"Teacher, everything's ready!"
Hearing this, Pakura's tightly strung nerves eased just a little. She took a deep breath, then decisively swung her right hand downward.
At that very instant, the fireball she had just hurled into the sky with all her strength exploded like a volcanic eruption.
Flames shot skyward, heat waves roiled, and along with a deafening blast, even the surrounding air seemed to ignite.
And Shukaku, who took the brunt of it, suffered heavy damage.
It let out a pained roar, its ferocious, terrifying head blown apart by nearly half in an instant.
However, this was a vast, boundless desert. For Shukaku, who possessed powerful regenerative abilities, such severe injuries would last at most ten seconds before rapidly recovering as if nothing had happened.
No sooner said than done. Before Shukaku could recover from the intense pain, a Sunagakure ninja suddenly appeared. Her face was painted with strange patterns, and she held a thick roll of heavy cloth tightly in her arms.
She moved with agility and speed, rushing to the eastern side of Shukaku, then without hesitation slammed the roll of cloth in her hands straight into the ground.
Almost at the same time, three more members of the Sunagakure sealing team leapt out from the other three directions.
Their movements were perfectly synchronized as they planted their own cloth rolls firmly into the ground at top speed.
In an instant, the four cloth rolls seemed to come alive, beginning to unfurl on their own while letting out sharp whistling sounds.
In the blink of an eye, massive strips of cloth, each nearly two meters wide, shot out like arrows released from a bow. They intertwined in midair, weaving together before tightly wrapping around Shukaku's enormous body.
The moment it felt the restraint, Shukaku became violently agitated. It twisted and struggled frantically, its four thick, powerful claws lashing out wildly, kicking up clouds of sand into the sky.
Yet as the cloth tightened further and further, Shukaku's already massive body began to swell like an overinflated balloon.
Even so, the cloth showed not the slightest sign of loosening.
Suddenly, mysterious sealing runes lit up across the surface of the cloth, flickering with radiant light.
These runes seemed to possess a strange power, causing the surging chakra within Shukaku to be drawn out continuously like a flood bursting through a broken dam.
As its chakra drained rapidly, Shukaku's once impenetrable defense began to drop in a straight decline, like a towering structure on the verge of collapse, teetering and unstable.
At this critical moment, Pakura sharply seized the opportunity.
Her slender hands moved rapidly, forming a series of complex and mysterious hand seals.
In an instant, a scorching aura burst from her body, condensing into a blazing fireball.
This fireball resembled a star spinning at high speed while continuously contracting, radiating a dazzling, scorching white glow.
Then, with a sudden lift of her arm, the pale-white fireball shot forward like lightning, heading straight for Shukaku's head.
In the blink of an eye, it plunged precisely into Shukaku's skull, its force like molten lava surging down during a volcanic eruption, unstoppable and overwhelming.
A dull, heavy growl escaped Shukaku as its entire body trembled violently.
At the same time, the chakra that had originally gathered within it exploded under the impact of the fireball's immense energy, scattering in all directions.
Meanwhile, the cloth wrapped around Shukaku's exterior now became perfect fuel. Combined with the chakra that had just been absorbed acting as an accelerant, the flames grew even fiercer, rapidly spreading across its entire body.
For a moment, Shukaku had turned into a colossal torch, flames surging skyward and lighting up the surrounding darkness.
Even so, it continued to hold on through sheer willpower, but its strength ultimately could not withstand such a ferocious assault.
Suddenly, Shukaku's tightly shut eyes snapped open. But at this moment, the one controlling its body was no longer Shukaku itself, but Rasa, hidden deep within it.
The moment Rasa opened his eyes, Shukaku instantly lost all control over its own chakra.
Unwilling to accept defeat, Shukaku let out a sharp, piercing screech, "I'll be back! Just you wait, all of you!"
Puff! Pfft!
Large amounts of sand began to pour uncontrollably from Shukaku's body, flowing outward without end.
In the end, the body made of sand could no longer withstand such heavy damage and collapsed with a thunderous crash.
As the thick sand fell away, what appeared before everyone was Rasa, already severely burned.
A crowd of Sunagakure shinobi surged forward like a tide, surrounding him tightly. Among them were not only Pakura, but also the village's medical ninja.
At this moment, Rasa's skin was extensively scorched, a horrifying mix of red and black that was almost unbearable to look at.
If one had to describe the degree of the burns, it wasn't fully cooked, but it was definitely medium.
It was only because he was a jinchuriki that he had survived. Anyone else would have long since died.
However, even though jinchuriki possess tremendous vitality, it doesn't mean they can't feel pain.
The agony of being mercilessly burned and roasted by raging flames was far beyond what an ordinary person could endure.
Yet even so, surrounded by so many people, as the former Kazekage, whether he could endure the pain or not, he had to grit his teeth and hold on.
Even as his eyes were bloodshot, his entire body trembling uncontrollably.
Even as his gums bled from biting down so hard, he still pressed his lips together tightly, not letting out even the slightest groan.
Seeing this, the medical ninja immediately sprang into action. One of them stepped forward quickly, holding an exquisite spray bottle, and without hesitation sprayed it onto Rasa.
The moment the liquid touched his injured skin, his body tensed abruptly, like a bow drawn to its limit.
Immediately after, a low, suppressed growl rang out, as if it had been forcibly squeezed from deep within his throat, sending chills down the spine of anyone who heard it.
Pakura, standing to the side, saw this and a trace of disgust flashed through her eyes. She spoke without mercy, "Back then, you swore it was easy to be a jinchuriki. You even claimed you'd definitely be able to suppress the tailed beast Shukaku. Now it seems that was nothing but empty boasting."
She slowly turned her head, her gaze falling on the person beside her.
"How many times has he gone berserk?"
The woman standing nearby was Maki, the captain of the sealing team.
She was not only Pakura's prized disciple, but also a versatile talent proficient in cloth-based sealing techniques.
Ever since Pakura ascended to the position of Kazekage, Maki, as her disciple, had seen her own status rise step by step.
Now, she had already become one of the key figures in Sunagakure, holding real authority.
At such a critical moment, she naturally would not let her teacher's words go unanswered.
Thus, she respectfully replied, "Teacher, according to records, this is already the seventh berserk incident this month."
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