An ominous, orange-red glow from the "burning clouds" blanketed the eastern night sky.
A heavy sense that "something big was coming" left every shinobi stationed in the area feeling restless and on edge.
Amidst the slack-jawed silence of the onlookers, the massive form of the Kyuubi finally materialized.
They soon realized that a single shinobi was circling the Kyuubi, leaping and darting with incredible agility. He deftly evaded the beast's sweeping tails, claw strikes, lunges, and even its most undignified, brute-force tackles.
However, in such a purely reactive struggle, even the most meticulous defense eventually falters. The agile shinobi was finally swatted away by a massive claw. With a thunderous boom, he was sent flying, crashing into the distance.
By a stroke of calculated "luck," he landed directly within the village of the Hagoromo Clan.
Like a Great Starfall, Genma smashed straight into the heart of the enemy's nest.
In truth, the proper way to handle the Kyuubi was the Uchiha method—using Genjutsu control paired with Summoning. Genma's method of forcibly drawing "aggro" was simply not a task meant for mortals.
The Kyuubi was far too dangerous; a mere graze from it meant death or permanent disability.
While some could handle the Kyuubi like a mere chick, others were chased around without any hope of fighting back. Such was the disparity between shinobi.
Fortunately, the taunting effect of Amaterasu was unparalleled. The Kyuubi had likely rarely suffered such an indignity; in its fury, it had abandoned all reason, allowing Genma to keep its "hatred" firmly locked onto him.
The good news was that the aggro was stable. The bad news was that it was too damn stable.
Genma had been violently swatted away. Under normal circumstances, he should have been reduced to a meat patty. However, during his long entanglement with the Kyuubi, he hadn't come away empty-handed… he had managed to "shear some wool" off the beast.
To be more precise, he had sheared a massive amount of wool.
Normally, an average shinobi could never withstand the Kyuubi's chakra due to its extreme corrosiveness; even a single large "gulp" would be fatal. But Genma was different.
The God Tree is the husk of the Tailed Beasts, and the Tailed Beasts are the manifestation of the God Tree's spirit and energy. Meanwhile, White Zetsu are the "fruits" grown from that same tree.
To put it hyperbolically, the relationship between a Tailed Beast and a White Zetsu is one of spirit and flesh.
An ordinary White Zetsu might not be able to handle such toxic chakra, but Genma had been incessantly harvesting "experience" from White Zetsu. It was as if he had stacked layers upon layers of White Zetsu onto himself. His "White Zetsu concentration" far exceeded that of a normal specimen; he was essentially a "hardcore devotee" of the God Tree.
Thus, when he attempted to touch the Kyuubi's chakra, he found that he was fine. As long as he overcame the psychological barrier, his body could endure it.
What was the psychological barrier, you ask?
Because to an average shinobi, the Kyuubi's chakra felt like walking into a public pit latrine that hadn't been cleaned in five years. It wasn't just the potency of the stench—it was enough to make one's eyes sting.
Touching a little? No problem. Stealing a little? No problem. Shearing wool with all his might? Still no problem.
So, along the way, Genma had gorged himself until he was nearly overflowing.
Actually, he was overflowing. Currently, he was enveloped in a thick cloak of Kyuubi chakra. The concentration was so high it wasn't just visible; the chakra shroud had taken on a jelly-like, semi-solid texture.
This chakra cloak provided not only extreme defensive power but also an excellent cushioning effect. Consequently, after being slammed into the ground, Genma suffered no substantial damage.
In reality, losing this small amount of chakra was nothing to the Kyuubi. However, it allowed Genma to enter the strongest combat state of his life. Could this be considered a "Senju Hashirama Trial Card"?
Fine, it wasn't even close to that level.
Genma leapt out of the crater he had created and climbed to the top of the tallest nearby building in a few bounds. He planted one foot on the upturned golden shachihoko ornament of the roof ridge and looked up toward the Kyuubi.
The lost chakra indeed meant nothing to the beast, but for a thief to flaunt it so brazenly in front of the owner? Wasn't that a bit too arrogant?
Faced with such a provocation, the Kyuubi naturally could not tolerate it.
Finally, it charged toward the Hagoromo village… or more accurately, it didn't even see the village. It saw only Genma.
Genma shook his head slightly in disappointment. To be honest, he had hoped the Kyuubi would fire a Bijuudama at him. After all his jumping around, didn't he deserve another Tailed Beast Bomb?
