The scene was unrecognizable from its original state.
The emotions of the Land of Sky's citizens were ignited in an instant, reaching a fever pitch. In this frantic slaughter, Shinno did not personally intervene. He wordlessly compressed the Zero-Tails into a small sphere, allowing it to quietly drink in the darkness permeating the battlefield.
The humiliation and suffering of the Grass citizens, the pain, despair, and regret of the Wind Country merchants in their final moments—even the bloodthirsty killing intent displayed by the Sky ninjas—all of it was silently devoured by the Zero-Tails. For this creature, negative emotions overflowing from human souls were the most exquisite "food."
The Sky ninjas grew increasingly excited. Even as their casualties rose, Shinno did not call a halt, instead letting them continue hunting the foreign ninjas lingering within their borders. However, amidst his triumph, Shinno did not relax his vigilance. Though the Sky ninja corps was now operational, he remembered all too well how the Leaf had used a surprise attack to destroy their aerial base decades ago. Given the chance, the Leaf would surely repeat that tactic. Until they amassed sufficient power, this trump card had to be kept hidden.
As far as he was concerned, this operation was only targeting ordinary merchants; the Leaf and Suna would take time to react. By then, he would have already presented a satisfactory explanation to the Cloud and Stone.
But reality is a fickle thing.
Just as Shinno gestured for his men to begin feigning a skirmish with the Cloud and Stone units to maintain their cover, the Zero-Tails hidden in his sleeve let out a piercing shriek. It was a scream unlike any it had uttered even during the fiercest combat, as if something utterly terrifying were falling from the sky at terminal velocity.
Shinno's heart tightened. He looked up, but he was already too late to react.
Two figures in the air had completed their full Tailed Beast transformations before even touching the ground. Two gargantuan beasts now towered over the landscape, their frantic chakra boiling and ruthlessly battering Shinno's senses.
The Eight-Tails, Gyuki—Jinchuriki Killer Bee of the Hidden Cloud.
The Four-Tails, Son Goku—Jinchuriki Roshi of the Hidden Stone.
"I really never imagined that one day I'd be fighting for the Leaf. This is beyond ridiculous! Yeah!" Killer Bee couldn't help but rhyme.
"Stop talking. Our job is to crush the Sky ninjas."
"I know, I know. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here. It's so depressing I don't even have the energy to sing."
As the two Jinchuriki spoke, Shinno realized things had gone horribly wrong. Even more powerhouses were flooding into the battlefield. He stared in shock: This world must have gone crazy!!! It felt as though he was the only one who had stood still while the era sprinted past him.
However, for the others, this "rebel" who had targeted the interests of the Five Great Nations was a convenient common enemy. Almost every powerhouse who could make it had arrived. The Jinchuriki of the Five Nations were essentially all present.
With a thunderous boom, a massive toad slammed into the earth. Atop the toad stood Jiraiya, clad in a red kimono and wreathed in a golden glow—he had already entered Sage Mode. Beside him stood the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
This scene made Shinno feel like the Fourth Shinobi World War was being reenacted before his eyes. His mind went blank.
Tsunade, meanwhile, had no intention of giving Shinno a chance to speak. She thought to herself: What am I doing? I don't think I've done anything wrong, yet I feel forced into this. She began to understand a sliver of the First Hokage's sorrow—the burden of doing what is "necessary" even when it feels "wrong." Her gaze drifted to Danzo, who had insisted on following them to the battlefield despite Hiruko not inviting him.
"We'll handle Danzo's side; you don't need to follow," Hiruko had said bluntly to Danzo earlier. Danzo couldn't figure out Hiruko's angle, but he knew what he had to say now.
Danzo stepped forward, his voice a low bark. "Silence! Let this old man handle these insolent fools who don't know their place!"
The coalition had converged with startling speed. Motivated by the "theft" of their wealth, they fell upon Shinno's forces with a vengeance. But the first to strike was Danzo.
"Vacuum Wave!" Danzo roared, unleashing a barrage of razor-sharp wind blades. As a former bodyguard to the Second Hokage, Danzo's ninjutsu mastery was veteran-tier, and his understanding of cutting techniques was profound. Since the main timeline hadn't officially begun, his physical condition and combat instincts were still sharp. His methods were ruthless.
