Three Rules for Shukaku

The endless sea of sand lay beneath a scorching sun.

Shaye stood alone atop a blistering dune, his black robe snapping in the hot wind. Before him lay a massive depression designated as a forbidden zone—the entrance to the sealing shrine. Bunpuku's faint breath lingered below, like a candle flickering in the wind.

He took a deep breath, rapidly formed hand seals, and sent his steady voice underground. "Shukaku, come out and meet me. I have come as agreed."

After a brief silence, the earth began to tremble slightly. The sand beneath his feet churned as though boiling, and an immense, violent, ancient chakra presence erupted from the sealing grounds like a geyser!

"Aooow—!!!"

Accompanied by a deafening roar, huge clouds of dust mixed with a Sandstorm shot into the sky. Yellow sand gathered and, in the blink of an eye, formed a colossal creature as large as a mountain. Dark purple curse-mark tattoos covered its earthen-yellow body, while a thick, long tail impatiently slapped the ground, kicking up waves of sand. Its enormous dark yellow eyes gleamed with cunning, savagery, and the wild joy of brief freedom as they fixed fiercely on the ant-sized Shaye below.

"Brat! You're the one who said you'd set me free?" Shukaku's voice rumbled like thunder, carrying both mockery and unquestionable pressure. "Where's that old monk Bunpuku? Make him undo the seal already! I've had enough of this damned cage!"

Shaye looked up at the terrifying Tailed Beast, his expression calm and unruffled, as though he faced not a monster capable of unleashing natural disasters, but merely an ill-tempered neighbor. "Master Bunpuku does not have much time left. This is his final wish. I can set you free, but not without conditions."

"Conditions?!" Shukaku threw back its head and laughed as if it had