Motomu used his Psychokinesis to firmly press against Shukaku's neck, forcing the giant tanuki's mouth upward and changing the trajectory of the attack.
CRACK!
The Psychokinesis shield shattered, and yellow sand poured through the breach.
Feeling his chakra beginning to run dry, Motomu's eyes sharpened as he immediately realized the situation.
The Dragon Vein could no longer hold out.
After four days of unrestrained use, the Dragon Vein—once claimed to be infinite—had finally reached its limit.
His current chakra recovery rate could barely support half of his original Psychokinesis output.
However...
The enraged Shukaku had mostly exhausted its initial flurry of powerful attacks.
Seeing that the sphere condensing in its mouth was no longer a Tailed Beast Bomb but a Vacuum Bullet, Motomu saw another opportunity.
An opportunity to defeat a Tailed Beast.
It would be a total loss to consume such a heavenly opportunity as the Dragon Vein without killing the White Snake Sage or gaining any rewards.
Whether it was the White Snake Sage or Shukaku...
At least one of them had to stay behind.
The Vacuum Bullet grazed the Psychokinesis barrier.
Motomu's Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly, and the Pentagram Mangekyo formed in an instant.
Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes!
Although the Genjutsu cast by his Mangekyo wasn't the specific one Uchiha Madara used to control Tailed Beasts, it was enough to make Shukaku freeze.
Taking advantage of that moment of hesitation, blood streaked from the corners of Motomu's eyes. The Psychokinesis he controlled through his tools erupted directly from the fragments that had just seeped into the beast's body.
The erupting Psychokinesis burst out from within Shukaku's body like a hedgehog's spines.
"Found you!"
Within Motomu's perception, a flesh-and-blood figure inside Shukaku's sand body had an arm severed by the Psychokinesis.
This person was Shukaku's vital point, Bunpuku.
Without hesitation, the Psychokinesis snapped the old monk's neck in an instant.
"Human! I'll remember you!"
As the Jinchuriki's life force vanished, Shukaku's sandy body began to crumble, starting from its arms.
The system notification for a successful Gym Challenge rang out in Motomu's mind.
He had no time to pay attention to the system.
Motomu felt a sudden wave of emptiness as the chakra flowing from the Dragon Vein vanished completely.
Already unable to keep up with the consumption, he lost his support and fell toward the ground.
The dissipating waves of Shukaku's sand submerged him like a waterfall.
Motomu was buried deep beneath the sea of sand.
A few seconds later, just as one of his hands reached out from the sand dune...
The sound of two pairs of footsteps landing nearby reached his ears.
"Even the Tailed Beast was killed?"
Sasori's youthful voice echoed above Motomu's head in the silence.
"No, Tailed Beasts aren't as powerful as people imagine."
"Sasori, as a genius of our Hidden Sand Village, you must remember one thing: in the face of a top-tier ninja, a Tailed Beast is nothing more than a plaything."
"In the era of the God of Shinobi, to that man, Tailed Beasts were used for trade."
"With your talent, Sasori, perhaps you can become such an existence for our Sand Ninja."
Motomu listened to the conversation.
Since Sasori was here, the other person should be the Third Kazekage.
Right now, his chakra, physical strength, and mental energy could no longer support even a Ninja Academy-level battle.
He couldn't even use the summoning resonance with Ekans to have it reverse-summon him.
Using his thin remaining Psychokinesis, he propped up a small underground space to provide a brief moment of breath.
Motomu silently urged the two to leave quickly.
"I understand. Then, Lord Kazekage, as the one with the title of the strongest in history... are you also a powerhouse like that?"
Sasori's calm voice rang out.
However, Motomu detected something wrong in those words.
'Is Sasori going to make his move? Now?'
As the thought crossed Motomu's mind...
The sounds from outside fell silent.
After a long while...
An unknown liquid began pitter-pattering on the ground like rain.
It seeped through the sand and flowed through the cracks onto Motomu's face.
It was warm and slippery.
If it wasn't urine, then it was blood.
And above him, the only one who could provide either was the Third Kazekage.
