Susanoo Wood Golem

A pair of massive, silver-white hands emerged from the pyramid, gripping the walls for leverage. The four-armed giant, composed of silver-white chakra, pulled its body out of the pyramid, crouched on the wall, and pushed off with its legs. After sliding a distance across the ground, it came to a steady halt.

Bunpuku asked, "Didn't you say there wouldn't be any problems?"

"Don't you dare question me!" Shukaku, not expecting to be slapped in the face so quickly, could only say awkwardly, "It's all your fault, Bunpuku. Your body is too weak, which is why I can't unleash my full power. I told you to exercise more!"

Eh! In the world of consciousness, Bunpuku was rendered speechless.

Because he usually focused solely on cultivating his mind, he truly lacked physical training.

The full-body Susanoo stood on the ground, and Senju Genma, positioned at the head of the Susanoo, stared down at Bunpuku.

"Yasakani Magatama!"

The Susanoo raised its hands, throwing multiple magatama for a long-range attack.

A massive statue of Shukaku wearing a conical hat condensed in front of Bunpuku.

Shield of Shukaku!

The Yasakani Magatama sank into it, causing the belly of the Shukaku statue to cave inward.

A smile touched the corner of Senju Genma's mouth as he chuckled, "Without any movement, it seems I've been underestimated!"

The next second, the Susanoo raised its four arms, and the silver-white chakra blade, Ame-no-Murakumo, appeared in its hands, swinging forward.

Four sword beams struck toward Bunpuku, and the Shield of Shukaku was instantly shattered.

The speed of the sword beams was immense, but Bunpuku, in his Jinchuriki form, was not much slower.

Bunpuku dropped to all fours, leaping left and right across the ground to dodge the sword beams.

He felt that if he were touched even once, he would lose an arm or a leg, if not his life.

"This is truly dangerous; our strongest shield has been broken!" Bunpuku lamented.

"Shut up!" Shukaku let out a sharp cry. "The power of the Jinchuriki form is insufficient after all. Use the Full Jinchuriki form and hand over control of your body to me!"

Bunpuku was silent for a moment before slowly saying, "I understand!"

Shukaku manipulated Bunpuku's body, slamming a fist into the ground. A large amount of sand splashed up, and a massive crater appeared in the sandy terrain.

Bunpuku sank into the sand, which quickly gathered together, taking on the appearance of Shukaku before leaping out of the deep pit.

"I'm finally out!" Shukaku happily slapped his belly, jumping up and down on the ground, looking somewhat cute.

Bunpuku reminded him, "Shukaku, don't forget our goal!"

Shukaku scolded, "I know, don't fight me for control of the body. The Jinchuriki form can't unleash full strength anyway; you're only weakening my power by doing that!"

Senju Genma manipulated the Susanoo to leap in front of Shukaku, smiling as he said, "We finally meet, big raccoon dog Shukaku!"

"I am not a raccoon dog! I am a tanuki." Once the words were out, Shukaku realized he had been led astray by Senju Genma and hurriedly corrected himself, "No, I am One-Tail Shukaku!"

Furious, Shukaku leaped onto the Susanoo and began raining punches down upon it. The third-stage Susanoo was less than twenty meters tall, making it look like a tiny sprout compared to Shukaku.

However, the Susanoo's defense was not weak, and the Tailed Beast's hand-to-hand combat ability was not particularly strong. After taking several punches, only the outer layer of the Susanoo's defense was damaged. Ignoring the cute, brainless Shukaku, Genma clapped his hands together: "Sage Art: Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"

Giant trees grew wildly in the sand, wrapping around the Susanoo to form a layer of defense. Shukaku's body was also pushed back by the trees, making Bunpuku, inside Shukaku, drool with envy.

If only our Hidden Sand Village had such ninjutsu, perhaps we wouldn't have had to start such an unjust war!

Watching the forest suddenly rise, Shukaku calmed down and said in a deep voice, "This technique... you really are related to that man."

Genma used the Deep Forest Emergence to entangle Shukaku, muttering to himself within the wooden barrier, "There is a technique I've been wanting to try for a long time!"

"Sage Art: Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!" A wooden giant rose from beneath Genma's feet. Genma stood atop the wood human's head. As it rose, the wood human swung its fist, striking Shukaku's chin and knocking it to the ground.

"Sage Art: Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!" The wood dragon emerged from beneath the wood human's feet, coiled around its body, and then lunged at Shukaku. Shukaku lay on the ground, letting out a painful howl, its two short legs kicking incessantly. It used its hands to grab the wood dragon's neck, using all its might to restrain it.

"Majestic Attire: Susanoo!" Genma's offensive had not ended. The Susanoo encased the wood human's body, riding atop Shukaku and unleashing a frenzy of punches. Being drained of chakra by the Wood Release while simultaneously being beaten caused Shukaku's sand-composed body to shrink in size.

"This detestable brat." Shukaku knew it was impossible for his massive body to break free from the Majestic Attire: Susanoo, so he split a smaller version of himself from his back, wrapped it around Bunpuku's body, and fled into the distance.

