Chomei, the Tailed Beast, looked like a fusion of a beetle and a giant dragonfly, possessing the ability to fly. When Sasuke arrived near it, it had just used its massive insect leg to crush Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear clone, causing Kakuzu to lose a heart.
Watching this, Sasuke's eye twitched involuntarily. Although he was strong, dealing with a Tailed Beast was truly taxing. However, that wasn't a reason for him to retreat. As a Konoha shinobi, he always had to give his best for Konoha.
With the mission escalating to this point, Sasuke bore half the responsibility. If the mission failed, he would be entirely to blame!
"Damn it, this is really troublesome!" Sasuke muttered helplessly, quickly forming a hand seal.
"Fire Release: Flame Formation!" As Sasuke completed his hand seals, his chakra also began to surge.
As his words fell, the next second, four massive flame walls instantly shot up from the ground, encircling Chomei.
Insects naturally fear fire, and Chomei was no exception. Although as a Tailed Beast, it wouldn't be severely harmed even if burned by the fire, instinctively, it still chose to fly towards the sky, trying to escape through the gap above the fire walls.
However, Sasuke was no ordinary shinobi. He wouldn't leave such a large opening. After releasing this jutsu, his hands began forming seals again.
Just as Chomei was about to fly out, Sasuke's hand seals finished.
"Earth Release: Falling Clay!" Sasuke spoke again in a deep voice.
The next second, it was as if a different dimension had opened in the sky, and then massive amounts of clay rained down, falling straight onto Chomei's head, which had just crashed upwards. This directly covered Chomei and 'stuffed' it back into the Flame Formation.
That wasn't all. This Falling Clay seemed to be clay already soaked in 'oil,' making it highly flammable. Upon contact with the Flame Formation, it quickly ignited.
In moments, the flames intensified rapidly, igniting all of Chomei, which was covered in clay.
For a moment, a shrill insect chirp echoed again, piercing the ears.
Although it seemed as if Sasuke had easily subdued Chomei with just two jutsu, Sasuke's expression showed no relaxation. He remained just as vigilant. Unlike Hibari, this wasn't his first time seeing a Tailed Beast, nor his first time fighting one. He had previously dealt with other Tailed Beasts alongside Tobirama and the Hokage.
Therefore, he knew very well that Chomei couldn't be subdued so easily!
Sure enough, before he could even catch his breath, a massive chakra energy fluctuation emanated from within the Flame Formation.
The next moment, a gigantic, purplish-black sphere burst through the formation, carrying an aura of destruction. Along its path, it annihilated valleys, dense forests, and steep slopes, then crashed into the wall of Mushiking Valley, causing a massive explosion.
"A Tailed Beast Bomb... still so powerful," Sasuke muttered softly with a sigh, watching the scene.
At the same time, the somewhat scorched Chomei underwent another transformation. It swiftly writhed its body, and soon, shed an exoskeleton. Then, as if fully rejuvenated, its grotesque compound eyes locked onto Sasuke, who had caused it so much trouble.
"Oh dear, this is truly bad..." Sasuke said softly, observing Chomei's movements.
At the same time, his hands once again began forming seals rapidly.
After Chomei locked onto Sasuke, its aura became even more ferocious. Flapping its giant insect wings, it flew towards Sasuke with an overwhelming presence, seemingly intending to crush this 'little insect' in its eyes with its massive body.
Facing Chomei's furious charge, Sasuke showed no intention of dodging. He continued to form complex hand seals.
Just as Chomei was about to lunge and kill Sasuke, Sasuke's lips curved slightly, and then he heard his son Hiruzen's voice.
"Earth Release: Mountain Earth Technique!" Hiruzen was standing at the top of a tree, his hand seals having just finished.
At the same time, two colossal mountain rocks rose from the ground, instantly sandwiching Chomei!
The Mountain Earth Technique is the highest-tier 'movement-restricting' jutsu within Earth Release ninjutsu. Once successfully activated, this jutsu can even suppress a Tailed Beast. However, it requires a massive amount of chakra to maintain, as it's a high-level 'continuous ninjutsu' that requires the user to constantly release chakra to manifest its full power.
Hiruzen was currently in his prime, at the peak of his physical condition. Coupled with his naturally large chakra reserves, which allowed him to master all five nature transformations and release numerous collaboration ninjutsu, he was able to successfully use the Mountain Earth Technique to 'trap' Chomei for a moment, rendering it immobile.
