Five Lightning Strikes from Above, One-Tail Shukaku!

When he saw Gaara being restrained, Sarutobi Hiruzen could no longer sit still. He shot to his feet in shock. "This is... Wood Release!"

Wood Release was the signature technique of the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju. With this miraculous art, he had pinned numerous Tailed Beasts to the ground and beaten them into submission.

Over the years, Konoha had tried every possible method to bring Wood Release back into existence, yet none had succeeded. At most, they had only produced a half-finished imitation.

Never had he expected to witness this technique again today.

Although the power of the Wood Release wielded by the other party was far inferior to Hashirama Senju's, the feeling was exactly the same. He could be certain that this was genuine Wood Release!

If not for the sheer number of people gathered here, he would have already rushed into the arena himself. But no matter how anxious he was, he had to wait until this match was over.

At that thought, Sarutobi took a deep breath, suppressed the turmoil in his heart, and continued watching patiently.

At that moment, the restrained Gaara began struggling violently. His immense strength loosened the vines around his body, though he still could not break free in the short term.

Then Chen Feng's eyes flashed. He gathered the energy within his body and called out softly, "Shock Trigram, Heavenly Lightning Strike!"

As his words fell, a thundercloud formed in the sky above. Dazzling lightning flickered within the dense clouds as powerful energy continued to gather.

Sensing the aura of lightning spreading above his head, even Gaara, who had lost his reason, felt intense fear rise from the depths of his heart.

His struggles immediately became even more violent. As his Tailed Beast Transformation deepened, more than half his body had already changed, and his chakra became increasingly violent.

At that moment, accompanied by Chen Feng's low shout, brilliant lightning suddenly burst from the sky. The blinding radiance condensed into a silver pillar of lightning as thick as a water barrel and crashed down!

The lightning tore through the air and mercilessly struck his body. Amid the rumbling thunder, Gaara could not help crying out in pain.

The spectators all felt their scalps tingle at the sight. Being struck by five bolts of lightning from above had to be an unforgettable experience.

They could not help exclaiming, "What an incredible Lightning Release Ninjutsu!"

At the same time, they were utterly astonished and deeply curious just how many more tricks Chen Feng had hidden.

From taijutsu at the start, to genjutsu afterward, and now Wind Release, Earth Release, and Lightning Release—this guy was practically an all-rounder!

Just then, Gaara's roar grew even fiercer, mixed with an extremely piercing beastly howl.

"It hurts like hell!"

Immediately afterward, a violent howl swept across the entire arena as a terrifying aura that did not belong to a human suddenly erupted.

Temari's heart jolted at the sight. "Not good, that thing is about to come out!"

Almost at the same time, powerful energy waves burst forth and swept in all directions, directly scattering the thunderclouds overhead.

The incredibly tough vines shattered apart as well.

As yellow light burst forth, an enormous and terrifying figure appeared before everyone's eyes!

It was a gigantic beast dozens of meters tall, resembling a massive tanuki yet also a giant raccoon dog. Its bloated body was entirely yellow, covered in strange dark Cursed Mark patterns.

A brutal, frenzied aura continuously poured from it, making it a horrifying sight.

It was one of the nine Tailed Beasts—the One-Tail Shukaku!

Everyone's expressions changed drastically. None of them had expected the Tailed Beast to break free from its seal. Such a creature was a symbol of disaster in the Shinobi World!

Sarutobi Hiruzen was equally shocked, and his heart grew heavy. At this point, the match could not continue.

Otherwise, if the Tailed Beast went on a rampage, it could inflict tremendous damage upon Konoha.

They had to gather every available force and subdue Shukaku as quickly as possible.

With that thought, he immediately rose to issue orders. Yet at that very moment, thick white smoke suddenly spread without warning, obscuring everyone's vision.

Right afterward, he felt an icy chill against his neck. A sharp kunai had already been pressed against his vital point.

The person behind it all was the Kazekage, who had been standing beside him the entire time.

Sarutobi's heart jolted. He glanced at the other man and asked, "Lord Kazekage, what are you doing?"

Hearing this, the man wearing the Kazekage Divine Robe smiled. "Teacher Sarutobi, don't you recognize me?"

His voice was dark and cold, sending chills down one's spine.

Sarutobi's expression changed slightly. "You are... Orochimaru!"

As soon as the words fell, the man behind him removed the veil from his face, then tore away his disguise, revealing a pale face.

It was Orochimaru.

He had once been the direct disciple of the Third Hokage, one of the famed Three Legendary Ninja. However, after secretly capturing living villagers for human experiments, he had been wanted by Konoha and became a rogue ninja.

For all these years, there had been no news of him. Yet he had appeared today—and even disguised himself as the Kazekage.

Sarutobi Hiruzen quickly calmed himself and asked, "What exactly do you want?"

"What I want to do, Teacher Sarutobi, you will know soon enough. But for now, please come somewhere else with me."

As he spoke, Orochimaru leaped with Sarutobi onto a more spacious rooftop.

The many Konoha ninja were horrified by the sight. None had expected their Hokage to be taken hostage, and they immediately prepared to act.

But since Orochimaru dared to do this, he naturally had a thorough plan. Just as the crowd reacted, the hidden ninja launched a large-scale genjutsu.

Most of the Chunin and Genin present were hypnotized.

At the same time, after receiving the signal, the forces outside Konoha also began their operation. They summoned an enormous snake-like summoned beast, forcibly breached Konoha's defenses, and launched a large-scale invasion.

Seeing Orochimaru make his move, the four subordinates who had infiltrated alongside him disguised as Sand Ninja also removed their disguises. They leaped onto the rooftop and took positions at the four corners.

Their hands rapidly formed seals. "Ninja Art, Four Violet Flames Formation!"

A translucent purple rectangular barrier immediately appeared, enclosing the surrounding area.

The Anbu who rushed over tried to force their way through the barrier to rescue him, but the instant they touched its walls, they were burned by clusters of purple flames and suffered severe injuries.

For a time, the entire village descended into chaos...

Meanwhile, Chen Feng had to face the enraged Tailed Beast. Looking at the berserk Shukaku, he naturally did not dare confront it head-on. All he wanted was to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Just then, the system's voice rang out in his mind once more: Hidden mission "King of Beasts" completed. Reward: one Magical Beast Summoning Card!