On the battlefield, Butsuma Senju and Master Fayen—the two core figures in the plan to subdue the tailed beast—wore grim expressions as they recovered their chakra and considered their next move.
Though their earlier coordination had been flawless and their tools and jutsu carefully tailored to restrain the Eight-Tails, they both knew reclaiming a tailed beast was no easy task.
A tailed beast was a living mass of chakra; strictly speaking, it wasn't even a living creature in the normal sense. Fatigue did not apply to it. Coupled with its immense size and destructive power, numbers alone meant little against it.
Butsuma slung the Adamantine Sealing Scroll back over his shoulders, his crimson lamellar armor still gleaming.
"Gokuma, signal our clansmen to withdraw. Once you've passed along the order, your only task will be to retrieve the Amber Purifying Pot."
The order jolted Gokuma from his grim thoughts. "Clan Head, we still have a chance—"
"No chance! We have no means of tracking the Eight-Tails. If it manages to slip away like this a few more times, the Senju will never be able to hold our ground…"
Before he could finish, the forest shook violently. In that instant, Gokuma sensed over five jonin-level clansmen perish under the Eight-Tails' attack.
The tremor not only cut Butsuma's words short, it scattered Gokuma's thoughts. He fought to keep calm, telling himself this might be a trap—but he had no choice now.
He made up his mind, gripping tightly the scroll given to him by Kiyomaru and forcing his chakra to surge as he raced toward the Eight-Tails' position.
Elsewhere, facing the Eight-Tails directly were two much younger fighters: Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju.
They were still children, trembling under the beast's oppressive presence, but they did not run. They stood their ground, fulfilling their assigned role.
Their tactics mirrored their father's. Tobirama used his powerful sensory ability to anticipate the tailed beast's attacks: if the Tailed Beast Bomb targeted Hashirama, Tobirama would reverse-summon him away; if it targeted Tobirama, Hashirama would do the same.
Since the Eight-Tails couldn't fire Tailed Beast Bombs in rapid succession, even if they ended up together right after evading one, they were safe during that brief attack interval.
After each reverse-summon, they would split apart again.
This strategy had already let them dodge two Tailed Beast Bombs. Unfortunately, one had still struck toward the jonin unit, causing unplanned casualties.
Hashirama leapt swiftly between the treetops, forming hand seals as Tobirama drew the Eight-Tails' attention. Dropping to the ground, Hashirama released a jutsu he'd prepared in advance.
"Earth Style: Bottomless Swamp!"
A third of the Eight-Tails' massive body sank suddenly into a swamp beneath it. Roaring in frustration, it found itself unable to free its bulk immediately.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"
Tobirama followed instantly with his own jutsu. The Water Dragon Bullet was a balanced technique—offense and defense in one, with modest chakra cost. Its sole drawback was the complexity of its forty-four hand seals.
Yet even at his young age, Tobirama had already shown terrifying genius: he needed only twelve seals to execute it.
Water materialized from nowhere, surging upward to form a dragon that hurtled toward the Eight-Tails. It struck with enough force to topple the already unsteady beast deeper into the swamp.
Hashirama felt a flicker of relief at the sight, but he knew the swamp wouldn't hold the Eight-Tails for long.
Though history would remember him as the First Hokage, at this moment, Hashirama lacked any jutsu capable of truly injuring an enemy of the Eight-Tails' caliber.
On the other side, after launching his Water Dragon, Tobirama's mind was still racing: If my brother and I only use standard ninjutsu, we can't harm the Eight-Tails. The Bottomless Swamp won't hold it for long. If we let it rampage freely, the losses to the clan will be immeasurable.
His expression hardened as a decision crystallized. Unless… I use that jutsu.
Seeing Hashirama struggling to maintain the swamp and close in, Tobirama no longer held back.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
"Water Style: Surfing Strike!"
Using the water from the swamp, Tobirama summoned a wide water surface and skimmed across it at high speed, even faster than Hashirama. His shadow clone, meanwhile, charged straight toward the Eight-Tails with an explosive tag already in hand.
Tobirama's true body emerged from the water, seizing Hashirama before he could reach the Eight-Tails. "Big Brother, we have to get out of here!"
"Tobirama, you—?"
"No time to explain!" Tobirama pulled him away, chakra surging as they skimmed across the water's surface, retreating from the beast.
Enraged, the Eight-Tails writhed in the swamp. Earlier, it had been forced to self-amputate under the sealing arts and tools of the enemy. Now even two brats were making it look pathetic.
"Two insects! You dare offend Lord Gyūki and think you can run? Bastards!"
It spoke for the first time, charging a Tailed Beast Bomb in its maw.
The shadow clone reached its target.
"Try this!" Tobirama's clone scattered dozens of explosive tags. "Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags! Even the strongest armor will turn to dust under constant pinpoint detonations!"
A seal formed—detonation. The first wave of explosions instantly spawned several dozen more explosive tags, which exploded again.
Tobirama's chakra was limited, and as a clone he could not match Kage-level output. Even so, he managed to produce over two thousand tags.
On their own, this would barely scratch the Eight-Tails. But the shockwave triggered the Tailed Beast Bomb in its mouth.
The combined blast was far greater than either alone.
A mushroom cloud rose over the swamp, a blazing peacock fan of flame spreading hundreds of meters across.
Far away, Tobirama's real body shuddered violently. His eyes lost focus, and he nearly collapsed on the water's surface. Hashirama caught him before he fell and sped away.
"You fool," Hashirama muttered, anguish in his voice. "Even as a clone, you feel the same pain."
He understood exactly what Tobirama had done—and it pained him deeply. Protecting his brother had always been his mission, and now he felt his own helplessness for the first time.
"Damn it."
At that moment, Gokuma Senju arrived.
"What happened to Tobirama?"
"He used a forbidden technique and lost consciousness."
"The Eight-Tails?"
"Should still be near the blast site."
"I understand. You've done well. Leave the rest to me."
Hashirama nodded, but warned, "Be careful, Senior Gokuma. The Eight-Tails may still be able to fight."
Carrying Tobirama, he headed toward the medical corps.
Alone, Gokuma contacted Butsuma via comms. "Clan Head, I've reached the Eight-Tails' location. I have a way to pinpoint and control it. Bring Master Fayen and the Amber Purifying Pot quickly."
"Trust me on this."
He cut the channel. Arriving at the blast site—now a scarred, smoking wasteland—he saw the Eight-Tails gasping, shrouded in smoke, its chakra form barely holding together.
"Cursed shinobi! I'll crush you all!"
"You won't get the chance!"
Gokuma leapt down, unfurling the special scroll. Pale violet chakra poured forth—so vast it rivaled the beast's own. The Eight-Tails' massive frame was engulfed. Its defiant face twisted into fear as it collapsed.
"This chakra? Impossible! How can they still exist?"
Meanwhile, at the Valley of Clouds and Lightning, Tajima Uchiha's eyes gleamed. Behind him stood hundreds of fully armed Uchiha.
"The chakra reaction that man spoke of has appeared."
In his hand, a chakra compass glowed faintly, its needle fixed on a direction. He drew his chakra-forged blade, the crest of the Hagoromo clan shining on the pommel.
"Uchiha clan—forward!"