Malphegor
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HSU: Ch. 41
🕑 Added 2024-12-03 14:23:51 +0000 UTCFor tailed beasts, creating a Tailed Beast Bomb was akin to vomiting—forming chakra within and expelling it outward.
There was no denying its power.
The greatest fan of the tailed beasts in the ninja world was Madara. When he mocked the Five Kage, he casually wielded his perfect Susanoo and sliced off the tops of two mountains in one sweep, yet he still pretended that the power of this strike was comparable to that of a tailed beast.
But power wasn't just about raw strength. It was about preparation, timing, control.
As soon as the Nine-Tails fired its Tailed Beast Bomb, Masashi had already controlled Prometheus to block its trajectory.
Power was never achieved in an instant, and he firmly believed this.
Fighting tailed beasts had always been his obsession.
By day, he trained his body; by night, he meditated. Not a day went by without these routines.
Such effort was all for this moment.
The Tailed Beast Bomb crashed solidly into Prometheus's right palm. The impact sent shockwaves across the battlefield, forcing even the experienced jonin to brace themselves.
The moment of contact made the Tailed Beast Bomb unstable, and at the same time, Prometheus's right arm began cracking with a series of sharp sounds.
Even with the enhancement of the Sage Mode, terrifying fissures quickly spread.
However, Masashi had already completed his second jutsu.
Space warped, and before Prometheus's right arm could disintegrate, the Tailed Beast Bomb was devoured by the collapsed space as if it had been sucked into a void.
In the next moment, a brilliant light erupted deep in the forest, and the explosion sent shockwaves ripping through the trees, spreading out to their position.
"Incredible," Hiruzen breathed, watching the display. "He's actually redirecting it."
"Sandaime-sama, should we—" an ANBU agent started.
Hiruzen shook his head. "No. We'd only get in his way now."
Ice Release's inherent weakness was that it couldn't be compensated for by Sage Techniques, but Prometheus was created from Masashi's chakra, which meant it could still serve as a medium for his jutsu.
The so-called Guiding Thunder used a "barrier" to teleport anything that touches it. Prometheus was naturally Masashi's "barrier."
To prevent the explosion from affecting the walls behind him, he teleported to the farthest distance he could perceive using the Flying Thunder God mark.
While transferring the Tailed Beast Bomb, he also controlled Prometheus to deliver a shield strike against the Nine-Tails' head.
The impact echoed like thunder across the village.
Unlike Ice Release, a shield created using only senjutsu could withstand such force.
For a moment, the Nine-Tails' face seemed deformed from the impact. If it had a true physical body, a transformation of that degree would have surely knocked out a few teeth.
Its steps were finally halted, and its claws left deep gouges in the ground as it struggled.
It was forced to retreat.
With one successful hit, Masashi pressed his advantage. His right arm, now restored, delivered an uppercut to the Nine-Tails' jaw.
The Nine-Tails, already unsteady, raised its front legs, giving him the perfect chance to strike again with Wind Release. Prometheus lunged and flipped the Nine-Tails over.
The Nine-Tails' unyielding stance was shattered, and it lay before the Konoha ninjas with its four legs flailing in the air.
The ninjas on the walls and high vantage points watched in awe. "To think someone could actually..." one whispered.
But Masashi was too focused to share in their excitement—he had no time.
Prometheus's right arm swung up and slapped the Nine-Tails' head, revealing a mass of intricate sealing runes that spread over its body like a swarm of ants.
A tailed beast controlled by the Sharingan was, in "automatic mode," quite rigid since genjutsu stripped them of their will. Their fighting instinct was poor and repetitive.
This was the best moment to subdue the Nine-Tails.
The sealing technique he was using was taught to him by an Uzumaki woman from his past. Since we shared good times, this sealing better work!
Roar!
The Nine-Tails struggled. Though its will was suppressed by genjutsu, its long-held instincts made it extremely sensitive to any sealing techniques.
As its chakra fluctuated wildly, the incomplete sealing technique began to fall apart.
Just as the Nine-Tails was about to regain its footing, Masashi acted. He controlled Prometheus to leap onto the Nine-Tails, trapping its neck with the shield to stop its head from moving and grasped its head tightly, increasing chakra output.
The Nine-Tails frantically clawed at Prometheus, leaving scratches on the armored surface. Thankfully, the shield protected Prometheus, and Masashi immediately healed the damage.
But it also made sealing more difficult; the technique was not forming.
"We have to help him!" Some jonin jumped down from the walls.
But the sheer power of these two colossal beings made it impossible for them to approach. The raw chakra alone pushed them back, scorching the ground beneath their feet.
