Nine-Tails Jinchuriki Joins the Battle

In Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi flew into a rage after receiving intelligence from the front lines.

Mist's attempt to release the Three-Tails within Konoha had thoroughly enraged Hiruzen Sarutobi. He resolved to teach Mist a harsh lesson!

Though he had made up his mind, deploying the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki to the front was too significant a matter for Hiruzen Sarutobi not to inform the three elders.

After receiving the notice and reviewing the intelligence, Shimura Danzō immediately stated that Mist had to pay in blood.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura secretly glanced at Hiruzen Sarutobi's expressionless face, then also agreed to send out the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

With a consensus reached, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately sent someone to ask for Kushina's opinion. After reading the intelligence, Kushina agreed without hesitation.

Half an hour later, Kushina secretly left Konoha under the protection of Anbu and Root ninja, heading for the Hidden Mist Front.

The journey was calm and uneventful, but neither the escort nor Kushina arrived at Konoha's frontline camp.

The Anbu and Root ninja turned back after reaching a certain distance from Konoha's front lines. Kushina was brought into the frontline camp by Minato Namikaze using the Flying Thunder God Technique.

It was completely undetected. Aside from a handful of people in the frontline camp, none of the other ninja knew that the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki had already arrived.

Naturally, this was to conceal her from Mist's spies and catch Mist off guard!

To reduce Konoha Ninja casualties and allow more ninja to enjoy the peace that would follow, Tsunade and the other higher-ups began easing up on their slaughter of Hidden Mist Ninja.

Ordinary ninja were far less efficient at killing than a Jinchuriki. Once Mist's forces gathered, a barrage of Tailed Beast Balls could make up for all of it, while also reducing Konoha Ninja casualties. It was simply an incredible bargain!

A few days later, once the troops had gathered, Fourth Mizukage Yagura and the other Mist higher-ups discovered that the number of ninja returning to camp was fifteen percent higher than expected.

This abnormal situation left Yagura both delighted and puzzled. Unable to figure out the reason, he felt a faint sense of unease.

Yagura trusted his instincts. He immediately ordered that, once the final batch of ninja returned tomorrow, they would retreat to the Land of Whirlpools at once and remain no longer.

Unfortunately, Konoha gave Yagura no chance to withdraw. After noticing that most of Mist's ninja had gathered together, they assumed an offensive posture that very afternoon.

Faced with Konoha's attack, Yagura could only gather his troops and meet them in battle.

The batch of Hidden Mist Ninja who had yet to return was a secondary concern. They could not possibly retreat without even fighting, could they?

They had already retreated once before, only to lose the Land of Fire territory they had taken. If they retreated again without fighting, morale would inevitably plummet even further, making it harder to defend the Land of Whirlpools.

In any case, retreating to the Land of Whirlpools would still require a major battle with Konoha. They could not simply hand over the Land of Whirlpools without fighting.

Since they had to fight sooner or later, they might as well make a desperate attempt while morale was still decent!

Before the battle began, Yagura dispatched the Anbu Vice Commander to lead people around the battlefield and infiltrate the rear, gathering the Hidden Mist Ninja who had yet to return to serve as a surprise force!

On a small mountain several hundred meters from the Mist camp, two figures suddenly appeared atop the peak. They were Minato Namikaze and Kushina.

Because they were within the range of Mist's sensory barrier, the moment they appeared, they were detected by the sensory ninja in the Mist camp's command center.

The Hidden Mist sensory ninja instantly turned pale with terror, cold sweat covering their foreheads.

"What terrifying Chakra!"

"That's Minato Namikaze's Chakra and Tailed Beast Chakra!"

"This is bad—the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!"

"..."

The sensory ninja in the command center spoke one after another, and Fourth Mizukage Yagura and the other Mist higher-ups instantly changed expression.

After a brief daze, Yagura immediately gave the order to disperse. Unfortunately, even with sensory ninja relaying the command, it was already too late.

On the small mountain, Kushina had already released part of the seal, transforming into a miniature Tailed Beast covered in dark crimson Chakra, with five tails behind her.

