Tap.
The Wood Human's arm, wrapped in a Wood Dragon, rested on Shukaku's shoulder. The Wood Dragon stirred and slithered up beside Shukaku's head.
The ferocious Wood Dragon stared Shukaku in the eye.
"Um, hello there, kahaha..." Shukaku greeted the dragon's head with a slightly dopey expression.
The next second, the Wood Dragon lunged straight for Shukaku's head and bit down.
Chomp!
With Shukaku's head caught in its jaws, Naruto controlled the Wood Human, grabbing Shukaku's little paws and dragging him toward the nearby Small Forest with overwhelming strength.
"Mm-hmm, good. Excellent." Hashirama nodded in satisfaction. Although Naruto had placed the Wood Dragon differently from his own, seeing his student accomplish this much already gratified him as a teacher.
Kurama's tails wagged wildly, and he could no longer suppress his grin. Watching Shukaku get dragged along by the Wood Human was an absolute delight.
"Oh, please. Naruto put the Wood Dragon on its arm to make dragging Shukaku easier. You put yours below its body..."
Kurama gave Hashirama a strange look. In a certain sense, the placement of Hashirama's Wood Dragon was rather suggestive, neither high nor low.
Any lower, and it really would have become that thing.
Hashirama's expression darkened. He punched Kurama straight on the head and said indignantly,
"What do you mean, below its body? Wrapping the Wood Dragon around its body makes it easier to handle attacks from every direction. That was the ideal placement I worked out from the lessons I learned fighting Madara over and over."
Kurama clutched his battered head, glanced at Hashirama, who had lashed out in embarrassment, and chuckled softly before turning back to the live broadcast of Shukaku's misery.
The earth trembled, as though a massive plow were constantly moving across it, reclaiming the land.
In reality, however, a giant