Hiruzen, too, stood among them, realizing for the first time how inadequate his adamantine staff felt.
He could push the Nine-Tails back, one strike at a time, but his vulnerable body couldn't step into this kind of battle.
Minato was still nowhere to be seen, evidently held back by the mysterious masked Uchiha.
If Masashi's sealing technique failed, the only person here capable of sealing the Nine-Tails was him.
That technique, in this place, among these people, was his alone. In his mind, he made a silent decision. After all, the Nine-Tails could not fall into the hands of the Uchiha clan.
The Hokage Tower would acknowledge Masashi's contributions, but the Jinchūriki must be under the Hokage's control.
It was an iron rule of the Five Great Shinobi Villages; the connection between a Jinchūriki and their village's leader must never be broken.
Suddenly, a new change occurred.
"Its movements—they're different!" A veteran ANBU noticed first.
The Nine-Tails' movements became unexpectedly nimble. It had been blindly clawing at Prometheus's forearm but suddenly separated one of its claws, merging its five claws into a fist and striking the joint of Prometheus's left arm, where the shield was held.
Clever beast, Masashi thought grimly. Even through genjutsu, its battle instincts were formidable.
Masashi, whose main focus was on maintaining the seal, couldn't react quickly enough to the sudden change. Even protected by Prometheus's armor, the joint cracked into a web of fractures, weakening its strength.
The sound of breaking ice echoed across the battlefield.
Taking advantage of this, the Nine-Tails twisted its head, loosening the shield holding its neck.
Prometheus's left arm quickly healed, but the Nine-Tails had regained partial movement.
With a roar that shook the very foundations of Konoha, it flipped over and pinned Prometheus beneath it.
Its mouth opened, and the second Tailed Beast Bomb began to form. Dark chakra swirled into existence, condensing into a sphere.
"No! If that hits at this range—"
Everyone gasped, panicking and charging at the Nine-Tails. If it detonated a Tailed Beast Bomb at this distance, the Nine-Tails would only suffer minor injuries, but the southern side of the village would be obliterated.
Masashi didn't seem to mind. He simply sighed inwardly. You'd think a tailed beast would be more creative. Always the same move.
Ice Release couldn't be as flexible as Susanoo, and while Sage Techniques could help mitigate its flaws, they couldn't erase them completely.
He wasn't worried about the Tailed Beast Bomb; he could transfer as many as the Nine-Tails released. He had lost count of how many Flying Thunder God marks he had set in the forest over the years.
Before anyone could get close, he formed the signs again, and Prometheus's back melted like ice cream, spreading across the ground to form a massive ice mirror.
Prometheus dropped the shield, and both arms turned to ice, wrapping around the Nine-Tails' body and binding it tightly before refreezing.
The beast's roar was cut short as the ice encased it.
The next moment, Prometheus pulled the Nine-Tails, and together they sank into the ice mirror beneath them.
Somewhere deep within the forest, the ground suddenly began to quake violently. Trees swayed dangerously, their roots straining against the earth as shockwaves rippled outward.
But it only lasted for a moment before the same rumbling sound echoed from a distant location once again.
The roar of beasts and the sound of boulders colliding resounded in turn, over and over, each time further away, stretching deeper into the wilderness and farther from Konoha.
No one knew how much time passed. Eventually, in a place utterly devoid of human presence, accompanied by a deafening crash, this prolonged "journey" finally reached its end.
A fiery tail swept through a forest, leaving a swath of devastation. Trees that had stood for countless years were reduced to mere fragments, sent flying along with their loyal companion—soil—over an incredible distance.
"Uchiha!"
The Sharingan glow had long faded from the Nine-Tails' eyes, replaced entirely with burning hatred.
It seemed Minato had succeeded—perhaps even in the iconic scene—or maybe it was a new iconic moment altogether.
The outcome, however, was the same.
After all, his prowess wasn't solely due to the Flying Thunder God; it was that this jutsu perfectly complemented his true strengths.
As for Obito, who had been acting tough for so long outside, he had likely forgotten just how terrifying his teacher truly was.
But for now, the focus was on the Nine-Tails.
"How does it feel to wake up again?" Masashi greeted with a smile, having already deactivated Sage Mode.
At this point, he was taking the opportunity to restore his chakra reserves.
Not that it really mattered—he felt like he still had some chakra to spare. The real question was how long he could maintain this level of output.
"No matter how much time passes, you Uchiha are utterly unforgivable…" The Nine-Tails' gaze was fixed on the ground, carefully avoiding any direct eye contact with him.
