Seeing the Swamp of the Underworld appear before them, several Sunagakure ninjas who refused to believe it jumped straight in. As expected, things went badly.
Only after several thick-headed ninjas had been swallowed by the Swamp of the Underworld did the Sunagakure ninjas finally try to circle around it, their faces filled with fear.
"Chidori!!"
Just then, a squad of over a hundred burst out from the flank. Leading them was a silver-haired boy wearing a black mask. In his hand, he held a bolt of lightning so tangible it seemed real, its powerful current crackling with the cries of a thousand birds.
That boy was Hatake Kakashi, Namikaze Minato's student!
A prodigy who had become a jōnin at the age of twelve, the Sharingan in his right eye glowed a faint red. Like a hungry wolf charging into a pack, he took down nearly ten Sunagakure ninjas in just a few seconds.
The hundred or so Konoha ninjas behind him also charged fearlessly at the main Sunagakure force.
On top of that, elite jōnin leading their own squads charged the Sunagakure forces from every direction.
These were elite ninjas returning from other battlefronts. Every one of them was battle-hardened, and they fought like tigers descending from the mountains, driving the Sunagakure ninjas back again and again.
Seeing Namikaze Minato and the other elite ninjas lead their squads back to support them, the Konoha ninjas on the walls grew excited.
"All Konoha ninjas, listen up! It's time to strike back at Sunagakure!!"
The Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi, lowered his pipe and slowly exhaled a wisp of smoke. A fierce glint flashed in his eyes. Though he spoke in a low voice, his words carried all around them.
"Attack!"
The Konoha ninjas leaped down from the walls, their faces alight with excitement...
"Scorch Release combined with Wind Release nature transformation? How is that even possible!"
At the end of the furrow carved out by Scorch Release and Wind Release, Ya stared fixedly ahead, his clothes in tatters and half his beard burned away. He had tried adding other nature transformations to Scorch Release before, but he had always failed.
But that Uchiha Clan ninja in front of him—how old was he? And he had already pulled it off?
"Old man Ya, are you all right?"
Though Chiyo was a puppeteer, she was also highly skilled in Medical Ninjutsu. Seeing Ya injured, she hurried over.
"Granny Chiyo, I'm fine. But judging by the situation, we may have to use that."
Ya looked solemnly ahead and waved a hand.
"But using that will take some time."
Chiyo's expression was just as grave. The situation on the battlefield was already looking grim.
"I'll buy you that time!"
"I refuse to believe you have that much chakra!"
Ya gathered chakra again and charged along the furrow. He was gambling that the boy didn't have that much chakra!
"Scorch Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!!"
As four fireballs gathered into one enormous sphere, a fire dragon burst from within it and lunged straight at Uchiha Chen.
"I told you, that's not how you use Scorch Release!"
"Scorch Release: Twin Fire Dragon Bullet!!"
Uchiha Chen thrust both hands forward. Two fire dragons shot out from in front of his palms without warning, growing larger as they flew.
The two fearsome dragons bared their sharp teeth and charged murderously at the fire dragon Ya had unleashed.
"Boom!!"
The collision between the fire dragons erupted like fireworks, sending flames scattering in every direction.
But Uchiha Chen's other fire dragon broke through the smoke and slammed into Ya at even greater speed!
"Scorch Release—"
The fire dragon was too fast. On top of that, Ya was charging straight at Uchiha Chen... He didn't even have a chance to react before the dragon pierced right through him.
"Ah!!"
In the blink of an eye, all the moisture in Ya's body had been evaporated. He fell to the ground, lifeless.
"Roar!!!"
Just as Uchiha Chen killed Ya, a terrifying roar rang out from the Sunagakure ranks ahead.
"Ah!!"
The moment the roar sounded, a shadow too fast to make out shot through the Sunagakure ninjas. Those who couldn't dodge were killed instantly, blood spraying everywhere as one scream after another rose from the Sunagakure ranks.
"Gah gah gah! Kill! Kill!"
The shadow reached Uchiha Chen in an instant. A yellow tail shot out and swung at him, but Uchiha Chen was just as quick; he dodged with a sidestep.
Boom!
The already uneven ground was smashed open by the tail, leaving a furrow several meters long.
"Shukaku? A partial transformation?"
The Three-Tomoe Sharingan glimmered as Uchiha Chen saw the shadow's true form. It was a person—or rather, it could hardly be called human anymore.
Sand covered almost its entire body. Its right hand had become a beast's claw, and a long tail dragged along the ground, swishing from side to side...
Seeing the strange figure, Uchiha Chen immediately thought of Gaara's partial transformation.
Though they were both partial transformations, this definitely wasn't Gaara. After all, Gaara hadn't been born yet. This was very likely a failed predecessor to Gaara, a Jinchūriki of the One-Tail.
This One-Tail Jinchūriki had lost all control of himself and was clearly in a state of rampage.
"This is bad! It's a One-Tail Jinchūriki!"
Seeing this, Jiraiya was about to rush over and save Uchiha Chen, but just as he prepared to move, he saw how calm Chen looked.
Could Chen be confident he can handle it?
Jiraiya stroked his chin and thought for a moment, but in the end he chose to trust Uchiha Chen.
"What's gotten into Jiraiya? Does he think Uchiha Chen can take on Shukaku?"
The Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi, stood atop the wall, baffled.
"Roar!!!"
The rampaging Jinchūriki threw his head back with a furious roar and charged at Uchiha Chen.
Claws and tail came down together in a vicious blow.
"Rasengan!"
Uchiha Chen calmly met the attack with a Rasengan!
Thump!!!
The rampaging Jinchūriki was sent flying and crashed heavily into the ground. Several unlucky Sunagakure ninjas were caught in the collateral damage, inexplicably suffering serious injuries.
"Ahhh!! Kill! Kill!!"
The Jinchūriki bounced up from the crater and roared furiously as his body continued to change.
The Jinchūriki had transformed into Shukaku. His body swelled, and the ninjas who had still been fighting nearby hurriedly broke off their battles and fled in every direction, their faces full of horror... After a thick cloud of smoke,
"Wahahaha! I can finally come out!!"
"I've spotted the one I want to kill first!"
Whoosh!
A massive figure leaped out of the smoke. It was a tanuki covered from head to toe in Cursed Seal patterns, its enormous body blotting out the sky and sun. It was none other than Shukaku in his complete form!!