Chapter 146: The Kyuubi's Roar
"You vow to keep me here?" Ren's voice cut through the tension, cold and mocking. "Then I shall leave my mark on Kumogakure by walking over its ruins!"
Before the Raikage or the surrounding ANBU could react, Ren's hands flew through the seals of the Summoning Jutsu. He slammed his palms onto the ground.
**BOOM!**
A massive cloud of white smoke erupted, engulfing the entire area and blinding everyone. From within the billowing haze, an overwhelming, malevolent chakra erupted—a pressure so immense and vile it felt like the air itself had turned to lead. It was the chakra of a Tailed Beast, but magnified to a terrifying degree.
A monstrous, fiery-red claw, larger than a house, slammed down from the smoke, crushing the ground beneath it. This was followed by an earth-shaking roar that promised pure destruction. As the smoke began to clear, the full horror was revealed.
Standing before the assembled shinobi of Kumogakure was the Kyuubi no Yoko—the Nine-Tailed Fox. Its nine tails lashed the air like angry serpents, its eyes burning with crimson hatred.
"That's... the Nine-Tails!" C stammered, his sensor abilities confirming the impossible. "And the chakra... it's real! It's the real entity!"
"How?!" the Raikage roared, his mind reeling. "The Nine-Tails is sealed within Konoha's Jinchuriki! If it had been stolen, the entire world would know! We would have been informed!" The geopolitical implications were staggering, but the immediate threat was all-consuming. They were standing inside the village, and this beast was a walking cataclysm.
He now understood Ren's threat perfectly. Allowing the Kyuubi to run amok within the village walls would be a disaster of unprecedented scale.
"YOU!" the Raikage bellowed at a nearby ANBU captain. "Sound the maximum alert! Evacuate all civilians to the underground shelters! Mobilize every single shinobi in the village! This is not a drill! The rest of you, with me! We form a perimeter! We die here before we let it reach the residential districts!"
"Hai!" The ANBU sprang into action. One vanished to relay the orders. Moments later, a piercing, urgent alarm began to wail across the mountain village, a sound not heard since the last great war.
High atop the Kyuubi's head stood Ren, flanked by a stunned Suigetsu and a wide-eyed Jūgo.
"B-Boss..." Suigetsu managed, his voice trembling. "Is that... the Nine-Tails? How? The Jinchuriki is in Konoha! When did you...?"
"Questions later," Ren snapped, his gaze fixed on the chaos below. "All you need to know is that it obeys me. Now, hold on. If you fall, you're on your own."
In the distance, the signs of the village's mobilization were immediate. Dozens, then hundreds of chakra signatures began converging on their location from all directions. Black specks against the mountain skyline rapidly grew into squads of Cloud shinobi.
"Boss, they're bringing in the whole army!" Suigetsu yelled over the Kyuubi's growls and the rising alarm.
"Let them come," Ren said, a cruel smile twisting his lips. "Hold on tight!"
With a mental command, the Kyuubi roared, a sound that shattered windows in nearby buildings. It then surged forward, a mountain of muscle and fury, its target the concentrated group containing the Raikage and the ANBU.
"INCOMING!" the Raikage screamed. "SCATTER!"
The shinobi leaped away just as a massive paw swiped through where they had been standing, carving a canyon in the earth. But the Kyuubi's assault was relentless. It reared up, its other paw slamming down, then swiping horizontally. Cloud shinobi who were a fraction of a second too slow were batted away like insects, their bodies broken.
"Damn it! Long-range attacks! Suppress it! Buy time for the evacuation!" the Raikage ordered, his voice raw.
A volley of kunai, shuriken, and elemental ninjutsu—fireballs, lightning bolts, torrents of water—soared toward the beast. They exploded against its hide like fireworks, annoying it but causing no visible damage.
"What is that thing?!"
"Is Konoha attacking us?"
"Where are Yugito-sama and Killer B-sama? We need our Jinchuriki!"
The cries of the arriving, confused Cloud ninja were drowned out by the beast's roars and the cacophony of battle.
Ren paid them no mind. His focus was on the Raikage, who, utilizing his incredible speed, had zigzagged past the flailing tails and claws and now raced up the Kyuubi's back, a living bolt of lightning aiming straight for its head—and for Ren.
"UCHIHA REN! I'LL KILL YOU!" the Raikage bellowed, his face a mask of pure rage.
"Tch. Persistent fool," Ren muttered. He drew the Ryūkō Seiun, its blade igniting with crimson light. "You seek death? I'll grant it."
The battle had escalated from a skirmish to a full-scale invasion. The fate of Kumogakure now rested on the shoulders of its leader and its army, facing down the most feared beast in the world, controlled by the most dangerous Uchiha alive.
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