Because she had to control and restrain Shukaku, Kushina was unable to move freely, leaving her in an extremely dangerous situation.
Even though large numbers of Konoha shinobi were protecting her, Sunagakure's forces continued to surge forward endlessly, thinning the defensive line around her with every passing moment.
At this moment—
What Konoha needed was overwhelming firepower.
"Time to clear the field," Hagoromo said calmly. "Sand shinobi."
Wrapped in blazing lightning, Hagoromo charged into the densest cluster of enemies, both hands gripping the Iron Sand Sword.
This kind of overwhelmingly destructive jutsu was something he'd never had the chance to use before. After all, within Konoha, there had never been an opponent who warranted such a method.
So this was the first time anyone had truly witnessed the Iron Sand Sword's power—
Including Hagoromo himself.
His unique electrical ability allowed him to manipulate electromagnetic forces, gathering all iron sand within a two-hundred-meter radius from the surrounding soil. Guided by magnetism, the iron sand moved exactly as he willed it to.
The weapon formed through electromagnetic force was less a sword and more a serpentine whip, emitting a sound like the buzzing of countless bees amplified hundreds of times. The Iron Sand Sword could freely extend dozens of meters through the air, instantly expanding Hagoromo's attack range.
Do not underestimate those dozens of meters.
For shinobi, even ten meters already counted as long-range combat.
The massive quantity of iron sand vibrated under electromagnetic manipulation. As Hagoromo swung the Iron Sand Sword, it was like wielding a high-speed electric chainsaw.
Anything it touched—
Arms were severed.
Legs were severed.
Necks were severed.
Conventional defenses were utterly useless against it.
Some Sand shinobi attempted to block with their long blades, but the molecular-level vibration rendered the Iron Sand Sword sharper than any legendary weapon. Cutting through metal was no different from cutting through flesh.
The single visible eye beneath Hagoromo's broken mask revealed an expression impossible to read—neither cold nor passionate, but eerily calm.
In the night, his white hair stood on end from the electric field, his white mask cracked and stained, his body engulfed in lightning.
Enemy and ally alike were equally shaken.
Where he advanced—
Limbs flew.
What he left behind—
Was a trail of mangled flesh and blood.
The Sand shinobi's momentum was halted.
Though the fighting styles were different, this kind of effortless slaughter awakened a memory they never wished to recall.
Sunagakure's eternal nightmare.
Konoha's White Fang — Hatake Sakumo.
That man had been the same—one man, one blade, charging into Sand shinobi ranks as if walking through empty ground.
Sakumo was dead. That had been Konoha's self-inflicted wound.
But looking at this scene—
Was Konoha about to bare new fangs tonight?
Of course, Hagoromo was not Sakumo.
For the White Fang, no matter whether the opponent was a genin or even most jōnin, one slash was usually enough.
Hagoromo was different.
Against fodder, his killing efficiency was even higher—but against elite jōnin, jutsus like this rarely guaranteed a one-hit kill.
And there were simply too many enemies.
This was a battlefield where Konoha was at an absolute disadvantage—utter chaos, overwhelming numbers. Statistically speaking, no matter how sharp his offense or how complete his defenses were, some enemies would inevitably break through to his vicinity.
Yet Hagoromo continued to focus solely on enemies farther away, as if he had completely abandoned defense.
That, however, was an illusion.
At this moment, Hagoromo was in a state of full electrical discharge. He had no reason to restrain himself out of fear of collateral damage.
Within three meters, enemies suffered violent neural disruption.
Within two meters, the high voltage was enough to knock most shinobi unconscious.
Within one meter, ordinary enemies died horribly—charred beyond recognition where charring should occur.
Hagoromo had no idea how many enemies he had killed.
But almost no one could stop his advance.
With Hagoromo acting as a spearhead, the shinobi defending Kushina surged forward as well. Under this desperate counterattack, the Sand shinobi were actually pushed back.
Very quickly, a vacuum zone formed beneath Shukaku's feet.
After clearing the immediate area, Hagoromo did not press further outward. Before the next wave of Sand shinobi arrived, he returned to Kushina's side.
Before doing so, he retracted the whip-like Iron Sand Sword, compressing it into the shape of a long spear, then hurled it with all his strength toward the densest concentration of enemies.
Midair—
The iron sand exploded outward, transforming into countless black senbon, unleashing yet another storm of silent death.
Upon returning to Kushina, Hagoromo temporarily released his discharge state.
At this point, not only was his mask gone—his exposed skin was completely stained red with blood.
Kushina stood there, utterly stunned.
She knew exactly what Chidori Current was like.
But this so-called Second Stage—
It was nothing like Chidori at all.
Power aside, what confused her the most was this:
Why couldn't she sense even the slightest trace of chakra?
Hagoromo, however, had no time to explain.
"Kushina-sensei," he said urgently, pointing at Shukaku, "isn't there some kind of sealing jutsu you can use to deal with that thing?!"
Though it hadn't been described in detail, Shukaku had been roaring nonstop throughout the entire fight. Kushina had restrained its body—but she couldn't do anything about its mouth.
"What could I possibly do?" Kushina snapped back immediately. "Just suppressing it already takes everything I have!"
And that wasn't even the whole problem.
Because of Shukaku's presence, the Nine-Tails within her was also starting to stir.
At this moment, Kushina wasn't just suppressing Shukaku—
She was also suppressing Kurama.
She wasn't like the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki, who had achieved perfect harmony. Kushina had always relied on the Uzumaki clan's chakra to forcibly restrain the Nine-Tails.
Now, her chakra reserves had dropped below the danger threshold.
Naturally—
Kurama was beginning to grow restless.
After all—
It wanted to come out for some air too.
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