An explosion, a tremor, and a violent gust of wind tore through the heart of the desert.
"Incredible! Kazuyama, how did you block that?"
"Your Tailed Beast Ball was nowhere near as big as Shukaku's, yet it still held up against his."
Chōmei's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed.
The moment the two Tailed Beast Balls collided, Kazuyama's had actually managed to counter Shukaku's, sending both of them soaring into the sky before detonating midair.
"Chōmei, you need to understand—brute force alone isn't everything. My Tailed Beast Ball might be smaller, but it's just as dense as Shukaku's."
"As for size? That's not an issue. I aimed mine directly at the lower base of his Tailed Beast Ball. With the right angle and force, of course, it would be knocked upward."
"This is what you call winning with skill!"
Chōmei was stunned. He never thought such a thing was possible.
But while the Tailed Beast Ball hadn't taken Kazuyama down, Shukaku didn't care. Enraged, he let out a furious roar and commanded the surrounding sand to lunge toward Kazuyama like giant hands.
This time, the sand moved with even greater speed and precision, forming massive grasping arms—an overwhelming, suffocating force.
For a moment, Kazuyama felt like he wasn't in a desert anymore but trapped in some nightmarish hellscape.
After all, only in hell would there be this many hands reaching for him.
But he wasn't the least bit concerned. Against anyone else, this might have been a real threat.
But he was Kazuyama—the Jinchūriki of the Seven-Tails!
And the greatest advantage of the Seven-Tails?
Flight.
Kazuyama shot straight up into the sky, rising high above Shukaku's reach.
No matter how many waves of sand Shukaku sent upward, none of them could so much as graze him.
"Roar!"
"You little insect! Stop running and fight me!"
Shukaku's rage-fueled shouting rang out, grating on Kazuyama's ears.
Unable to hold back, Kazuyama shot back with a smirk.
"I'm the Jinchūriki of Chōmei—the Seven-Tails, who is an insect!"
"You dumbass tanuki!"
When it came to verbal sparring, Kazuyama feared no one—especially not Shukaku.
Even though Shukaku was known for his sharp tongue among the Tailed Beasts, compared to Kazuyama, he was just a rookie.
"Hmph! If you've got guts, come down here!"
"If you've got guts, come up here!"
"You come down!"
"You come up!"
The two of them bickered back and forth, one in the sky, the other on the ground, as if they were schoolkids arguing in a playground.
"Hahaha! Stupid tanuki, can't fly, can you?"
"Pathetic!"
Having had his fill of taunting, Kazuyama decided to get serious.
With a grin, he summoned two Tailed Beast Balls at the same time, one in each hand, and charged downward with terrifying momentum.
Shukaku froze in shock.
What... was he seeing?
Since when could you hold Tailed Beast Balls in your hands like that?!
Wouldn't they explode on impact?
Was this some new battle tactic Chōmei had come up with? Since when had that bug become so damn impressive?!
Before Shukaku could react, the two Tailed Beast Balls were already inches from his face.
A direct hit.
"Boom!"
The explosion from the collision of the two Tailed Beast Balls completely engulfed Shukaku.
Kazuyama, relying on his speed, quickly retreated. There was no way he was going to get caught up in his own attack.
A Tailed Beast Ball at full force was dangerous—even for a Tailed Beast.
"Chōmei, you think those two blasts were enough to make Shukaku behave?"
"Best-case scenario, he passes out."
Kazuyama was running low on options. Firing two Tailed Beast Balls back-to-back had pushed him to his limit. If this didn't take Shukaku down, then the battle was going to drag on.
And with Partial Tailed Beast Transformation, many of his ninjutsu were unusable.
Even if they were, they wouldn't be very effective against Shukaku, whose entire body was made of sand.
"I wouldn't count on it. Shukaku may be the One-Tail, but he wasn't lying."
"Among the nine of us, he has the strongest defense. Plus, he knows ninjutsu and Fūinjutsu. In terms of combat power, he ranks just behind Gyūki and Kurama."
Kazuyama knew this. But still, he had hoped.
That hope was shattered in an instant.
Even though the explosion had blown away half of Shukaku's face, he was still standing. Worse—he was even angrier.
"Bastard! Bastard!"
"Why is it always my face?! My handsome, dashing face!"
Shukaku stomped forward, charging straight at Kazuyama. As he moved, the surrounding sand gathered toward him, swirling and forming into deadly shapes.
Moments later, massive sand spears shot up from the ground.
"Yeah, I'm done. Chōmei, your turn."
"I'll tag in once you're tired."
Kazuyama let his crimson skin fade, a hint of exhaustion in his expression.
But before anyone could react, his body began to morph—wings and antennae forming first, followed by his entire body.
Seven-Tails Chōmei, the great skyborne insect, had returned!
"Tanuki! This time, I'm your opponent!"
"Been a while, huh? Let me show you how much your Uncle Chōmei has grown!"
The moment Chōmei appeared, clouds of shimmering Scale Powder filled the air, blending into the swirling sand.
Every particle of that powder carried Chōmei's chakra, and under his control, it stopped the sand's advance.
"You damn bug! Using Scale Powder to block my sand?! You out of your mind?!"
"Hmph! You stupid raccoon, what do you know?! I'm not the same Chōmei you bullied back in the day! Ignite!"
With a surge of chakra, Chōmei triggered an explosion.
"Boom!"
The entire sky ignited. Flames spread across the sand, consuming everything in their path.
Shukaku, who had just opened his mouth to shout, was instantly swallowed by fire.
"Hmph, I've evolved. Back then, I let you guys push me around. But after training with Kazuyama, I'm not holding back anymore!"
"When your enemy is down—finish them off! Wind Rise!"
Who said Chōmei couldn't use ninjutsu? Even if he couldn't, he had wings!
With a powerful flap of all six wings, he sent a violent gust surging through the flames, making them burn even fiercer.
This combination technique? Chōmei was getting really good at it.
Locking onto Shukaku's struggling figure, Chōmei smirked.
"How about another one? Chōmei's Great Horn—One Thousand Years of Death!"
With a sudden burst of speed, Chōmei shot forward, appearing behind Shukaku in an instant.
His glowing, razor-sharp horns aimed directly at Shukaku's backside.
"Hey! You damn bug! That's a cheap move!"
"Kyahahaha! Of course I am! Like Kazuyama always says—who the hell fights fair these days? Only idiots!"
...
(100 Chapters Ahead)
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