You're Looking for Death?!

The five rushed out of the arena, and the sight outside made their hearts sink.

The Hidden Leaf Village had already descended into chaos!

Thick smoke billowed through the streets. Explosions, battle cries, and the sounds of ninjutsu colliding rose one after another.

The Sound Ninja and Sand Ninja forces were fiercely fighting the Hidden Leaf Village's ninja, while ordinary villagers fled in panic.

"This way!" Shikamaru forced down his exasperated expression and took off in one direction. "Gaara's chakra signature went that way! The commotion is huge!"

Everyone immediately followed.

Gaara's violent, terrifying chakra was impossible to conceal.

Scattered Sound Ninja and Sand Ninja tried to stop them along the way, but the five, frantic with worry, dealt with them swiftly.

Ling Yue's [Lightning Flash Body Technique] proved immensely useful in these high-speed movements and sudden encounters. Before their enemies could react, they were often struck down by kunai crackling with electric arcs.

Soon, they chased beyond the village and reached the edge of the forest.

The sight before them made everyone gasp!

A vast stretch of forest had been flattened. An enormous arm made entirely of sand was wildly swinging about, smashing into the ground!

Every strike shook the earth and left behind a massive crater!

Gaara was half-embedded at the end of that sand arm. Half his body had already been covered by Shukaku's grotesque form, his eyes hollow as he let out meaningless roars, having completely lost his mind!

"W-What kind of monster is that?!" Naruto's voice cracked in fright.

"The power of a Tailed Beast... is actually this terrifying..." Sakura's face went pale.

Sasuke's Sharingan stared fixedly at the horrifying sand arm as he gritted his teeth. "We have to stop him! Before he completely turns into that monster!"

"Easy for you to say! How are we supposed to stop him?!" Shikamaru grabbed his hair in frustration. "At this scale, it's not something we Genin can handle!"

Just then, the sand arm seemed to sense their presence. It swiftly changed direction and came crashing down at the five with an overwhelming force that seemed capable of crushing everything! A shadow instantly engulfed them!

"Scatter!" Shikamaru shouted!

The five desperately dodged in different directions!

The ground shook violently! Rocks and dirt flew everywhere!

The spot where they had been standing was smashed into a huge crater over ten meters wide!

Ling Yue barely avoided the central impact zone with [Flash Step] and [Paper Arts], but the shockwave still made her blood churn, sending her tumbling to the ground.

"Cough, cough!" She spat out the dirt in her mouth, looked up, and shuddered in lingering fear.

That power was absurd!

"Naruto! Sakura! Sasuke! Shikamaru!" she called out loudly.

"I'm fine!" Naruto crawled out from behind a pile of rubble. "I'm okay too..." Sakura's voice came from nearby.

Shikamaru appeared from behind a toppled tree. "What a drag... This is going to be difficult..." Sasuke stood on the other side, his Sharingan spinning wildly as though he were searching for an opening.

The sand arm rose once more, then began swatting continuously at the scattered group as if they were flies!

They could only flee desperately, completely unable to counterattack. They were in an extremely passive position!

"No! At this rate, we'll be swatted to death!" Shikamaru dodged while thinking anxiously. "We have to find a way to restrain his movements! Or attack the main body!"

"How do we attack him? We can't even get close!" Sakura narrowly dodged another strike, her voice trembling on the verge of tears.

"Use that!" Sasuke suddenly shouted, locking his gaze on Gaara's approximate location. "Naruto! Use your Shadow Clones to draw its attention! Shikamaru, use Shadow Imitation Technique and see if you can hold that arm in place for even a moment! Sakura, prepare the Explosive Tags! Yue! You're the fastest—find an opening and get close to attack the main body!"

In this critical moment, Sasuke instinctively took command.

"Got it!" Naruto immediately formed hand seals. "Shadow Clone Technique!" Dozens of Shadow Clones appeared and charged at the sand arm from every direction.

The sand arm was indeed partially distracted, swinging its palm toward those clones.

"Now! Shikamaru!"

"Shadow Imitation Technique, successful!" Shikamaru seized the opportunity. His shadow shot forward and actually managed to connect with the shadow of the constantly moving sand arm!

The sand arm's movements paused! It was only for one or two seconds, and Shikamaru's face instantly turned deathly pale, clearly under immense strain!

"Sakura!"

"Go!" Sakura threw a large bundle of Explosive Tags toward Gaara at the end of the giant arm with all her strength!

However, although the sand arm had been restrained, the sand on its surface automatically defended itself, forming a protective wall that knocked the Explosive Tags away!

"Damn it!" Sakura cried in despair.

"It's not over!" A fierce glint flashed in Sasuke's eyes. He rapidly formed hand seals, actually trying to forcibly gather his barely remaining chakra and launch Chidori once more!

Lightning flickered weakly in his hand!

But anyone could see that he could not sustain it!

At that very moment!

Ling Yue moved!

[Thunder Breathing] fully activated! [Lightning Flash Body Technique] erupted to its utmost limit!

Blinding lightning wrapped around her entire body!

She became a true bolt of blue lightning. Rather than charging directly at the arm, she sprinted up the surface of the temporarily restrained sand arm in a Z-shaped path! She was so fast that the naked eye could barely follow her!

"Yue!" Sakura cried out.

"So fast!" Naruto gaped.

Sasuke stopped forming seals as well, his Sharingan fixed tightly on that streak of lightning.

The sand arm seemed to sense the threat. The sand on its surface writhed violently, trying to form spikes or a palm to strike down the tiny intruder!

