Chapter 9 – Shukaku: Don't You Dare Come Near Me!
"Forget the one who ran! Focus all forces on this thing! We can't let it destroy the village!"
"What in the hell is this? Since when does puppet jutsu make something like that?" one ANBU shouted, ducking under the monster's massive swinging arm, his voice tinged with disbelief.
Another ANBU slashed the air with a wind-style technique—but the moment the chakra blade touched the statue's surface, it vanished without a trace, as though swallowed whole.
"Careful! Ninjutsu won't work on it!"
"Hold the line! Lord Sasori—leave this to us! Contact the Kazekage immediately—we need every available fighter!" the veteran ANBU captain barked, making the call without hesitation.
"ROOOAAR!"
The Demonic Statue let out another thunderous bellow, its inhuman voice splitting the night. The sound crashed through the air in rolling shockwaves, rattling window frames and shaking loose tiles from nearby rooftops.
Its ponderous steps made the ground quake—each footfall splintered the stone-paved streets like spiderwebs, leaving behind deep craters. Sand from the surrounding air was drawn to it, pulled as if by an invisible current, fusing into its gray-brown surface until it shimmered with an eerie, flowing light.
That earth-shaking roar and the destruction it wrought had already roused the entire village.
Windows that had been black moments ago now glowed with lamplight. Shadows moved in the streets. Cries of alarm, children's wails, ninja shouting orders—all mingled into a rising storm of sound. Panic spread through the quiet desert settlement like a plague.
At the heart of the village, in an unremarkable house, a light flared to life.
Chiyo sat bolt upright, throwing on an outer robe with movements far too quick for someone her age. Her hawk-like eyes were already fixed toward the source of the chaos.
Her younger brother, Ebizō, followed, his brow furrowed deep.
"That… doesn't sound like any ordinary skirmish."
The door burst open and an ANBU messenger dropped to one knee, breath short.
"Elder Chiyo, Lord Ebizō—emergency! A rogue ninja has caused an uproar, summoning a… grotesque, giant statue. It's rampaging through the village!"
"It's—Moze. The shopkeeper who sold puppet materials," the ANBU added quickly. "Lord Sasori engaged him first, but Moze summoned the creature and fled in the confusion."
"What about Sasori? Is he hurt?" Chiyo's question came quick, her tone holding a flicker of something almost too faint to notice.
"Lord Sasori is unharmed. He ordered us to contain the creature—he's holding it back as we speak. Elder, that thing is… extremely abnormal. It absorbs chakra, and its physical defense is formidable. Our initial assessment—its power may rival the One-Tail. But its size is… somewhat smaller."
"On par with Shukaku…" Ebizō repeated, face darkening.
"Lord Sasori has personally gone to request the Kazekage's assistance," the ANBU added.
"To report?" Ebizō's tone dropped, wary. "With all this noise, the Kazekage still needs someone to tell him? Where is he?"
"Not the time for that discussion," Chiyo cut in, her eyes narrowing. She made her decision without hesitation. "I'll go to the scene and take command. The village cannot fall."
She paused at the door, turning to her brother.
"Ebizō—watch the jinchūriki. At a time like this, the One-Tail cannot be allowed to get loose."
He gave a grave nod. "Understood. You be careful too." He hesitated, as if about to say more, but settled for: "And the Kazekage…"
"Handle the crisis first." Chiyo's tone brooked no argument.
But before she could move—
A massive surge of chakra erupted from the opposite end of the village, dwarfing even the Gedo Statue's.
Both Chiyo and Ebizō froze, their expressions turning grim as they whipped their heads toward the source.
Shock and disbelief flashed in their eyes.
"That's… Shukaku!" Ebizō's voice cracked slightly.
Chiyo clenched her fists so tightly her knuckles went white.
"Damn it! Of all times—why now?!"
Almost simultaneously, the Gedo Statue's roar changed pitch.
Its blank Rinnegan eyes snapped toward the source of the One-Tail's chakra.
The mindless destruction stopped.
A new sound rumbled from its throat—not mere rage now, but something like a predator finally catching the scent of long-sought prey.
"ROAAAR—!"
Abandoning the ANBU in front of it, the "miniature" Gedo Statue thundered off toward Shukaku's chakra.
It barreled through buildings and streets without slowing, leaving a straight line of devastation.
"It's after the One-Tail!" someone shouted from afar.
---
On the other side of the village, the home of Bunpuku—the One-Tail's jinchūriki—was already in ruins.
Sand surged around him like a living thing.
Half his body was already armored in tanuki-like markings of the beast within, as he fought desperately to suppress the violent soul raging inside.
"HEY! You deaf or something?! Let me out right now!"
Shukaku's voice shrieked through both Bunpuku's mind and the physical world—grating, furious… and tinged unmistakably with fear.
"That ugly freak is coming for me! You wanna die together, huh? 'Cause if you don't let me out, we're both ending up as its toothpick!"
To the Sand ninja, the creature looked like some incomprehensible summon or forbidden puppet.
But to Shukaku, the feeling was utterly different.
The moment it heard the first roar, the moment those hollow Rinnegan eyes swept over the village, a long-buried terror seized it—
Not the fear of power… but a fundamental, existential dread.
Its chakra signature was strange, its sudden appearance here stranger still…
But Shukaku would swear on its own tail:
That was definitely the Ten-Tails.
---
Far outside the village, in the still desert, a small patch of sand bulged.
A half-sphere of earth cracked open as a simple, stupid-looking head emerged—white, plant-like leaves curling around a blank face.
White Zetsu tilted his head, "looking" toward the village's rising sand clouds, chaotic chakra, and faint roars that somehow carried both destructive force… and a hint of fear.
"Wow," he said in his flat, lifeless voice. "That's not a small commotion. Wonder how many villagers just lost the will to poop."
"…Think Madara will crap himself when he hears about this?"
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