As the saying goes, brothers fight tigers together, and father and son go to war. With Hiruzen suppressing Chomei between the mountain rocks, Sasuke's complex hand seals were finally complete.
"Secret Art: Yellow Springs Oil Swamp!" Sasuke said in a deep voice, looking at the suppressed Chomei.
As the chakra within him surged, the jutsu activated. The ground where Chomei was located transformed entirely into a swamp. That wasn't all; the swamp was incredibly slippery, and while it sucked Chomei in, a large amount of oil also permeated its body. Its corrosive power was so strong that even Hiruzen's Mountain Earth Technique was assimilated into it.
Seeing this, Hiruzen decisively released the jutsu in his hands, his body slumping slightly. Don't let his single ninjutsu fool you; it nearly drained him dry, as it was a jutsu that forcibly suppressed Chomei.
But thankfully, he still had a certain amount of chakra left; it wasn't completely exhausted. The moment he released the jutsu, he formed a 'Tiger' hand seal, and the next second, opened his mouth and spewed a pillar of fire towards Chomei's location.
The pillar of fire instantly ignited the entire oily swamp upon contact, and Chomei's shrill insect chirps once again reverberated throughout the valley.
This made Hibari, who was recovering chakra and watching from the side, sigh in admiration.
"Though I've long heard that Sasuke-jiisan is incredibly strong and Hiruzen is also quite capable, I never expected them to be so formidable when they fight together, capable of forcibly suppressing a Tailed Beast for so long... It seems I still have a long way to go." Hibari muttered softly to himself.
But it made sense. Wild Tailed Beasts are inherently wild. While they possess intelligence, they mostly act on instinct. Thinking about how Deidara later dealt with Isobu, the Three-Tails, with just a bomb, even if Chomei was stronger, with the Sarutobi father-son duo fighting, suppressing it for a short time shouldn't be an issue.
However, a short-term suppression is still a suppression. Chomei and Isobu also have a difference of four tails, and while the Tailed Beast's power might not be calculated by the number of tails, it certainly affects their strength.
Moreover, the father and son didn't possess any sealing jutsu that could forcibly seal a Tailed Beast's chakra, so the current crisis hadn't been averted!
Just as Hibari wondered if Chomei was going to be burned alive by the fire, Chomei finally broke free from the extremely slippery oily swamp's restraint. Flapping its still flaming wings, it flew back into the air, and in front of its head, it condensed another moderately sized Tailed Beast Bomb.
This time, the Tailed Beast Bomb was aimed at Sasuke, sending a shiver down Sasuke's spine. No matter how you looked at it, he couldn't afford to take a Tailed Beast Bomb head-on.
Therefore, the moment the Tailed Beast Bomb began to condense, Sasuke had already used the Body Flicker Technique to change his position. However, Chomei seemed to have been watching him, and it adjusted its aim accordingly.
The next second, the powerful Tailed Beast Bomb was spat out by Chomei, hurtling straight towards Sasuke.
Watching this scene, Hibari couldn't help but worry for Sasuke.
Fortunately, Sasuke had his ways. He used an Earth Release ninjutsu before the Tailed Beast Bomb hit him, instantly sinking into the ground. Then, the Tailed Beast Bomb roared past, 'plowing' the entire terrain.
Hibari watched the situation, thinking to himself that Sasuke better not accidentally mess up...
Before he could think further, Sasuke's head emerged from the ground near Hiruzen, and he said in a deep voice, "This guy is incredible when it goes berserk. It'll tear down the entire Mushiking Valley... Hiruzen, figure out a way to restrict it for a bit longer. I'm going to prepare a large-scale sealing jutsu to see if I can put this damn thing to sleep."
Hearing his father's words, Hiruzen quickly asked, "Are you going to use the Nightmare Sealing Formula?"
Sasuke didn't reply verbally; he simply nodded and then sank back into the ground.
The Nightmare Sealing Formula is a large-scale sealing jutsu passed down through generations in the Sarutobi clan, capable of forcibly dragging a target into a nightmare, inducing a state of sleep. It was originally a jutsu used against large creatures, typically for capturing giant ninja beasts or forcibly forming summoning contracts.
However, Hiruzen's chakra reserves were already low; certainly not enough for him to use another Mountain Earth Technique. Therefore, he didn't have any impressive means at hand to restrict Chomei's movements.
After a moment's thought, Hiruzen thought of Hibari. Then, he stomped his foot and left the spot with a Body Flicker Technique.
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