White Yaksha's Advent (IV)

"Wouldn't a Sealing Technique like the Four Symbols Seal work? I should be able to use it now," Hagoromo suggested.

Chakra was like that thing—if you squeezed hard enough, there was always some left.

Of course, if he wanted to use the Four Symbols Seal, Hagoromo would have to squeeze himself dry. He was already out of Chakra, and a Sealing Technique on the level of the Four Symbols Seal could turn him into a dried-up husk with ease.

"You think sealing a Tailed Beast is that simple?" Teacher Kushina asked, giving him a sidelong glance.

Hagoromo froze at that. Well, that was exactly what he had thought. To him, creating a Jinchuriki seemed no different from putting an elephant in a refrigerator.

His plan had roughly been this: first, grab any Konoha ninja. Second, have him cast the Four Symbols Seal. Third, a brand-new Jinchuriki would be born.

But clearly, reality could not be that simple. Selecting a Jinchuriki was an extremely complicated process. Ordinary ninja simply could not withstand the Chakra of a Tailed Beast. This was not something that could be done by dragging out any random ninja.

Hagoromo understood immediately. By his own estimate, though, he had about a fifty-percent chance of successfully becoming a Jinchuriki himself... Yet three seconds later, he abandoned that idea.

First, using his own body as a cage and stuffing something that huge inside it would hurt like hell.

Second, people needed some privacy.

Third, even if sealing a Tailed Beast was not difficult, the process was irreversible. Once a Jinchuriki, always a Jinchuriki. Want a refund? Sorry, this thing did not come with a return policy.

It had to be said that this was an extremely correct decision. Hagoromo did not know the world of the Hokage all that deeply, so he had merely assumed Gaara's dark circles were a matter of art style. In truth, it was a very serious issue.

The problem was that Shukaku was a chatterbox.

Yes, the imposing and fearsome One-Tail Shukaku was a chatterbox. It never let people sleep, okay?

That was getting off topic. In any case, sealing the Tailed Beast that way would not work.

What about using the Reverse Four Symbols Seal to kill it? That suggestion was feasible, but there was a problem: this was a densely populated battlefield, and they might accidentally kill their own people as well.

Shukaku was genuinely difficult to deal with. Otherwise, Teacher Kushina would have acted long ago instead of merely tying it up in bondage play like this.

"Teacher Kushina, if you don't have a solution, I have a solution that isn't really a solution."

For some reason, Kushina felt as though there was something wrong with her ears. Her disciple's words had sounded a little... well, sleazy?

"What solution?" Although she suspected she had misheard him, Kushina still asked her question.

Hagoromo did not answer. Instead, he reached toward the Ninja Tool Pouch at the back of his waist.

Whether the world of the Hokage had coins was something archaeology had yet to determine.

So Hagoromo pulled out a handful of Steel Balls from his Ninja Tool Pouch.

Friends, you guessed it. He was about to give Shukaku a few shots while it was still hot... in the literal sense.

And those few shots came with another term: Railgun.

A certain Railgun used standardized arcade tokens with a diameter of 1.7 centimeters and a thickness of 0.3 centimeters, but Hagoromo had no such things. For portability, he had chosen Steel Balls of similar weight instead.

Shukaku's movements were currently restricted by Kushina's Adamantine Sealing Chains. Against such a large stationary target within fifty meters, Hagoromo did not need to aim at all.

"I've never tried full-power discharge before."

As he spoke, Hagoromo lightly snapped the fingers of his left hand.

Using that cue, he released a certain restraint within his mind.

"Please enjoy my next performance, titled: How to Properly Bombard a Tailed Beast!"

He took a deep breath, then held it.

In an instant, chaotic Electric Arcs crisscrossed over his entire body. In the blink of an eye, he seemed to be wrapped inside a sphere of lightning.

Then Hagoromo extended one arm straight out before him. The Electric Arcs around his body intensified faintly, and the repulsive force rising from below caused certain metal objects on the ground to float upward against gravity. Energy gathered along his arm toward his palm, and gradually, a dazzling light shone from his hand.

"Not good! Stop him!"

Because Hagoromo had spent too much time talking nonsense, a second group of Sand Ninja had already surrounded them. Though they did not know what he intended to do, everyone had witnessed his destructive power earlier.

Now, he had extended his hand toward the Tailed Beast. Those Lightning Glows gave them an instinctive sense of danger.

The Sand Ninja rushed at Hagoromo.

But it was already too late!

BOOM!

The massive blast seemed to rupture their eardrums. Only afterward did people notice the orange-yellow beam that had pierced the night sky.

After the thunderous blast, Shukaku's clamoring abruptly ceased.

With a great deal of malicious amusement, Hagoromo's first shot had blown Shukaku's head apart. The thing had been yelling all night, and it had annoyed him more than enough.

Now, the whole world was quiet.

At that instant, ninja on both sides of the battle stopped what they were doing as if by mutual agreement. They stared wide-eyed at the spot where Shukaku stood.

One Sand Ninja after another began rubbing their eyes. They had not seen wrong, had they? Shukaku had been shot in the head?

What did that mean? Were they shooting birds? A dignified Tailed Beast could just get its head blown off like that?

But he was not finished yet.

BOOM!

Another beam struck Shukaku's right arm.

"Boom!"

Left arm.

"Boom!"

Left side of the torso.

"Boom!"

Tail.

"Boom!"

Abdomen.

"Boom!"

Left leg.

"Boom!"

Right leg.

The booming sounds were like a metronome on the battlefield, and like a funeral dirge for the Sand Ninja. When the rhythm ended, Shukaku had also turned into a pile of sand.

The scene was too beautiful. Everyone stared at it without even blinking.

It was a little... alright, it was extremely shocking. So when Hagoromo unleashed a full minute of rapid-fire shots on Shukaku, no one tried to stop him. Even the ninja who had charged halfway there stopped, staring blankly at the sight before them.

Could someone tell them what the hell had happened to this world?

Why did the overwhelmingly powerful tailed beast look like popcorn? It just exploded whenever it was hit? What happened to sweeping across the battlefield like they'd promised? First it got tied up, then it got blown apart. Director, this script was wrong!

But on this side, had Hagoromo killed Shukaku? Of course not. A Chakra monster like that would not die from a few shots.

Having lost her target, Kushina withdrew the Adamantine Sealing Chains. Without the restraints of Uzumaki Chakra, the pile of sand on the ground immediately began reforming into Shukaku's shape.

By then, the large-scale reinforcements from Konoha's front-line ninja had arrived.

One of Shukaku's arms had been blasted off by the Railgun and happened to land beside Chiyo.

This was when the old truly showed their experience.

As the battlefield fell deathly silent, two orders from Chiyo rang in the Sand Ninja's ears:

"Recover Shukaku! Then..."

"Destroy the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!!!"

She gritted her teeth.