"Boom!!"
Like an atomic bomb going off, a tremendous shockwave spread in every direction, unleashing even more terrifying destruction.
Even space itself warped. The ground, which had only been slightly raised before, became a massive crater hundreds of meters across. Everything in the area was completely destroyed.
This time, Shukaku could no longer hold on. His enormous body was sent flying.
He soared hundreds of meters, like a meteor plunging toward the ground, and slammed into the earth, leaving a deep crater.
But even that did not stop his momentum. His massive body carved a huge trench dozens of meters long across the ground.
"Poof~"
When the cloud of smoke cleared, Shukaku's enormous body had vanished. At the end of the trench lay only a Sunagakure shinobi, barely breathing and injured from head to toe.
Silence. A deathly silence.
Everyone stared wide-eyed, mouths agape, frozen in shock and unable to recover for a long time.
The Sunagakure shinobi looked up at Uchiha Chen, who was slowly descending from the sky, their eyes filled with fear.
But after a brief silence, the Konoha shinobi suddenly erupted into waves of raucous cheering.
"Whoa!"
"We won! We actually won!!"
"Can someone tell me if I'm dreaming?"
"Uchiha Chen, the hero of Konoha!"
Amid the cheers, Uchiha Chen slowly descended to the ground. Before he could even smile, his vision went black, and he toppled straight over.
"Chen!"
Jiraiya was closest. The moment he saw Uchiha Chen falling backward, he dashed toward him at full speed.
Konoha,
the Uchiha Clan Compound,
inside Uchiha Chen's room,
"Uchiha Chen, you're awake!"
Tsunade's delighted voice rang out. Several other voices followed right after.
"What? Chen is finally awake?"
"Chen's awake! That's wonderful!"
"Uchiha Chen is awake?"
"The hero of Konoha is finally awake!"
Then came the sound of hurried footsteps.
Uchiha Chen lay in bed and slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Tsunade's delighted, lovely face.
He had to admit, she really was pretty...
No, no, what was he thinking? She might look only twenty, but she was actually in her thirties!
Uchiha Chen quickly looked away from Tsunade's face, then noticed several people standing beside his bed.
Jiraiya, Namikaze Minato, Uchiha Itachi, and Hatake Kakashi...
To his surprise, Might Guy had come too. Uchiha Chen knew it was him at a glance, of course, because of that conspicuous green jumpsuit and his trademark bowl cut.
Who else could it be?
Hatake Kakashi and Might Guy were both staring intently at Uchiha Chen. They had witnessed his outstanding performance in the battle at Mount Kikyo with their own eyes.
"Huh? Wasn't I fighting Shukaku? Why am I lying at home?"
A flicker of confusion crossed Uchiha Chen's eyes.
"You defeated the One-Tail, and you're still thinking about it? You overused your chakra again. Couldn't you take it easy?"
Tsunade rolled her eyes at Uchiha Chen and scolded him.
"Hahaha, Chen, your performance in that battle really made a lot of people see you in a new light.
You're the hero of Konoha now. You really do live up to being my brother!"
Jiraiya, on the other hand, slung an arm around Uchiha Chen's shoulders and praised him without holding back.
"Big Brother, don't tease me. Look at the state I'm in. I'm embarrassed to even bring up my record, let alone call myself the hero of Konoha. I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy!"
Uchiha Chen waved a hand, speaking with exaggerated modesty.
"Hehe, Chen, you're being too modest. You only ran out of chakra, while over in Sunagakure, their Jinchūriki was completely incapacitated. They'll have to find another suitable host and seal the One-Tail inside them again before long."
Jiraiya completely disagreed with Uchiha Chen.
"That's not quite right. I don't think the One-Tail showed its full strength. Otherwise, with my abilities, I shouldn't have been able to hold it off."
Uchiha Chen frowned. He wasn't proud of defeating the One-Tail; instead, he furrowed his brow as he considered what had happened.
Just then, Namikaze Minato stepped forward with a smile.
"Uncle Chen, ahem, you're right. Shukaku really didn't use its full strength because it wasn't compatible with Sunagakure's Jinchūriki."
Namikaze Minato still wasn't entirely used to calling him "Uncle Chen."
"What would it take for it to use its full strength?"
Hatake Kakashi couldn't help asking, curious.
"Only if the Jinchūriki and the Tailed Beast were perfectly compatible, becoming a Perfect Jinchūriki. But that's extremely rare."
"Even though the One-Tail couldn't use its full strength, that doesn't mean you weren't strong enough, Uncle Chen."
Namikaze Minato had seen Uchiha Chen's performance in that battle with his own eyes. There weren't many people in all of Konoha who could reach that level at his age.
If Shukaku had been able to use his full strength and unleash his strongest technique, the Tailed Beast Bomb, then forget Uchiha Chen—even across the entire Ninja World, there were only a handful who could withstand it.
Even he himself would have had some trouble dealing with a Tailed Beast Bomb.
Uchiha Chen already knew all this, of course, so he nodded and pretended to understand. Then he asked, "By the way, how many days was I unconscious? How's the war going?"
"Hehe, you were only unconscious for three days, Chen. But don't worry, the Ninja World War is over now.
They're planning to sign the armistice in a few days."
Jiraiya chuckled. He was quite happy the Ninja World War was over; he had grown tired of war long ago.
"What? The Ninja World War is over? Then doesn't that mean Minato is going to..."
Uchiha Chen was startled. He nearly blurted out that Namikaze Minato was about to become the Fourth Hokage, but thankfully, he caught himself in time.
"Minato? What about Minato?"
Everyone looked at Uchiha Chen in confusion. What did the end of the Ninja World War have to do with Namikaze Minato?
Seeing their puzzled expressions, Uchiha Chen's thoughts raced as he tried to figure out how to get out of this.
Suddenly, an idea came to him. Uchiha Chen turned to Namikaze Minato with a mischievous grin.
"Uh... I mean, now that peace has come, Minato, you should get ready to marry your girlfriend, Kushina. It's a rare opportunity!"
"Huh? Get married?!"
Namikaze Minato stared at Uchiha Chen, eyes wide and expression blank.
That was completely unexpected!