But by now, it was already too late to say anything. Since she had come this far, Uzumaki Mito had no intention of leaving alive. She had known from the very beginning that she would be facing the Monkey Sage—and, afterward, the massive army besieging the Uzumaki clan.
"Even if your strength is monstrous, so what? Today, I'll fight you to mutual destruction!"
With those words, Uzumaki Mito no longer hesitated. She directly drove her Nine-Tails Chakra Mode forward, charging straight at her enemy.
On the opposite side, the Monkey Sage remained composed. Watching Mito rush in recklessly, he merely shook his head.
The Monkey tribe had always excelled at taijutsu. For Mito to close the distance like this was a bold challenge.
Yet in the next instant, he noticed something unusual.
As Mito charged forward at blinding speed, the golden fox's mouth continued to condense Tailed Beast Bombs without pause.
"Trying to detonate them at close range… aiming for mutual annihilation?"
The Monkey Sage murmured, his right hand beginning to gather power.
Sure enough, Mito closed to within less than ten meters. Given their enormous sizes, that distance was practically point-blank.
The next moment, Mito fired off ten Tailed Beast Bombs in rapid succession!
The ten orbs formed a self-sustaining system, revolving around one another at high speed, as if governed by some unseen law.
Though each one was smaller than her earlier, massive blast, every single Tailed Beast Bomb was still as large as the Nine-Tails' head.
Fired together, their combined coverage easily exceeded a hundred meters. At such close range, with such overwhelming area of effect, Mito was confident that even the Monkey Sage would be unable to evade.
What followed, however, shattered her understanding of taijutsu.
The Monkey Sage stood his ground, unmoving. His right hand formed a palm, and at a speed invisible to the naked eye, he struck ten times in succession.
Each palm strike met one Tailed Beast Bomb.
In the blink of an eye, the once-dominant Tailed Beast Bombs were all shattered midair, detonating one after another.
At such close range, neither combatant could escape the blast wave. Yet the Monkey Sage's physical prowess was terrifying—he relied purely on the strength of his body and showed no fear whatsoever.
Moreover, the cores of the Tailed Beast Bombs had already been dispersed by his strikes, drastically reducing their destructive power.
Just as the Monkey Sage felt a flicker of triumph—
From within the explosion, dozens of golden chains, each over two meters thick, shot outward!
Seeing them, the Monkey Sage's brow furrowed, and Uzumaki Mito's shout rang out:
"Divine Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Dozens of golden chains struck the Monkey Sage at point-blank range, piercing his arms, shoulders, and dozens of other points across his body in an instant.
Yet no blood flowed from the wounds, as if his physical body itself had not been harmed.
The Monkey Sage immediately tried to move—only to realize that the chains had completely immobilized him. He couldn't move even an inch.
"Chains that target spiritual power… attacking the soul directly rather than the body!"
With his vast experience, the Monkey Sage instantly recognized the jutsu. Though Mito had never used it before, he had watched the Uzumaki clan grow over the years and understood their abilities well.
Still, in his eyes, this was nothing more than a crude trick—at best, it could restrain him for a few breaths. His power and soul far surpassed what an Uzumaki at Super Kage mid-stage could contend with.
At that very moment, the previously shattered Tailed Beast Bombs finally detonated completely.
Another catastrophic explosion erupted, engulfing everything within dozens of kilometers—an even greater blast radius than before.
Watching from afar, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help swallowing hard.
This kind of nation-erasing explosion—he had only ever seen it once before, during the battle at the Valley of the End. He never imagined he would witness such a scene again in his lifetime.
And it only strengthened his resolve: Uzumaki Mito had to die. As long as such terrifying power existed, he would never truly control Konoha.
When the shockwaves finally dissipated, the land within dozens of kilometers had been reduced to barren earth.
Only Uzumaki Mito remained, her Nine-Tails Mode reverting back toward its original form.
She could no longer maintain the full Nine-Tails Mode. Launching ten Tailed Beast Bombs alone was an immense drain, not to mention enduring the blast at such close range.
Now, she would have to rely on the Nine-Tails to refine chakra once more.
Opposite her, the Monkey Sage bore visible injuries as well—but his consumption was clearly far less severe.
Even the Adamantine Sealing Chains binding him had begun to tremble under his struggle.
Looking at the heavily breathing Uzumaki Mito, the Monkey Sage said coldly,
"It's useless. Everything you've done is futile. Wouldn't it be better to accept death quietly?"
Yet despite her extreme weakness, Mito's gaze suddenly hardened.
"I told you—I'd fight you to mutual destruction!"
For the first time, a trace of panic appeared on the Monkey Sage's face.
He had lived for countless years, and situations like this were ones he hadn't faced in ages.
He knew exactly what jutsu Mito was about to use—one that could truly threaten his life.
Sure enough, in the next instant, Uzumaki Mito rapidly formed ten hand seals, then brought her hands together.
Staring straight at the Monkey Sage, she shouted:
"Reaper Death Seal!!"
The moment those words were spoken, the Monkey Sage's eyes widened in shock.
He had heard of this technique—the legendary seal said to be capable of binding even sages.
It was the strongest sealing jutsu in the Uzumaki clan's history.
Its terror lay in the fact that it could ignore the gap in strength between user and target—but only if the enemy was firmly restrained.
And the price for using it… was the user's own soul.
At that moment, the Monkey Sage finally lost his composure.
"Are you insane?! If you do this, you'll die too!"
The longer one lives, the more one fears death—and no phrase suited the Monkey Sage better.
He had lived for countless years, long accustomed to existing beyond the bounds of life and death. Now, faced with true mortality, he panicked for the first time before Uzumaki Mito.
But Mito showed no pity. In her heart, she silently murmured:
"So it seems… I won't live to see Konoha rise again, or peace return to the shinobi world…"
Her chakra surged as she prepared to activate the Reaper Death Seal—
But in the next instant, a familiar figure appeared before her.
That man seized her clasped hands, stopping the jutsu cold, and said with commanding calm:
"Leave the rest to me."