Sasuke sprinted wildly through the forest.
Faster.
Faster!
Amber wouldn't last much longer.
"Judging by the humidity in the air, I'm still in the Land of Water. Logan returned from the Land of Hot Water three days ago. Based on the distance, he should have entered the Land of Water by now."
"If I'm lucky..."
"I can still make it!"
Sasuke reached the top of a ridge. He climbed the tallest tree and looked out across the horizon.
His heart sank.
All he could see were endless forests. No villages, no landmarks—just thick trees stretching all the way to the coastline. In the distance, across the sea, a small island with faint signs of habitation was visible. A few tiny villages… but far too far away.
By the time he made it there, found someone, and explained everything… Amber would be dead. And their enemies would catch up.
Sasuke clenched his fists tightly. "What do I do... think! Think!"
Then—an idea sparked.
If there are no landmarks…
Create one.
Sasuke quickly formed hand seals.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
The massive fireball roared into the forest, igniting the trees. Thick smoke billowed into the sky, black and dense, visible from miles away.
Sasuke stood in front of the blazing inferno, shouting into the sky:
"Logan! Can you see this?!"
---
Amber was covered in wounds, bruised and bloodied.
Neither his Ripple energy nor Orochimaru-style ninjutsu could heal him.
The disc had granted Amber the knowledge of Orochimaru's techniques, but it couldn't give him Orochimaru's body—one that had undergone hundreds of experimental modifications and surgeries.
Still, he did not back down.
He stood firm, fists clenched, the serpent he summoned now wrapped in Ripple energy. Its aura, once sinister, now shimmered with righteous resolve.
"It's impressive," the enemy said coldly, "that a civilian like you has lasted ten minutes against me. But this is the end."
The Chakra of the Two-Tails surged back into the arm of Yuzu Wooden Golem.
Her rest was over. She could resume her full Tailed Beast form.
Wooden Golem formed seals rapidly, unleashing a massive blue fireball from her mouth. Then, with a twist of her hands, she tore it apart mid-air, creating dozens of miniature fireballs.
"Ninjutsu: Rat Tail Bombs."
Controlled by chakra threads extending from her ten fingers, the fireballs rained down on Amber.
They came too fast to dodge, too many to block. He had no time to form seals. All he could do was raise his arms and shield his head.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
The barrage struck him like meteors. Fire engulfed his body, scorching his skin and muscle alike. Within seconds, he was burned nearly to ash by fireballs infused with tailed beast chakra.
His pupils went blank. He stared skyward, lips parting as a wisp of black smoke escaped his throat.
Plop.
He collapsed.
"You should've known your limits," Wooden Golem muttered.
She turned to the two snake princesses floating nearby.
"I was delayed by him. Couldn't you at least take a few steps forward and catch Uchiha Sasuke?"
"Miss Wooden Golem," Ichikishima-hime giggled behind her hand, "the contract between Ryūchi Cave and the Raikage clearly states we're only assisting. No direct combat."
"Oh?"
Wooden Golem sneered.
That kind of 'assistance' was a joke. The truth was simple—they were terrified.
Terrified that Sasuke would invalidate their jutsu. That one wrong move would lead to death, just like Tanashiro Shinki.
These so-called snake sages had lived for centuries. The older they got, the more afraid they became of dying.
Wooden Golem snorted and turned away, chasing after Sasuke once again.
But a hand stopped her.
She looked down.
A charred, blackened hand, its skin torn and muscles shredded, was wrapped tightly around her ankle.
Amber's hand.
"I said..."
"Before I die..."
"You won't take another step forward!"
Amber took a shuddering breath, air whistling into his damaged lungs. Ripple energy flared in his palm, aimed at Wooden Golem's ankle—not to destroy her, but to slow her down. To buy Sasuke just a few more seconds.
Wooden Golem stared into his hollow, lifeless eyes.
Such terrifying willpower.
But—
"Will alone cannot defeat reality."
She stabbed her kunai directly into his heart.
At that moment, a strange noise echoed across the sky.
The two snake princesses looked up.
"What is that sound?"
It was a high-pitched explosion—distant at first, then suddenly upon them.
From above.
Wooden Golem raised her head.
A dark cloud cracked open. From it, golden thunder burst through like a missile, tearing down the sky.
Her pupils shrank in horror.
"Logan!"
"Impossible! How did he get here so fast?!"
Cloud Shinobi's plan had been airtight.
