A pair of enormous silver-white hands reached out of the pyramid and braced against its walls. The four-armed giant, formed from silver-white chakra, pulled itself out and crouched on the pyramid's side. Then it pushed off with both legs, leaped away, and skidded across the ground before coming to a steady stop.
Bunpuku asked, "Didn't you say there wouldn't be a problem?"
"Don't question me!" Shukaku hadn't expected to be proven wrong so quickly, and could only say awkwardly, "It's your fault, Bunpuku. Your body's too weak, so I can't use my full power. I told you to exercise more!"
"Huh!" In the mental world, Bunpuku was left speechless.
He usually focused only on cultivating his mind and really had neglected training his body.
Susanoo, in its complete form, stood on the ground. Senju Genma was positioned in its head, watching Bunpuku.
"Yasakani Magatama!"
Susanoo raised its hands and hurled several magatama in a ranged attack.
A huge statue of Shukaku, wearing a kasa hat, materialized in front of Bunpuku.
Shield of Shukaku!
The Yasakani Magatama sank into it, caving in the statue's belly.
A smile tugged at Senju Genma's lips. He chuckled, "You've stopped moving. Looks like you've been underestimated!"
The next second, Susanoo raised all four arms. Silver-white chakra blades, Ame-no-Murakumo, appeared in its hands, and it swung them forward.
Four slashes of light shot toward Bunpuku, instantly cleaving through the Shield of Shukaku.
The slashes were fast, but Bunpuku in his possession form was no slower.
He dropped to all fours and leaped from side to side across the ground, dodging the slashes.
If even one hit him, he felt that he'd lose an arm or a leg, if he didn't die outright.
"That was close. Even our Strongest Shield was shattered!" Bunpuku exclaimed.
"Shut up!" Shukaku let out a shrill cry. "The possession form just isn't strong enough. I'm taking full possession. Give me control of your body!"
Bunpuku fell silent for a moment, then slowly replied, "I understand."
Shukaku controlled Bunpuku's body and punched the ground. A huge amount of sand flew up, leaving a large crater in the sandy earth.
Bunpuku sank into the sand. It quickly gathered around him, taking the shape of Shukaku, who leaped out of the deep crater.
"I'm finally out!" Shukaku said happily, slapping his belly as he bounced around on the ground. He even looked a little cute.
Bunpuku reminded him, "Shukaku, don't forget why we're here!"
Shukaku scolded him, "I know! Don't fight me for control of the body. The possession form can't bring out my full strength as it is. You'll only weaken me further!"
Senju Genma controlled Susanoo to leap in front of Shukaku. Smiling, he said, "At last we meet, you big old tanuki, Shukaku!"
"I'm not a tanuki! I'm a raccoon dog." Only after saying that did Shukaku realize Senju Genma had led him astray. He hurriedly corrected himself. "No, that's not it! I'm the One-Tail, Shukaku!"
Furious, Shukaku leaped onto Susanoo and rained punches down on it. The Third Stage Susanoo was less than twenty meters tall; next to Shukaku, it was tiny.
But Susanoo's defense was formidable, and Tailed Beasts weren't strong in hand-to-hand combat. After taking several punches, only Susanoo's outer layer of defense was damaged. Ignoring the cute, headless Shukaku, Genma clapped his hands. "Sage Art: Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Giant trees sprang wildly from the sand and wrapped around Susanoo, forming a layer of defense. They also kept Shukaku at bay. Seeing the trees, Bunpuku could hardly keep from drooling.
If only Sunagakure had a technique like this. Perhaps then we wouldn't have to wage such an unjust war!
The sudden forest had also calmed Shukaku. He said gravely, "This technique... You really are connected to that man."
Genma used Deep Forest Emergence to hold Shukaku at bay, then spoke to himself from within the wooden barrier. "There's a technique I've wanted to try for a long time!"
"Sage Art: Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!" A wooden figure rose from beneath Genma's feet. Standing atop its head, Genma rode it as it rose, and the wooden figure's fist struck Shukaku under the chin, knocking him to the ground.
"Sage Art: Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!" A wood dragon rose from beneath the wooden figure's feet, winding around its body and coiling over its shoulder. It then lunged at Shukaku. Shukaku lay on the ground, howling in pain as his stubby legs flailed. He grabbed the dragon around the neck with both hands and struggled with all his might before finally managing to restrain it.
"Majestic Attire: Susanoo!" Genma's assault wasn't over yet. Susanoo enveloped the wooden figure, and riding atop Shukaku, it pounded him with its fists. Wood Release drained Shukaku's chakra as he was beaten, until even his sand-formed body had shrunk a size.
"This wretched brat..." Knowing there was no way his huge body could break free of Majestic Attire: Susanoo, Shukaku split off a smaller version of himself from his back. It wrapped around Bunpuku and fled into the distance.
