A nearby Konoha jonin smacked the back of the head of a chuunin standing beside him. The chuunin jolted and broke into a cold sweat.
The jonin barked with anger, "Takagi, you brat, are you a spy sent by Iwagakure?"
"It is one thing to get overwhelmed by that enemy shinobi earlier, but how did you almost injure our commander? Your tachi was only a few steps away. Do you still want to become a jonin?"
Takagi's face tightened as if he was about to cry. He did not dare to speak a single word.
The jonin captain was about to continue scolding him, but his words stopped when his eyes landed on the scar on Takagi's face.
The boy had been struck in the cheek by an Iwagakure kunai a month ago. He had barely avoided death, but the blade still tore through a large portion of his flesh.
Ever since then, his comrades often joked that he had already become ugly, and it would only be harder for him to find a girlfriend now.
At that moment, another shinobi nearby suddenly shouted, "Captain, look!"
Not only him, several Konoha shinobi nearby widened their eyes at the same time.
In the distance of the battlefield, a figure calmly bent down, picked up a kunai, and pulled a tachi from a fallen body. It looked like he intended to continue the battle without hesitation.
Hayashi turned slightly and gave a thumbs up.
His teeth flashed with an almost exaggerated sparkle, as if they had been polished to perfection.
The surrounding shinobi froze for a second, then a wave of frustration and admiration passed through them. Takagi, without realizing it, had just witnessed something he would be bragging about for the rest of his life.
Among all Konoha shinobi present, who did not recognize the hero who had shaken the entire shinobi world?
The jonin captain chuckled and gave Takagi another light slap on the head. "Does it still hurt?"
Takagi grinned, accidentally pulling on his wound. He winced but still managed to laugh through the pain.
"It hurts my ass," he said through clenched teeth, still smiling brightly.
On the battlefield, Hayashi adjusted his grip on the tachi and moved forward again.
The weapon was nothing special, just an ordinary blade. After repeated clashes with kunai, cracks had already begun to form along its edge.
That alone was enough to show how many Iwagakure shinobi he had cut down in such a short time.
He thought casually that after the war, he might return this tachi to that chuunin, if the boy survived.
Without any elite shinobi capable of stopping him, Hayashi's presence felt like a massive boulder dropped into a flowing river, forcing chaos and waves in every direction.
Yet his movement was not random.
He was advancing steadily toward Kushina.
At that moment, Kushina was engaged in combat with Han, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki.
Adamantine Sealing Chains!
Kushina's expression was serious. From behind her, nine golden chains erupted outward, formed from pure chakra. They interwove in midair, creating a net that shot toward Han.
"What is this?" Han muttered in shock.
His momentum could not be stopped. He crashed directly into the chains, instantly stretching them to their limit.
His forward movement slowed sharply.
One of his arms pushed through the gaps in the net, stopping only a hand's width away from Kushina's face, yet he could not advance even a single step further.
Kushina panted lightly, focusing her chakra as she tightened the chains around him.
Han struggled with all his strength, but the bindings refused to loosen.
"These chains… they are a sealing technique, very strong," the Five-Tails said coldly within his mind space.
Tailed Beasts naturally feared such chakra constructs.
The chains around Han suddenly tightened again, wrapping around his neck as if trying to crush him entirely.
"Ugh," Han grunted, his expression changing.
"Give me chakra if you do not want to die," he shouted urgently.
The Five-Tails snorted in disdain.
Dark red chakra burst from Han's body, forming a dense layer around him. It rapidly thickened into a full cloak of tailed beast chakra.
In moments, the chakra compressed into a complete shroud, covering his entire body. Horn-like protrusions grew from his head, and three tails extended behind him, turning him into a humanoid beast of condensed chakra.
The transformation snapped the Adamantine Sealing Chains apart.
Freed, Han immediately fell into a violent rampage.
Five Mountain Jump!
His body erupted with steam as he slammed forward with terrifying force, crashing into Kushina.
A heavy impact sent her flying backward.
But midair, Kushina's eyes sharpened. A faint red aura began to rise from her body, forming a visible energy that contrasted sharply with her pale skin.
In terms of tailed beast control, Han was clearly inferior to her. There was a noticeable gap in their mastery.
The Nine-Tails, however, was deliberately restraining its chakra output, allowing Kushina to gain real combat experience.
Han, the Five-Tails jinchuriki, was still an experienced powerhouse, close to Kage level.
Even so, under the Nine-Tails' interference, he could not truly harm Kushina.
As Kushina landed, the leaking chakra around her body intensified, wrapping around her like a protective current.
The number of chains increased.
Swish, swish.
Nine Adamantine Sealing Chains extended once again, slicing through the air like living extensions of her will.
"The same trick will not work twice," Han growled.
Another tail burst from his body.
Now with four tails, his control over himself had completely faded. The Five-Tails had taken full control.
He kicked off the ground with explosive speed, dodging the first chain and veering sharply to the side.
The golden chains twisted and pursued him like hunting limbs, forming a tightening net above.
Han slammed his chakra tails into the ground, using the rebound force to launch himself upward, escaping the encirclement.
Then, like a meteor, he descended directly toward Kushina.
At that moment, two additional chakra tails formed behind Kushina.
The Nine-Tails was preparing to guide her further, but suddenly fell silent.
A young figure appeared instantly in front of her.
Hayashi stood with his back to Kushina.
A blue skeletal structure erupted around him, blocking the incoming attack.
The Nine-Tails within Kushina seemed briefly amused.
The skeleton expanded further, evolving into a full armored form.
Karasu Tengu armor formed over the construct, now reinforced by chakra.
The Nine-Tails clicked its tongue and withdrew its chakra entirely.
Majestic attire, Susanoo.
It had lost control of the situation.
Hayashi looked slightly awkward.
The Nine-Tails inside Kushina glared at the sealed beast, while the Five-Tails hesitated, sensing danger.
The blue giant lifted its arm, grabbing the opponent midair.
Chakra chains reappeared from Kushina's body, restraining Han once more.
Susanoo drew a massive blade and brought it down in a clean arc.
Four tails were severed instantly.
High above the battlefield, Ōnoki hovered in silence.
The Iwagakure forces were thinning rapidly.
There was no longer any possibility of turning the tide.
For a brief moment, he thought back to the stone passed down from the Second Tsuchikage, a symbol of responsibility he had once accepted.
It felt light in his hand back then.
Now it felt unbearably heavy.
He had not fulfilled the expectations of those who came before him.
The realization settled in like dust.
The gamble was lost.
In the thirty-ninth year of Konoha, war erupted between Konoha and Iwagakure in the Land of Earth.
Iwagakure was defeated.
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, declared surrender.
===
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