Senju Tsunade

Aburame Tetsumaru rummaged through his backpack, pulled out the snacks he had deliberately saved, and shared the candied fruit with his captain.

As for the two new teammates, they could wait until they survived the next battle.

Captain Ueno glanced at him, unceremoniously accepted half the candied fruit, and wolfed it down.

Aburame Tetsumaru's biggest bad habit was that he always hid some food away. No matter how often they talked to him or demanded he stop, even though Ueno Hayato had searched him more than once, Tetsumaru would turn around and somehow produce another bag of food.

Even the Akimichi clan's fatties would be jealous enough to die over that skill.

For that alone, Aburame Tetsumaru had been scolded for over two months, then subjected to eye-rolls for another month. By now, Captain Ueno had grown quite accustomed to enjoying the fruits of Tetsumaru's "rule-breaking."

Any Genin who had survived three months was a veteran no matter what. Having a few habits—or even bad habits—was perfectly normal.

As they ate, Tetsumaru and Ueno's expressions gradually darkened. Something was wrong.

The battle within the encirclement grew fiercer and fiercer, and two more waves of support ninja arrived from the camp. When the second wave arrived, Aburame Tetsumaru could no longer hold back and sent a Dragonfly toward the battlefield.

The battle surrounding the Jinchuriki had lasted this long? This was turning into a war of attrition. But Tailed Beasts could draw Chakra from nature, and their bodies were masses of Chakra themselves. No matter how many ninja there were, they could not compete with a Tailed Beast in endurance.

The proper response to a Jinchuriki and a Tailed Beast was for Jonin and Elite Jonin to rapidly exhaust the Jinchuriki. Ideally, a Kage-level expert would serve as the main force, killing the Jinchuriki or forcing them into a berserk state as quickly as possible.

Konoha's frontline camp in the Land of Rain had no shortage of experts. Commander Shimura Danzō, the future Sannin—these were all experts comparable to Kage. There was also an Ino-Shika-Cho team, while Yamashiro Inaba, Dan Katō, Kunugi Mokume, Aburame Shikuroo, and Inuzuka Ryō were all long-famous Elite Jonin.

This lineup had clearly been intended to deal with Jinchuriki, such as Sunagakure's One-Tail.

How could besieging a Four-Tails Jinchuriki take this long? It was not the Nine-Tails fox.

Unless their manpower was incomplete.

Unlike before, the fully unleashed Jinchuriki Rōshi erupted with an enormous amount of Chakra, radiating an imposing presence.

Scout Insects like Dragonflies were frightened limp from far away. They trembled and refused to approach, leaving Aburame Tetsumaru no choice but to use a secret technique through Summoning Thread, completely suppressing the insect's instincts and controlling it directly.

The fully controlled Dragonfly became a puppet. Under Aburame Tetsumaru's manipulation, it rose crookedly into the air and slowly approached the battlefield.

"This is bad. Only Shimura Danzō is on the field. The Sannin aren't here yet—actually, they don't have that title yet. Big Brother Shikuroo and the Ino-Shika-Cho team aren't here either."

Each of the Sannin had a gigantic Summoning Animal. Those three were the best candidates for fighting Tailed Beasts. Without them, they could only count on Danzo's Baku.

But the Baku was a Summoning Animal skilled at ambushes and clearing fodder. Its size was far inferior, and its attack power was clearly insufficient against a Four-Tails Jinchuriki. Its defense and strength were even worse. The Baku could not hold on at all and was chased around in a humiliating display.

After receiving Aburame Tetsumaru's scouting report, Captain Ueno clicked his tongue and led the team closer to the battlefield.

"All units, move in."

At this point, the dozen or so other teams at the outermost perimeter began moving one after another. Some advanced toward the direction the Jinchuriki had come from to stand guard, while others moved closer to the battlefield.

Ueno Hayato and Aburame Tetsumaru watched the battlefield, both filled with helplessness. Their team would be useless if it entered the battlefield. They did not even qualify as cannon fodder.

Half of the central battlefield was a lake of lava, while the other half was a lake jointly created by Konoha Ninja. The water at the boundary boiled, and white mist filled the air.

