Battle Against Shukaku

"Hahahaha!! You overconfident fool, die already!! Hahaha!!!"

Seeing that Yusuke did not dodge his attack, Shukaku, who was extremely confident in the power of his Air Bullet, burst into wild laughter.

Amidst the sky-filling yellow sand kicked up by the immense impact of the Air Bullet, Yusuke split into four Fire Clone, each holding a scroll, and rushed toward the four directions surrounding Shukaku's position.

As the swirling yellow sand gradually settled, Shukaku realized that not only had the enemy not been defeated by him, but he had also created four clones, seemingly preparing to surround him.

These four Fire Clone of Yusuke were not meant for ganging up on Shukaku, but rather to prevent him from escaping while he prepared to cast a barrier ninjutsu with their help.

The four clones spread the scrolls they held onto the sandy ground and quickly formed hand seals. Once the seals were completed, they pressed their right hands onto the blank spaces in the center of the scrolls.

"Barrier: Four Purple Flame Array!"

As soon as the words fell, purple barrier walls extended from the scrolls at the positions of the four Fire Clone. The walls extending from the four points connected, eventually forming a cubic barrier space that enclosed both Yusuke and Shukaku within.

In the original story, Orochimaru used this Four Purple Flame Array to trap the Third Hokage, and the upgraded version, the Four Red Yang Formation, could even trap the Ten-Tails. This goes to show that this series of barrier ninjutsu is quite reliable.

In fact, for Yusuke, besides the Four Purple Flame Array, there was another god-tier skill within Ryujin Jakka for trapping enemies—the Ennetsu Jigoku.

However, with Yusuke's current abilities, after using a powerful move like Ennetsu Jigoku once, the Yin Release Chakra from both his own body and the Nine-Tails within his Yin-Yang Cursed Seal would be almost completely exhausted.

Even if he used that move to trap Shukaku, Yusuke would have no energy left to subdue and seal it, so he chose the Four Purple Flame Array, which was less taxing and highly effective.

Seeing himself trapped by Yusuke's barrier, Shukaku immediately recalled his miserable life as a raccoon dog once sealed inside a jinchuriki, and his emotions instantly spiraled into madness.

"Aaaaah!!"

Shukaku roared a few times, and a Tailed Beast Ball with power far exceeding the Air Bullet slowly condensed in his mouth.

The Tailed Beast Ball is a unique offensive energy wave condensed by a tailed beast using Yin and Yang chakra in a 2:8 ratio. Against this type of attack infused with Yin Release Chakra, Yusuke's Phantom Crow Clone could not provide immunity.

In this relatively small barrier, the massive Tailed Beast Ball was almost impossible to dodge, and Yusuke had no choice but to find a way to defend with ninjutsu.

Yusuke retreated to the edge of the barrier's corner and quickly formed hand seals.

"Scorch Release: Single Purple Flame Array."

Yusuke added a purple flame barrier in front of himself, which, combined with the purple flame barriers on the sides behind him, formed an enclosed space, protecting him within.

"Go to hell!!"

The Tailed Beast Ball finished condensing and was fired from Shukaku's mouth. However, Shukaku did not aim the Tailed Beast Ball at Yusuke, but instead bombarded the wall of the Four Purple Flame Array, attempting to break the barrier first.

When the Tailed Beast Ball struck the wall of the Four Purple Flame Array, a violent shockwave erupted inside the barrier.

However, because the Four Purple Flame Array was extremely stable, the Tailed Beast Ball fired by Shukaku was not enough to break it, causing the impact of the explosion inside to be unable to spread laterally, forcing the energy to release vertically!

Dust nearly a hundred meters high rose instantly throughout the entire barrier, and the sandy ground sank deeply compared to the area outside the barrier.

"The Tailed Beast Ball is truly a weapon of mass destruction; its power is indeed extraordinary!" Looking at the destructive effect caused by Shukaku's Tailed Beast Ball, Yusuke couldn't help but think to himself.

