The One - Tailed Shukaku stood on the ruins. All that met the eye were broken walls and rubble, presenting a scene of boundless devastation as far as the eye could see.
"Gagagagagagaga—" Only the strange laughter of the One - Tailed Shukaku echoed through the heavens and the earth.
In the pile of rocks, a broken wall was pushed aside. Naruto was protecting Hinata, hiding beside the broken wall.
Naruto first observed the situation. Shukaku was still lively and jumping around, while the whereabouts of Tanzo Shimura were unknown.
"Huh?" Naruto felt Hinata trembling all over. He quickly and gently stroked Hinata's head and comforted her, "Don't be afraid. I'm here."
No matter when, Naruto's words always brought courage to Hinata.
"Help me see if Tanzo is still here."
"Byakugan." Hinata activated her Byakugan. Since the Byakugan had excellent detection ability, she soon found where Tanzo Shimura was.
"He's behind that monster!"
Tanzo Shimura appeared behind Shukaku. He had used Izanagi three times. Then he made hand seals and said, "Ninjutsu! Summoning Jutsu!"
As a large amount of white smoke billowed out, an elephant with a long nose and short tusks rushed out of the white smoke. The elephant's head was wrapped in bandages and looked a bit like Tanzo.
This was Tanzo Shimura's Summoned beast - the Baku!
The Baku opened its elephantine mouth towards Shukaku's back and started to inhale. Immediately, the sand on Shukaku's body was sucked away.
As the Baku sucked away the sand on Shukaku's body, Shukaku's body continued to shrink.
At the same time, Tanzo Shimura was not idle either. He took out a Kunai, blew on it, and injected wind - attribute Chakra into it, transforming the Kunai into a Wind Blade Sword named the Vacuum Blade.
Tanzo held the Vacuum Blade and quickly stepped onto Shukaku's body, running at an extremely fast speed towards Shukaku's head where Gaara was. He planned to cut off Gaara's head with one sword.
At this time, Shukaku already knew that Tanzo was not dead. It opened its mouth and roared, and suddenly a strong wind blew and sand and dust rose.
Next, Naruto saw a very shocking scene. He saw that Shukaku, relying on its two short legs, actually bounced its bulky body up.
"So Shukaku can jump." Naruto looked incredulous.
Although Shukaku could jump, it couldn't jump as high as Gamabunta. It could jump at most about ten meters and then smashed down with its back on the ground.
This back - smash of Shukaku sent Tanzo's Summoned beast, the Baku, back to its home realm and also forced Tanzo to use Izanagi for the fourth time.
Tanzo knew that things were going badly. He was best at Wind Release, but his Wind Release was like showing off one's slight skill before an expert in front of Shukaku.
It could be said that the One - Tailed Shukaku completely restrained Tanzo Shimura.
If it weren't for the dreamy Dojutsu Izanagi, Tanzo couldn't have engaged in multiple rounds of confrontation with Shukaku.
After activating Izanagi for the fourth time, Tanzo Shimura walked out from a corner. He already had the intention to retreat. If things went on like this, he not only couldn't defeat Shukaku but might even use up his ten uses of Izanagi.
Tanzo Shimura looked calm on the surface, but in his heart he was thinking: Where are the reinforcements? Why haven't they come yet...
"Lord Tanzo, I'm late for the reinforcement." A member of the Root organization fell from the sky and landed beside Tanzo.
At the critical moment, seeing that the rescue had finally arrived, even though there was only one person, Tanzo's hope was rekindled.
A member of the Root organization said, "Lord Tanzo! Let me carry you away. That monster is tough to handle."
"Okay," Tanzo knew that with the current number of people, they simply couldn't defeat Shukaku. Retreating first was the most important thing.
The Root organization member said, "Lord Tanzo! You've exhausted too much Chakra. How about releasing the jutsu and letting me carry you away?"
"Okay." Tanzo formed a Hand Seal and said, "Release!"
At this time, Naruto, who was hiding behind the ruins, quickly asked, "Hinata, what do you see?"
Hinata focused on Tanzo Shimura through her Byakugan and exclaimed in shock, "Tanzo didn't release the jutsu. His Chakra is still linked to his right arm."
"We've been fooled! That sneaky Tanzo!" Naruto was shocked.
On the other side, as Tanzo Shimura shouted the word "Release," that member of the Root organization suddenly transformed into a Cleaver Sword and vertically chopped down at Tanzo Shimura's right arm.
"Success!" The member of the Root organization was enveloped in white smoke and returned to his original form, Zabuza Momochi. He wielded the Cleaver Sword and chopped off Tanzo's right arm with one strike.
The Cleaver Sword fell, and Tanzo's right arm landed on the ground at the same time.
Tanzo Shimura remained calm, as if he had expected it. He said indifferently, "I knew you weren't from the Root. All the members of the Root were trained by me. Every time they see me, they secretly salute me."
"And you didn't secretly salute me. I knew from the start that you weren't from the Root, so I didn't release the jutsu!"
This time, it was Zabuza Momochi's turn to be dumbfounded. It seemed he'd underestimated Tanzo Shimura. He was no pushover.
After Tanzo's severed right arm hit the ground, it inexplicably turned transparent and soon disappeared.
At the same time, Tanzo Shimura himself also disappeared. Since his arm had been chopped off, Tanzo Shimura had to activate the fifth Izanagi.
At this moment, a smile appeared on Naruto's face. The real battle for victory had just begun.
Naruto reminded, "Hinata! It all depends on you!"
"Naruto-kun, I'll do my best!" Hinata shouted, "Byakugan!"
Hinata opened her Byakugan wide, using a large amount of Chakra to push the ability of the Byakugan to its limit.
Hinata used her Byakugan to observe the surroundings, looking for Tanzo Shimura's whereabouts.
Every time Tanzo Shimura used Izanagi, he would disappear and then reappear in another place.
"Found him!" Hinata said, "Seventy-six meters to the southeast."
Hearing this, Naruto immediately threw a Kunai towards the direction seventy-six meters to the southeast.
As the Kunai hit the ground, Tanzo Shimura's figure gradually emerged, and his body changed from transparent to solid.
Tanzo Shimura was shocked. He looked at the Kunai that had landed beside him and thought to himself: Who threw the Kunai? How did he know I would reappear here...
"What!" Tanzo Shimura suddenly found that there was a young man standing in front of him.
This young man was Haku. Haku was holding a hilt without a blade. As he poured Chakra into the hilt, a blade made of Chakra emerged from it.
Thanks to Haku's Ice Release Kekkei Genkai ability, a frosty ice blade grew out of the sword hilt.
This is the Yata no Magatama Sword that Naruto gave to Haku. In fact, this sword only has a hilt and no blade. Or rather, only when a Ninja infuses Chakra into the hilt will a different blade form according to the attribute of the Chakra.
The Yata no Magatama Sword was originally in the collection of the Fire Daimyo. When a famous weapon lands in the hands of an ordinary person, it can only become a collectible.
To make this collectible look more appealing, the Fire Daimyo also ordered craftsmen to forge a platinum blade and install it on the Yata no Magatama Sword. So when the sword landed in Naruto's hands, it had both the hilt and the blade. In fact, the hilt and the blade didn't match.
Haku infused a large amount of Chakra into the Yata no Magatama Sword. As more Chakra was infused, the frosty ice blade kept growing, reaching up to eight feet (a full 2.6 meters) in length.
When Tanzo Shimura's body was still semi - transparent, the ice blade of the Yata no Magatama Sword sliced off his right arm.
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