Rōshi relied on the lava lake, firing volcanic bombs as densely as a rainstorm. The Konoha Jonin relied on the lake, raising seven water dragons to meet his attacks head-on. Shimura Danzō controlled vacuum Wind Release, howling and tearing through the air around Rōshi.

The spectacle was immense, but Konoha was at a complete disadvantage. Lava Release Rōshi was a Jinchuriki. This stalemate was a contest of Chakra reserves and recovery speed. How could ordinary ninja compete with a Tailed Beast in recovery?

For example, the four Byakugan Jonin by the lake could only stand at the perimeter and worry helplessly.

As far as Konoha was concerned, there were several experts capable of defeating Rōshi one-on-one. Lady Mito, for instance—she would be an adult bullying a child.

If the Sandaime Hokage had been present, a few combinations of ninjutsu would have been enough to knock Rōshi flat as well.

Unfortunately, none of them were here.

It would have been fine if the Sannin were here too. Aburame Tetsumaru muttered this as he and his captain released their own ninjutsu, providing the Jonin on the field with a tiny, almost negligible amount of support.

Various C-rank Wind Release, Water Release, and Lightning Release techniques surged densely toward the lava lake, mixed with several large ninja tools such as Fūma Shuriken.

The battlefield environment was too extreme. Not only were the Aburame clan's insects unable to function, but other clans' secret techniques and small ninja tools were ineffective as well. They could only use C-rank ninjutsu or large ninja tools to fight back.

Rōshi realized that he had unexpectedly seized a rare opportunity. The legendary achievement of destroying the Konoha camp alone was right before his eyes. He could not help growing excited, fighting more fiercely with every passing moment. Before he knew it, a tail emerged behind him.

For some unknown reason, the Jonin at the heart of the battlefield gritted their teeth and continued forming ninjutsu.

Instead, the Chunin captains around the perimeter all sensed the danger. After struggling on the edge of life and death for months, they were extremely sensitive to danger. Ueno Hayato secretly sent Aburame Tetsumaru a signal, preparing to run.

But Aburame Tetsumaru sent his captain a signal in reply: reinforcements had arrived.

Another wave of reinforcements emerged from the camp. The three ninja leading them wore Jonin armor, and two of them were the very Jonin who had overtaken their team while fleeing earlier.

Using the Dragonfly's vision, Aburame Tetsumaru clearly recognized the ninja at the front. She was a blonde female ninja with twin ponytails: Senju Tsunade.

Konoha's greatest healer had arrived, and she could even summon a super healer as massive as a mountain.

Now our side's endurance is through the roof. Come on, let's keep going.

Aburame Tetsumaru happily began spamming Wind Release.

Ueno Hayato froze for a moment. Their teamwork had already reached a fair level, and he immediately understood who had arrived. He happily began spamming the Lightning Release he had only recently mastered.

Boar, Dog, Rooster, Monkey, Ram.

"Summoning Technique!"

As the white smoke dispersed, a huge blue-and-white Katsuyu appeared on the battlefield. The fifteen-meter-long giant immediately split into hundreds of Little Katsuyu, each about half a person's length, which distributed themselves among every Konoha Ninja present.

Katsuyu could not only heal injuries, but also replenish Chakra. The density of Konoha's ninjutsu attacks more than doubled.

The lava lake quickly shrank by more than half, and Aburame Tetsumaru began to hesitate.

Most of the various insects he had deployed earlier had been destroyed by the river of lava. The special insects filled with liquid nitrogen had fared even worse. Crushed by the environment, they had been wiped out to the last one.

It was completely different from the tests. In a large-scale lava environment, the Liquid Nitrogen Insects could not use liquid nitrogen to lower temperatures as designed.

In the end, his technology was still inadequate. The insulation in the insects' internal storage chambers did not meet the standard, causing the liquid nitrogen to boil and vaporize inside them. The insects were blown to pieces directly.

The pressure control on the Liquid Nitrogen Insects' output ports also failed to meet the standard. Once some insects began releasing liquid nitrogen, they could no longer shut the outlet. They flew around uncontrollably like leaking balloons before eventually falling into the lava and turning into green smoke.

