At the rear of the Allied Forces.
Lee glanced at Kiba, who was riding on Akamaru's back, and said,
"Kiba, did you ever hear Shinju say something?"
Kiba: "What?"
Lee: "Ride a dog, ruin your pants."
Kiba: "Lee, have you seriously gone bad?! (눈益눈)"
They had barely talked for a few seconds before the Allied Forces' front line had already clashed with the White Zetsu army!!
As they sprinted forward, Kiba looked back and saw that among the ninja behind them, someone was also wearing Shinju's red chakra cloak.
He pointed in that direction.
"Lee, look—over there in the medical unit… that person wearing the red chakra coat… isn't that Ino?! (´°Δ°`)"
"After the war, you can go work as an intelligence gatherer for Konoha! You talk too damn much!"
Kiba: →_→
...
Rear of the battlefield — the medical unit.
Ino was the only one among the medical team wearing Shinju's chakra cloak.
But the cloak she wore wasn't something she received from Naruto — it came from Shinju's "special concern" for her in the past.
The Shinju chakra sealed inside her mark had been drawn out by Naruto's own mark-chakra!
Back when the main group's chakra cloaks vanished, Shinju had used Mind Body Transmission to have a private conversation with Ino, telling her to make full use of the mark's chakra and, with medical ninjutsu, take care of everyone on the battlefield!
Now, Ino looked toward the battle in the distance, stepped back a little, found an empty patch of ground, bit her finger, and formed hand seals!!
"Summoning Technique!!!"
"Fwoooosh!!!"
A massive cloud of smoke erupted!
Within the smoke, the giant slug from Ryūchi Cave revealed its true form!!
Except… this slug was way bigger than any she had ever summoned before.
Much, much bigger!!
...
At the very front of the Allied battle line—
Tsunade heard the enormous commotion behind her and turned to look…
She swallowed.
"Gulp~"
ヽ( ຶ▮ ຶ)ﾉ!!!
A giant slug nearly a thousand meters tall!!
Who the hell summoned that?!!
Normally, the limit of what she could summon was just about one-tenth that size!
Did someone just drag the Slug Sage of Ryūchi Cave here entirely?!
Isn't that just a little rude?! (꒪⌓꒪)
Wait—was it Shinju who summoned it? But he shouldn't even be on the battlefield! ⊙▽⊙
...
Meanwhile—
Ryūchi Cave, one of the Three Great Sage Lands.
The Slug Sage was gaunt and hollow-eyed!!
It yelled furiously:
"Who did this?! (ꐦ°᷄д°᷅)"
"Even if they can, they shouldn't summon away all my split bodies!! ꒦ິ^꒦ິ"
"With only one main body left, I feel extremely unsafe!"
"And why didn't they summon me along with them—trying to leave me a shred of dignity as a Sage?! (▼ヘ▼#)"
"Wow, thank you SO much!!! (▼皿▼#)"
...
Very soon, Tsunade noticed Ino standing behind the battlefield wearing Shinju's chakra cloak, and instantly relaxed.
"Shinju really dotes on his little girlfriend, huh. (´∇ﾉ｀*)ノ"
The moment she finished speaking—
BOOM!!!
A hand of one of the colossal Thousand-Armed Buddhas smashed down right in front of Tsunade!
If the Raikage hadn't reacted quickly and shoved her aside, that hit would've taken Tsunade ages to recover from!
Raikage: "We're in a war! What the hell were you spacing out about!! (*Ӧ)σ"
Tsunade: "Sorry, was thinking of something funny… but damn, that Buddha's strike speed is insane… (≖╻≖;)"
Raikage: "No shit! Look carefully—standing on top of that Buddha's head is your grandpa!! (ꐦ°᷄д°᷅)"
For a moment Tsunade couldn't tell if he was warning her… or roasting her…
...
Behind the battlefield, the massive slug had already split into tens of thousands of smaller bodies!
Each split body clung onto a different Allied ninja!
At the same time, Ino held her hand seals, maintaining the healing formation—ensuring every Allied ninja received treatment the instant they were injured!!
...
In the chaotic battlefield—
Lee kicked a White Zetsu away, but the next second, an Edo Tensei ninja slashed across his left chest!
Immediately, the small slug on Lee's shoulder released green healing chakra!!
Two seconds later, Lee's wound fully closed!
Lee: "This healing jutsu is incredible! Instant recovery—I can take on ten!! (´◊ω◊｀)"
Kiba: "Careful!! …This is not the time to get cocky… fine, I admit it—giving the chakra cloaks to the medical ninja was definitely the right choice! ୧⍢⃝୨"
Not far from them, Yugito — Kumogakure's former Two-Tails jinchuriki — was slaughtering White Zetsu!
She fought brutally, ninjutsu and taijutsu flowing relentlessly, basically a walking meat grinder.
Kiba's sharp ears picked up her muttering as she killed:
"I'm so mad, so mad!! Why didn't they give me a chakra cloak?! If you're willing to give one to that blond little medical ninja, why not give one to me?! (´⌒`｡)"
"If I had it, I'd be way more useful than her!!"
"Shinju!! You heartless jerk!! You have no heart at all!!! (*꒦ິ⌓꒦ີ)"
Kiba: •﹏•
"Women's jealousy is terrifying… her battle power just skyrocketed…"
Just then, Yugito got ambushed—an Edo Tensei ninja sliced off her arm, blood spraying everywhere!
At first, Yugito panicked, until she heard Shinju's voice in her mind:
"Are you fighting without using your brain now? Pick up your arm and reattach it—the medical chakra will handle the rest!"
Yugito pouted but did as told.
Soon, with the slug's healing, her arm was fully reconnected!
But that wasn't what mattered most—the important thing was…
Shinju spoke to her!!!
Yugito smiled like she'd been blessed by the heavens!!
Private chat!
Shinju definitely still liked her! ⸜(๑--0027ᵕ--0027๑)⸝
"Hmph (╯^╰), fine, I'll forgive you for not giving me a cloak this time."
"That little blond's healing is actually super useful on the battlefield…"
On the battlefield, things were going extremely well!
Several top-tier fighters were wearing red chakra cloaks, and with Ino's overwhelming healing support, the Allied Forces had a massive advantage!
Even though the Akatsuki had two monstrous Buddha statues, they ultimately weren't controlled by Hashirama's true will, and it looked like they couldn't stop victory's momentum from shifting toward the Allied side…
That was what everyone in the Allied Forces was thinking.
Just when morale was highest and everyone felt victory was near—
"RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE——!!"
The earth began to shake!!
Then—
CRACKKK——!!!
Everyone followed the sound to its source—
The Ten-Tails, which had been staying still in its crater, suddenly expanded, transforming into a new form—its height nearly reaching a thousand meters!!
The Masked Man, currently fighting the two Edo Hokage, burst into crazed laughter when he saw it!
"Even with Shinju's chakra blessing—so what?!"
"The Ten-Tails has completed its transformation…"
"I told you!! This shinobi world has no hope left!! ୧⍢⃝୨"