Despairing Gap in Strength!

"Where's the Tailed Beast? Let it out!" Riu's commanding voice rang out, but Shibuki clenched his fists and fell silent.

Though Waterfall Village was weak, it possessed the Seven-Tails, ranked third in power among the nine Tailed Beasts. This forbidden power had drawn the covetous attention of ninja from other nations more than once.

The Five Great Nations had repeatedly resorted to threats and inducements, trying to seize this power. Spies had infiltrated the village several times and nearly succeeded.

To prevent accidents, Waterfall Village sealed the Seven-Tails inside a jar inscribed with sealing techniques. Only when the village faced a crisis would they release the Seven-Tails, sealing it again once the danger had passed.

That jar had been a treasure gifted by the Uzumaki Clan of Whirlpool Hidden Village when the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Whirlpools established diplomatic relations, as a gesture of goodwill. Every year, the Uzumaki Clan would send someone to reinforce the jar's seal...

Unfortunately, after the destruction of Whirlpool Hidden Village, the surviving Uzumaki Clan members went into hiding to save their lives, living under false names. Naturally, no one came to reinforce the jar's seal anymore.

Thus, the sealing formula inside the jar gradually weakened. In particular, every release and resealing of the Tailed Beast greatly reduced the seal's strength.

A few years ago, when the jar sealed the Seven-Tails once more, its sealing technique had already reached the brink of collapse.

Once the seal was broken again, the sealing technique would fail completely, and the Seven-Tails could never be sealed again...

Therefore, Waterfall Village no longer dared to use it lightly, treating it only as a strategic deterrent.

Even against this unprecedentedly powerful enemy, Shibuki had not resolved to release the Seven-Tails.

"Village Chief, release the Tailed Beast!!"

"Since he wants to witness the Tailed Beast's power, let him regret it in despair!"

"We don't want peace in the future! We only want to crush the enemy before us!"

The Waterfall ninja were fired up.

Shibuki knew that the village had reached the brink of life and death. The premise of any so-called strategic deterrence was that the village still existed!

Having made his decision, he took out a scroll and spread it open.

Bang!

An ancient jar appeared at the center of the scroll.

The Waterfall ninja retreated one after another.

Shibuki formed a series of complicated hand seals, silently chanting in his heart, Release!

Buzz! The sealing formula on the jar flickered rapidly and began to fade.

Whoosh! Shibuki abruptly leaped backward.

Boom! A crimson beam burst from the jar and shot into the sky. A black vortex appeared in the night sky, and crackle! crackle! Red lightning rolled among the clouds. This phenomenon was no different from when the Eight-Tails' seal had been released...

Riu looked at the phenomenon in the sky and muttered, "The Seven-Tails isn't much weaker than the Eight-Tails. As expected, only the Nine-Tails represents a qualitative leap..."

Crack! Crack!

As the Seven-Tails' Chakra was released, cracks continuously spread across the jar... In the end, as the red light departed, the jar shattered into pieces.

Rumble!!

Massive Chakra gathered in the sky and rapidly condensed into a form, revealing the Seven-Tails' true body.

It was a gigantic flying insect with six wings and one tail.

From the mountaintop, Yūhi Uzuki said, "So ugly..."

Riu looked at the Seven-Tails hovering in the sky and smiled. "Heh. Its power may not be the strongest, but it's definitely the ugliest..."

At that moment, Shibuki took out a paper talisman and stuck it to his forehead.

This was a treasure passed down through generations of Waterfall Village chiefs, allowing them to communicate with the Seven-Tails.

"Seven-Tails, for hundreds of years, you have been Waterfall Village's guardian deity. We had no choice but to seal you away in order to protect you. I hope you can resolve this crisis. If you do, we will return your freedom to you!!"

That thought seemed to reach the Seven-Tails. Its insect eyes locked onto Riu atop the giant tree.

Whoosh!! Massive Tailed Beast Chakra gathered in its mouth...

"It's a Tailed Beast Bomb! Everyone, get back!!" Shibuki shouted.

The Waterfall ninja scrambled backward, even more desperately than when they had seen Riu use Wood Release.

Perhaps in their minds, the Tailed Beast Bomb was the pinnacle of power.

"Not this again..." Yūhi Uzuki had some bad memories of Tailed Beast Bombs.

"It's fine. Leave it to Yu." Tobi was remarkably calm.

