Konoha Hero

So the old man was just showing off!

At that moment, it felt as though ten thousand llamas were stampeding through Jiraiya's heart.

"How did you suddenly appear here?!"

Seeing Mirai suddenly appear, Kakashi hurried over as well.

Might Guy, who loved joining in on the excitement, came running over too.

"I just finished dealing with something. I saw things were pretty lively over here, so I came to see if there was a party. Turns out there wasn't!"

Mirai spread his hands, looking as though he had genuinely come to party.

Kakashi's face twitched as he shouted, "Could you be serious for once?!"

Mirai picked at his ear, pretending not to hear as he looked at Yuhi Kurenai beside him.

The hand around Yuhi Kurenai's waist lightly wandered over her waist.

Yuhi Kurenai merely looked at Mirai with a flushed face.

Roar!

At that moment, the One-Tail Shukaku let out a beastly roar.

A massive sphere of chakra energy formed before Shukaku.

Though everyone stood far away, they could still sense the destructive power contained within that sphere.

"Oh no, the Tailed Beast Ball is complete! This is really bad!"

Jiraiya finally panicked. The village was definitely going to suffer severe damage this time.

Even Kakashi, who was usually unflappable, wore a grave expression.

"Right, Mirai, how did you get through the Four Violet Flames Formation just now?"

Kakashi suddenly remembered that barrier ninjutsu had been cast all around them.

Unless the barrier was broken or someone opened an entrance in it, it should have been impossible to enter.

Yet Mirai had entered without either of those things happening. There was only one explanation.

Mirai knew space-time ninjutsu, and it was exceptionally advanced space-time ninjutsu at that.

Hearing Kakashi's question, everyone turned to look at Mirai. Clearly, they were curious as well.

"There!" Mirai pointed at Kakashi's kunai.

Kakashi lowered his head and looked at his kunai, only to discover rings of black markings on it.

"The Flying Thunder God Formula!"

The moment Jiraiya saw the markings, he cried out in shock.

As one of Konoha's Legendary Three Ninja, his strength was beyond question.

His knowledge and experience were also extremely vast.

Moreover, his disciple, Minato Namikaze, had earned the title of the Golden Flash throughout the ninja world through the Flying Thunder God Technique.

That was why Jiraiya recognized the Flying Thunder God Formula the instant he saw it.

"So you really do know space-time ninjutsu!"

Kakashi became excited, clearly having thought of something.

"Mm." Mirai nodded.

He seemed to know what Kakashi was thinking and said, "Don't think I don't know what you're planning. You want me to use the Flying Thunder God to move its attack away, right?"

Kakashi gave an awkward smile.

Jiraiya's eyes suddenly lit up. It really was a good idea.

Minato Namikaze had often used this method in the past to redirect ninjutsu attacks.

"I'm not doing something that troublesome. Why not just beat it flat? Why go through all those twists and turns?"

Kakashi and Jiraiya's faces twitched again. If they could take it down, would they still be standing here talking so much nonsense?

As for Might Guy, he simply stood to the side with a goofy smile, not interrupting.

Mirai sighed, shook his head, and released the hand around Yuhi Kurenai's waist.

Mirai's eyes transformed directly into the Eternal Mangekyo.

With a movement of the Flying Thunder God, Mirai arrived before the One-Tail Shukaku.

Seeing that Shukaku had already swallowed the Tailed Beast Ball into its mouth, Mirai widened his eyes.

The Eternal Mangekyo blossomed, and he instantly entered the One-Tail Shukaku's sealing space.

"Those eyes... you... you're one of the Uchiha Clan! Damn it!"

Seeing Mirai's Sharingan, Shukaku roared, its eyes filled with ferocity.

"Oh? A little tanuki inside a little panda's body, yet you're so fierce. Looks like I'll have to teach you a proper lesson!"

Mirai remained unfazed and directly cast a Sharingan genjutsu.

Mirai knew that One-Tail Shukaku feared the Sharingan most of all, and feared genjutsu most of all.

Back when Madara Uchiha captured One-Tail Shukaku, Shukaku had refused to submit.

In the end, Madara beat it until it lost all spirit, then used his Sharingan to discipline it into complete obedience.

From then on, whenever Shukaku saw a Sharingan, it would immediately become so frightened that it hid somewhere.

So when it saw the Sharingan now, Shukaku had initially been afraid.

But once it saw that it was not Madara, the fear in its heart lessened.

The Sharingan's genjutsu instantly dragged One-Tail Shukaku into an illusionary space.

Within the illusionary space, Mirai tormented Shukaku until it wished it were dead, as though several days had passed.

Yet in reality, only three seconds had gone by.

Once he released the Sharingan genjutsu, One-Tail Shukaku immediately collapsed to the ground, trembling.

Clearly, it had suffered brutal torment within the illusionary space.

The violence had vanished from its eyes, replaced by panic.

Like a frightened kitten, it was somewhat flustered.

"Can we talk properly now?"

Seeing Mirai's friendly smile, One-Tail Shukaku's fur stood on end.

Its body trembling, it hurriedly flattered Mirai. "Yes, yes! Don't worry, I'll definitely speak properly!"

Shukaku wagged its tail, looking exactly like a modern-day husky.

"Then do you know what you need to do now?"

"Ah!" Shukaku stared blankly at Mirai. What was it supposed to do? It did not know either.

"Um... could you tell me what I'm supposed to do?"

Shukaku blinked its pitiful eyes, wearing an utterly adorable expression.

Seeing Shukaku forcibly act cute, Mirai's face twitched.

This Shukaku was just too... ridiculous!

"Get rid of the Tailed Beast Ball for me, then obediently go back and stay inside the little panda!"

"Okay, okay!" Shukaku wagged its tail and nodded vigorously.

"Remember, don't try any clever tricks, or you know what will happen..."

Even after Mirai left, his voice continued to echo through the space.

Seeing Mirai leave, One-Tail Shukaku immediately collapsed from exhaustion.

In a very human-like manner, it used its beast claw to wipe the cold sweat from its forehead.

Although what had just happened had lasted for some time within the sealed space, only a second had passed in reality.

In everyone's eyes, Mirai had merely walked up to Shukaku, glared at it once, and then returned.

As they watched Mirai come back, everyone was filled with confusion.

"Why did you come back?"

Kakashi was utterly puzzled. What was Mirai doing, going there and back like that?

"Nani!"

Jiraiya, standing nearby, suddenly saw something shocking.

His eyes widened as he stared at Shukaku, his face full of astonishment.

The others looked toward Shukaku as well, equally dumbfounded.

They saw that Shukaku, which had bitten down on the Tailed Beast Ball, suddenly swallowed it.

It swallowed it straight into its stomach.

What kind of move was that?

They had never seen a tailed beast need to swallow its own Tailed Beast Ball to use it!

Boom!

With a deafening explosion, One-Tail Shukaku's entire body burst apart.

A blast wave spread outward from Shukaku's center, sweeping through the area.

"Everyone, be careful!"

After Jiraiya gave the warning, he immediately used a defensive ninjutsu to resist the blast wave.

The others did the same, all using defensive ninjutsu.