"Jiejiejiejie… Damn humans, damn shinobi—this great lord has finally emerged again!"
Shukaku's wild, savage eyes locked onto the two Sunagakure shinobi beside him.
Through Bunpuku's vision inside the seal, Shukaku had clearly seen how these two had been pushing the monk to release the seal—desperately, as if their lives depended on it.
Had it not been for them, old man Bunpuku might have lived longer.
Fueled by hatred toward shinobi and grief over Bunpuku's impending death, Shukaku didn't hesitate. He raised a massive paw and smashed it down on the two.
These two had been sent to oversee Bunpuku's final Tailed Beast transformation—and from the start, they were disposable. Their strength was average at best. Facing Shukaku's fury, there was no chance of escape.
Unsurprisingly, they were crushed in an instant by the enraged One-Tail.
Afterwards, Shukaku turned toward the location where Sand shinobi had previously set up an ambush. But by now, they had long since retreated, leaving no trace behind.
Though the Sunagakure shinobi had fled, the killing intent boiling inside Shukaku did not fade.
They were gone—but weren't there Konoha shinobi nearby?
Shukaku knew full well that attacking Konoha now would ultimately benefit Sunagakure, but—so what? Lord Shukaku didn't care. He was livid and wanted nothing more than to let loose. After tearing through the Konoha shinobi, he would head back to exact vengeance on the ones from Suna.
It wasn't blind arrogance that made Shukaku confident, but rather the terrain.
Though they were at Mount Kikyo—a location near the border between the Land of Wind and Land of Fire—centuries of drifting sand had begun assimilating the area into desert. It was nearly Shukaku's home turf.
With a single thought, he could transform the battlefield to his advantage.
But just as Shukaku shifted his gaze toward the Konoha ninja, a blur of movement zipped across his vision.
Startled, Shukaku's eyes widened. The figure's speed was far greater than expected.
Kawaki Aoba had arrived.
What surprised Shukaku even more were the words that came next.
"You're the One-Tailed Shukaku, huh? That transformation of yours is pretty slow. What's wrong? Afraid your Jinchūriki couldn't handle it if you went full form too fast and died from chakra rejection?"
Shukaku's emotions flared. That was what he had been feeling—but hearing it said aloud like that made it sound like mockery.
And Shukaku hated being mocked by shinobi.
Years of interacting with humans had taught him to expect little else. To most civilians, Tailed Beasts were disasters incarnate. To shinobi, they were just weapons—volatile tools that often killed their wielders.
They were feared, resented, and never truly respected.
Just like now. Kawaki Aoba had originally intended to talk. In his mind, brute force wasn't the only solution. Maybe, just maybe, he could resolve this without a fight.
If he got lucky, maybe even trick Shukaku into acting against Suna—killing two birds with one stone.
But unlike Kurama, the Nine-Tails who could eventually perceive good and evil, Shukaku lacked such nuance. He couldn't grasp Aoba's intentions.
"Damn Konoha brat," Shukaku growled. "You've got no business meddling in this great lord's affairs! If it weren't for your stupid war, Bunpuku wouldn't have died so easily!
If the monk's going to die, then you lot can die with him! Let's start with you!"
With a roar, Shukaku swung his massive claws at Aoba, intent on crushing him like the Suna shinobi before.
"Sigh..." Aoba looked up at the incoming blow and let out a resigned breath.
As expected, he didn't have the kind of luck Naruto Uzumaki had—talking his enemies into submission with Talk no Jutsu alone.
No. Kawaki Aoba was the type to convince others with force.
Especially when facing a Tailed Beast.
"Fang-Piercing Finger."
He brought his right index and middle fingers together, bending them slightly. In the next instant, they struck Shukaku's claw head-on.
This was a killing technique from the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist—a martial art that concentrated all the body's force into two fingers.
It resembled the Lightning Release technique Hell Stab used by the Fourth Raikage—but while Aoba's move lacked its raw ferocity, it was precise and devastating enough.
His fingertips met Shukaku's incoming claws.
With a sharp explosion of force, the beast's chakra shield was blown away.
Despite Shukaku's notoriously tough sand-reinforced body, the fingers pierced through like it was wet paper. The skin tore. Blood sprayed.
"Looks like your luck ran out," Aoba quipped. "Stepped on the wrong shinobi today, didn't you?"
Shukaku let out a piercing roar. The injury wasn't life-threatening—he'd heal quickly. But the pain? That was real.
