A massive shockwave of air instantly inflicted total, blanket-style destruction in the direction the Two-Tails was facing. Yet, trailing behind this shockwave was an eruption of the main offensive weapon, which was vastly more powerful than the foreplay.
Like an artillery shell, the Tailed Beast Bomb was then fired directly by the Two-Tails.
Almost in the very next instant, the rumbling sound of an explosion and the resulting fiery glow erupted in the extreme distance. Visually estimating the hit distance and the destructive power... it was simply absurd.
In Minato's hands, the "knockoff" product known as the Rasengan could essentially one-shot enemy ninjas with zero pressure. But looking at the explosive effect of the Tailed Beast Bomb over there, it easily gave the impression that this move could wipe out the entire human race without breaking a sweat.
With an attack range like that just now, Hagoromo couldn't guarantee he would be able to completely evade it.
This is exactly what the so-called "chakra weapons" were all about.
Fortunately, they had the glittering Minato.
Fundamentally speaking, Tailed Beasts are fragmented entities of a certain massive chakra aggregate that lost its physical shell. However, distinguishing them by their external appearance reveals differences.
Among them, some—like the Eight-Tails and the Six-Tails—possess clearly fleshed-out, physical bodies. Others—like the Two-Tails—look entirely like a mass of chakra at a glance. And then there are material aggregates like the One-Tail.
On the Two-Tails' body, chakra danced across its surface like a layer of blue flames.
At this moment, a massive swarm of Parasitic Insects—the quantity of which was impossible to distinguish and perhaps needed to be calculated in tonnage—had rapidly enveloped the Two-Tails, leaving not a single inch of empty space.
The Parasitic Insects Shibi Aburame was currently using were of the variety possessing strong chakra-absorbing properties. While the amount of chakra a single insect could absorb was limited, when gathered into a cloud like this, it was sufficient to drain any ninja's chakra completely dry.
But the problem was, his enemy right now wasn't an ordinary ninja; it was a Tailed Beast.
When dealing with this kind of chakra monster, attempting to absorb its chakra was playing into the enemy's strengths; it had absolutely zero effect.
It was obvious the creature didn't care about the tiny bit of chakra being absorbed... It gave off a strong "if you can suck me dry, you win" kind of vibe.
"It's no use, Shibi. Not only is the absorption of the Parasitic Insects a drop in the bucket compared to its total chakra volume, but more importantly, Tailed Beast chakra is highly corrosive. Once they absorb a certain amount, your Parasitic Insects won't survive," Minato said from the sidelines.
Shibi Aburame's efforts were indeed futile. With chakra like a Tailed Beast's, his insects would probably be poisoned to death long before they exhaust it.
"Looks like I'll need to further improve the insect breeds next time..." Despite the attack's ineffectiveness, Shibi Aburame didn't seem discouraged. He reached up, pushed his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose, and made that remark.
"Anyway, let's continue attacking according to the previous strategy," Minato said again. Discussing insect breeding wasn't a priority right now.
Although Minato said this, in reality, he had already faintly given up on the objective of this operation.
If one wanted to kill a Tailed Beast, the most effective method was actually to kill the Jinchuriki before they transformed. As for dealing with this state, Minato's peak single-target attack power was somewhat lacking.
Hagoromo's sudden, fatal strike earlier was undoubtedly a stroke of accidental brilliance. Unfortunately, no one knew beforehand that this person was actually the Two-Tails Jinchuriki. Although he inflicted a fatal wound that was second only to an instant kill, the Tailed Beast would revive a Jinchuriki who was clinging to their last breath.
Furthermore, the current situation was that while the Tailed Beast Bomb didn't hit them, it was undeniably a massive flare. With this happening, as long as the Hidden Cloud personnel weren't blind or stupid, they would definitely realize their Jinchuriki was in trouble. The arrival of a large squad of enemy ninjas was practically guaranteed.
While Konoha would also take corresponding action, considering the Hidden Cloud had the advantage in distance, everything still relied on Minato's judgment.