They knew Logan could fly, so they had calculated everything precisely—his speed, distance, stamina. Even in the best-case scenario, it should've taken him at least one to two hours to reach this area from the border of the Land of Water.
Yet only thirty minutes had passed since the operation began—and due to a spatial transmission error, Logan had been thrown into a completely unknown region.
She had assumed he wouldn't arrive for hours.
But Logan hadn't flown normally.
He had taken two hours… but inside a stopped time dimension.
With his stamina, all he needed was a short breather—the kind you'd take after climbing a few flights of stairs—before stopping time again.
He repeated that cycle. Over and over.
Combined with Hermit Purple's upgraded tracking ability, and the massive smoke signal Sasuke had set…
Logan found them.
"I see it."
Logan's voice rang out—half to Sasuke, half in acknowledgment of Amber's sacrifice.
He hovered above them, fists clenched, rage erupting from his chest like a volcano.
"I saw everything!"
Wooden Golem took a half step back.
Her instincts screamed: Run.
But reason told her: If you run, you die.
"Matatabi!"
She abandoned Kohaku's corpse and initiated her full tailed beast transformation. A colossal azure cat-like demon emerged.
Still not enough!
"Snake Princesses!"
The two snake women glanced at each other, then shifted into their true forms—massive snake lions, one deep blue and the other fiery red.
They burrowed into Matatabi's ears, biting down hard.
Natural energy surged through their fangs, flowing into Matatabi and merging with her tailed beast chakra.
"Pseudo-Snake Sage Mode!"
Matatabi raised her head and gathered chakra, mixing it with nature energy. A swirling orb of purple-blue chakra formed in her mouth.
"Logan! Everyone else may fear you, but I—
I'm not afraid!"
Wooden Golem roared and unleashed the massive Tailed Beast Bomb into the sky.
But—
Logan vanished.
A voice echoed in Wooden Golem's ears.
"ORA!"
Logan's punch wasn't large compared to the beast's size, but it packed terrifying force.
Matatabi was launched into the air, spinning violently.
She tried to recover, only to see Logan reappear at the apex of her arc.
His golden thunder-fist blazed against the night sky.
BOOM!
The second punch crushed her face inward, sending her plummeting through the forest, crashing through trees, and finally landing at the island's edge, half-submerged in seawater.
Cough... cough…
Wooden Golem coughed up blood mixed with blue flame.
She had taken heavy damage today, but none of it—neither the Peacock attack, nor the Heaven's Send technique—hurt as much as Logan's punch.
Ripple energy worked like internal explosives, ripping her apart at a cellular level.
"Snap out of it!"
Ichikishima screamed from Matatabi's ear.
"You're a Jinchūriki! You can't lose to a human—KYAA!"
Before she could finish, she let out a screech.
"So this is where you're hiding."
Star Platinum appeared behind her, grabbing her snake body and yanking her out of Matatabi's ear.
Matatabi roared in fury and tried to fight back—
But a foot stomped her head, slamming her into the ground again.
Logan's green Ripple energy surged into the seawater, trapping Matatabi in a watery prison.
Logan looked down at the demon cat, staring through her eyes at the woman inside.
"You said you're not afraid of me?"
He raised a finger.
Star Platinum appeared again.
So did the seawater—rising into the air, forming swords.
Reflected by the fire on the horizon, the blades gleamed like crimson death.
Finally, fear showed in Wooden Golem's eyes.
She screamed and struggled, flames blazing around her—but it was useless.
Logan waved his hand.
The sky rained swords.
Star Platinum punched.
He didn't use Time Stop.
That would be too merciful.
He wanted her to have enough time to reflect on the mistake of ever touching Amber.
Sword after sword fell.
Blow after blow landed.
Matatabi's body was shredded, and her roars turned to cries.
She looked up at Logan, wanting to say something—but he didn't care to listen.
Ripple energy surged again.
More weapons. More punches.
The Two-Tailed Matatabi vanished.
The Wooden Golem lay sprawled on the beach, waves washing over her face.
Pain, shame, rage—all faded into something else.
An emotion she didn't want to admit.
Fear.
Logan stood over her.
"Now… are you scared?"
"I..."
She opened her mouth—but said nothing.
Her head tilted sideways, and she lay still.
She was dead.
> You have slain the Two-Tails Jinchūriki, Wooden Golem.
You obtained 1,100 soul fragments.
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