The Liquid Nitrogen Insects did not even last as long as ordinary beetles. Aburame Tetsumaru gloomily realized that against a Jinchuriki capable of changing the environment, his insects were completely useless.

At that moment, Senju Tsunade finished her emergency treatment and stepped into the front line.

Aburame Tetsumaru also noticed that Tsunade was in terrible condition. She seemed to have just finished a major battle. Her body bore traces of combat everywhere, along with an exhaustion she could not conceal.

Ueno Hayato noticed it too. "Lady Tsunade's condition is wrong. Where are the other two?"

"Yeah. Lady Tsunade isn't good at ninjutsu. Her Strength Technique and medical ninjutsu can't—"

KUAANG~~~

Covered in a shimmering green glow of medical ninjutsu, Senju Tsunade leaped forward and smashed a vicious punch into Rōshi, whose entire body was covered in Lava Release, sending the already Tailed Beast-transformed Jinchuriki flying.

Tsunade used the Body Flicker Technique to catch up to Rōshi, calmly striking him with fist and foot. Wherever Princess Tsunade's Strength Technique reached, trees toppled and the earth collapsed.

This... this was a Kage-level ninja.

Her medical ninjutsu was so powerful that the damage caused by Lava Release healed almost instantly, so quickly that no one could even tell she had been injured.

Her Strength Technique could topple mountains and uproot fortresses. A glancing hit meant serious injury, a direct hit meant explosion. Even if one avoided her attack, its shockwave could inflict severe damage.

Just moments ago, a reckless Hyuga Jonin had tried to ambush Rōshi. He had gotten too close to the battle zone and was sent flying seven or eight meters by the shockwave of Tsunade's Heavenly Foot, landing so badly that he was left dazed and disoriented.

Tsunade possessed absolute dominance in both offense and defense. The tactical system formed by combining the two undeniably surpassed every Jonin and had firmly reached the Kage-level.

By comparison, the foundation of Aburame Tetsumaru's insect swarm system was far too fragile. More than forty types of insects became completely useless after a change in environment. Fortunately, he had been busy with the war these past months and had not bragged about them to anyone, or this would have been truly embarrassing.

As Tsunade utterly crushed the weakened Jinchuriki, the battlefield moved away from the lava lake environment. The Konoha Ninja quickly discovered that Rōshi's ninjutsu and defense had weakened even further.

Everyone followed Tsunade's rhythm, using all kinds of ninjutsu to bathe Rōshi whenever there was a gap in her attacks.

"Thump!!" That was Tsunade's Strength Technique. Rōshi was flying through the air.

"Crackle, crackle, crackle..." That was the Konoha Ninja's ninjutsu, raining down upon Rōshi.

Rōshi could not strike back. Rōshi could not defend. Rōshi rolled his eyes.

The violent Chakra around Rōshi swelled tenfold, kicking up smoke and dust that soared into the sky.

Four enormous tails emerged from the smoke, followed by a gigantic ape appearing before the Konoha Ninja.

The Tailed Beast had gone berserk. They had finally forced the battle to this stage. Tsunade breathed a sigh of relief and sent out a signal.

"Roar~~~" The Four-Tails pounded its chest and stomped its feet before letting out a furious roar. It was enraged and intended to vent its anger on the tiny people around it.

The Konoha Ninja swiftly retreated, clearing out a large space.

Huh? Aburame Tetsumaru saw a faint phantom. It passed through the crowd, phasing through bodies like a ghost as it approached the Four-Tails, then entered the Tailed Beast's head.

What was that? Ninjutsu? A soul? A ghost?

No, he had seen that phantom before.

Aburame Tetsumaru turned toward the lava lake. Beneath a large tree by the shore, two Jonin who had arrived alongside Tsunade stood and sat respectively.

That was right. The Jonin sitting there with his eyes closed looked exactly like the phantom. It seemed to be some powerful ninjutsu. Had all of Princess Tsunade's fighting been preparation for this technique?

After the phantom invaded it, the Four-Tails stood motionless, maintaining its open-mouthed roaring pose. Everyone nervously watched the seven-meter-tall beast.