Shinno, having spent all his time on research rather than combat training, was outclassed. His current strength was no match for Danzo, and even if it were, it was meaningless against the elite squads of the Five Nations.
"You forced my hand!" Shinno screamed. Facing total encirclement, he chose to merge directly with the Zero-Tails.
With a shriek that sounded like it clawed its way out of the abyss, the Zero-Tails dissolved into Shinno's body. A moment later, Danzo's vacuum waves hit. The blades were incredibly sharp, carving horrific gashes into Shinno, exposing bone and internal organs.
The onlookers were all veterans of blood and war, well-acquainted with the cruelty of the trade. But just as they expected the fight to end, a miracle occurred. The wounds that looked fatal—wounds even Tsunade would find troublesome—began to knit back together at a visible speed. In less than half a breath, his body was restored to a state even better than before.
Merged with the Zero-Tails, Shinno transformed. His gray hair turned jet-black and vibrant, and an overflow of Dark Chakra flickered through his locks, radiating a spine-chilling aura.
The crowd's expression shifted. Is this similar to Tsunade's Strength of a Hundred Seal? No, the power restoring him didn't come from himself—it came from the creature.
His chakra skyrocketed, and his personality became colder and more manic. Facing the Five Nations, he didn't flee; he attacked.
The response was a colossal blow from Gyuki's massive tentacle. The Eight-Tails lashed out with world-shaking force, sent Shinno flying. He wouldn't find it easy to stand again; he was covered in the scent of two Tailed Beasts, surrounded by endless masters whose eyes burned with fury over their stolen gold.
In this bizarre scenario, the dream of "mutual understanding" was briefly realized—through a shared desire to kill Shinno.
BOOM! Shinno was smashed into the crater for the third time. Besieged by two Tailed Beasts, his defense and recovery were reaching their limit. In desperation, he went for a full transformation, his body disappearing into the Zero-Tails. A massive, serpent-like monster floated into the air, its white mask-like face and golden pupils declaring its evil.
The response was a more violent assault. The beasts bit into its segments, nearly sealing it off. Shinno had never reached his peak state, and under the rhythmic bludgeoning of the Tailed Beasts, the Zero-Tails was beaten senseless. With a final wail, it retreated back into Shinno's body.
Shinno was exposed once more. The battle was over. Victory was decided.
Tsunade, however, was puzzled. Despite being pulverized, Shinno's body continued to repair itself. With every trauma, his body swelled. Within seconds, the once-fit Shinno had become a gargantuan mountain of flesh, looking like a bio-organic monster from a nightmare. He looked like a sumo wrestler on lethal steroids.
Tsunade realized the principle: Shinno was passively using his jutsu to grow muscle through the cycle of destruction and regeneration. The more he was hurt, the more his muscles expanded. It was messy, chaotic growth, but beneath the "fat" was pure, reinforced muscle.
He was using the Body Activation and Body Revival techniques, paired with Dark Chakra, to become a "Mini-Saiyan" that grew stronger the more he was beaten. Shinno even claimed he could use these to open the Eight Inner Gates. Hiruko doubted this; compared to Might Guy's legendary Seventh Gate, Shinno's power was closer to the Fourth.
Hiruko, ever the pragmatist, watched as his subordinates brought the broken man in. "Can this jutsu be replicated?" he asked Tsunade.
"Perhaps. But it would be best to get his secret scrolls," she replied. These weren't things you could just extract via tech; you had to learn the jutsu from scratch. Ninjutsu wasn't an unknowable mystery; with the right knowledge and a spark of inspiration, any jutsu could be mimicked.
"Search him for scrolls," Tsunade ordered. "Otherwise, we'll have to decode it through the Zero-Tails."
The Zero-Tails was a "Tailed Beast," but its actual combat performance was lackluster against the unified front of the Five Villages. Shinno's mind was fracturing, looking ready to trigger a suicidal explosion.
Hiruko was unfazed. He flicked his hand, and countless ethereal chakra chains manifested, binding the mountain of flesh and suppressing the Zero-Tails' final resistance. The monster stilled, then vanished, leaving only its white mask behind.
Without the Zero-Tails, Shinno collapsed. His muscles withered, his hair fell out, and he aged decades in a second, becoming a frail, ancient man.
And...
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