As for Riu, not only was he unafraid, he was somewhat excited.

Boom!!

The Seven-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb blasted toward Riu. The gusts preceding it alone made it hard to breathe.

"Perfect~" Riu's lips curled up. The Crow Tengu Susanoo instantly manifested, and a Kamui Shuriken had already flown into the sky.

The Kamui Shuriken collided with the Tailed Beast Bomb, and the bomb vanished into a Space-Time vortex.

"How can this be?!" Seeing Riu so effortlessly neutralize the Tailed Beast Bomb they viewed as invincible, the Waterfall ninja, who had just seen hope, panicked.

"Don't panic. The Seven-Tails is the only Tailed Beast capable of soaring through the skies. Even if he can defend against its attacks, he can't attack the Seven-Tails!" Shibuki comforted everyone, but he could not comfort himself. The proof was the sweat covering his tightly clenched old hands.

Boom! The Crow Tengu Susanoo leaped into the air. Though it had no wings, it still rose dozens of meters high. The Mangekyo Sharingan in Riu's eyes shone brilliantly as he marked the Seven-Tails' six wings.

The Susanoo began to fall...

"Wonderful!!"

"Serves you right! Can't reach it, can you?! Hahaha!" The Waterfall ninja cheered and mocked him.

Whoosh!! Another Tailed Beast Bomb gathered in the Seven-Tails' mouth.

"That's it! Blow him to pieces!!" the Waterfall ninja shouted.

Clang! The Susanoo landed on the ground. Riu's lips curved into a cold smile. "Seven-Tails, your wings are an eyesore. Let me tear them off for you!"

Whoosh!! A black Magatama condensed in the Susanoo's right hand and was thrown into the sky.

Susanoo Artifact: Ninth-Spear Kamui Magatama!

Boom!! At the same time, the Tailed Beast Bomb shot straight at him.

The Magatama pierced through the Tailed Beast Bomb. The bomb exploded against the Susanoo, while the Magatama flew toward the Seven-Tails...

The Seven-Tails panicked as it watched the approaching Magatama. It beat its wings and flew into the distance, but the Magatama chased after it, rapidly closing the gap...

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Unable to shake it off, the Seven-Tails wildly fired Tailed Beast Bombs. Explosions filled the sky, yet the Magatama remained completely unaffected. Once it closed in, it split into six and struck the Seven-Tails' six wings.

"Aargh!!"

With a scream, the Seven-Tails' six wings were torn apart by Kamui's power and transferred into the Space-Time Dimension.

Clang!

Stripped of its wings, the Seven-Tails crashed to the ground. It glared viciously at Riu and gathered another Tailed Beast Bomb!

A disdainful smile touched Riu's lips as he formed hand seals.

Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu!

Boom!

A Wood Dragon burst from the ground beside the Seven-Tails, binding its body...

The Seven-Tails struggled but could not break free. It tried to blast away the Wood Dragon with a Tailed Beast Bomb, but the dragon opened its jaws and bit down on the Seven-Tails' body...

"Aargh!!" The Seven-Tails screamed again. The incomplete Tailed Beast Bomb actually dispersed at the edge of its mouth.

The Wood Dragon absorbed the Seven-Tails' Chakra and rapidly grew larger, making its restraints even stronger!

The great tree carried Riu closer to the Seven-Tails. He formed hand seals.

Wood Release: Wood Man Technique!

The great tree beneath his feet rapidly grew into a towering Wood Man. The Wood Man was quite sociable, because a Wood Dragon was actually coiled around its shoulders!

The character "seat" appeared in Riu's palm as he aimed it at the struggling Seven-Tails from afar.

Kakuan Entering Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands!

Boom! A giant hand bearing the character "seat" extended from the Wood Man's palm and pressed down on the Seven-Tails' head...

The Seven-Tails' Chakra was completely suppressed, and it fell asleep.

Whoosh!

Riu's left eye took in the Seven-Tails' enormous body. He activated an enormous long-range Kamui and directly transferred it into the Space-Time Dimension, turning it into his possession.

Turning toward Waterfall Village, where the Waterfall ninja had already gone deathly pale, Riu muttered, "That should be enough. Time to end this..."

Crack! He bit his finger, used the blood to form the summoning seal, and slammed his palm onto the ground.

—Summoning Technique: Eight-Tails!!