Earlier, Yoruha's whip kick had completely enraged the beast.
Especially because the aura emanating from Yoruha's body was filled with the same vitality as the First Hokage's — and that was precisely what it hated the most.
Back then, it had been living peacefully in the wild when the First Hokage inexplicably captured it and sealed it inside his wife.
For decades after that, it had been trapped within various jinchūriki, suffering endlessly.
Naruto's body was actually one of the better hosts it had experienced.
During the time it was sealed inside Uzumaki Mito and Uzumaki Kushina, it wasn't just sealed — its body had been nailed down against a massive boulder, subjected to all kinds of torment and punishment.
Even for a tailed beast, that agony — as if its skin had been flayed off several times over — burned itself deep into its memory, along with the face of the one responsible for its misery.
The being it hated most — the one it loathed above all others — was the First Hokage.
Yoruha gazed at Naruto across from him.
He could feel the Nine-Tails' chakra surging violently within Naruto.
"The Nine-Tails' chakra is getting stronger. Looks like it's breaking through the seal. If I don't wake Naruto up soon, Konoha's going to be in big trouble."
There was no helping it — as a ninja of Konoha, Yoruha knew he had to clean up the situation now.
He clasped his hands together once more and began weaving seals.
"Lightning Release: Roar of Thunder!" (This one is a created technique)
Crackle!
Rooaar!
In an instant, a golden thunder dragon materialized before Yoruha, arcs of lightning crackling across its massive body.
With a surge of chakra, Yoruha sent the thunder dragon diving straight into the nearby water dragon he had summoned.
The water dragon's once-clear body began to gleam with dazzling golden light as the lightning infused it, blazing like a miniature sun against the dark night sky.
The sight left everyone around utterly terrified.
The colossal water dragon — now glowing and roaring — looked indistinguishable from a real dragon.
In truth, this was just a combined ninjutsu Yoruha had created by merging Water Release and Lightning Release.
However, because Yoruha's chakra was derived from natural energy — and was unique in nature — the dragons he formed through ninjutsu seemed to possess awareness of their own.
Though Yoruha himself didn't realize this.
It was similar to how Hashirama Senju's wooden constructs appeared to have consciousness.
Still, the sheer size of Yoruha's water dragon was staggering.
For comparison, the Wood Human Technique was only several dozen meters tall, and even the Buddha statue of the "Top Transformation into Buddha" technique stood at around three hundred meters.
Yet the dragon Yoruha created with Water Release alone reached an astonishing three hundred meters in length.
It was as if he could summon a giant summoned beast himself — just as Hashirama didn't need one when he could rely solely on his wood techniques.
Of course, Yoruha was unaware of all this.
He was still preoccupied with finding a contract beast that suited him.
Standing on the ocean's surface, Yoruha looked at Naruto. The Nine-Tails' chakra around him was growing increasingly intense.
He couldn't afford to wait any longer.
Channeling his chakra, Yoruha sent the lightning-infused water dragon hurtling toward Naruto.
Rooaar!
The massive dragon surged forward.
Its enormous body tore through the air, whipping up violent gusts that churned the sea into towering waves several meters high.
Despite its size, the dragon moved incredibly fast, enhanced by the lightning chakra coursing through it.
In the blink of an eye, it crossed several hundred meters, slamming straight into Naruto.
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
Naruto tried to dodge, but the dragon was too fast and too vast — its range of attack was overwhelming.
In an instant, the dragon's jaws engulfed him and plunged into the depths of the sea.
The massive creature's body was so long that part of it still coiled above the water for several seconds before fully submerging, creating a monumental splash that sent walls of seawater hundreds of meters high into the air.
The resulting shockwaves produced waves tens of meters tall, surging toward the bridge nearby.
If no one stopped it, the bridge — which the workers of the Land of Waves had painstakingly built — would be destroyed by the oncoming waves.
Yoruha sighed helplessly.
"Always having to hold back… I can't even go all out without worrying about that bridge behind me. What a hassle."
Despite his grumbling, he quickly clasped his hands again and unleashed another jutsu.
"Water Release: Water Colliding Wave!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Before him, a towering wall of water rose tens of meters high and surged toward the incoming waves.
The two forces collided in the distance, and the massive waves instantly subsided, collapsing into a shower of smaller sprays.
Though the retreating water still churned up several-meter-high waves, the bridge could withstand that much.
After dispersing the tsunami, Yoruha activated his sensory ability and raced toward Naruto's location.
Several kilometers away, Naruto was floating unconscious on the sea's surface.
Reaching his side, Yoruha checked his pulse.
"Good — he's alive. That Water-Dragon Bullet combined with Lightning Release really packed a punch. Even Naruto in his Two-Tails form couldn't withstand it."
He noticed Naruto's body still trembling slightly.
That confirmed it — the lightning had stunned him when he was blasted into the sea.
Water Release handled the impact, while Lightning Release delivered the paralysis.
"Looks like Lightning Release was the real MVP here… it completely dispelled his Two-Tails transformation."
A normal Water-Dragon Bullet wouldn't have been enough to knock Naruto out or even hurt him seriously in that form.
But the added lightning disrupted the Nine-Tails' chakra flow entirely.
Once the external chakra was scattered, the Fourth Hokage's sealing formula kicked in.
With too little chakra outside, the Nine-Tails lost its medium of transmission — and under the seal's restriction, it could no longer supply Naruto with chakra.
Unless Naruto were conscious enough to voluntarily release the seal and accept the Nine-Tails' power again, it was over.
But since Naruto was knocked out cold by the lightning, there was no chance of that.
Yoruha hadn't expected it to end so easily — one move, and the crisis was over.
At least everything had been resolved without disaster.
He hoisted Naruto onto his shoulder and began walking back toward the bridge.
Meanwhile, on Kakashi's side, Zabuza had already fled.
And who could blame him? After witnessing Yoruha's power firsthand, sticking around would have been suicide.
With Naruto neutralized, Yoruha's next opponent would've been Haku — and Zabuza knew Haku didn't stand a chance against him.
Once Yoruha finished with Haku and teamed up with Kakashi, Zabuza would be doomed.
The strength Yoruha had displayed earlier was more than enough to earn Zabuza's respect — he was certain Yoruha had already reached elite jōnin, perhaps even Kage-level strength.
Even Kakashi had struggled against him; facing Yoruha alone, Zabuza knew he wouldn't survive.
If he didn't run now, he wouldn't get another chance.
Back on the bridge, Yoruha laid Naruto down and glanced toward Sakura in the distance.
"Sakura, I'll leave him to you."
Snapped out of her daze by his voice, Sakura quickly ran over, still unable to take her eyes off Yoruha.
His battle against Kurosuji Raiga had already been intense, but it was nothing compared to the awe-inspiring power of his water-lightning combination technique just now.
Yoruha's strength was monstrous — inhuman.
Thankfully, he was on their side.
Sakura didn't even want to imagine what it would be like if someone like Yoruha stood against them — who in the world could possibly win?
As she stared at his calm, handsome face, smiling gently, she couldn't reconcile it with the godlike figure she'd just witnessed moments ago.
Yoruha didn't care what she thought. After setting Naruto down, he said,
"Sakura, check Naruto's injuries and patch him up."
"I'll go retrieve Sasuke."
With that, he vanished.
Sakura nodded and began examining Naruto's condition, silently grateful that Yoruha had come with them for this mission. Otherwise, they might all have died here.
Of course, she didn't know that — even without Yoruha — they still would have completed the mission successfully.