Seeing that Hiruko had already made his move, it was naturally impossible for Kaoru and Yugata to remain indifferent.
Yugata completed his hand seals at high speed and slammed his palm into the ground.
The earth beneath Aoshi's Shadow Clone instantly cracked apart, the once-solid ground becoming as fragile as tofu. This technique directly disrupted balance, creating a brief but deadly opening for his teammates to strike.
Although his talent was inferior to that of Tsunade and the others, Hiruko was still a jōnin, and he would never miss such an opportunity.
Rushing straight toward Aoshi's Shadow Clone, he thrust the kunai in his hand forward at terrifying speed.
Clang!
The strike was blocked head-on by the Shadow Clone's ninja sword.
At the same moment, Kaoru launched her attack.
Lightning Release: Swift Thunder Arrow!
Several arrow-shaped bolts of white lightning shot forward.
Just as she believed the attack would land, a massive wall of water suddenly surged up from the ground. It not only swept Hiruko away but also completely blocked Kaoru's Swift Thunder Arrow.
This was Water Release: Water Formation Wall, executed by Aoshi's Shadow Clone using a single hand seal.
"He can use one-handed seals?!" Both Kaoru and Yugata were utterly stunned.
They had never seen anyone perform jutsu with one-handed seals before—this completely exceeded their understanding.
Before the two could recover from the shock, the Water Formation Wall suddenly transformed, condensing into a massive water dragon.
Its target was Hiruko, still suspended in midair.
"Damn it—don't look down on me!"
By the time Hiruko finished forming his two-handed seals, the water dragon had already opened its jaws and clamped down on his body.
But in the next instant, a puff of smoke burst out. The Hiruko caught in the dragon's mouth turned into a log.
Substitution Jutsu!
Seizing the opening, Hiruko appeared behind Aoshi's Shadow Clone, preparing to launch a sneak attack.
But before he could act—
A flash of white light shot straight toward him.
So fast!
The moment the thought surfaced, Hiruko's body reacted instinctively to the danger, twisting to evade.
Even so, Aoshi's blade still carved through his abdomen in a single strike.
A horrifying wound tore open, blood spraying freely as if it were worthless. Through the gash, blood-soaked bone and even still-functioning internal organs were visible.
With injuries this severe, even if Hiruko didn't die instantly, he wouldn't survive much longer.
"How… is this possible?!"
As he fell, he roared with the last of his strength, disbelief written across his face.
Hiruko had never imagined that not only was he weaker than Aoshi himself, but that he couldn't even defeat one of his shadow clones.
How could the gap be so vast?
This scene completely extinguished Yugata and Kaoru's fighting spirit. Without hesitation, they turned and fled.
Aoshi's strength was far beyond their comprehension. It was only a shadow clone—yet it had slaughtered a jōnin with ease.
As they exchanged glances, terror was clearly reflected in each other's eyes.
The calm confidence they had displayed earlier, when treating Nono like prey in a game of cat and mouse, was long gone.
Ignoring the fleeing pair, Aoshi's Shadow Clone crouched beside Hiruko and activated the power of the Human Path, reading through his memories.
Hiruko had little talent in combat. But in terms of research, he did possess some merit.
After extracting everything of value, Aoshi ended his life without hesitation.
Moreover, he intended to turn Hiruko's corpse into the second Pain—to be used specifically for researching special summoned beasts.
The Animal Path, one of the Six Paths of the Rinnegan, allows the summoning of creatures that possess the Rinnegan.
However, these creatures are not innate to the Rinnegan itself.
Aoshi must first capture wild beasts, transform them into summoned entities, and then establish contracts with them.
After storing Hiruko's corpse, the Shadow Clone finally set off in pursuit of the fleeing Kaoru and Yugata.
Since they were Hiruko's companions, letting them escape was not an option.
---
Meanwhile.
Aoshi's main body was already facing the Seven-Tails.
Mori Ryosuke, who had attempted to stop it, had been grievously injured by a single strike from the Tailed Beast.
Every subordinate he brought with him had already died at its hands. If Aoshi had not intervened, Mori Ryosuke himself would have perished as well.
This was a Tailed Beast. Before such an existence, even a jōnin seemed unbearably fragile.
The Seven-Tails charged toward Aoshi, the beating of its massive wings generating violent air currents.
Aoshi poured chakra into his feet, anchoring himself firmly to the ground to avoid being blown away.
As a beetle-type Tailed Beast, the Seven-Tails specialized in attacking with the enormous horn on its head.
Mori Ryosuke had been nearly killed by this very attack.
"Watch out!"
Aoshi didn't need the warning. He had no intention of clashing head-on.
With a Body Flicker, he vanished and instantly reappeared atop the Seven-Tails' body.
Chakra-Enhanced Strength!
Heavenly Foot of Pain!
The latter was an advanced extension of the former.
By compressing an enormous amount of chakra into his feet, Aoshi unleashed overwhelming, destructive power.
Boom! Even the Seven-Tails couldn't withstand the blow.
Under the terrifying impact, its massive body was driven straight into the ground.
Mori Ryosuke, who witnessed the scene with his own eyes, felt as though his eyeballs were about to burst from their sockets.
A ninja—using nothing but taijutsu—had slammed the Seven-Tails straight into the ground.
The sheer impact of the sight shattered his common sense. Was this really something a human ninja could accomplish?
Or was this man not human at all, but some kind of summoned beast wearing human skin?