At this moment, Yusuke also felt the earth shaking. If he hadn't enclosed himself with the purple flame barrier, his normal ninja physique would surely have been smashed to pieces by this violent impact.

After the impact from the Tailed Beast Ball ended, Yusuke canceled the Single Purple Flame Array he had used for protection and slowly walked toward Shukaku with Ryujin Jakka in its Shikai state.

As the smoke and dust slowly dissipated, Shukaku discovered that his Tailed Beast Ball had not only failed to break through the purple barrier, but even his opponent before him was completely unscathed, which made Shukaku, who had been left disheveled by the shock of his own Tailed Beast Ball, feel a sense of panic.

He knew clearly that there were many ninjas in this ninja world whose power surpassed that of the tailed beasts, and once they fell into the hands of such ninjas, most tailed beasts would be sealed inside a jinchuriki, losing their freedom entirely.

For Shukaku, who had finally managed to escape, being sealed inside a jinchuriki was absolutely unacceptable!

"Wind Release: Sand Scattering Bullets!"

Shukaku opened his mouth and launched a wide-range ninjutsu attack at Yusuke once again. Countless sand bullets, like dense raindrops, sprayed from Shukaku's mouth and shot rapidly toward Yusuke.

These sand bullets were extremely dense, leaving no room to dodge, and possessed immense penetrating power. If they hit a person, they could instantly pierce through the body, leaving fist-sized holes.

Watching the rain of sand bullets rushing toward him, Yusuke raised his hand and swung his blade, slashing out a long trail of flame in front of him to block all the sand bullets.

The high temperature of the flames burned the sand bullets to nothing, leaving only wisps of black smoke and ash in the air.

By now, Yusuke had unlocked the 'Yin-Yang Cursed Seal', with black curse marks covering his entire body as Yin Release Chakra continuously surged into him.

After blocking Shukaku's Sand Scattering Bullets, Yusuke sheathed his blade and assumed a stance for an iaijutsu strike.

"Nadegiri!"

Borrowing the Reiatsu simulated by the Yin Release Chakra, Yusuke's Ryujin Jakka instantly left its sheath, slashing toward Shukaku's head with extreme speed.

However, to Yusuke's surprise, although Shukaku was massive, he was incredibly agile, leaping high into the air and dodging Yusuke's slash just in time.

After leaping high, Shukaku immediately began frantically slapping his belly with his left and right arms alternately, firing five or six Wind Release Air Bullets from his mouth toward Yusuke.

However, the Air Bullets posed no threat to Yusuke; by utilizing the intangible Phantom Crow Clone technique, he directly immunized himself against all damage.

After several rounds of combat, Shukaku also realized that the enemy before him was extremely troublesome; he had exhausted all his offensive means, yet he still couldn't injure the other party.

"Who exactly are you, and why are you causing me trouble?"

At this moment, Shukaku forcibly suppressed the anger and irritability in his heart and asked Yusuke with a wary expression.

"Naturally, it is for your power."

"Your attack methods are too monotonous and cannot hurt me at all. If you could just honestly let me seal you, you would save yourself a lot of suffering."

Looking at the giant raccoon dog before him, Yusuke said slowly.

Hearing Yusuke's words, Shukaku's temper, which he had finally managed to suppress, erupted once again, and he said angrily: "Bullshit! Even if I can't kill you, do you think you can seal me all by yourself! I advise you to give up on that thought!"

"Then let us wait and see!" Yusuke said indifferently, while rapidly drawing Yin Release Chakra from the Nine-Tails within his Cursed Seal, continuously boosting the power of Ryujin Jakka.

After being infused with a massive amount of Yin Release Chakra, the flames of Ryujin Jakka turned a crimson-gold color, trailing a long tail of fire from the tip of the blade and forming a wheel of crimson-gold flames behind Yusuke's back.

This was the same form Yusuke had used previously when battling Shisui; only in this state could he unleash the techniques associated with the Shikai of Ryujin Jakka.

