikage, relying on his immense defense, absorbed an attack from Hiruzen Sarutobi. Using a "Two-Fingered Thrust," he carved a deep trench across the battlefield in an instant, creating the first line of defense against the Konoha pursuit. Following this, the Eight-Tails sacrificed one of its tails to break free from Kagami Uchiha, joining the Third Raikage to block the Konoha ninjas.
With the Third Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki blocking the way, if the Konoha ninjas continued their pursuit, their combined power might well bury the remaining Konoha forces right there. Therefore, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, ordered his ninjas to halt the chase. He, along with his father Sasuke Sarutobi and Kagami Uchiha, stood facing the Third Raikage and the Eight-Tails, preventing them from attacking the retreating Konoha ninjas.
"My apologies, Hiruzen."
Kagami Uchiha's cheeks bore two streaks of blood – a symptom of overusing his Mangekyo Sharingan's power. "I failed to properly restrain the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki..."
Kagami blamed himself deeply. If his eyes hadn't been overloaded just moments before, he wouldn't have been deceived by the Eight-Tails sacrificing a tail. If he had managed to hold the Jinchuriki for just a little longer, Konoha could have inflicted even greater damage on the Cloud forces, potentially crippling their ability to wage further war.
Now, although the Cloud Village had been defeated in this battle, their losses among ordinary ninjas weren't catastrophic. This meant the Cloud Village still possessed war potential.