But Ling Yue pushed [Paper Arts] to its peak. Her body was as light as a weightless feather, leaping and evading gracefully across the ever-shifting sandy surface. Each time, she barely avoided the attacks, yet her speed did not slow in the slightest!

Her target was Gaara at the end of the arm!

She was almost there!

Gaara seemed to be completely enraged. With an earth-shaking roar, a huge opening suddenly split open at the end of the giant arm, where highly compressed chakra energy filled with an aura of destruction began to gather!

A Tailed Beast Bomb?! Its prototype?!

"Not good! Get out of there!" Shikamaru's face changed drastically below!

But Ling Yue had already reached the limit of her charge! She could not dodge! Nor could she!

A trace of resolve flashed through her eyes as unprecedentedly brilliant lightning erupted from the kunai in her right hand!

The power of [Lightning Flash Body Technique] and the chakra of [Thunder Breathing] poured into it without reservation!

"Break...!"

Like a javelin throwing lightning, she hurled the lightning-wreathed kunai containing all her strength straight at the energy core that was about to erupt!

Almost at the same time!

Below, Sasuke also exhausted his last trace of chakra and willpower, fiercely throwing the extremely unstable Chidori in his hand!

Its target was the same energy core!

One blue and one purple beam of dazzling light, one after the other, struck that terrifying mass of chakra energy almost simultaneously!

A heaven-shaking explosion erupted!

A terrifying energy shockwave burst outward! Light swallowed everything!

The sand arm began to crack and collapse inch by inch from its end! Massive amounts of sand poured down!

Ling Yue bore the brunt of it. The enormous explosion shockwave violently blasted her away, hurling her toward the distant ground!

"Yue!" Sasuke watched in horror as she was blown away. He wanted to rush over, but his chakra was exhausted and the shockwave made his vision go black. He dropped to one knee.

The light of the explosion gradually faded.

The sand arm had completely collapsed. Gaara fell from midair and lay amid a chaotic pile of sand, seemingly unconscious for the moment. The Shukaku form on his body had also receded considerably.

"Did... we do it?" Naruto stared at everything in disbelief. Sakura and Shikamaru also sighed in relief and collapsed onto the ground.

But before they could celebrate—

"Cough, cough... cough, cough..." Gaara suddenly began coughing violently and slowly opened his eyes.

Those eyes were no longer hollow. They were filled with even more frenzied, violent, and agonized killing intent!

The backlash from forcibly interrupting his Tailed Beast transformation, combined with his injuries, had thoroughly enraged both him and Shukaku!

"You... are all going to die!!!"

More sand surged madly from his body!

This time, it was no longer forming an arm. It began gathering into an even larger, even more horrifying shape!

Shukaku's true body was awakening at an accelerated rate!

"N-No way..." Naruto's face turned white. Shikamaru wore a look of despair as well. "It's over... We completely enraged him..."

Meanwhile, Ling Yue crashed heavily onto the ground and rolled a long distance before finally stopping. Her entire body was in agony, her chakra completely in disarray. Her ears rang and her vision blurred. She struggled to get up, but could not.

Just then, a figure staggered over to her. It was Sasuke!

He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her up, his voice hoarse from exhaustion and urgency. "Get up! That monster hasn't—"

Before he could finish.

Several sharp spears formed from sand shot toward them from the direction of the gathering Shukaku! Their targets were Ling Yue, who was unable to rise, and Sasuke, whose back was turned to the danger as he tried to pull her up!

They were incredibly fast! Their angle was vicious! They carried absolute killing intent!

Sasuke's Sharingan caught the danger, but his chakra was depleted and his body felt unbearably heavy. He had no time to dodge with Ling Yue!

Just as the two were about to be pierced through by the sand spears!

Sasuke's pupils constricted. Without the slightest hesitation, he suddenly turned and used his exhausted body to shield Ling Yue!

Blood sprayed!

One sand spear pierced precisely through his shoulder. The immense impact drove him backward, while more sand spears followed close behind!

"Sasuke!!!" Ling Yue's cry and Naruto and Sakura's screams rang out at the same time!

Sasuke groaned. Warm blood splashed across Ling Yue's face. He looked at her as if he wanted to say something, but the agony and exhaustion instantly consumed his consciousness. His eyes closed, and he completely passed out, falling in front of Ling Yue.

"Sasuke!" Sakura let out a heart-rending cry.

Naruto's eyes instantly turned red. "Bastard! I'll kill you!"

Ling Yue stared at Sasuke lying before her, his shoulder pierced by a sand spear and covered in blood. Her mind went blank.

Why... why would you go this far...

Overwhelming rage, guilt, and an indescribable emotion instantly shattered her reason!

The chakra that had been in disarray within her began circulating once more in a crazed manner due to her extreme emotional turmoil!

[Thunder Breathing] erupted uncontrollably on its own, even drawing out a trace of the deeply hidden, extremely unstable power of [Fire Thunder God]!

Blinding, violent lightning streaked with threads of crimson exploded from her body!

She slowly raised her head and looked toward Shukaku and Gaara, who were gathering madly in the distance. For the first time, nearly tangible, ice-cold killing intent ignited in her black eyes!

[Ding! Extreme emotional fluctuations and special energy resonance detected in host... Determining conditions...]

[...Conditions met. Hidden skill [Thunder Breathing, Seventh Form: Fire God of Thunder] comprehension has greatly increased! Current comprehension: 15%!]

The system notification sounded as though it came from some distant horizon.

Ling Yue slowly rose to her feet, dangerous and unstable crimson lightning coiling around her as she walked step by step toward the massive monster.

Her voice was cold as ancient ice:

"You... deserve! To die!"