After taking so many hits in a row, the Nine-Tails was both shocked and furious.
He never imagined that a human could be this powerful.
This terrifying pressure—it was like being dragged back into those dark days when he was beaten senseless by Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. It was humiliating. Absolutely humiliating.
He was the Strongest of all Tailed Beasts!
Being crushed by those two monsters back then was already shame enough—
and now he was being forced back and wounded again and again by this small fry of a human?
Unacceptable.
As the Nine-Tails glared at Hoshiyomi darting swiftly around him, he suddenly made an unexpected move.
Instead of continuing to attack, he deliberately took another slash from Hoshiyomi's sword — just to leap high into the air with all his strength.
Despite his massive body, the Nine-Tails' jump was impressive — he soared up high, and at the same time, began rapidly gathering chakra in his mouth again.
It was clear: he was going to use another Tailed Beast Bomb.
But this time, it wasn't a regular one.
The Nine-Tails was done holding back — to wash away his humiliation, he was going big.
So what if that human could slice through a normal Tailed Beast Bomb? Let's see how he handles one fifty meters wide!
The Nine-Tails didn't even think about long-range attacks anymore; he planned to fire it directly at his own feet. After all, he was a entity composed of chakra; even taking this large-scale Tailed Beast Bomb head-on wouldn't kill him.
But that human? No matter how strong he was, he was still just flesh and blood. Once this bomb went off, he'd be reduced to ashes.
Thinking that, the Nine-Tails gave up all defense. He simply stayed put after landing, letting Hoshiyomi approach freely, not dodging or blocking — just focusing on building up chakra.
Seeing the beast's reckless, self-destructive stance, Hoshiyomi instantly understood what it was planning.
That damn fox was getting smart — it wanted to trade blows, risking everything in a suicidal attack.
Watching the massive buildup of chakra, Hoshiyomi quickly unleashed a Phantom Sword Dance, sending waves of slashing energy at it. But the Nine-Tails was pouring chakra into the bomb as if it cost nothing — his attacks disappeared into it like pebbles into the sea.
There was no helping it — the Nine-Tails' chakra reserves were simply too vast. If it went all in on brute force, even the Phantom Sword Dance couldn't disrupt it.
Cold sweat ran down Hoshiyomi's forehead.
Sure, he could just grab Minato and teleport away right now — that was still possible.
But if he did that and the Nine-Tails turned its Tailed Beast Bomb toward Konoha...
…the entire village would be gone in an instant.
No — he had to stop this gigantic Tailed Beast Bomb here and now — and survive doing it.
To stop it mid-formation… maybe… there was only one way:
"Use magic to beat magic."
That odd line flashed through Hoshiyomi's mind, and as he looked at the massive sphere of chakra forming in the Nine-Tails' mouth, a strange grin crept across his face.
"You know what… that might actually work."
Trying to forcibly destroy it with pure power was hopeless — even his Phantom Sword Dance couldn't match such chakra density.
But there was a clever workaround.
After all, the Tailed Beast Bomb was essentially created by combining Yin-Yang chakra in a 2:8 ratio, then spinning it rapidly to compress it into a dense, black energy sphere before firing it.
So Hoshiyomi's idea was simple:
If he could disrupt that ratio before the bomb stabilized, he could force it to detonate prematurely!
For anyone else, it would be impossible — they wouldn't even know how to inject Yin or Yang chakra precisely into the Tailed Beast Bomb.
But Hoshiyomi was different.
His Nature Transformation ability already allowed him to freely manipulate both Yin-Yang chakra attributes.
"Alright then… let's test the theory — see if I'm right."
To interfere with the Tailed Beast Bomb, it'd be easiest to tamper with the Yang portion — the "2" part of the ratio.
With that thought, Hoshiyomi activated Nature Transformation.
As Hoshiyomi activated Nature Transformation, the greenish-blue light of the Mikazuki Munechika instantly shifted to a milky white.
Looking at the blade, which now gleamed like a lightsaber, Hoshiyomi nodded in satisfaction.
After confirming with Minato that he could teleport them away at a moment's notice, Hoshiyomi began his performance.
Sage Art — Yang Release: Phantom Sword Dance!
His sword arm moved so fast it left afterimages in the air. With every swing, arcs of radiant white sword energy flew toward the Tailed Beast Bomb forming in front of the Nine-Tails.
The Nine-Tails didn't even take it seriously. Under its terrifying output of chakra, it believed all of Hoshiyomi's efforts were futile.
But was that really the case?
In less than a second, Hoshiyomi had already unleashed twenty-three strikes of Yang Release sword energy. Then, raising both arms high, he prepared his final attack.
With a single surge of will, Hoshiyomi used his ultimate secret technique:
Ultimate: Nature Transformation: Yang!
As the technique activated, the once milky-white Yang chakra transformed into a blinding, pure white light. The energy was so intense that the blade of Mikazuki Munechika began to tremble faintly.
Feeling the overwhelming power coursing through his weapon, Hoshiyomi didn't hesitate. He hurled out his final blast of Yang sword energy.
Just like before, the sword energy merged together midair, stacking and fusing into a dense, intricate lattice of light — and then crashed directly into the forming Tailed Beast Bomb.
The Nine-Tails, still gathering its Yin–Yang chakra, instinctively tilted its head. This chakra… it felt oddly familiar.
Meanwhile, Hoshiyomi didn't dare stick around.
He signaled to Minato — time to get out.
Minato immediately activated the Flying Thunder God Technique, teleporting them far, far away from the blast zone.
Even then, Hoshiyomi wasn't at ease; he grabbed Minato and used several consecutive Dance of the Startled Swan to retreat even farther.
The moment they landed from the last teleport, a deafening explosion erupted behind them.
The shockwave reached even their distant position, slamming into them like a hurricane and knocking both of them off their feet.
The explosion was so massive that even the people back in Konoha felt the tremor.
Looking toward the distant horizon, where a blinding white flash bloomed, every villager stood frozen in awe.
"Just… what kind of battle is Lord Hoshiyomi fighting out there…?"
Tsunade, seeing the searing light of the blast, immediately shouted:
"Sealing Unit! Move out toward that location now!
We must seal the Nine-Tails immediately — don't give it any chance to recover!"
Meanwhile, Hoshiyomi and Minato, who had been thrown to the ground by the blast, slowly got back to their feet.
Minato glanced at his teacher, worry etched on his face.
"Sensei… with an explosion that big, could Kushina be in danger?"
Hoshiyomi shook his head.
"If the Nine-Tails wasn't confident it could survive, it never would've tried that move in the first place. Come on — let's head back. We'll see what shape the fox is in now."
"I've got a feeling… this night's battle is about to come to an end."