Once a person relaxes, their condition might experience comprehensive decline. If coupled with gradual aging, they might never fully recover.
Though he'd only been Academy principal for a year, Hiruzen Sarutobi's sharpness and judgment had already begun to fade.
He actually couldn't decide between the two thoughts in his mind. Hesitation and killing intent appeared simultaneously.
"We can't let this continue. Even if we deal with the Nine-Tails, the entire village will be destroyed." Zenshu's aged voice was firm and decisive.
This actually snapped Hiruzen back to his senses. His expression immediately turned serious.
"I can stall the Nine-Tails and briefly send it airborne. Do you have a way to repel it?" Zenshu narrowed his eyes, staring fixedly at the beast.
Hiruzen looked at Zenshu's back. He couldn't afford to think too much anymore. Saving the village was paramount.
"I need time."
"Understood."
After speaking, the force field around Zenshu's body erupted instantly.
The entire rooftop was enveloped. Everyone felt a suffocating sense of oppression.
Hiruzen thought this was bad. Just as he prepared to act, he watched Zenshu charge toward the Nine-Tails like a cannonball.
The Nine-Tails' berserk bestial nature displayed an extremely ferocious aura. It roared at the sky and raised its claws high.
In the block enveloped by shadow, civilians' minds went blank. They stared at the Nine-Tails with pure terror.
A few went weak in the knees and slumped to the ground.
"It's over!" A well-dressed middle-aged man broke down screaming.
BOOM.
A deafening sound rang out.
The towering Nine-Tails suddenly jerked backward. A large depression appeared on its chest.
Though the depression was dozens of meters in diameter, it was still minuscule compared to the massive body.
In the center of the circular force field, Zenshu's expression was serious. His left and right hands rotated up and down.
"Rise."
The invisible force field formed a fluctuation—violently spreading ripples outward that swept over the entire Nine-Tails.
BOOM.
Mountains shook. Earth trembled. Smoke and dust rose everywhere.
The Nine-Tails' entire body floated upward. Its massive tails tried to curl downward.
It rose uncontrollably.
Such a behemoth, forcibly levitated into the air, left countless ninjas dumbfounded.
"That's... that's Advisor Zenshu! Advisor Zenshu made a move!"
"We're... we're saved!"
On a rooftop in the rear, Hiruzen—having completed the Summoning Jutsu and holding a large iron staff—felt relief upon seeing this scene.
"Good opportunity. Enma!"
"Understood!"
"Extend!"
The staff aimed at the floating Nine-Tails and instantly expanded, shooting out in the blink of an eye.
It struck the Nine-Tails directly. Violent force erupted. The staff continued extending.
The Nine-Tails looked as if hit by a train—flying toward the village walls' exterior.
In the original story, Hiruzen had forcibly withstood it with his own strength, pushing the Nine-Tails out of the village to stop its continued destruction.
Now, in an airborne state, the Nine-Tails was knocked even further.
Hiruzen quickly withdrew Enma, leaped up, and chased after the beast flying beyond the village.
"Bas...tard... ROAR—!"
The Nine-Tails' roar shattered the surrounding air like a shockwave.
Zenshu's aged face remained completely unmoved. He activated his next technique.
"Eight Directions Golden Lock."
The invisible force field kicked up ripples resembling patterns. The field sank deep into the Nine-Tails' flesh and blood, beginning to rotate like a spiral.
Finally, like a bloody maw, it devoured the Nine-Tails' chakra and flesh.
The ripples gradually filled with golden color, surrounding the giant force field—looking like a golden circular lock.
The devoured flesh and blood gathered toward the center of Zenshu's palm, forming a black hole smaller than a fist.
All the chakra and flesh vanished into this black hole, as if it could never be filled.
The chakra and flesh of a living Nine-Tails is completely different from Tailed Beast chakra that's about to dissipate after death.
Zenshu felt somewhat joyful internally—gaining substantial inspiration for his research ideas.
"ROAR—!"
The Nine-Tails propped itself up. Its ferocious eyes looked down at the source of pain on its chest.
It raised a claw and swatted down.
BANG.
The heavy claw smacked its own chest, causing ripples to spread across its body.
The sensation of pain formed a line, traveling directly toward its shoulder.
Zenshu maintained his sealing stance. The force field—like a stone skipping across ice—moved at high speed to the Nine-Tails' shoulder.
The giant claw landed behind him.
BANG.
But it always missed.
This caused the Nine-Tails' beastly pupils to turn crimson. Even its tails joined in, continuously thrashing at itself.
"Damn... bug!"
The arriving ninjas didn't dare approach. Watching the Nine-Tails frantically attacking itself, they could only surround it from a distance.
Perhaps the Nine-Tails' gaze caught sight of this group of tiny people. The enraged beast regained a sliver of clarity and instantly formed a countermeasure.
It opened its massive maw and began condensing a Tailed Beast Bomb.
A peculiar sense of distortion radiated. The chaotic light cluster—primarily purple—continuously condensed, gathering like water balloons.
"Not good! Stop the Nine-Tails quickly!" Hiruzen's exclamation rang out.
He'd actually already arrived. But seeing that Zenshu could still handle the situation, he hadn't intervened.
Now, seeing the Nine-Tails aiming the Tailed Beast Bomb at the village, he immediately couldn't afford to wait.
At this moment, Zenshu also controlled the force field to travel atop the Nine-Tails' head.
His seal changed. The black hole vanished. The golden patterns dissipated.
"Three Mountains and Five Sacred Peaks."
The originally transparent force field immediately turned translucent—thick and heavy.
BOOM.
The Nine-Tails' head smashed heavily onto the ground. But this force wasn't enough to stop it. The Tailed Beast Bomb was still condensing in its mouth.
Zenshu's expression was serious—looking as if he'd exhausted all his strength.
Why hasn't Minato arrived yet?
He was only pretending to go all out. He had no intention of actually risking his life. But if Minato didn't come to stop the Tailed Beast Bomb soon, things would turn problematic.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Powerful air pressure erupted from above. A giant toad capable of contending with the Nine-Tails descended from the sky.
BOOM.
The Nine-Tails' entire body was pinned down. The powerful force made its body sink deep into the ground.
The strong impact caused surrounding earth to bulge directly. The shockwave overturned large trees.
"Separate from the Nine-Tails quickly!"
Minato Namikaze's voice rang out with a hint of urgency.
The thick force field instantly returned to transparency—violently bouncing up to separate from the Nine-Tails.
The very next moment, the Nine-Tails vanished.
"Even the Nine-Tails was teleported?" Hiruzen felt somewhat shocked watching this scene.
"Blergh!"
"Lord Advisor, what's wrong with you?"
Zenshu spat out fresh blood, even bleeding from his seven orifices. Several Jonin behind him supported him with concern.
"It's nothing major." He waved his hand. "Anyway, my body only has a year or two left."
Now was exactly the time to feign misery. Zenshu wouldn't waste such an opportunity.
Many ninjas around looked at him with concern. They'd seen everything that just happened with their own eyes.
Some who hadn't considered Zenshu's family as true Konoha ninjas also changed their views internally.
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