Large amounts of red and blue Chakra emerged in the air. The red was Yin-nature Chakra, the blue was Yang-nature Chakra. They gathered together in midair at a ratio of two to eight, forming ten purple Tailed Beast Balls, each the size of an infant's fist.

The next moment, the ten purple Tailed Beast Balls shot forth, streaking through the sky before falling into the Mist camp.

Boom!

The ten Tailed Beast Balls landed in different locations, but because their flight speeds varied slightly, they exploded at the same instant.

Deafening explosions that could be heard for dozens of miles resounded through heaven and earth. Ten small mushroom clouds rose into the sky as terrifying shockwaves swept in every direction...

The Hidden Mist Ninja near the impact sites, regardless of rank, were blasted into nothingness by the Tailed Beast Balls, leaving not even scraps behind. Thick trees were either uprooted or snapped in half. Hurricane winds raged, sand and stones flew everywhere, and it seemed as though the world had ended.

For the Mist ninja near the Tailed Beast Ball impact sites, it truly was the end of the world!

Some Mist ninja turned into nothingness before they could even react; some had their internal organs shattered by the shockwaves and died bleeding from all seven orifices; some were swept away by the hurricane winds, gravely injured and barely clinging to life.

Those ten small Tailed Beast Balls had already made up for the Hidden Mist Ninja who had escaped because Konoha had gone easy on them—and there were even more than enough.

Seeing the flames soaring into the sky in the distance, the Konoha Ninja who did not know the details were all stunned.

What was going on?

They had not even launched their attack yet.

Could it be that Mist's stockpile of Exploding Tags had all detonated at once?

Although Uchiha Gen, standing among the crowd, had not known the details beforehand either, he had already guessed after seeing that scene.

In this day and age, nothing but a Tailed Beast Ball could create such a spectacle...

"Everyone, the village's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki has joined the battle! Seize this opportunity, crush Mist, and end the war!"

Tsunade raised her right arm and shouted.

The frontline higher-ups standing beside Tsunade, who knew the details, raised their right arms and repeated Tsunade's words, their voices carrying even farther.

One spread to ten, ten spread to a hundred, and a hundred spread to more. It quickly reached every Konoha Ninja taking part in the battle.

"Crush Mist, end the war!"

"Crush Mist, end the war!"

"Crush Mist, end the war!"

"..."

The Konoha Ninja shouted their perfectly synchronized, deafening slogan. Their blood boiled, their momentum soared, and they rushed toward the Mist camp in a mad scramble.

At the Mist camp's command center, everyone had leaped onto the tents to look into the distance. Upon seeing the ten enormous craters and the devastated scene surrounding them, every heart turned ice-cold.

"Mizukage-sama, it really is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!"

"And Minato Namikaze. Konoha Ninja have also launched their charge. They will arrive in half a minute at most."

Hidden Mist Jonin Ao activated his Byakugan and looked toward the location he had sensed. Then, after sweeping his Byakugan around the area, he spoke with an extremely ugly expression.

"Damn it, if only the Three-Tails were still here!"

"The entire army will retreat immediately!"

Yagura's expression was grim as he gave the order with extreme reluctance.

Their chances of victory had never been high to begin with. The appearance of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki had dealt such a crushing blow that their odds had become almost nonexistent. If they continued fighting, more than half of Mist's foundation would be wiped out.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Upon hearing Yagura's command, the Hidden Mist ANBU took out and fired signal flares. Bang, bang, bang! Three blood-red Hidden Mist forehead protector symbols exploded in the air.

This was Mist's emergency retreat signal. Ignore everything, abandon everything, and just run.

Seeing the blood-red signal in the sky, the Hidden Mist Ninja turned and fled without another word.

The ten Tailed Beast Balls that had exploded in the Mist camp had shattered the fighting spirit of many Hidden Mist Ninja. They no longer had any will to fight.

On the small mountain, seeing the enemy trying to flee, Kushina, in her miniature Tailed Beast form, erupted with another tail as Yin and Yang Chakra rapidly gathered...