Seeing Shukaku's body turn into sand, Genma realized something was wrong and immediately summoned Ame-no-Murakumo, swinging it behind him.

Hundreds of meters behind Genma, Shukaku's massive body reappeared, startled by the sudden blade of light.

It rolled its fat body, performing a side-flip to dodge the strike, and then slapped its round belly.

Wind Release: Air Bullet!

Wind Release: Sand Scattering Bullet!

Shukaku spat a massive wind sphere containing a vast amount of chakra from its mouth, mixed with sand bullets for greater speed and power.

Senju Genma manipulated the Majestic Attire: Susanoo to swing Ame-no-Murakumo, its form shifting into a massive shield to block the front.

The combined ninjutsu of the two Wind Releases failed to have any effect, unable to break through the defense of Ame-no-Murakumo.

"God Spear!" Senju Genma whispered, crossing his arms over his chest.

Ame-no-Murakumo changed shape again; a blade-like protrusion appeared on the shield, which then began to retract as the long blade thrust forward at extreme speed.

Screech!

The next instant, Shukaku's left arm was cleanly severed and fell to the ground.

"That was close. If I had reacted a second slower, my body would have been split open!" Shukaku breathed a sigh of relief.

It had finally gotten a rare chance to come out and play, and it certainly didn't want to be locked back up so soon.

As Susanoo swung the elongated Ame-no-Murakumo, Senju Genma suddenly shouted, "Shukaku, don't run! Come at the Susanoo!"

"Stop joking around." Shukaku rolled to the side, narrowly dodging a slash, and said with lingering fear, "What a dangerous brat. Where on earth did he get a weapon like that?"

While running, Shukaku didn't forget to gather Tailed Beast chakra in its mouth, swallowing and spitting it out.

Several light bullets erupted from Shukaku's mouth.

Continuous Tailed Beast Balls!

That's right, Shukaku knew how to use the Tailed Beast Ball.

To use a Tailed Beast Ball, the most basic requirements are a sufficient amount of chakra and mastery over the ultimate shape transformation of Yin and Yang chakra.

Mastering chakra shape transformation was no difficult task for these Tailed Beasts that had lived for thousands of years.

As for the amount of chakra.

Although Kurama liked to divide the strength of the Tailed Beasts based on the number of tails, the chakra of a Tailed Beast was not actually determined by the number of tails.

The Sage of Six Paths had distributed the Ten-Tails' chakra quite fairly.

The rough division was as follows.

One part for the One-Tail, one part for the Nine-Tails.

One part for the Two-Tails, one part for the Nine-Tails.

One part for the Three-Tails, one part for the Nine-Tails.

One part for the Eight-Tails, one part for the Nine-Tails.

Finally, he gave the Nine-Tails its own share.

Except for the Nine-Tails, whose strength was overwhelmingly superior, the chakra levels of the other eight Tailed Beasts were roughly the same, and Shukaku, as a Tailed Beast, was just as capable of using the Tailed Beast Ball.

It was just that the Air Bullet was more convenient and perfectly sufficient for dealing with humans, so it didn't usually bother with the Tailed Beast Ball.

Senju Genma manipulated the Majestic Attire: Susanoo to retract the Ame-no-Murakumo, then swung it rapidly in front of him to block. The light bullets were sliced in half one by one, exploding upon hitting the ground and kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

"Now's my chance!" Shukaku opened its gaping maw, and blue Yang-attribute chakra combined with purple-black Yin-attribute chakra to form a black sphere, which rapidly expanded.

Tailed Beast Ball!

"Accept this grand gift!"

"No need, you should keep this gift for yourself!"

As the smoke cleared, the unscathed Majestic Attire: Susanoo appeared before Bunpuku and Shukaku.

The Majestic Attire: Susanoo leaped forward, landing in front of Shukaku, and slashed at the not-yet-fully-formed Tailed Beast Ball, cleaving it and Shukaku's body in two.

Affected by the external force, the unfinished Tailed Beast Ball detonated instantly. The resulting wind pressure snapped several surrounding trees, and thick smoke filled the entire battlefield.

After a while, the smoke from the explosion dissipated to reveal Shukaku's body shattered into pieces. The Majestic Attire: Susanoo was in poor condition as well; the armor formed by Susanoo was heavily damaged, and most of the wooden construct had vanished.

"Ore todokimasen, jari gotoki ga (Mere gravel, you cannot reach me)!" Watching Shukaku's body turn to sand, Senju Genma jumped to the ground and spoke in a flat tone.

Deep Forest Emergence quickly drained the remaining chakra from Shukaku's remnants. The body, stripped of its chakra, turned into quicksand and was blown away by the wind, revealing Bunpuku's true form.

Genma found Bunpuku, stood before him with his arms crossed, and said calmly, "You have lost."

Bunpuku lay on the ground without replying; the chakra within him had been severely overdrawn, and he had fallen into a coma.