Shukaku's sand tsunami finally faded.
The desert looked like someone dropped a meteor the size of a daimyo's ego on it.
Sand Shinobi swallowed hard.
If Liedou hadn't shielded them with that giant puppet, they'd be fertilizer.
I exhaled through my nose.
"Desert-boosted One Tail. Great. Just what my day needed."
Shukaku was still shrieking at the sky—part rage, part embarrassment that we survived.
Liedou took one step forward, jaw tight.
"His strength in the desert exceeds expectations," he muttered.
But the way his eyes kept sliding toward me said what he was really thinking:
'Konoha's Hokage is here to steal my tailed beast.'
He wasn't wrong.
But first—the tanuki needed a beating.
Shukaku spotted both our groups unharmed and instantly lost its mind.
"YOU LITTLE ANTS!!!"
A sphere of compressed air and sand fired toward us like a cannonball.
Both sides countered with ninjutsu, explosions shaking the dunes.
Liedou turned his head.
"Master Hokage. May we talk?"
"Oh? Negotiations? Deep in the desert? Under a screaming tanuki? Perfect time."
I tilted my head, genuinely curious. "Go on."
"One Tail is native to the Land of Wind. As leader of Sand Shinobi Village, I need his power to unify my country. If you agree to withdraw… I will teach you my clan's puppet arts."
I blinked.
He was serious.
The man was offering up puppetry—the cornerstone of Wind Country's military doctrine—as a bargaining chip.
A whole future generation of Sasori-types, Kankurō-types, chakra-thread death machines…
on our side.
Even my reincarnator brain had to admit: tempting.
My thoughts spun fast.
The tail beast balancing plan…
Future wars…
Wind Country's fragile production economy…
How every World War in canon left them scraping by…
Giving them One Tail eventually wasn't impossible.
But I needed the beast now for the greater plan.
And Liedou's puppetry offer wasn't small change.
I folded my arms.
"Let me think about it."
Liedou nodded sharply and rushed back into the fight, fingers blurring through seals until a hurricane erupted across the desert.
I watched him work.
Even without puppets, he fought like a man carved for the battlefield—footwork crisp, chakra control brutal and efficient.
"A genuine First Kazekage…" I murmured. "Guy's practically a hurricane wearing human skin."
Shukaku roared again, its eyes glowing like crossed stars.
Sand rose around him, spiraling, condensing—finally forming a massive spear.
Sand Shinobi paled.
"The Shukaku Spear," one whispered. "Its strongest attack!"
Liedou's expression tightened.
He whipped out a scroll—
a giant tortoise-like puppet sprang forth.
"Puppetry: Iron Wall!"
Plates and iron slabs shot out, locking together into a fortress-like barrier.
The Spear slammed into the wall.
CLANG—
like a thousand giant bells ring at once.
The wall cracked.
The puppet split.
Sand Shinobi flew backward, skidding across the dunes.
And I sighed.
"It seems you're not up to it."
I grabbed the hem of my Hokage robe, grimacing.
"Damn… custom silk. I liked this one."
I tossed it to an Anbu like a disgruntled salaryman taking off his suit jacket before a street fight.
Then my right eye rippled.
Scarlet chakra surged skyward.
Susanoo rose—tengu armor, titanic form, ten-fist sword crackling with malevolent power.
I stepped forward, voice echoing:
"One Tail!"
Susanoo's fist smashed through the hurricane wall—
—and hit Shukaku head-on.
Sand exploded.
Half its head evaporated.
Shukaku screeched, the entire desert trembling under the force.
And this was just the opening move.