Watching Shukaku's body turn to sand, Genma realized something was wrong. He immediately summoned Ame-no-Murakumo and swung it behind him.
Hundreds of meters behind Genma, Shukaku's enormous body appeared again. Startled by the sudden blade of light, he rolled his plump body into a sideways somersault, dodging the slash, then slapped his round belly.
Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!
Wind Release: Sand Scattering Bullet!
Shukaku spat out a huge ball of wind packed with chakra. Sand bullets mixed into it, making it faster and more powerful.
Senju Genma controlled Majestic Attire: Susanoo and swung Ame-no-Murakumo. The blade began to change shape, becoming a huge shield held in front of him.
The combined ninjutsu of the two Wind Release techniques had no effect at all. It couldn't break through Ame-no-Murakumo's defenses.
"God Spear!" Senju Genma shouted, folding his arms across his chest.
Ame-no-Murakumo changed shape again. A protrusion like a sword's blade appeared on the shield, which then contracted as the blade thrust forward at incredible speed.
Scree!
In the next instant, Shukaku's left arm was sliced clean off and fell to the ground.
"That was close. If I'd reacted one second later, my body would've been split in two!" Shukaku breathed a sigh of relief.
It had taken him ages to get the chance to come out and play. He didn't want to be locked away again so soon.
Susanoo swung the lengthened Ame-no-Murakumo. Senju Genma suddenly shouted, "Shukaku, don't run! Come at Susanoo!"
"Don't be ridiculous." Shukaku rolled aside, dodging a slash, and said with lingering fear, "What a dangerous brat. Where did you get a weapon like that?"
As he ran, Shukaku gathered Tailed Beast Chakra in his mouth, swallowed it, then spat.
Several glowing orbs shot from Shukaku's mouth.
Consecutive Tailed Beast Balls!
That's right, Shukaku could use Tailed Beast Balls.
The most basic requirements for using a Tailed Beast Ball were a sufficient amount of chakra and mastery of the extreme shape transformation of Yin and Yang Release Chakra.
Mastering chakra's shape transformation was no difficult feat for these Tailed Beasts, who had lived for thousands of years.
As for their chakra reserves...
Kurama liked to rank Tailed Beasts by the number of their tails, but a Tailed Beast's chakra reserves weren't actually determined by the number of its tails.
The Sage of Six Paths had distributed the Ten-Tails' chakra fairly.
The rough division went like this:
One share to the One-Tail, one share to the Nine-Tails.
One share to the Two-Tails, one share to the Nine-Tails.
One share to the Three-Tails, one share to the Nine-Tails.
One share to the Eight-Tails, one share to the Nine-Tails.
Then the Nine-Tails got the share that belonged to him as well.
Aside from the Nine-Tails being overwhelmingly stronger, the other eight Tailed Beasts all had roughly the same amount of chakra. As a Tailed Beast, Shukaku could use Tailed Beast Balls too.
It was just that Drilling Air Bullet was simpler and more than enough to deal with humans, so he didn't often use Tailed Beast Balls.
Senju Genma controlled Majestic Attire: Susanoo and retracted Ame-no-Murakumo, then rapidly swung it in front of himself to parry. The glowing orbs were sliced in half one by one. They hit the ground and exploded, kicking up vast clouds of sand.
"Now's my chance!" Shukaku opened his cavernous mouth. Blue Yang Release Chakra and purple-black Yin Release Chakra formed a black sphere that quickly grew larger.
Tailed Beast Ball!
"You can keep this little present!"
"No thanks. Keep it for yourself!"
As the dust settled, the unharmed Majestic Attire: Susanoo appeared before Bunpuku and Shukaku.
Majestic Attire: Susanoo leaped in front of Shukaku and slashed at the still-forming Tailed Beast Ball, cleaving it in two along with Shukaku's body.
The unfinished Tailed Beast Ball, disrupted by the impact, exploded at once. The resulting blast of wind snapped several trees nearby, and thick smoke spread across the entire battlefield.
After a while, the smoke from the explosion cleared. Shukaku's body had been blown to pieces, while Majestic Attire: Susanoo was in bad shape too: the armor formed by Susanoo was badly damaged, and most of the wooden figure's body had disappeared.
"You can't reach me, you mere gravel!" Watching Shukaku's body turn to sand, Senju Genma leaped to the ground and spoke in an even tone.
Deep Forest Emergence quickly drained the chakra from what remained of Shukaku's body. The chakraless remains turned to sand and blew away in the wind, revealing Bunpuku's true form.
Genma found Bunpuku and stood before him with his arms folded across his chest. Calmly, he said, "You've lost."
Bunpuku lay on the ground without replying. The chakra that belonged to him had been completely exhausted, and he had fallen unconscious.