One-Tail

"Jiraiya- sensei, is there any task you need us to complete?"

Minato asked cautiously, his eyes fixed on Orochimaru and Tsunade, observing their every change.

His gaze shifted.

Almost as soon as Minato finished speaking, Tsunade and Jiraiya's gazes unconsciously fell on Kushina was sitting on Taiseki, intently trimming her nails.

"Interesting!"

Without uttering a sound, only his lips moved, but Minato understood Orochimaru's lip movements. A fierce glint flashed in his gentle eyes, but it quickly disappeared.

"Lady Tsunade, is there something you need from me?"

Kushina raised her head, a faint smile on her face, a smile so cold it could freeze one's soul. Tsunade and Jiraiya help but frown; her mental state was indeed not very good!

After a brief moment of hesitation, neither of them spoke.

"We need the power of the Nine-Tails."

The third person spoke with a smile, but that smile was anything but pleasant; it was more like a demon's smile. Having witnessed countless deaths, Orochimaru's aura grew increasingly strange.

Orochimaru!

Orochimaru!

Tsunade and Jiraiya shouted out at almost the same time, their brows furrowing in displeasure.

"I understand. Please let me participate in the battle. The power of the Nine-Tails will not disappoint!" Kushina stood up, a genuine smile spreading across her face.

"Kushina?"

Otoha stared wide-eyed. The change was too fast; he was speechless for a moment, only instinctively feeling that Kushina's choice was not quite right.

"Isn't this too dangerous? A battle between Jonin..."

"Don't worry, Otoha, it'll be fine. Trust me, I'll do it." Kushina raised her head and eyebrows, her pretty face radiating heroic spirit.

Only fighting could alleviate her depression and pain. The news that her beloved younger brother was missing, her Otome family, struck her like a bolt from the blue. For a moment, she nearly lost her composure, desperately suppressing her urge to vent, constantly telling herself, "He's just missing, just missing. Katsuki will be alright..."

Compared to when Uzushio Village was destroyed, the girl has become even stronger.

However, suppressed emotions also need an outlet, and fighting is undoubtedly the best way to vent them. There's no need to worry about any consequences; just fight with all your might.

"Kushina, don't just rush forward recklessly, pay attention to your surroundings... Okay, got it, don't rush too hard."

Minato shook his head with a wry smile. Kushina wasn't the type to be meticulous, so there was no point in saying anything more. It was safer for him to stay close to her.

He didn't stop Kushina. The insightful boy keenly sensed the sadness in the girl's heart and understood that preventing her from expressing her pain at this moment would be the cruelest thing to do.

"······"

Tsunade stood silently in the rain. The turn of events had completely exceeded her expectations. Kushina's decisiveness had caught her completely off guard. With Orochimaru's support and Kushina's own determination, there was no way to stop her from leaving the battlefield.

"Don't worry too much, Minato is here!"

Jiraiya stood beside Tsunade and spoke softly.

"You really have a lot of faith in your disciple. Mind's Eye doesn't lose his life Jiraiya and no action," Tsunade sneer, glancing sideways at Jiraiya.

That's what she said, but she did know a little about Jiraiya, his apprentice. He was extremely active on the battlefield and had superb skills, but that was all. She didn't have much time to pay attention to a kid who was irrelevant to her. She would rather use that time to give Nawaki some pointers.

"Hey-hey!"

Jiraiya's laughter was rather lewd and smug, which made Tsunade clench her fists in annoyance. Due to excessive force, her knuckles turned white and made a series of cracking sounds.

Jiraiya noticed this as well, immediately recalling Tsunade's ferocious, meteor-like punch. His already healed body seemed to feel that same sensation again, like being trampled by an elephant. He immediately took a step back, waving his hands haphazardly, and explained, "Tsunade, calm down!!"

"Minato's current strength is definitely not inferior to that of an ordinary Jonin, that's all I wanted to say!"

"Not inferior to Jonin? Huh? Jiraiya, are you out of your mind? What do you think Jonin is?" Tsunade stared at Jiraiya in astonishment.

Although their tones varied, their voices were very low, and in the noisy rain, only they could hear each other clearly, perhaps even Orochimaru, but he clearly had no interest in their conversation.

"Of course I know what Jonin is, but Minato is a true genius." Jiraiya emphasized the words "true genius."

"Huh? You...?"

"Thump!!!"

The ground beneath their feet suddenly trembled slightly, and a long, heavy sound echoed in their ears, as if it were the vibrations caused by a giant walking on the earth, interrupting the two people in the middle of their argument.

From afar, one could see a colossal monster, as imposing as a small mountain, approaching Black Tail Mountain.

It was a large, fat raccoon cat with a sandy yellow body covered in Shira patterns. When it opened its huge, dark mouth, a strange shriek echoed across the sky, stirring up gusts of wind and disrupting the falling rain!

"One-Tail, it arrived so quickly!" Jiraiya gasped, his expression grave.

Let's go!

Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade exchanged glances, then darted off like arrows, heading down the Black Tail Mountain to meet the approaching One-Tail Shukaku.

"Wait for me, Lady Tsunade!"

Kushina took off after them, closely following the Sannin. The tense atmosphere temporarily suppressed the sorrow in her heart, and a boiling fighting spirit began to take over her mind. She might as well have a good fight!

"Awooooo!!!"

A non-human roar resounded, and an astonishing Chakra fluctuation appeared on the road. Incomparably evil Chakra overflowed from her skin, tightly enveloping Kushina like a cocoon. The black and red Chakra ball was as heavy as a mountain, crushing the rocks on the ground with a bang. Invisible shockwaves spread in all directions, churning up layers of the ground.

"This is······"

Jiraiya stopped, turned around and looked at the black and red sphere that was not very clear in the shockwave, a look of surprise on his face.

"As expected of the Nine-Tails the First deliberately left behind, what a terrifying aura! It's no weaker than the One-Tail in its complete form. So... there really is a difference in power between different Tailed Beast?" Orochimaru licked his lips, his tone sounding excited, but his face still wore his usual mocking smile, making it hard to tell how much of it was genuine.

"Roar!!!"

Roaring to the sky, Kushina lost her human form. Chakra clothing enveloped her slender body, and her beautiful face was also covered in bright red Chakra. Her four crimson tails gently slapped the ground, shining as brightly as flowing blood.

"Bang!!"

The solid rocks on the mountain path cracked open with spiderweb-like fissures, Kushina transformed into a cannonball, shooting off into the distance.