Watching Yusuke, who looked like a god of fire descended upon the earth, Shukaku revealed a look of terror. It could sense that the temperature of those crimson-gold flames was extremely high and posed a massive threat to it.

Although under normal circumstances, Tailed Beasts do not truly die—even if they suffer a fatal attack, as long as it is not the power of Ten Thousand Things, the Tailed Beast's chakra will gather somewhere in the ninja world and reform—the resurrection point for the One-Tail Shukaku was precisely this Nara Desert beneath its feet.

However, for a Tailed Beast, being killed by someone and then re-condensing is not a pleasant process.

Seeing that his opponent was determined to seal him, Shukaku had nothing left to say; he condensed a Tailed Beast Ball once more, preparing to bombard his opponent.

Through the previous battle, Shukaku had discovered that only his Tailed Beast Ball could cause any trouble for his opponent.

To guard against the Tailed Beast Ball, the opponent had not used those crow clones that seemed to lack physical form to dodge, but had instead created a barrier to block it. It was clear that the Tailed Beast Ball could still injure him.

Watching Shukaku begin to condense another Tailed Beast Ball, Yusuke did not intend to continue responding with a defensive posture; instead, he chose to attack rather than defend, taking the initiative.

With a flash of fire, Yusuke appeared right beside the mouth where Shukaku was condensing the Tailed Beast Ball.

Accompanied by a crimson-gold blade flash, Shukaku was decapitated by Yusuke in a single strike, with raging flames burning upon the severed sections of his head and body. The Tailed Beast Ball that was being condensed was immediately interrupted and dissipated into the air.

"Ahhh!!!"

A shrill, miserable scream erupted from the mouth of Shukaku's severed head. Because a Tailed Beast is not a normal living creature but a demon condensed from chakra, it would not die even if its head were severed or if it were sliced into a thousand pieces. As long as the chakra re-condensed, it could immediately return to its original form.

At this moment, Shukaku did not rush to reunite his head and body; instead, he rolled around on the desert, attempting to extinguish the flames that were burning on him like maggots on bone.

However, what he never expected was that the crimson-gold flames on Yusuke's Ryujin Jakka were no ordinary fire. By rolling around, not only did he fail to extinguish the flames on the severed sections of his head and body, but he actually caused more parts of his body to catch fire.

"Damn it!!"

Shukaku let out a furious roar, and his body and head transformed into sand filled with powerful chakra, gradually disappearing into the desert floor. Then, Shukaku abandoned the parts that had been burned and re-condensed into his tanuki form.

However, Yusuke noticed that the re-condensed Shukaku was slightly smaller than before. Of course, this reduction in volume was not permanent; given some time, Shukaku would be able to restore his body to its original size.

"Ah!!"

After re-condensing, Shukaku looked up and let out another angry roar, raising his massive arm to strike fiercely at Yusuke. Yet, seeing the long blade burning with raging flames in Yusuke's hand and the crimson-gold flame wheel behind him, his raised arm stopped dead in mid-air.

Looking at the helpless Shukaku, Yusuke did not intend to continue slowly wearing down his strength; he decided to stop holding back his chakra and unleash a finishing move to quickly subdue his opponent, then proceed with the sealing.

After all, the Nara Desert was within the sphere of influence of Sunagakure; if the battle dragged on for too long and was discovered by Sunagakure ninjas, it would be troublesome.

Sheathing his blade, the flames on Ryujin Jakka all hid within the scabbard, and Yusuke once again assumed the stance of an iaijutsu practitioner.

However, in Shukaku's eyes, although Yusuke had hidden the flames, his entire aura seemed even more powerful, clearly preparing some formidable technique.

Just as Yusuke and Shukaku stood in a standoff, neither the man nor the tanuki noticed that beneath the sand within the barrier, a pair of cold, sinister eyes were watching them.

As always, thank you all for your support!!

(●●)(●●)