Tsunade explained the current situation to the Jonin, who then spread the information down through the ranks. Before long, every Konoha Ninja knew what had happened.

It turned out that while the battle here had erupted, the Konoha Ninja Army led by the Hokage's disciples had also encountered an attack from Amegakure.

To repel Amegakure's leader, Hanzo of the Salamander, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya had launched a joint assault.

Hanzo won. Perhaps he appreciated their talent, perhaps Amegakure had won a costly victory and lacked the strength to continue attacking, or perhaps he had other concerns. In any case, Hanzo spared the three young ninja and chose to withdraw.

Before leaving, Hanzo even bestowed the title "Konoha Sannin" upon the three Konoha Jonin, putting on all the airs of a senior.

Orochimaru and Jiraiya had taken the main offensive roles in the battle and were deeply poisoned. After the fight, they fell unconscious and completely lost their ability to fight.

Tsunade could only come alone to provide support. She could forcefully suppress a weakened Jinchuriki, but she lacked the means to deal with a berserk Tailed Beast.

Fortunately, the camp still had Jonin Dan Katō. The S-rank Spirit Transformation Technique he had mastered was a super-upgraded version of the Yamanaka clan's secret technique. It allowed his soul to leave his body, directly enter an enemy's body to obtain information, control the enemy, or even directly attack the enemy's soul.

Dan Katō had only one problem when facing a Jinchuriki: they had two souls inside them, so once he entered, he would be facing two against one. Furthermore, a Jinchuriki's body contained layer upon layer of Sealing Technique. One mistake and he could be trapped to death.

That was why he had been chased by Rōshi earlier and had not dared fight back.

But once a Jinchuriki released their Tailed Beast, or the Tailed Beast went berserk, the situation became completely different. In a berserk state, the Jinchuriki's soul was suppressed by the Tailed Beast, while the Tailed Beast's soul broke free of the Sealing Technique and was exposed, yet was still restrained by both the Sealing Technique and the Jinchuriki.

Dan Katō's Spirit Transformation Technique was perfectly suited to attack a Tailed Beast in that state. It was actually easier than dealing with ordinary people.

The lovers had formulated a battle plan. Tsunade would handle the first stage, forcing the Four-Tails Jinchuriki into a berserk state. Dan Katō would then handle the second stage and kill the Jinchuriki.

Now that the plan had been successfully carried out, everything depended on Jonin Kato.

Everyone waited anxiously for the result. One minute passed, then two.

At the three-minute mark, Tsunade began ordering the Konoha Ninja to retreat. Dan Katō's Spirit Transformation Technique was extremely efficient at killing. Once it possessed someone, it only needed an instant to kill the enemy.

Although a Tailed Beast's soul was certainly different from an ordinary person's, the longer it dragged on, the lower the chance of success. That was what Dan Katō had told Tsunade.

The Konoha Ninja formed a defensive formation centered around Dan Katō. Tsunade stood in the front row with more than a dozen Jonin.

At that point, around two hundred ninja still had enough fighting strength to stand in formation. Preliminary counts put the dead at more than one hundred and ten. Over three hundred ninja, led by Commander Shimura, were seriously injured. Those too badly wounded could not be treated on the front lines and could only be arranged for evacuation.

Facing a single Jinchuriki, Konoha had deployed more than seven hundred Chunin-ranked and stronger fighters in succession. After more than ten minutes of brutal battle, over sixty percent had been lost, and nearly everyone was wounded. That was with Katsuyu's healing support, and this was only a Four-Tails Jinchuriki. No wonder Konoha never recovered after the Nine-Tails attack and could not regain its strength for ten years.

Seven minutes passed, and the Four-Tails, which had stood as still as a wooden chicken, moved.

It suddenly self-destructed. No one had expected it.

The thirty-meter-tall Four-Tails exploded. Its power was second only to a Tailed Beast Bomb, and every Konoha Ninja within a range of more than two hundred meters was knocked to the ground by the explosive blast. A blue phantom was blasted out, passing through the bodies of several ninja in front before passing through Aburame Tetsumaru's body.