The man hailed as the strongest Kazekage in history.
He was dead.
Before he could even let out a grunt, he had been cleanly backstabbed by Sasori.
A heavy object was dragged across the shifting sands.
Sasori's voice, now slightly raspy, sounded again.
"A pity. You weren't as powerful as you claimed to be."
After the voice faded into the distance, Motomu waited for a long time before emerging from underground.
His relationship with Sasori wasn't deep. If Sasori found out he was here in his current state, there was no guarantee he wouldn't become part of his 'art' collection.
Motomu breathed in the fresh air.
The last sliver of the sunset vanished over the horizon.
Having recovered a small portion of his strength, enough to use the summoning for Ekans, Motomu stood up and walked toward the Kingdom of Loulan.
Loulan, or perhaps calling it the Ruins of Loulan was more fitting.
Ekans, who had stayed with his two teammates, had already told him about the events in Loulan during the days Motomu was fighting for his life against the White Snake Sage.
His teammates from the Hyuga and Yamanaka clans hadn't died; they had retreated in time after abandoning the mission and weren't killed by the Snake Princess.
Meanwhile, Ekans had been running wild throughout Loulan City with the two Snake Himes.
As Snake Himes of Ryuchi Cave, they didn't care about civilian casualties; the two even intentionally knocked down buildings to vent their frustration.
More than half of Loulan had been destroyed.
This continued until Ekans was summoned away by Anko.
Stepping on broken bricks and tiles, Motomu returned alone to the site of the Dragon Vein.
The seal on the opened part of the Dragon Vein was still there, but without the overflowing chakra, it seemed quite peaceful.
Finding a clean corner amidst the ruins of the ancient kingdom, he sat down.
First, he needed to check the condition of the Heart.
At the very least, he needed to know where the Heart was getting experience from now that the Dragon Vein was empty.
He switched his perspective.
Through the Heart's vision, everything was a fiery red, as if it were tumbling through lava.
From time to time, system notifications for experience gain appeared.
The Heart's location was somewhat peculiar. Motomu used his Psychokinesis, controlled via his tools, to reach deep into the cracks of the seal.
Pitch black, an endless darkness.
Clearly, he wouldn't be able to retrieve the Heart anytime soon. Motomu didn't rush; he split his Psychokinesis into three parts to continue exploring separately.
Motomu then opened the system notifications from defeating the One-Tail, Shukaku.
[DING!]
[CONGRATULATIONS TRAINER ON COMPLETING THE GYM CHALLENGE!]
Challenger: Motomu
Current Gym: Desert Gym - Level 40-50 Area
Challenge Target: Persian, One-Tail Shukaku (Trainer Bunpuku)
Challenge Level: LV.47
Recommended Challenge Level: LV.47-LV.48
Perhaps it was because the monk Bunpuku wasn't a Sand Ninja.
The gym was displayed as the Desert Gym.
Without dwelling on those details, Motomu continued looking down.
[RIGHT EYE (LEVEL 38) USED PSYCHOKINESIS!]
[IT'S SUPER EFFECTIVE!]
[PERSIAN WAS SPLIT APART]
[HP-21271]
[BATTLE SUCCESSFUL]
[RIGHT EYE ABSORBED EXPERIENCE]
[RIGHT EYE EXPERIENCE +6000]
[OBTAINED ITEM: EVOLUTION STONE]
[OBTAINED GYM BADGE: SAND BADGE]
[DETECTED THAT THE TRAINER HAS COLLECTED 2 GYM BADGES. THE ELIGIBILITY FOR THE THIRD POKEMON IS NOW UNLOCKED!]
Checking the system space, a golden-yellow badge appeared.
[SAND BADGE]
[A PROOF OF THE TRAINER'S STRENGTH.]
[USE THIS TO UNLOCK THE ELIGIBILITY TO RAISE A THIRD POKEMON.]
Taking advantage of the time spent searching for the Heart, Motomu chose to use the eligibility immediately.
"System, unlock the eligibility to raise a Pokémon."
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