Boom!
The Raikage, A, plummeted from the sky and smashed into the ground, gouging out a massive crater as a plume of dust billowed outward.
C and Darui both flinched in shock.
No one had expected Senju Haruto to unleash such a devastating Lightning Release. The two darted past Sarutobi Hiruzen—one to the left, one to the right—racing to A's side.
"Lord Raikage!"
C knelt beside him, face tense as he checked A's condition. His chakra was still present—he was alive.
But…
A's eyes were shut tight.
Taking the full brunt of Haruto's Lightning Release head-on, the Fourth Raikage hadn't even had time to grunt before collapsing unconscious.
Seeing Haruto's overwhelming power firsthand, C immediately understood—he and Darui had no hope of stopping this man.
"Darui, take the Raikage and get out of here. I'll hold him off."
Taking advantage of the lingering smoke, C quickly laid out his plan.
It wasn't much of a plan—just him staying behind to buy time while Darui carried the Fourth Raikage away, hoping the Raikage would regain consciousness before Haruto could catch up.
"…Sorry."
Darui looked down at the unconscious Raikage. For the first time, he truly felt the weight of his own weakness. If he were stronger, maybe he could help.
But before they could act on the plan, a sudden surge of chakra erupted behind them—vaster, more oppressive than before.
"This is…"
C's eyes went wide, pushing his sensory abilities to the limit. The chakra signature was familiar.
Nii Yugito.
One of the Hidden Cloud's perfect jinchūriki.
Even though Haruto's Wood Release had been restraining her moments ago, the sight of the unconscious Fourth Raikage sent Yugito's emotions boiling over.
"Aaaahhh!"
A feral roar tore through the battlefield as Yugito ripped free of the Wood Release's bindings, fully transforming into her tailed beast form.
"Get Lord A out of here!"
Even in full transformation, Yugito retained her consciousness—one of the hallmarks of a perfect jinchūriki.
"Matatabi, huh…"
Haruto's eyes narrowed. The shockwave of Yugito's transformation blew the dust away in an instant. Azure flame-patterns danced across her massive body, now resembling an enormous spectral cat demon.
C and Darui exchanged a look. They knew Yugito loved her village and was normally gentle and kind. But in this situation, someone had to stay behind to make sure Haruto didn't pursue them.
If anything happened to Lord A, the blow to the Hidden Cloud would be catastrophic.
"Mm."
Darui hoisted the Raikage onto his back while C kept his sensory abilities at full alert, both retreating without a glance behind.
Even Mifune hadn't expected things to escalate so quickly.
"Sarutobi…"
Mifune swallowed hard. In this situation, he wouldn't order his samurai to intervene—throwing them into a clash between Haruto and a jinchūriki would be sending them to their deaths.
All he could do was hope the Third Hokage could put a stop to it.
But before Hiruzen could speak, Yugito—now fully Matatabi—leapt high, claws extended, slashing down toward Haruto.
"No helping it."
Haruto sighed, setting aside his interest in fighting the Raikage. The lightning surging over his body dissipated, his gauntlets shifting back into the form of a Zanpakutō, which returned to rest at his waist.
He didn't feel the slightest disadvantage in the current situation.
Clap!
As Matatabi's massive paw came crashing down, Haruto slammed his hands together, forming the Snake seal.
"Wood Release: Wooden Golem Jutsu!"
Rumble!
The great trees beneath Haruto's feet twisted and surged upward, shaping themselves into a colossal humanoid form.
With his overwhelming chakra reserves, Haruto's wooden construct soon towered over even Matatabi.
"…What in the world…"
Mifune and every samurai behind him could only gasp. Even knowing Haruto bore the Senju name and wielded the Wood Release of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, seeing the colossal wooden giant in person was staggering.
Hiruzen's mind went blank.
"This… this is…"
"…The Wooden Golem Jutsu of Lord Hashirama…"
For someone of his experience, it was a jutsu of legend. He had once told Yamato about it, curious to see if the ANBU could replicate it. The result had been obvious—Yamato simply didn't have the chakra to even attempt it.
"Wooden Golem Jutsu…" Hiruzen's voice was hushed as he recalled a recent report from Kakashi—Haruto had used this very technique in a confrontation with Uchiha Itachi.
But seeing it with his own eyes was an entirely different kind of shock.
"A shinobi who has truly inherited Lord Hashirama's power…"
Not everyone was frozen in awe, though.
Even Yugito felt a jolt of surprise, but she knew this was no time to hesitate. Fully merged with Matatabi, she opened her massive jaws, gathering chakra.
The move every tailed beast could use—
The Tailed Beast Bomb.
"Die, brat!"
Her voice blended perfectly with Matatabi's, her resolve absolute. Haruto was a threat to the Hidden Cloud unlike any they had faced before—he had to die here, no matter the cost.
"An impressive power."
Haruto stood atop the wooden golem's shoulder, looking down at the Two-Tails.
C and Darui had already taken the Raikage to safety.
The rest, Yugito didn't care about. If the Tailed Beast Bomb's shockwave took out the Third Hokage too, so much the better.
But…
The strength of a tailed beast was tied to the number of tails. And even without Sage Mode, Haruto had no fear that his wooden golem would fall.
"It's over, Yugito."
Bang!
The wooden golem's massive hand shot out, snatching the Tailed Beast Bomb mid-formation and shoving it back into Matatabi's jaws.
The other hand followed, gripping Matatabi's throat. With a single bound, the golem slammed the giant cat to the ground, pinning her in place.
Then Haruto simply let the sealing properties of Wood Release do their work, forcing her full transformation to unravel.
"…So I've bagged myself a Two-Tails, huh?"