"That's a Tailed Beast, right? Lord Aoba actually injured a Tailed Beast!" a Konoha ninja exclaimed, his voice filled with awe.
But another quickly scoffed, "What's so special about that? It's just the One-Tail. Don't forget—Lord Aoba once captured the Four-Tails and Five-Tails of Iwagakure alone on the Grass Country battlefield."
Another voice chimed in, eyes wide, "Also... wasn't that the Sand hero, Pakura, who got blown away by Lord Aoba just now?"
The Leaf shinobi were visibly stirred by Kawaki Aoba's overwhelming power, excitement rippling through their ranks.
Still, they didn't forget their orders.
As a Jonin, Qingke had been temporarily appointed by Kawaki Aoba as his deputy.
Recalling Aoba's pre-battle instructions, Qingke immediately barked orders to the nearby squad:
"Forget the battlefield over there. Lord Aoba can handle it. Our mission is to neutralize the ambushing Sand ninja—most of them are already poisoned. Now's our best shot."
Under Qingke's command, more than a thousand Konoha ninjas bypassed the battle between Shukaku and Aoba, pursuing the retreating Sand forces.
But then—a deafening roar split the sky.
Shukaku, the One-Tail, had fully transformed into its original Tailed Beast form. Its chakra surged as it regained its full strength.
"You damned ninja! And you—damned brat! I'll crush you all!"
Now that his vessel, Bunpuku, was no longer in danger, Shukaku could finally unleash his full fury.
He raised the claw that Kawaki Aoba had pierced earlier. But now, in full beast form, the wound was insignificant—a mere scratch on his bulky, tanuki-like form.
"You hurt me before. Feeling proud? What about now?" Shukaku snarled, baring jagged teeth. He swung his massive claw—larger than Konoha's village gates—toward Aoba.
But Aoba simply smiled and vanished in a flash.
He wasn't retreating out of fear, nor because he couldn't replicate his earlier feat of piercing Shukaku's limb. It was just impractical—Shukaku's full form was too massive. If Aoba used the same method again, he'd just end up a muddy mess.
From Shukaku's point of view, however, Aoba's dodge looked like cowardice.
"What's wrong, brat? Didn't you act tough before? Running away now?" the Tailed Beast mocked.
Aoba's answer was swift—and dazzling.
"Hadō No. 63: Raikōhō (Thunder Roar Cannon)!"
Golden lightning burst from his palm, rumbling thunder echoing in its wake. The blinding flash engulfed Shukaku's field of vision. Then—pain.
"Awoooo~!"
The scream that followed was… odd. Something between a roar and a dog's howl.
Even Aoba flinched.
"What the hell, Shukaku… you been hiding a husky in there?"
Realizing how ridiculous he'd sounded, Shukaku quickly clamped his jaws shut, embarrassed. But the damage was done.
Furious and humiliated, Shukaku glared at Aoba. That damned brat! If not for him, that scream would never have escaped.
Still, as much as he wanted to crush Aoba, Shukaku knew he couldn't match the speed the shinobi had just shown.
Fine. If he couldn't hit him, he'd go after his comrades.
Shukaku's round belly shifted as he turned toward the Konoha troops.
Aoba, still marveling at the beast's toughness, immediately noticed the change. He could tell by the arched posture—Shukaku was charging an attack toward his allies.
Whatever the reason—whether to bait him, or just out of rage—it worked.
Aoba's figure blurred, and he instantly reappeared between Shukaku and the Konoha forces.
Shukaku grinned maliciously.
"You came back, huh? Then die! Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet—Renkuudan!"
Among all nine tailed beasts, Shukaku had the least chakra. He couldn't fire Tailed Beast Bombs like the Nine-Tails could, one after another.
So, he compensated—with ingenuity. Unlike his kin, Shukaku had developed his own jutsu. Fūton: Renkuudan was modeled after a Tailed Beast Bomb, only faster to charge and ideal for wiping out shinobi.
A sphere of compressed wind chakra surged from Shukaku's maw and launched toward Aoba at blistering speed.
Aoba could have dodged. But the Konoha forces behind him couldn't. He had no choice.
"Secret Technique: Hundred-Armed Kannon!" he roared, forming a hand seal.
Behind him, a radiant golden statue of Kannon—hundred-armed and towering like a tailed beast—rose.
Even without summoning his full strength or revealing his deepest powers, Aoba had to go big.
The Kannon's palm met the wind bomb head-on.
Visit patreon.com/Akeyno to get 30+ chapters