If an energy cannon wiped out a village and shinobi died like ants, wouldn't the Kyuubi look like a god? A fox is just a fox; it didn't understand the pleasure of looking down upon all living things and manipulating life and death.
However, the Kyuubi wasn't brain-dead. It knew Genma could fly and was extremely nimble. It felt that a Bijuudama would be hard to land, so it simply didn't use the move.
Squashing this annoying fly with a single palm strike was undoubtedly the best way to solve the problem.
The Kyuubi finally entered the Hagoromo village.
Previously, Genma had intruded into the settlement in a very "unconventional" manner. Logically, the Hagoromo shinobi should have noticed him, yet so far, none had targeted him.
Because compared to him, the Kyuubi was simply too conspicuous.
Many shinobi merely spared him a glance before turning back, staring blankly at the mountain-sized Kyuubi and its unstoppable chakra.
Despite being an ancient and powerful clan with the blood of the Sage of the Six Paths flowing in their veins, the Hagoromo Clan still lacked experience in dealing with Tailed Beasts.
This wasn't just a Tailed Beast attack; it might as well have been the arrival of an Apostle.
Once the Kyuubi rushed into the village, Genma greeted it by shoving a Katon (Fire Style) jutsu right into its face. After that, he began running in circles through the village… he was genuinely afraid the Kyuubi wouldn't destroy the place evenly enough.
The Kyuubi acted like a giant grindstone, crushing its way through the cluster of buildings that seemed far too delicate for its size.
Watching all this from a distance, the Senju shinobi didn't know what expressions to make.
Even the "resourceful" Senju Tobirama had never imagined Genma would lure the Kyuubi here. It was too audacious. With Genma's strength, he dared to touch the Kyuubi? Was he tired of living?
Yet, Genma had actually pulled off this impossible feat. Not only was he alive, but he had truly achieved his objective.
Thinking back to Genma's confident demeanor when he volunteered to be the vanguard and take on the task of breaking the Hagoromo Clan's defenses… dammit, what did he mean by "the Yinghuo Organization will surely accomplish this"? He clearly meant the Kyuubi would surely accomplish this!
"Father, we'll have to delay our timing for the attack on the Hagoromo Clan, but this is a good thing. Once they drive the Kyuubi away, they will surely be exhausted. If we strike then, we can settle it with one blow and make the Hagoromo Clan history."
Tobirama quickly analyzed the situation. While the specific time of their entry was hard to determine, the opportunity for entry had become incredibly clear… they just had to wait patiently. In any case, the Kyuubi was threatening the Hagoromo, not the Senju.
The enemy was being slaughtered by the Kyuubi, but Senju Butsuma felt no sense of relief. At this moment, he frowned instead, for he foresaw a troubling consequence.
"Turning the world upside down… acting willfully… utterly lawless…"
Genma, disregarding everything, had lured a Tailed Beast into an enemy village just to destroy them. This was indeed a reckless act that shattered established boundaries. The destructive power of a Tailed Beast was self-evident, but the problem was that this set a terrible precedent for other extremist shinobi.
If the originator acts this way, won't there be followers?
Now that someone had provided a blueprint, wouldn't others learn?
Butsuma seemed to see a future where countless insane shinobi led Tailed Beasts into the various Great Clans. If that happened, would clans like theirs ever know peace again?
Coincidentally, the Shinobi World of this era was never short of insane shinobi. Or rather, the shinobi of this era were either already insane or on the path to becoming so.
"Father!"
Tobirama knew what Butsuma was worried about, so he immediately offered a reminder:
"With my Big Brother here, our Senju Clan has no need to fear Tailed Beasts."
True. In an instant, Butsuma's doubts vanished.
"From this day on, Hashirama is my 'Big Brother' too…"
He muttered softly under his breath. It was lucky that the others didn't hear his mumbled words, or a very awkward family dynamic would have been born.
To the side, an old shinobi with a full white beard, who had been silently observing the Hagoromo village and assessing the Kyuubi's destructive power, said without looking back:
"Our Uzumaki Clan isn't afraid of Tailed Beasts either."
Indeed, they weren't. Though they lacked Senju Hashirama's Mokuton (Wood Style) and raw combat power, any Uzumaki shinobi could whip out a few Kongo Fusa (Adamantine Sealing Chains) to suppress a Tailed Beast.
The remaining members of the Hyuga and Sarutobi clans looked at each other in dismay. This is bad. Are these old guys trying to force us to align with the Senju?
Even if it was just to prevent a Tailed Beast from stomping through their own villages, did they have to unite with the Senju?
