A few minutes earlier.
Although his mind was filled with countless complaints—like the absurd strength of that blond brat, why his old acquaintance, who had suppressed him, was attacking that stinking fox's Jinchuriki, and why Kurama's Chakra existed simultaneously within three individuals—Shukaku had no time to think any of it through.
As he frantically circulated Chakra to repair his damaged body, he dragged his heavy steps forward, desperately fleeing away from the battlefield.
To hell with grudges and grievances! Just give him a little more time. Once his Chakra recovered to a certain level, he could use ninjutsu to flee thousands of miles away! This time, he would definitely escape back to the vast desert that belonged to him! True freedom was already within reach!
That obsession was the only thing driving Shukaku forward.
But as he fled with all his might, the space ahead suddenly warped in an unnatural way. Then, without warning, a figure appeared out of thin air directly in front of him, slowly drifting down.
It was a strangely dressed person wearing an orange, single-eyed mask with spiral patterns. He slowly retracted a sharp wooden spike into his palm.
"Get lost! Don't block my way!"
Shukaku only wanted to escape. How could he spare the time to deal with this sudden obstacle? Without a second thought, he raised his enormous claw and viciously slammed it down at the masked man!
Yet the sensation of crushing his opponent into pulp never came. His giant claw swept through the masked man's body as if through an insubstantial phantom, passing completely through him without the slightest resistance?!
"What...?!"
Shukaku froze in shock again, his mind unable to process this utterly incomprehensible sight.
In that brief moment of rigidity, an eerie crimson light suddenly flared behind the mask's only eyehole!