Aoshi, however, was completely unaware of Ryosuke's shock. After knocking the Seven-Tails down with a single blow, he prepared to press the attack.
But at that very moment, the Seven-Tails suddenly spat out a massive cloud of powder-like scales from its mouth.
Hiding in Scale Powder Technique!
The powder not only obscured vision but also carried a powerful, paralyzing effect.
Caught off guard, Aoshi was hit head-on and immediately affected.
Seizing the opportunity, the Seven-Tails violently flapped its wings and shot back into the sky.
This time, it no longer dared to approach Aoshi.
The previous strike had clearly left a deep psychological scar. It was afraid—terrified that Aoshi would repeat that same devastating move.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Hovering high in the air, the Seven-Tails beat its wings furiously, launching countless razor-sharp wind blades.
Each blade carried terrifying cutting power, easily slicing through thick trees and carving deep gouges into the earth.
If Aoshi were struck, his body would be shredded instantly.
"Hurry—dodge!"
Mori Ryosuke, still paralyzed by the scale powder and unable to move, could only shout a warning.
But the wind blades were too many, covering an enormous area.
How could Aoshi, whose body was currently paralyzed, possibly evade them?
Just as the wind blades were about to tear into him, Aoshi finally completed his hand seals and opened his mouth.
A violent gale burst forth.
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!
The sweeping storm forcefully dispersed the remaining scale powder and scattered the incoming wind blades.
Not only that—the gale retained its momentum and surged straight toward the Seven-Tails in the sky.
However, the agile Tailed Beast narrowly avoided the attack.
The moment the paralysis faded, Aoshi stood up without hesitation, rapidly forming hand seals.
Lightning Release: False Darkness!
A massive spear of lightning shot forward at extreme speed.
This time, the Seven-Tails failed to dodge.
Bang!
The lightning strike, which would have been fatal to any ordinary ninja, left no visible wounds on the Seven-Tails.
Instead, it only succeeded in enraging the beast further. With a furious screech, the Seven-Tails flapped its wings even more violently.
This time, the number of wind blades multiplied severalfold, falling like a torrential rainstorm.
The attack instantly kicked up vast clouds of dust, as if a sandstorm had erupted.
When the dust finally settled, the ground was riddled with countless craters and deep ravines.
Yet Aoshi was nowhere to be seen.
Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work!
Wind Release: Pressure Damage!
Wind fed the flames, forming a powerful combination jutsu—
Strange Mask Exploding Flame!
At a different position, two Aoshis appeared simultaneously, executing the technique together.
In an instant, an enormous sea of fire engulfed the Seven-Tails in mid-air.
The power of the attack was terrifying. Even the Seven-Tails let out a pained, agonized roar.
Within the raging inferno, a massive black silhouette could be seen swaying unsteadily.
Yet the Seven-Tails endured through sheer force and eventually burst out of the flames. Its entire body was now covered in severe burn marks, its appearance utterly miserable.
"He… he actually managed to injure the Seven-Tails!" Seeing this, Mori Ryosuke sucked in a sharp breath.
In the past, whenever the Seven-Tails went berserk, Takigakure had to pay a tremendous price just to suppress and reseal it.
He never imagined that Hirakawa Aoshi alone could confront the Seven-Tails head-on—without even falling into a disadvantage.
And more than that, he had inflicted visible damage.
It was nothing short of monstrous.
This… was the Hero of Konoha.
"As expected of a Tailed Beast—to survive even that."
While Mori Ryosuke marveled at Aoshi's strength, Aoshi himself was marveling at the Seven-Tails' resilience.
That combination jutsu would have incinerated any ordinary ninja without leaving a trace.
"Oh no—that's a Tailed Beast Bomb!"
Driven into desperation, the Seven-Tails began gathering chakra, compressing it into a dense sphere of terrifying energy.
The signature technique of the Tailed Beasts.
A fully charged Tailed Beast Bomb could obliterate an entire mountain in a single strike.
Aoshi would never allow it to be launched. Without hesitation, he hurled a shadow clone into the air.
Mid-flight, the clone tightly gripped his ninja sword, infusing it with Wind Release chakra to maximize its cutting power.
Focused entirely on charging the Tailed Beast Bomb, the Seven-Tails failed to react.
In a single, decisive stroke, Aoshi's Shadow Clone sliced the forming Tailed Beast Bomb cleanly in half.
The slash didn't stop there. It continued onward—cutting straight through one of the Seven-Tails' massive wings.
Under Mori Ryosuke's stunned gaze, one of the beast's six wings was severed completely.
Boom!
The split Tailed Beast Bomb detonated moments later. Although the explosion wasn't massive, it was more than enough to destroy the shadow clone.
Roaring in agony, the Seven-Tails finally lost the will to continue. Using the last of its chakra to protect its Jinchūriki, it retreated back into Eriko's body.
Eriko reverted to her human form and collapsed unconscious onto the ground.
Meanwhile, the severed wing of the Seven-Tails remained embedded in the earth like a colossal blade.
"You… you actually cut off the Seven-Tails' wing…" Only then did Mori Ryosuke find his voice, his throat completely dry.
In such a short span of time, Aoshi had shattered his worldview again and again.
He was a jōnin of Takigakure—yet standing before Hirakawa Aoshi, he felt like a freshly graduated Genin.
However, at that very moment—
A sudden change occurred.
A group of ninjas appeared without warning, seizing the moment to launch a surprise attack on Aoshi!