"This has nothing to do with being an Uchiha," Masashi replied, his tone deliberately light. "As far as I know, no Uchiha has ever sealed you tailed beasts within their own body."
Well… they just rode you for show. Wait, isn't that even worse? Masashi thought for a moment and decided it was a tough comparison. Some arguments you just can't win.
"It makes no difference. Humans are always the same—treating us as beasts and seeking only to exploit our power." The Nine-Tails slowly backed away. "I'm leaving now. You'd better not follow me. Even if you have the same eyes, you're not Madara, and I won't let your clan exploit me again."
"That won't do, Kurama." While Masashi wanted a little more time to recharge, he couldn't slack off if the Nine-Tails was leaving. "If you leave, things will get very complicated here."
"You even know my name... You Uchiha really are the worst." The Nine-Tails froze in its tracks, tails spreading wide in an intimidating display.
The air grew tense as killing intent began to gather. For a tailed beast, this hostility manifested much more tangibly than with humans.
"Just calling your name won't work, huh." Masashi wasn't surprised by the Nine-Tails' reaction.
Sage markings reappeared on his face. "I guess there's no holding you back without going all out."
Truly, some people just have hacks. Naruto could call Kurama's name a few times, and the fox would act like some kind of switch had been flipped.
When he called, though, it just brought out killing intent.
Ah, the discrimination against the Uchiha. Masashi sighed inwardly. Some prejudices run deeper than others.
Honestly, it was a real headache.
He couldn't use Susanoo yet, and his genjutsu wasn't at the level where he could casually subdue a tailed beast with a glance.
In terms of genjutsu, he had high defense but not high offense. While confident in his techniques, breaking through a tailed beast's mind was more than a matter of skill alone.
So, while he wasn't afraid of the tailed beast, it wasn't afraid of him either.
This kind of stalemate was the most annoying. Minato, you'd better hurry up. I can only hold it off for a night at best.
Boom—!!!
A claw struck down with devastating force, carving a massive crater where Masashi had stood.
The Nine-Tails had made the first move. The ground shattered like glass, fragments flying in all directions.
As one of the mightiest creature created by Hagoromo in his lifetime, the Nine-Tails didn't lack combat instincts. The only thing it couldn't do was ninjutsu.
Although it could gather natural energy to aid its jinchūriki, it genuinely didn't use ninjutsu. Its combat style was pure, unfiltered tailed beast brawling.
Masashi loved facing enemies who thought their taijutsu was invincible and didn't bother with ninjutsu—or those who thought their ninjutsu was unparalleled and stuck to that.
The same went for tailed beast.
Using the momentum of the strike, Masashi quickly formed seals mid-air.
In mere moments, thick mist spread rapidly from him as the center, engulfing the entire forest.
The mist was so dense you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
Having reverse-engineered a bloodline limit technique, he typically borrowed its elemental nature, creating his own unique jutsus.
The time he encountered Mei was pure coincidence, but since they met, not learning her Boil Release would have been a disservice to his Uchiha pride.
He observed her for ages, eventually mastering the principles behind her techniques. Along the way, he also picked up her Hidden Mist Technique.
Naturally, he went a step further and created this move. The combination was entirely his own.
With an abundant chakra pool, he could afford to be extravagant. Expanding the range as much as possible was a no-brainer.
This was why having more chakra was such a blessing. For example, learning Sage Mode required a massive chakra reserve. Without enough chakra, you couldn't even begin to harness natural energy.
The Corrosive Steam corroded everything it touched. Fragile objects disintegrated instantly. Trees, already stripped of most leaves, were soon reduced to bare trunks before the wood itself vanished.
Within the mist, only the Nine-Tails appeared unscathed. Seemingly unscathed, at least.
The Corrosive Steam also corroded chakra, and within just a few breaths, a thin layer of the Nine-Tails' chakra cloak had already eroded away.
It was a minuscule amount—practically negligible—but it wasn't a good sign.
Moreover, the mist completely blocked chakra sensing, leaving the Nine-Tails unable to detect his location, much less attack him.
Unable to assess its surroundings, the Nine-Tails chose to retreat immediately. Without hesitation, it turned and bolted.
For a tailed beast, one small step was a massive leap for any normal human. Ninjas fared better, but even they needed effort to keep up.
The mist seemed alive, pursuing the Nine-Tails as it fled.
Masashi followed at a leisurely pace, secretly delighted. Run all you want. When you've gone far enough, I'll just teleport you back.
Ideally, it would keep running all night. That would make things a lot easier for him.