After shaking off the insects, the giant two-tailed monster cat immediately turned its head toward the direction of the Minato squad. Even at this distance, the iron arrow embedded in its left eye was clearly visible.
The squad's formation began to disperse anew, with Hagoromo slowly retreating.
If it were a pure biological organism, such a deep strike into the eyeball would essentially guarantee death. But Tailed Beasts are different. To be honest, Hagoromo was a bit skeptical whether the injury he inflicted was even permanent. Since the Two-Tails looked somewhat fluid, there was no guarantee the "wound" on its eye wouldn't just heal the next time it materialized.
The battle had to continue.
Choza Akimichi, standing at the very front, stuffed something into his mouth, and then his entire body instantly and rapidly expanded.
He used the Multi-Size Jutsu, preparing to grapple with the Tailed Beast at close range.
Choza naturally didn't possess the incredibly high defense of the successive generations of Raikage, who could brawl bare-handed with the Eight-Tails. But after using the Multi-Size Jutsu, his attack power was absolutely something that couldn't be ignored.
Although he couldn't truly block the Tailed Beast, within the Minato squad, when it came to fighting boss monsters, he was the only one who could serve as the main tank.
Minato, of course, wasn't going to sit idle either; he wasn't just going to stare blankly when facing a Tailed Beast. He utilized the Summoning Jutsu, bringing forth Gamabunta.
So, the current situation was one giant man and one giant toad teaming up against the Tailed Beast.
However, if this squad really needed to push for maximum DPS, it had to be Hagoromo. But unfortunately, his abilities were currently on "cooldown," so he couldn't unleash his ultimate moves. He could only skirt the perimeter and continue shooting iron arrows.
This had nothing to do with being stingy or hiding his trump cards. Since he had verbally placed restrictions on himself, Hagoromo wouldn't do anything to invite trouble. Because once trouble arrived, it would be extremely troublesome.
Only in a super-emergency situation—where the value gained outweighed the trouble caused—would Hagoromo reveal his immediate, high-powered attack capabilities. But right now, this undeniably did not fall under the category of an "emergency" according to his own criteria.
Considering the massive size of the Tailed Beast, and the fact that the previous two hits hadn't achieved the desired effect, Hagoromo began switching to larger iron arrows for his railgun shots.
Given the speed of Hagoromo's attacks, coupled with the fact that he consistently moved into the Two-Tails' blind spots to strike, although the Two-Tails managed to dodge an attack occasionally through extreme evasion, the vast majority of the arrows found their mark.
But because of this, the squad's problem became glaringly obvious. And it was a very well-known problem: the tank couldn't hold aggro, and the boss kept targeting the squishies.
The Two-Tails swung its two massive tails in a vicious arc, swatting the massive Gamabunta aside.
Then, it charged forward rapidly, knocking Choza Akimichi flying, before making a beeline straight for Hagoromo.
The blue cat didn't even roar; it didn't ask a single question. It just wanted to kill the guy shooting cheap shots from the shadows first.
It is said... only said... that the nine Tailed Beasts birthed via "C-section" by the Sage of Six Paths were originally quite adorable. The specific details of how they transitioned from "fiercely adorable" to their current "fiercely terrifying" state cannot be verified. But it likely boiled down to them enduring various twisted abuses from all sorts of ninjas throughout history.
Long before the Ninja Village system was established, countless people harbored delusions of exploiting the power of the Tailed Beasts. Thus, the Tailed Beasts gradually became aggregates of malice... Of course, there might also be hereditary factors involved.
So, one couldn't exactly say the Two-Tails was wrong in prioritizing Hagoromo as its target.
But Hagoromo began reaching into his ninja tool pouch.
"Minato-senpai, everyone, get out of the way immediately... At least 200 meters away!"
While doing so, he didn't forget to shout this warning.
From the past all the way to the present, there has always been a widely accepted strategy: when dealing with Tailed Beasts, you must use sealing jutsu.
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