"Fire Fist!!!"
On the battlefield at the border of the Land of Wind-
A massive pillar of fire with tremendous momentum crashed down.
Seeing this, Bunpuku below quickly raised his hands.
A Shukaku's arm of comparable size rose from below to block it.
For a moment, the pillar of fire and the flowing sand arm collided, one above the other.
By now, most of Bunpuku's body had been taken over by Shukaku, revealing a ferocious expression. This was the 'Vessel' mode that Gaara would later use during the Chunin Exams.
In this state, the Jinchuriki could borrow more of Shukaku's power. The next step would be full Tailed Beast Transformation.
However, Bunpuku's compatibility with Shukaku was clearly not as good as Gaara's.
The Vessel mode was his limit, and he didn't have the ability to achieve full transformation.
The stalemate lasted about four or five seconds.
Suddenly, with a thunderous explosion, the giant pillar of fire overpowered the Shukaku's arm, slamming it, along with Bunpuku at the base, into the ground.
Boom!!!
After the explosive roar faded and several seconds passed, the smoke gradually cleared.
A crater over twenty meters in diameter appeared on the battlefield.
And Bunpuku was lying right in the center!
"Bunpuku!" The Second Kazekage, who was holding off Sakumo, shouted urgently.
Rustle, rustle~
Large amounts of sand fell away from Bunpuku's body. Bunpuku pushed himself up with his hands, took a few deep breaths, and barely managed to stand, breathing heavily. "I-I'm alright, Kazekage-sama..."
At that moment, Jin also descended from the sky back to the ground.
He said with great interest, "Oh ho~ Sand Armor? I didn't expect to see it here."
"Jin! The One-Tail's Jinchuriki is very weak now! Use your Sharingan to control him! That way, Konoha can gain another Jinchuriki!" Jiraiya, busy dealing with the future Third Kazekage's Iron Sand, shouted a reminder.
The sand that had originally coated Bunpuku's body had largely fallen away along with the Sand Armor.
This showed that Bunpuku was now on his last legs.
Jin wouldn't even need the Mangekyo Sharingan, and a regular Sharingan could easily control him.
Then they could take him back to Konoha Village, gaining another Tailed Beast after the Nine-Tails.
"Heh~" Jin responded with a cold laugh.
If Tsunade were Hokage, or even Minato, he might not have minded doing them a favor. But right now, the old foxes of the Konoha Council were in power, so why should he help strengthen Konoha's military power? Help them become stronger to use against himself?
Therefore, for both public and private reasons, Jin couldn't possibly follow Jiraiya's suggestion. Even if he killed Bunpuku on the spot right now, he wouldn't capture Shukaku and bring it back to Konoha Village.
However, the grudges between Jin and the Konoha Council were unknown to the Sunagakure's side. Upon hearing Jiraiya's words, both Shamon and Chiyo's expressions changed dramatically.
Disregarding everything else, they rushed towards Jin.
The importance of a Tailed Beast to a Ninja Village goes without saying. If it were stolen by Konoha, it wouldn't just mean losing this war, but also losing a strategic weapon.
…
Just as both sides were about to descend into a massive melee-
Rumble, rumble, rumble-!!
The ground began to shake violently.
Before the Kage-level fighters on the scene could react, the entire battlefield rapidly cracked with huge fissures spreading outwards.
"Help! Save me!"
"What's happening? Aaaah-"
"Quick, grab my hand!"
"Damn it! Our people are falling!"
If the Kage-level fighters were caught off guard, the nameless cannon fodders were even more so.
The sudden earthquake caused many Ninja below Jonin-level to lose their balance unexpectedly, tumbling directly into the seemingly bottomless abyss of the fissures.
Bunpuku used his last bit of strength to control the flowing sand, lifting several nearby Sunagakure's Ninjas like floating clouds, suspending them in mid-air.
Master Roshi, who had been intently enjoying Jin's newly uploaded treasure, couldn't help but marvel:
[Oh ho! I never thought sand could be used like that! It's a bit like the Flying Nimbus!]
During the earthquake, a fissure happened to open right beneath Jin, causing him to lose his footing and fall.
"Jin?!" Minato cried out in shock.
But Tsunade, who should have been the most concerned about Jin, remained very calm.
"He won't die."
…
Indeed, as Tsunade said, Jin only fell about five or six meters before his body seemed to freeze, stopping mid-air.
Master Roshi gave another thumbs-up: [Already using Flying Technique so skillfully? As expected of my third disciple!]
[Jin: The principle of Flying Technique isn't complicated. You just need to master Ki Control, Master Roshi.]
Jin's form of address for Master Roshi had also changed. Now, in the group, he got along with him the best.
If Master Roshi were a Saiyan, Jin would have already tried to acquire his abilities.
Just as Jin was about to use Flying Technique to fly back up, a gloomy, playful voice suddenly came from beside him.
"My, my, this is quite unexpected~ You can even fly~"
Following that, a spiral-masked face emerged from the adjacent wall of the fissure.
"But someone ordered me to bring you back. This makes things difficult for me..."