Covering the Rear

The two of them didn't hesitate any longer and launched a joint attack.

If they didn't dare to fight two against one, how would others see them? What would they say?

Look at guys like Rasa and Pakura becoming Kazekage—could he even handle it?

He couldn't, didn't have the ability, you know. Lost to Konoha, then lost to Kumogakure, then lost to Iwagakure, then lost to Kirigakure—there's nothing left to lose.

If now, with two against one, they still didn't dare to fight, then that's it—no face left!

"Scorch Release: Steaming Murder"

"Magnet Release: Golden Sand Wave"

The two Kekkei Genkai users launched their attacks, but a wall of earth rose before Orochimaru to block them.

Countless snakes slithered out from behind the earth wall, forming a torrent of serpents surging toward the two.

Fireballs roared, gold dust flew!

Countless snakes were blasted into dried husks by the Scorch Release, and countless others were riddled with holes by the gold dust.

The two didn't stop—Orochimaru couldn't be that limited. They had faced him many times over the past year.

The earth wall was shattered, and as expected, Orochimaru's figure wasn't behind it.

Orochimaru had used Flying Thunder God to relocate to another spot, already forming hand seals and preparing his jutsu.

"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave"

A sky-covering flood roared toward the two.

Pakura unleashed her jutsu with full force, countless fireballs flying toward the dozen-meter-high water wall, evaporating massive amounts of mist and delaying the wave's arrival.

This bought Rasa time.

Gold dust gathered beneath their feet, lifting Rasa and Pakura into the sky.

Looking down at the great lake created by the Water Release, Rasa couldn't help but remark:

"I've heard the Second Hokage was a man who made a pact with the sea—I doubt even he could surpass this!"

Pakura spoke with a wary tone:

"No matter how many times I see it, I'm always shocked by Orochimaru's chakra reserves. Does he really not have Senju blood?"

As they spoke, the water below, which had been subsiding, began to swirl again.

"Water Release: Water Colliding Wave!"

Orochimaru clasped his hands together, and a tornado-like column of water rapidly rose from the surface, spiraling toward the two in the air.

Pakura reacted in time—before the water vortex could engulf them, she summoned a massive fireball and hurled it downward, creating another vast cloud of mist.

"Compound Ninjutsu: Lightning Water Dragon Bullet"

Before the mist could clear, a giant water dragon crackling with lightning charged fiercely toward them, jaws wide.

Rasa condensed a huge cube of gold dust to shield them from below.

Working together, they were still being suppressed by Orochimaru!

Countless powerful jutsu hammered at them, and they could only barely defend.

On the other side, Chiyo was locked in fierce battle with Hatake Sakumo.

Though Chiyo fought without fear of death, Sakumo, drawing on his previous experience, was especially cautious and rarely gave Chiyo an opening.

Blinding white blade flashes swept across the battlefield. With extreme speed and high damage output, Chiyo's puppets had already suffered heavy losses.

If the high-level combatants could barely hold on, the Sunagakure forces below were taking devastating casualties.

Minato Namikaze and Mito Uzumaki transformed into streaks of light, charging through the Sunagakure lines. Without Jōnin-level strength, it was probably over in one move.

Even for Jōnin, if one Rasengan wasn't enough, they'd just throw a few more.

Against such an elusive shinobi, you could defend for a while, but you couldn't hold out forever.

Not to mention Shukaku was an inside agent.

This battle ended in a crushing defeat for Sunagakure. Rasa's wounds split open mid-fight, and he and Pakura barely managed to break free from Orochimaru through desperate effort, rescuing Chiyo before fleeing with gold dust dragging them away.

At the critical moment, the will of the monk Bunpuku awakened, temporarily suppressing Shukaku's consciousness. He voluntarily stayed behind to cover Sunagakure's retreat, preserving some of their strength.

Or rather, it wasn't suppressing Shukaku's consciousness—Shukaku and Bunpuku had reached a cooperation, deciding to fight together.

Shukaku had a decent relationship with Bunpuku. It thought that as a fellow monk, Bunpuku resembled the Sage of Six Paths in some ways.

To see off this old friend, and also to avoid being tormented further by Orochimaru, it agreed to Bunpuku's request.

In his final moments, the monk Bunpuku became a perfect One-Tail jinchuriki.

His mental cultivation was extremely high—he didn't even need to overcome his own darkness like Naruto and the others.

A perfect jinchuriki is far stronger than a mere Tailed Beast.

Naruto in Kurama Mode is absolutely far stronger than the Nine-Tails during the Nine-Tails' Rampage.

Sage Fox Mode is around the peak of Super Kage, while Kurama Mode is mid-tier Super Kage—roughly the difference between Shinju Senju and Wood Human Technique.

A single Nine-Tails alone might only be at the level of a Super Kage gatekeeper—after all, it was a being that forced the original timeline's Minato, who had already become the Fourth Hokage, to take it down with him at the cost of his own life.

A single Shukaku isn't actually that strong among Kage-level beings. Though its strength isn't weak among Tailed Beasts, the fact that Rasa could suppress it—even if Rasa had some Jōnin as helpers—means its power definitely isn't much greater than Rasa's.

Among the Tailed Beasts, the Nine-Tails is a Super Kage gatekeeper, the Eight-Tails is at the peak of Kage-level, and most of the rest are at ordinary Kage-level.

But Bunpuku, having become a Perfect Jinchuriki, possessed power that even Orochimaru found quite threatening—he had reached the peak of Kage-level.

Having become the perfect One-Tail jinchuriki, Bunpuku ultimately fought a great battle with Orochimaru and the others.

Both Minato Namikaze and Mito Uzumaki lacked sufficiently powerful means of breaking through defenses. Against something as thick-skinned as a Tailed Beast, Master Minato and Master Zixiao could only scratch the surface.

Therefore, the main force in this battle was Orochimaru and Hatake Sakumo.

Whether due to some agreement between Shukaku and Bunpuku, they always made Orochimaru their primary target.

Even when Sakumo's blade, coming to the rescue, nearly cut off its tail, it didn't care.

Instead, it became even more eager to fight Orochimaru to the death.

Orochimaru was so frustrated he wanted to vomit blood.

But he really was beaten bloody by Shukaku.

Good grief, targeting me just to mess with me, huh?

Shukaku: I can lose the fight, but I'm going to make you miserable no matter what!

Orochimaru wasn't driven mad by Shukaku's attacks; instead, he used himself as bait to create an opportunity.

In the end, Gamabunta pinned down Shukaku's body, while Garaga and Manda each coiled around half of Shukaku's form, and Hatake Sakumo cut off its head with a single slash, killing it.

A Tailed Beast's death requires three years to regenerate, and until a new jinchuriki is cultivated, Sunagakure won't easily start another war.

The existence of Tailed Beasts ensures that the presence of a Kage-level powerhouse won't be interrupted.

Even if all other Kage-level experts die, there's still a jinchuriki who can take over the position of Kage.

At the very least, that would still secure their place among the Five Great Ninja Villages.

Takigakure is an exception—they don't have strong enough Sealing Jutsu to use the power of a Tailed Beast.