Tactical Overwhelming

Nii Yugito landed on all fours, carving deep furrows into the ground, before launching herself into another sprint without the slightest hesitation.

With Chakra-infused claws on both hands, she lunged and slashed left and right, forcing Sarutobi Hiruzen to keep his distance, as he dared not face the Tailed Beast Chakra with his bare flesh, leaving him momentarily suppressed.

Nii Yugito wore a grave expression, swinging her arms with all her might, desperate to land a lethal blow.

Sarutobi Hiruzen observed her delicate, murderous face as he moved, and suddenly, he offered a faint smile.

He stopped dodging entirely, allowing Nii Yugito's sharp claws to pierce straight through his chest.

Nii Yugito frowned, only to see the smiling Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly dissolve into the texture of mud.

"Earth Style: Earth Clone Technique."

Nii Yugito immediately braced herself, scanning her surroundings in alarm, wary of where Sarutobi Hiruzen might launch his next surprise attack, failing to notice the Explosive Tag quietly burning out on the body of the Earth Clone.

"BOOM!"

Intense heat and a violent explosion engulfed Nii Yugito's form; a second later, she flew back out of the smoke.

Her expression was pained, and her fair skin was covered in extensive burns; clearly, taking an Explosive Tag head-on was no small matter, even for a Jinchuriki.

But a Jinchuriki is not so easily defeated; the Tailed Beast Chakra possessed rapid healing properties, and her wounds were already fully mended by the time she slid through the air.

However, just as Nii Yugito landed, a large hand reached out, smoothly caught her ankle, and with a swift tug, pulled her into the ground.

"Earth Style: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique."

"Earth Style: Hardening Technique!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's masterful control over Chakra nature transformation allowed him to execute two different elemental changes in a single instant.

Turning the ground from soft to rock-hard—a real man only needs two seconds to get the job done.

And within those two seconds, the adorable Jinchuriki had already been caught in the trap.

Nii Yugito's eyes widened as she felt the density of the earth around her tightening, realizing she was in trouble!

"Crackle, crackle."

Sarutobi Hiruzen rose from the ground to see Nii Yugito, covered in lightning, attempting to break free from the hardened earth.

"Not a bad reaction."

"Just a bit too green."

Sarutobi Hiruzen praised.

To react instantly and use the nature transformation of Lightning Release to counter Earth Release showed that Nii Yugito's combat intelligence was quite sharp.

It was just that, as a Jinchuriki, Nii Yugito poured all her energy into controlling Tailed Beast Chakra, so her native Cloud Ninja lightning training was naturally lacking.

The so-called elemental counter-system depends on the user; one need only look at how it took an entire squad of Water Style users to neutralize Uchiha Madara's Fire Style.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's Earth Style was second only to that old man Ōnoki, who had mastered the Kekkei Tōta.

"Five Elements Seal!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen pressed a finger to Nii Yugito's forehead, and the sealing talisman instantly extinguished her surging Chakra.

Not giving Nii Yugito another chance, he knocked her unconscious with a swift hand-chop and hoisted her over his shoulder with a composed expression.

She was a Jinchuriki, after all; she was worth a fortune.

In less than five minutes, Sarutobi Hiruzen had captured a Jinchuriki with combat power rivaling a Titled Jonin, all without using a single high-power Ninjutsu.

Relying on his masterful Chakra nature transformation and his ability to anticipate the enemy, Sarutobi Hiruzen had completely crushed the inexperienced Nii Yugito, both in terms of raw power and tactical maneuvering.

"It just goes to show that my '10' in Intelligence on paper isn't just for show."

Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't just boasting.

The Third Hokage's combat intelligence was top-tier; in the original story, when Orochimaru defected, the Third Hokage had designed a trap to severely wound him in a single exchange.

Now that Sarutobi Hiruzen had transmigrated into this body, he had fully inherited those talents; any opponent who revealed a flaw would find themselves at a disadvantage in an instant.

Of course, it was also because Nii Yugito could not yet fully control the power of her Tailed Beast.

If Nii Yugito had learned to achieve a full Tailed Beast transformation, Sarutobi Hiruzen would likely have had to put in much more effort to seal her.

Capturing the Two-Tails Jinchuriki could be considered the greatest harvest of this war, even surpassing the destruction of a thousand-man battalion.

Having secured the fruits of victory, Sarutobi Hiruzen made no unnecessary moves, choosing instead to wait here for the arrival of Uchiha Fugaku's reinforcements.

On the other side of the Cloud Ninja battlefield, they were already struggling to withstand the ravages of Fujin and Raijin.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Dragon Bullet!"

"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"

"Lightning Style: Lightning Ball!"

The entire sky and earth flashed with lightning, shrouding the towering forms of Fujin and Raijin.

Violent voltage, accompanied by terrifying heat, combined with the lightning techniques of nearly fifty Cloud Ninja, created what looked like a hell of electricity.

Countless flashes and electromagnetic explosions enveloped the area, relentlessly scorching the cells of Fujin and Raijin.

A Ninjutsu comparable in intensity to Lightning Style: Kirin could be unleashed almost instantaneously when combined within the ranks of a battle formation.

Although the power of the combined Ninjutsu was terrifying, Fujin and Raijin, at the center of the formation, showed no intention of dodging.

They allowed the electric currents and intense heat to assault their bodies.

No matter how strong a body might be, it remained a carbon-based organism that feared high temperatures and lightning; in an instant, the skin of the two men became charred under the effects of the Lightning Style.

"Success!"

"We finally hit them!"

"A technique with this much power could even suppress a Tailed Beast, let alone humans!"

The surrounding Cloud Ninja wore expressions of excitement. These two individuals, clearly Konoha Ninja, possessed immense speed and strength and had already killed many of their comrades.

After sacrificing the lives of countless comrades to stall them, they had finally found an opportunity to lure them into the encirclement of the combined Ninjutsu and severely wound them in one fell swoop.

But just as the smiles of the Cloud Ninja were widening, they witnessed a scene that made it impossible to laugh.

They saw the two men, completely encased in charred remains, walk forward as if nothing had happened, their strides showing no sign of weakness.

Suddenly, the charred skin on their bodies fell away like snowflakes, revealing perfectly healed, undamaged skin underneath.

"They... they are completely fine?!"

"They have rapid regeneration!"

"It's a regenerative ability comparable to a Jinchuriki!"

The Cloud Ninja were struck with horror; despite such hardship and calculation, there had been no results at all.

Fujin and Raijin did not care what the Cloud Ninja were thinking. With their bodies fully restored, they flashed forward and crashed back into the crowd of Cloud Ninja, beginning a new round of slaughter.

"Lord Toroi! We must retreat!"

"Konoha planned this!"

"Without the Fourth Raikage and Killer B... we cannot deal with monsters like these!"

The subordinate beside Toroi was also horrified by the sight. It was unbelievable that humans could possess such vitality; it was practically on par with a Tailed Beast.

He also understood the situation clearly: the two guys before them were physical monsters in no way inferior to the Fourth Raikage, beings capable of going head-to-head with a Tailed Beast.

Without a powerhouse of the same level to hold them back, no amount of manpower could cope with them.

Furthermore, these two possessed unreasonable vitality; it was even impossible to wear them down, much like the Third Raikage.