Marsh Birds Returning Home

Mars flitted around them like a swarm of fireflies as Orochimaru walked across the ash-like grass, gazing up at the enormous human-shaped figure ahead.

That was Tsunade.

It felt both familiar and strange.

Orochimaru merely stared, no one knew what he was thinking.

A mass of black shadow fluttered down in the wind, landing in the grass ash before rolling and rumbling to Orochimaru's feet.

He stepped on it, only to discover that it was a human head.

They had met before, back in the Whirlpool Country. The Third Kazekage, another contract holder of Ryūchi Cave, had left a deep impression.

He had never expected their next meeting to take place in a scene like this.

Orochimaru bent down, picked up the head, and turned to leave.

The Fourth Shadow had been wiped out, only one member of the Six Paths Group remained, and five of the seven Jinchuriki were gone.

In the distant forest, the monk Bunbuku sat cross-legged in silence, calmly awaiting the judgment of fate.

Inside the body of the Six-Tails Saiken, which had been crushed flat beneath Tsunade's foot, the Jinchuriki had already passed out from the pressure, while his Chakra slowly retracted into his body.

The Eight Tails Ox-Demon's Jinchuriki was deeply embedded in the rock. After being caught in the aftermath of Chibaku Tensei and Tsunade's attack, he had long since lost the strength to fight.

After the Seven Tails Jinchuriki was caught by Eve, the poison was injected and the package was complete.

The sole remaining Three-Tails finally managed to pull itself free from the deep cavern in the mountainside where it had been embedded. In the distance, a massive figure came trudging over, reached out, and grabbed the Three-Tails.

"Your turtle shell is pretty tough."

In theory, Tailed Beasts were Chakra-based lifeforms,