Land of Wind, Sunagakure.
"Kazekage-sama, bad news!"
A Sunagakure ninja burst into the office in a rush, not even bothering to knock.
"What happened?"
The Third Kazekage, Shamon, frowned as he asked.
Normally, the guards wouldn't be this flustered—unless something truly serious had happened.
"Kazekage-sama, the seal has loosened! The jinchūriki is about to go berserk!"
"What?!"
Shamon shot up from his chair in alarm.
He hadn't expected the village's jinchūriki to start losing control again.
Not every village was like Konoha, blessed with the Uzumaki clan's powerful sealing techniques that could perfectly suppress the tailed beast within a host. Other villages' sealing jutsu were crude at best—barely sufficient to imprison a tailed beast inside a human body.
Because of these incomplete techniques, their jinchūriki were always at risk of going berserk.
The previous jinchūriki of Sunagakure had been killed when Shukaku tore apart the seal. The power of a tailed beast was overwhelming—it had taken tremendous effort from the entire village to reseal Shukaku into its new host.
But now, before much time had even passed, the seal was loosening once again.
"Damn it!"
Shamon clenched his fists in frustration.
"If only we had the Uzumaki clan's sealing arts!"
The Uzumaki clan was renowned across the shinobi world for their mastery of sealing techniques. With their help, Sunagakure could have kept Shukaku suppressed with ease.
Unfortunately, Uzushiogakure was an ally of Konoha, and Sunagakure couldn't afford to start a war against them—at least, not for now.
"Quickly, get the jinchūriki out of the village!"
Shamon immediately issued his order.
If the jinchūriki was taken away from the village, then even if the beast broke free, the destruction wouldn't reach Sunagakure itself.
The village was already poor enough. If a tailed beast rampaged inside it, that would be a disaster beyond recovery.
"Understood!"
The Sunagakure ninja hurried out of the office toward the prison where the jinchūriki was being held.
Seeing this, Shamon followed right after.
Because the village elders feared the jinchūriki losing control, his freedom had long been restricted. From the moment he became a host, he had been imprisoned deep underground, completely isolated from the outside world.
A person who could go berserk at any moment was far too dangerous. He could never be allowed to walk freely among the villagers.
No one ever knew when a tailed beast might break its seal...
...
Inside the dark and damp cell, the only light came from a flickering oil lamp mounted on the wall.
A bald monk sat cross-legged on a worn cushion, hands clasped together as he continuously chanted sutras. His robes were soaked through with sweat.
"Namu Amida Butsu… Tathāgata…"
With each verse he recited, the monk's already pale face turned paler. His body trembled uncontrollably, and on his exposed arms, black sealing markings writhed like living creatures—the clear sign that the seal was starting to break.
Inside him, Shukaku was struggling violently to break free.
"Damn bald worm!"
A hoarse, furious voice echoed in the monk's mind.
"Stop that worthless chanting already! When I get out, I'll kill every last one of you humans!"
Within the sealed space that ordinary people could not perceive, a massive tanuki-like monster rampaged wildly.
Its entire body was made of sand, covered with violet curse marks that glowed faintly as it roared in the void.
The monk sat across from it, separated only by a thin barrier of the seal.
He ignored the beast's howls, continuing to chant his sutras calmly.
"When I'm free," Shukaku bellowed, "the first thing I'll do is crush all you filthy humans into paste!"
Its massive mouth opened, releasing a torrent of violent chakra that began leaking from the real-world prison.
Inside the cell, the monk's trembling grew worse as waves of tailed beast chakra seeped from his body.
"Hang in there! Kazekage-sama is coming!"
A young monk stood anxiously at the cell door, shouting encouragement.
At that moment, a flurry of footsteps echoed down the corridor.
The Third Kazekage, Shamon, arrived with several elite ninja, among them some skilled in sealing techniques.
If the tailed beast did break free, they were prepared to seal it again immediately.
"Kazekage-sama, please, save my brother!" the young monk pleaded.
"Take him out of the village," Shamon ordered sharply, ignoring the plea.
"Kazekage-sama, that's too dangerous!" a jōnin protested. "If the seal collapses completely during transport—"
"We cannot allow the tailed beast to appear inside the village!" Shamon cut him off, his eyes sharp as blades as he glared at the chakra leaking through the cracks of the cell door.
"Proceed according to plan—move quickly!"
"Yes, sir!"
Two seal specialists immediately stepped forward, drawing complex sealing patterns across the monk's body.
Their hands moved swiftly and precisely, but the sweat dripping from their foreheads betrayed their tension.
If the beast broke free now, they'd both be dead.
The monk's skin began turning to sand, his flesh uneven and rough. His eyes had become fully bestial, yet he kept reciting the sutra like a machine.
"Move!"
The two lifted the monk by the arms, and the others stepped in to assist.
Together, they hurriedly left the cell in a tight formation.
The young monk followed close behind.
When they emerged onto the streets, the civilians gasped and fled in panic.
"Kazekage-sama is bringing that monster out!" a woman screamed, clutching her child as she ran.
"Hide! The tailed beast is coming out!"
Hearing the terrified shouts, the monk's beast-like eyes flashed with pain and anger.
He tried to speak, but only a mouthful of sand spilled out.
A Sunagakure ninja hesitated, wanting to check his condition, but Shamon stopped him.
"Don't mind it. Keep moving."
"See that?"
Shukaku's voice echoed darkly in the monk's mind.
"They don't care if you live or die! Stop resisting—when I'm free, I'll kill them all for you!"
...
The squad pushed through the panicked streets, heading toward the canyon west of the village.
The monk's feet no longer touched the ground as he was carried. His body twitched violently, shedding sand with every gust of wind.
Within the sealed space, Shukaku could feel it—the scent of long-lost freedom.
"Ha ha ha! Foolish humans!"
The tanuki's laughter shook the seal.
"When I'm out, I'll flatten your whole village first!"
An immense surge of chakra erupted from within the monk.
The blast sent the surrounding ninja flying.
"No—!"
Shamon's cry was drowned out by a deafening roar.
The monk's body cracked apart like shattered pottery, and endless streams of sand gushed from within, rapidly taking shape.
First came claws, then a tail, and finally—its hideous, grinning head.
The very nightmare Shamon feared most had come true—
Shukaku had broken free.
The One-Tail appeared once more in Sunagakure!
...
Not far from the village, across the desert, a man and a cat were making their way forward.
"Wait—that's Shukaku?"
Renya abruptly stopped in his tracks, staring blankly at the gigantic tanuki that had erupted from within the village.
A trace of disbelief flashed in his eyes.
"You've got to be kidding me… I haven't even entered yet and I've already been discovered?!"
Sure, he'd killed quite a few Sunagakure shinobi on the battlefield before, but there was no way they'd unleash a tailed beast just because of that!
What the hell was this situation supposed to be?!