At that moment, a 'gigantic' tanuki appeared in the path of Titan's thrashing.
Seeing the One-Tail appear, many Sunagakure's Ninjas let out cries of despair.
"It's the One-Tail, Shukaku! Damn it, why now of all times?"
"A giant serpent in front, the One-Tail behind... is this the Sage of Six Paths' punishment for Sunagakure's treachery?"
Just as the Sunagakure's Ninjas were sinking into despair, the One-Tail suddenly used its Sand Mausoleum Technique to temporarily seal a portion of Titan's gigantic body.
Seeing that even its ultimate move could only seal a part of Titan's body, Shukaku itself felt the pressure. "Bunpuku, what kind of monster has your Sunagakure provoked? I haven't seen a creature of this size since the era of the Sage of Six Paths!"
Shukaku then mocked himself, "Ah, forget it. You're imprisoned in a jail cell just like me. How would you know what's happening outside?"
Bunpuku could only smile wryly.
The surrounding Sunagakure's Ninjas finally began to process the situation.
"Wait... is the One-Tail helping us?"
"Did the Jinchuriki manage to control the One-Tail? Speaking of which, who is our Jinchuriki?"
"I think it's an old monk named Bunpuku. I heard he was imprisoned when I was very young."
Hearing the discussions of the Sunagakure's Ninjas, Shukaku grew even more displeased. "The people of Sunagakure have long forgotten you. They imprisoned you for your entire life. Don't you want revenge? If you ask me, we should just destroy Sunagakure along with this giant snake."
Bunpuku pressed his palms together. "I hold no resentment in my heart. One could even say it is this very imprisonment that allowed me to put myself in your shoes, to understand your feelings and share your loneliness. I am happy to be your friend."
"Hmph. With people like you imprisoned, and scum holding the power... no wonder your Sunagakure keeps declining..." Just as Shukaku was about to continue its taunts, Titan exerted its strength and broke free from the seal, then swung its tail over.
Shukaku was shattered like a sand sculpture, turning into a cloud of yellow sand. The sand quickly reformed, and it grumbled angrily, "This monster is absurd. It broke my seal with brute force alone."
This frustration reminded him of a certain fox. That guy was uneducated, only knowing 'Tailed Beast Bomb, Tailed Beast Bomb', with no innovation or capacity for learning. And yet, Shukaku just couldn't beat it.
"Wind Release: Air Bullets!"
Shukaku formed hand seals with his paws and fired multiple massive wind spheres from his mouth. They struck Titan's body but failed to even make it sway. Instead, they only angered it further.
Seeing Titan about to rampage across the ruins again, Bunpuku grew anxious. "Shukaku, don't all Tailed Beasts know that technique? If you use the Tailed Beast Bomb, you should be able to stop this giant serpent's movements, right?"
Shukaku kept a straight face and declared righteously, "I refuse to use such a crude, unskilled technique. It's an insult to me."
Bunpuku didn't doubt it, as Shukaku was indeed very proud internally. "Then how do we stop it now?"
Shukaku formed hand seals again and roared, "You, the Magnet Release brat over there! Mix the gold dust you control into my sand!"
Rasa, who was single-mindedly thinking about atonement, acted swiftly, merging all the gold dust he controlled into Shukaku's sand.
"Consecutive Gold Dust Mausoleum!"
Shukaku manipulated the sand infused with gold dust, condensing it into three massive pyramids that sealed three different parts of Titan's body.
Titan struggled again, but this time it failed.
Witnessing this, the Sunagakure's Ninjas cheered excitedly.
"We did it! The giant serpent is sealed!"
"Thanks to the One-Tail! Tailed Beasts aren't as scary as the legends say!"
Setsuna also noticed the commotion over there with part of his attention, quite surprised, 'The One-Tail truly lived up to his reputation as the top student among the Tailed Beasts… He could actually proactively cooperate with human power to use a combined Ninjutsu.'
Given Titan's strength and defense, almost nothing in the Ninja World could effectively deal with it, except for Sealing Techniques… and even then, it had to be an ultra-large-scale Sealing Technique.
After all, a snake's movement relies on its ribs 'walking', using alternating muscle contractions and relaxations to grip the ground with its ventral scales.
These three seals acted like three anchors, making it difficult for Titan to exert its strength.
No matter how immense the power, it was useless if it couldn't be applied.
Of course, this was Shukaku's limit. If Titan grew just a bit larger, these pyramids wouldn't even be able to fully cover a single section of its body.
Rasa's spirits soared. "Everyone, hold on! We will achieve victory soon!"
All the Sunagakure's Ninjas were invigorated. If before this they felt guilty and were only attacking Konoha under pressure, then after the giant serpent destroyed their homes, their anger temporarily overwhelmed their guilt.
Setsuna called out loudly, "Hokage-sama, you-"
"I understand!" The Third Hokage's voice suddenly became passionate before Setsuna could finish. "The time for the torch to be passed has finally come! I, too, can follow my Ninja Way, just like Tobirama-sensei did! Hurry and break through now, return, then release the summoning and take everyone back to Konoha! I will cover your retreat!"
Setsuna sighed, "What I wanted to say was, Hokage-sama, you should also get inside Titan."
The Third Hokage's body trembled. "You want to sacrifice yourself?"
A strong sense of guilt washed over the Third Hokage. Earlier, when he heard Sasori's reason for killing the Third Kazekage, he had worried internally: Would Setsuna, also a genius whose parents died in the war, harbor thoughts of assassinating him?
Thinking about it now, he had been truly despicable.
"Absolutely not! You are Konoha's future, the village's hope, the one worthy of entrusting the next era to! Let this old man be the one to burn out!" The Third Hokage's eyes grew brighter, as if he had returned to the day in his youth when he voluntarily acted as bait and sacrificed himself.
Setsuna sighed again. "Is there a possibility... that Hokage-sama, your presence here is somewhat... hindering my ability to fight?"
"Ah?" The Third Hokage was stunned for a moment, then became even more moved. "You don't need to go this far for an old man like me. Don't push yourself. The time for you to burn brightly will come, but it is not now."
"Really now, I'm not trying to stage a tragic drama here." Setsuna felt quite weary. He dashed to the Third Hokage's front and, taking advantage of his unpreparedness, used Knocking on him. Then, rather roughly, he grabbed the Third Hokage and threw him. "Titan, open up!"
Fortunately, the nearby Sunagakure's Ninjas were also stunned and failed to react in time. Otherwise, a single shuriken could have taken out the famous Third Hokage.
"What terrifying conviction, young man. I will sing tales of your deeds after your death." Onoki praised sincerely. Even standing on the opposing side, he had to commend the other's belief and courage.
The surrounding Sunagakure's Ninjas also looked at Setsuna with a mixture of respect and hatred. They all felt that Setsuna was practically the model of what a Ninja should be!