Tsunade shook her head and replied, "Unlikely. Zetsu already showed Wood Release when he attacked the daimyō, so it's entirely possible they created a wooden Buddha statue…"
Hearing that, the Raikage covered his face.
"There was already one of those, and now with the First Hokage added, that makes two big Buddhas. How are we supposed to fight that? Σ( ° △ °|||)︴"
Ōnoki stared wide-eyed.
"I'm an old man and I'm not complaining yet. What are you all panicking for? (눈‸눈)"
"Raikage, put away that pathetic face of yours. You've lived through the last Great War. Don't let something this small crush your spirit. ٩(๑`^´๑)۶"
The Raikage muttered, "The last war didn't have Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama. (||๐_๐)"
The Kazekage countered, "And the last war didn't have Shinju."
The Raikage shrugged helplessly. "If Shinju could fight for us, that'd solve everything. --003d_--003d"
"Speaking of which… can we even trust what those toads from Mount Myōboku said?"
Tsunade cut in: "Didn't you ask this last time? Don't question the Sages! If they said it, they must have their reasons!"
...
Elsewhere.
The Masked Man brought Orochimaru and Kabuto to a hidden, unfamiliar base.
"This time, we really have to thank Zetsu's spore technique. If he hadn't disrupted the First and Second Hokage right when they were about to act, giving me that opening, Kamui wouldn't have been able to pull in the First Hokage so easily."
As he spoke, the Masked Man looked to Orochimaru beside him.
"Whether we can control the First Hokage now depends entirely on you."
Orochimaru smiled with full confidence.
"He was originally revived by my Edo Tensei… as long as I'm given enough preparation time, suppressing him again, erasing his will, and turning him into my tool won't be difficult! ツ"
Half an hour later, Orochimaru was ready.
"Swish!"
A spatial vortex appeared!
The Masked Man activated his ocular jutsu and released the First Hokage from the dimension!
And Hashirama's landing point was precisely the coffin Orochimaru had prepared.
Right after—
Bang!!
The lid slammed shut, and Orochimaru began forming hand seals.
After a series of flashy, complicated manipulations, the two of them finally managed to restrict the First Hokage's movements.
Next, to completely seize Hashirama's consciousness, Orochimaru planted his control talisman deep inside the First Hokage's Edo Tensei skull.
Once everything was complete, Orochimaru stood with hands on hips, extremely pleased with himself.
"Done. վ--0027ᴗ--0027 ի"
Orochimaru continued, "Right, search through the First Hokage's memories from the past two days. There may be something interesting hidden inside."
...
On the land beside the Island Turtle, Shinju was tirelessly hammering away at metal.
The tool he was forging had a noticeably higher degree of completion than the one from two days ago—exactly as Naruto had said, it looked like some kind of iron pot!
Clang, clang, clang—
The hammering continued until, suddenly—it stopped.
Shinju put down his work, removed his apron, and stepped out of the forge hut…
He lifted his head. What he saw first wasn't blue sky or white clouds—but a strange curtain of blue-violet chakra!!
"Huh? A formation? When did this get set up? I didn't hear a thing. (✘_✘)"
Frowning, Shinju tried to use Flying Thunder God—no luck. He couldn't move at all.
The next moment, beneath the shimmering blue-violet barrier, dark clouds formed overhead…
Then the downpour began.
Fwhshhh—
"Again with this move?!"
Shinju knew he absolutely couldn't touch that rain. He instantly used Crystal Release to create a giant shield, blocking every incoming drop.
Once that was done, he formed a seal. "Freeze!!"
The instant he shouted, every raindrop inside the barrier froze solid—along with the entire cloud above!
...
Outside the formation—
The Masked Man sounded extremely smug.
"Didn't expect the First Hokage to know exactly where Shinju was hiding. With our sudden formation, he must be totally caught off guard! ꉂ(ˊᗜˋ*)"
Orochimaru nodded. "From the First Hokage's memories, Naruto was the one who told him Shinju's location… Also—can you please hurry up and make your move? This formation won't hold long! Ծ‸ Ծ"
"This barrier runs on the First Hokage's chakra and the Stone of Gelel, solely to trap Shinju… and using it consumed every Stone of Gelel I had left. If we fail once, there won't be a second try!"
The Masked Man replied, "Don't rush me—I know!"
With that, he summoned the massive Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Fwhshhh—!!
Several chakra-draining chains surged out of the statue's mouth and shot toward Shinju inside the formation!
...
Inside the barrier, Shinju activated his Sharingan and summoned a two-hundred-meter-tall Susanoo Warrior.
Facing the incoming chains, the massive Susanoo swung its Spiral Sword in a brilliant arc—
Clang! Clang! Clang—
Several chains were instantly severed!
However—just as the ones in front were cut—
Whoosh!!
A chain shot in from behind Shinju like a venomous serpent, slipping straight through Susanoo's defenses and stabbing into the tailed-beast seal on Shinju's hand!
By the time he reacted and tried to cut it—
Swish!
The chain had already snapped back at lightning speed—its tip faintly wrapped around some strange, small object…
Once the Demonic Statue's chain retracted, the barrier vanished, as if nothing had happened at all.
Scratching his head, Shinju muttered, "What did that chain just steal?"
Still bewildered, he moved his consciousness into the sealing space.
Seeing the three tailed beasts completely intact, he grew even more confused.
"They're all right here…"
"You guys…"
He was about to ask if any of them felt anything unusual—
Pfft!! ( ˝ᗢ̈˝ )
A snort of laughter came from the Four-Tails!
"What are you laughing at? (￢‸￢) ?" Shinju asked.
As soon as the words left his mouth—
The Six-Tails burst out laughing as well. "Pfft! Hahahahahaha! ꉂ(ˊᗜˋ*)"
Shinju: "Hey! What are you all laughing at?! ꐦ≖ ≖"
Finally, the Four-Tails pointed—barely containing his laughter—toward the silent, sulking Three-Tails…
Following his finger, Shinju looked—and saw that the Three-Tails only had two tails left.
Shinju: "PFFFT—HAHAHAHAHAHA!! (σ≧︎▽︎≦︎)σ"
"Three-Tails, should I call you Three-Tails now or Two-Tails? （＾ワ＾）"
Already naturally looking like a turtle, the Three-Tails' depressed expression shriveled up like a wilted gourd under their teasing. ヾ(༎ຶД༎ຶ)ﾉ
"What's so funny? It's just one tail!"
"We tailed beasts are essentially chakra. If I lose a tail, it'll grow back in a few years. I'm still the Three-Tails! ￣へ￣"
...
Elsewhere.
After yanking off one of the Three-Tails' tails, the Masked Man fled at once with the Demonic Statue.
Once they returned to the base and confirmed it was safe, he said eagerly,
"Finally—we've collected the Three-Tails' chakra! ୧⍢⃝୨"
"Now it's time… for the Ten-Tails to appear!!"
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