Let! Me! Smash!

"Roar!!"

The blood-red monster howled at the sky. The immense pressure generated by its terrifying chakra could be felt even from over a dozen miles away.

As the closest one—and the prey targeted by the tailed beast—Sora faced that might head-on!

"A Jinchuriki..."

Feeling that chakra, Sora could not help clenching his fists. In those wild eyes flickered killing intent so cold it suffocated.

More than ten years ago, it had been this same presence, this same chakra.

It had taken everything from him.

"I really, really, really..."

Boom!!

A violent gale surged forth, instantly shattering and splitting the ground beneath Sora. Countless broken rocks shot into the sky before raining back down like hail.

Han, half-transformed into a tailed beast, burst before Sora in an instant. His blade-sharp claws slashed viciously at Sora's face.

But before those beastly claws could fall, the space around them suddenly twisted.

An irresistible force erupted from Sora's palm, forcibly warping, pulling, and drawing Han's body into his grasp.

"I really want all you beasts to die!"

Surging power made Sora's muscles swell continuously. His already enormous hand grew even larger as it seized the head of the half-transformed Han.

The humanoid beast carrying Han leaped high into the air, leaving a blood-red trail behind in midair.

Han instinctively tried to struggle.

But Sora's huge hand was like an iron vise. He could neither break free nor move it in the slightest.

Even more violent power than before coursed through Sora's body.

Then—

He smashed down!

Boom!!!

It was incomparable brute force, an explosive impact like a meteor crashing down from the heavens.

Terrifying shockwaves and cracks spread outward from Sora's landing point. Rock Town Village, already more than half destroyed, was completely obliterated in that instant!

Countless fragments of stone were hurled into the sky by the recoil as though gravity had vanished, and the entire earth seemed to be breaking apart.

"Ah!!"

The moment Sora leaped high into the air, Samui immediately hid behind Kitsuchi and cast a defensive ninjutsu in front of herself.

Even though the impact point was ahead rather than near Samui, the erupting shockwave still caused her defensive ninjutsu to collapse. Kitsuchi, serving as her shield, was knocked unconscious outright, barely clinging to life.

Sensing the tailed beast's eruption, the Hidden Stone forces retreated one after another, putting several miles between themselves and the battlefield in the shortest time possible.

But they did not lower their guard. Any force possessing a tailed beast knew full well how terrifyingly destructive such creatures of calamity could be. Every Hidden Stone ninja present stood ready, their faces solemn.

"What are you doing here?"

Suddenly, several dozen figures appeared beside them.

The leader was thin-faced, with spiky hair. He frowned as he looked at the Hidden Stone ninja standing on alert.

"Lord Hunt! Lord Han is fighting Yotsuki Sora, and he's already entered a half-tailed-beast transformation. We were told to retreat..."

Boom!!

Before the Hidden Stone ninja could finish, a terrifying tremor suddenly sounded in the distance. A moment later, the shockwave reached them as well.

The monstrous blast swept up countless clouds of dust and shattered rocks, spreading in all directions with earth-shaking force like an earthquake, leaving everyone present frozen in place.

"This!"

"They've actually fought to this extent?!"

"The power of a tailed beast really is terrifying."

"After all, it's Lord Han. With this, that guy should definitely be dead, right?"

"Definitely!"

The Hidden Stone ninja spoke one after another, faint smiles appearing on their faces.

In their eyes, that man might be strong, but he could never be a match for a tailed beast, a creature of calamity.

Yet some elite ninja, as well as Hunt, who had just arrived at the battlefield, wore grave expressions.

If they had not sensed wrongly, the source of that chakra... was not tailed beast chakra.

Which meant...

Hunt's heart sank as an uneasy thought rose within him.

But even he did not dare set foot lightly on a battlefield where the tailed beasts were fighting at full force.

All he could do next was wait.

Rock Town Village had vanished completely. At the center of the ruins, a figure lay sprawled on the ground.

"Cough, cough cough..."

Han spat blood, barely clinging to life.

Even his tailed beast cloak had been unable to withstand that immense blow. At the instant of impact, he had clearly felt the force pierce straight through his tailed beast cloak and invade his entire body.

Muscles, blood vessels, internal organs.

That power had seemed to penetrate everything, acting directly upon the most vulnerable parts within his body.

He wanted to keep drawing upon the tailed beast's power, but his body, already pushed to its limit, could no longer support him.

"You bastard..."

A shadow covered Han's vision. He desperately tried to raise his head, only for a large foot to stomp down on his skull.

Sora looked down at Han expressionlessly. His gaze seemed to pierce through Han's shell of a body and see the pure white beast sealed within him.

"What do you think would happen if I removed the seal here and let this beast out?"

"No... you can't."

Han spoke weakly.

The tailed beasts had been born of nature. Once, they had been the freest and most powerful beings in this world.

But because humans craved power, they had sealed them away and used them in war.

A seal that shut out even the light of day was absolute torment for any living creature. Thus, from the very moment they were sealed, the tailed beasts' greatest wish had been to break free.

Once the seal was lifted, even the relatively mild-tempered Five-Tails would surely vent the suppressed emotions in its heart with all its might!

Rock Town Village lay deep within the Land of Earth. Though it stood beside the uninhabited Heavenly White Mountains, the Land of Earth's important towns lay only a little farther beyond.

If the tailed beast were released...

Sensing the Steam Ninja struggling beneath his foot, Sora's lips curled into a mocking smile.

"So people like you want to wield this kind of power, yet you fear that very power yourselves."

How laughable.

Greedy and foolish people always liked to touch the box of destruction.

Whether Hidden Stone or Hidden Cloud, they were all the same.

For power, for victory in war, they could unhesitatingly touch and create things they had no ability to control—things that could easily overturn them entirely!

"..."

Sora took out a scroll and formed seals with one hand.

The Amber Purifying Pot appeared.

"Th-That is..."

"A Sage of Six Paths ninja tool! That's a Sage of Six Paths ninja tool, Han!"

Inside Han's body, the white dolphin-horse revealed its violent emotions, crazily slamming against the shackles of the seal. "Let me out! Let me out, you bastard!"