Yako's heart pounded with dread.
If he didn't act soon, the Senju clan was doomed to extinction.
In the original story, the Senju really were wiped out, leaving only disabled elders and children in their clan lands. They couldn't even protect their ancestral home.
Their downfall was accepted silently by other ninja clans. Even Tsunade couldn't openly blame the Konoha leadership.
Danzo had insisted that the ANBU complete the Nine-Tails' sealing, but the Senju stubbornly insisted on sealing the Nine-Tails independently.
Yako refused to watch the Senju vanish like that.
So what could he do?
The Nine-Tails roared in agony, head and shoulders massive and imposing, but below its chest, its body rapidly shrank like a funnel, compressed tightly against Kushina's frail back.
Fitting a giant beast into a human-sized vessel was torture. The fox's waist looked strangled by a rope, reduced to barely a foot thick—unbearable for a creature dozens of meters long.
The Nine-Tails lowered its head and smashed a claw down toward Kushina.
Senju Linmu's wife reinforced the joint sealing technique while Linmu stood protectively before Kushina.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Fortress Wall!"
A towering stone wall erupted, blocking the claw.
Flying debris pelted Kushina, but Yako breathed a sigh of relief. Linmu's earth-style skills were impressive.
The Senju clan pushed the joint sealing harder. Every shinobi squeezed out chakra.
The sealing markings crawled over the Nine-Tails' body, momentarily slowing its movements. Each swipe of its massive forelimbs used every ounce of its strength.
One swipe crushed over thirty Senju shinobi.
Seeing their deaths, the sealing loosened slightly, and the Nine-Tails struck again.
In just one or two minutes, over a hundred Senju were killed by the beast's claws.
The Nine-Tails howled at the moon, seemingly annoyed by the inefficiency. Another Tailed Beast Bomb began forming in its mouth.
Kushina struggled to raise her head, whispering, "It must not… release that jutsu…"
Two adamant chains shot from her back, locking around the Nine-Tails' throat.
The fox twisted its head, and the bomb missed the Senju below, flying off and exploding in the distance.
The Nine-Tails' chakra was overwhelming—one failed bomb quickly gave way to a second.
Kushina was exhausted, helplessly watching the blast strike to the side.
The explosion vaporized over three hundred Senju instantly.
The earth trembled.
Every time the Nine-Tails struck the ground, it caused a quake-like shockwave.
More shinobi were smashed to pulp.
Fear, sorrow, and tears stained their faces—yet none faltered.
Among the fallen were fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, cousins, and childhood friends.
All held their positions, pushing their chakra to the limit, binding the Nine-Tails with the joint sealing.
The beast shrank slowly, pulled back into Kushina's body.
After Mito's death, over half the Senju had fallen.
The sealing marks faded.
Hiruzen slammed his adamant staff through the forest, clearing a path, then leaned on it, watching the seal strain.
Seeing the struggle, he finally raised his hand and gave the attack order.
Even if Hiruzen had his doubts, he dared not risk anything too extreme—if the Nine-Tails went wild, disaster would follow.
The four ANBU squads surged toward the beast.
"Suppress the Nine-Tails! Use relentless attacks to wear it down! Share the burden of the seal!" shouted Captain Koton.
Yako, as squad leader, followed closely with Koton's unit.
With the ANBU's arrival came flames and exploding tags swarming the Nine-Tails.
The fox swatted away fireballs, claws smashing projectiles midair.
ANBU leapt skyward, targeting the Nine-Tails' eyes, believing them vulnerable.
What met them was a claw strike that tore through the air, splattering bloody mist—darkened guts.
Fragments of shattered ANBU masks rained down, empty of heads.
The carnage was horrific.
Yako thought: No wonder the Nine-Tails' rampage left a psychological scar on a generation. The beast's offense was devastating, and its defense far beyond any ninja's reach.
Koton's Fire Release was fierce—each fireball nearly half the size of the Nine-Tails itself.
Even the Nine-Tails had to focus to fend those off.
Having baited the Nine-Tails, Koton surged forward, drawing its attention beneath him.
The beast's claw came crashing down, but Koton dodged—Linmu's wife was crushed where she stood.
ANBU entered, and Linmu, who had relaxed briefly, suddenly saw his wife's terrible death.
His eyes bloodshot, panic flooding his gaze.
Why didn't the ANBU protect her? The core of the joint sealing technique?
The joint seal shattered.
The markings on the Nine-Tails vanished, its movements freed and flexible.
Kushina's chains faltered.
The beast ripped a huge portion of itself from Kushina, who collapsed in agony, wailing.
The Nine-Tails seized the moment, conjuring another Tailed Beast Bomb, blasting more Senju to death.
Linmu yelled, "Joint sealing failed! Attack the Nine-Tails! Weaken it!"
He wanted to add, "Hold on until the Third Hokage reinforces the seal"—but the words caught in his throat.
Koton rushed to Kushina's side, steadying her.
Yako hovered nearby, feeling the crushing presence of the immense Nine-Tails above.
Looking up, only the sharp claws flailed in chaotic arcs.
Each claw was roughly Yako's own size.
One swipe forced him to roll sideways to avoid the strike.
He quickly formed a seal.
"Earth Release: Earth Spike Spear!"
The spear stabbed the Nine-Tails' claw, denting its skin—but shattered on impact.
The beast's skin was too tough.
His multi-meter-long spear was like trying to clean dirt from a nail fold.
Another claw came down in rapid succession.
Yako formed another seal.
This time, he didn't try to pierce the claw, but created a dense thicket of earth spikes—like a bramble—entangling the paw.
The hold lasted barely a second before the Nine-Tails wrenched free, shattering stones flying everywhere.
Annoyed by the meddling masked shinobi, it swatted away an ANBU who failed to dodge.
Yako's bones shattered midair—he died there, suspended.
[Host death detected. Crescent Moon Arc system activating...]
The vision blurred.
Yako was back at the previous full moon night.
Outside the Senju clan lands, monitoring the clan.
Cold sweat drenched his forehead.
How to prevent the Senju's extinction in the face of such a catastrophe?
System, hurry up and give me a reward!