One must realize that every Great Clan of this era had wiped out numerous small and medium-sized clans. Every one of them had a mountain of enemies. Who could guarantee those enemies wouldn't become copycats of Genma?
It was almost impossible to pull up every weed by the root. No matter how weak a clan was, a few stragglers would always escape the slaughter. Even if a traitor within the clan did the job themselves, wouldn't the traitor at least spare their own younger brother?
For a moment, everyone felt that the shinobi who first utilized the Kyuubi was a total moron. Don't you worry about being attacked by a Tailed Beast yourself?
Genma hadn't expected that his small action would accidentally accelerate the process of the Great Alliance of the Shinobi World.
He would surely feel that this was a case of "planting a willow for shade but getting a forest," contributing to world peace and development.
Regardless of what the spectators thought, the Hagoromo Clan was currently "seeing red" across the entire line. But what could they do? Aside from holding their ground, they had no choice. This was their home, after all.
A home they could never abandon.
After ten minutes of chaos, the counterattack finally began.
Various Ninjutsu were unleashed upon the Kyuubi. Tailed Beasts were simply too large; their defense couldn't cover every angle… at least, the Kyuubi couldn't. So while it could rampage, its size was a double-edged sword; before agile shinobi, it inevitably became a sitting duck.
The Kyuubi didn't use Ninjutsu, meaning it had massive chakra but lacked efficiency. The saying that a Tailed Beast's overall strength is inferior to that of a Jinchuriki was not empty talk.
It could indeed cause massive destruction, but expecting it to wipe out a clan like the Hagoromo on its own was unrealistic. As the Hagoromo shinobi gradually regained their organization and coordinated their attacks, they were no longer so pathetic.
Of course, saying they had stabilized their position would be overestimating them.
Suddenly, several Ranton (Storm Style) users lined up together. They performed a joint technique, standing beneath the Kyuubi's neck. In an instant, they slashed upward, creating a brilliant, pure white light-sword as wide as a waterfall.
The hit landed on the Kyuubi's neck, immediately erupting with crackling lightning. The intense paralysis caused the beast's limbs to go limp, and it crashed to the ground with a boom.
Ninjutsu attacks weren't ineffective, but this thoroughly enraged the Kyuubi. At this point, it stopped caring where Genma was; its target had changed from one fly to a swarm of flies.
The Kyuubi struggled for a moment, shook off the paralysis, and then performed a side-roll. While crushing another massive swathe of buildings, it stood back up.
The previous light-sword was effective, but those shinobi clearly couldn't use a technique of that scale frequently.
The Kyuubi lowered its head, and chakra began to accumulate near its mouth.
"Not good! It's a Bijuudama!"
"Stop it! We have to stop it!"
Boom!
A mountain of earth erupted from beneath the Kyuubi's jaw, forcing its head upward. But the Kyuubi was determined; even in this position, it did not dissipate the chakra at its mouth.
Just then, five or six Hagoromo shinobi actually ran up the side of the earth mountain. Their bodies emitted a blinding light as they dove straight into the Kyuubi's maw.
Immediately following…
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of continuous explosions echoed from inside the Kyuubi's mouth. The impact of several shinobi committing collective suicide-bombing at point-blank range finally interrupted the Kyuubi's charging of the chakra.
Such savage behavior, such explosive temperaments, such a miserable Kyuubi… any animal rights activist would be moved to tears.
By now, the Hagoromo shinobi had finally reacted. One group acted as bait to draw the beast's hatred, while another group consciously herded it. Little by little, they guided the Kyuubi toward the outskirts of the village.
Genma did not stop them, because the Kyuubi had already completed its mission.
The Hagoromo shinobi leading the Kyuubi away wouldn't be able to return anytime soon. If they led the beast out and immediately turned back, the Kyuubi would 10,000% fire a Bijuudama right at the village.
That wouldn't be leading it away; it would be helping the Kyuubi find a better firing position.
Genma remained hidden within the chaotic village.
Seeing that the timing was nearly ripe, the Senju Clan stopped caring about the Yinghuo Organization's vanguard actions and prepared to invade the village… wasn't the Kyuubi enough? Did they really need those few Yinghuo shinobi?
The other clans who had been watching the show also shifted their roles, preparing to "loot the burning house." They all tied red cloths around their left arms.
However…
Did anyone notice someone was missing?
Where was Uchiha Sasuke?
Sasuke was currently on his way to the Uchiha Clan.
--
Support me & read more advance & fast update chapter on my patreon:
pat reon .com/yuuwand