"Once, a human placed my Soul Stone in his forehead, thinking he could seal me away forever. Little did he know that it was a signpost leading to hell!"
Diablo, the Lord of Terror, stared at Ōnoki's mangled body.
The real Ōnoki flashed into view elsewhere.
Having used Earth Release: Earth Substitution, he had evaded Diablo's Explosion Release.
But because of Explosion Release's innate area-of-effect explosive power,
Ōnoki still looked rather disheveled.
The Soul Stone.
Was Diablo's original body.
Because Diablo's bones and muscles were all formed through Shikotsumyaku and Sage Transformation,
his original body was not within his flesh.
Instead, it was gathered and condensed within the Soul Stone, or rather, the "core."
Although Ōnoki had destroyed part of Diablo's body,
as long as the core was not destroyed, Diablo could continue to exist indefinitely.
Whispers emanating from the Puppet Core bewitched the ninjas of Iwagakure,
turning them into the foundation for Diablo's rebirth.
Diablo absorbed the host's life force and was reborn directly from the ashes.
"Hahahaha... hahahaha!!"
The smug laughter of Diablo, the Lord of Terror, echoed across heaven and earth.
Until—
Bang!!
"Ughhhhh~~~~!!"
The vicious blow from behind sent Diablo involuntarily toppling forward.
A gigantic beast appeared before everyone, its entire body snow-white, resembling a deer, a dolphin, and a horse all at once.
It was Han after undergoing Full Tailed Beast Transformation... in other words, the Five-Tails: Mu!
The next moment,
Kokuō leaped high into the air, its five tails whipping about.
Its hooves came crashing down toward Diablo's head.
Diablo naturally refused to yield, and the two giant beasts immediately grappled with each other.
Several seconds later...
Han discovered something was wrong.
Although Earth Style: Onoki's Dust Release could easily tear through Diablo's defenses,
that did not mean Han could do the same.
Diablo's