The torrential river of earth surged high, burying the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki completely in an instant!
However, at that very moment, the earth began to groan and shake. A black sphere radiating a terrifying aura suddenly blasted a massive hole through the mud river, piercing the torrent and snapping the stone pillars like twigs! Accompanied by a peerless storm, it briefly crossed paths with Ren Uchiha.
Ren wasn't stupid. A Tailed Beast Bomb fired by the complete Nine-Tails possessed a level of power that was truly horrifying. Taking it with a clone was fine, but if he took it with his main body, he'd likely lose all combat capability even if he survived.
The forbidden jutsu Body Revival wasn't omnipotent. It was still a prototype, an incomplete form of high-speed regeneration. Against damage that exceeded a certain threshold, it simply couldn't repair fast enough.
Seeing the threat, Ren leapt from his pillar. In mid-air, he swept a handful of kunai from his tool pouch, throwing them with precision so they embedded themselves into the surrounding stone pillars. He tugged on the wires attached to his fingers, swinging through the forest of stone.
Strands of Earth Grudge Fear threads shot out, anchoring him to the pillars, allowing him to glide and dive like an eagle through the night sky.
Behind him, the Nine-Tails sat amidst the ruins of the mud river, tearing through the earth and firing a barrage of Tailed Beast Bombs at the sky!
Continuous Tailed Beast Barrage!
Yet, under the influence of his expanded Combat Instinct, Ren didn't even need to look. The trajectories of the Nine-Tails' attacks were etched clearly into his mind. The spheres whistled past him, missing by mere inches!
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
They traced arcs across the sky, flying another eight hundred meters before slamming into the far reaches of the Forest of Death, triggering a dense chain of explosions.
BOOM!!!
Startled birds took flight, and trees were turned to ash by the gales of residual leaves. It was a terrifying display, but as long as it didn't hit its target, it was all wasted effort.
At this point, the Nine-Tails' fury reached a new peak. Its crimson vertical pupils locked onto Ren.
"Damned Uchiha brat... you're like a persistent flea!!!"
In the next moment, pushed to its absolute limit, the Nine-Tails finally broke through the final restraints of Kushina's seal. The ninth tail suddenly manifested!
With the appearance of the ninth tail, a pillar of terrifying crimson chakra shot into the sky. Within that light, a massive, skinless fox skull lunged forward, baring its teeth in a hideous snarl!
The head alone was larger than the Manda that Ren had once summoned. The Nine-Tails had inevitably reached the stage of full manifestation. This form had once appeared during the battle between Naruto and Pain—the eight-tailed form alone was enough to break through Nagato's Chibaku Tensei.
And that was only half of the Nine-Tails! Ren was facing the complete entity.
In an instant, the crimson pillar pushed out a ring-like shockwave, causing the earth to tremble and snapping several of the massive pillars Ren had created with Inorganic Reincarnation. Watching the titan emerge, Ren paused his movements, his brow furrowing.
The situation was spiraling beyond his expectations. The mere aura of the full manifestation was enough to nearly collapse the cage he had built. His plan to suppress the beast was hitting a stalemate.
What now?
As Ren calculated his next move, another mutation occurred! Dozens of golden chains erupted from the ground, tightly binding the Nine-Tails as it tried to solidify its form.
Sealing Jutsu: Adamantine Sealing Chains!
Kushina, the Jinchūriki, had finally reclaimed her consciousness at the last second. Facing a situation that seemed beyond salvation, she was making her final struggle!
Ren's eyes lit up. Coordinating with the chains, he dove head-first from the top of a pillar, plummeting toward the Nine-Tails. The wind whipped at his roots, sending his long black hair dancing wildly.
As he fell, Ren looked the Nine-Tails in the eye, clapped his hands together, and roared:
"Nine-Tails! You are too powerful... I must seal you!"
Hearing those familiar words, the fox froze. Its thrashing body actually trembled for a moment, and it stopped its struggle. It could never forget the last person who had said those words—the man who claimed the fox was "too powerful" while summoning a wooden titan that had haunted the fox's nightmares for a thousand years. That 300-meter-tall wooden man had swatted it down with one palm and nearly crushed the life out of it.
To hear those same words again from this Uchiha brat—who looked like a tiny chick compared to Hashirama—made the Nine-Tails want to laugh with rage, followed by a surge of unbearable humiliation!
It turned its head and barked: "Arrogant brat! Who do you think you are to say such things?! Once I break these chains, I'll—"
Before it could finish, Ren's lips curled into a manic grin. His eyes widened, and veins bulged in his whites. A trail of blood trickled from the corner of his eye, splattering into the air.
"Sage Art: Sharingan—White Rage Pupil!"
A massive red dragon roared to life, coiling around the Nine-Tails in the world of genjutsu. The dragon opened its maw, swallowed a pearl, and blasted a sensory-overloading shockwave of sound and white light directly into the fox's face!
"Hahahahahahahahahahaha!"
"You really are just a beast, Nine-Tails! Your IQ is on the level of a five-year-old!"
Ren laughed disdainfully, pulling on his wires to arrest his fall. He performed a few mid-air flips and landed firmly on top of the Nine-Tails' head! Without even stopping to savor what it felt like to ride the Nine-Tails like his ancestor Madara, he instantly formed the Ram sign.
He flattened his palm, raised his hand, and spread his fingers. Then, he slammed it down!
The "useless" jutsu he had mastered, now infused with Sage Chakra and pushed to its ultimate peak, bloomed with unparalleled brilliance!
"Sage Art: Earth Grudge Fear—Spiral Web!"
The seventy-two stone pillars surrounding them cracked open, and thick bundles of Earth Grudge Fear threads shot out, lashing toward the Nine-Tails.
"Take the radius, square it, divide by pi, then map the curve points..." Ren wiped the blood from his eye, baring his teeth as he leaned back and yanked with all his might. "Screw it, just like this!"
The threads tightened instantly in a spiral formation. Like a spider binding a fly with an Archimedean web, the threads intertwined, pinning the Nine-Tails to the ground with its limbs splayed wide!
The Nine-Tails, finally recovering from the White Rage Pupil, found itself immobilized by pillars it thought it could have knocked over with a sneeze. The power of this "mathematical" binding was even more suffocating than Kushina's chains!
"Brat!!" the Nine-Tails roared. "What did you do?!" Its chakra was being suppressed by Kushina, and now its body was being "defiled" by this evil Uchiha! It was a crowning humiliation. "Don't get cocky! Once I refine my chakra again, I'll squash you with one paw!!"
Ren gave a cold laugh. He no longer suppressed the violent chakra within him. He slammed a palm against his own heart.
"Nine-Tails!! Do you know what's stronger than a sealing jutsu?!"
The fox blinked. Ren slowly drew the Kusanagi sword from his waist, a predatory grin on his face.
"It's the power of my 'I Reckon' logic! I reckon... this will work!"
"So, take this—"
Ren twisted the hilt of the sword. In the next moment, a brilliant sun seemed to rise from the top of the Nine-Tails' head! A giant, blazing white sword materialized in Ren's hands, its radiance turning the Forest of Death into day.
Every scrap of energy—Normal Chakra, Nine-Tails Chakra, Sage Chakra, Dark Chakra, Cursed Seal Chakra, Natural Energy, and even his Sharingan's ocular power—was forced into that single blade.
The sheer force nearly tore his body apart. Ren's eyes bulged as he let out a final, soul-shaking roar:
"HAAAAHHHHHHH!!"
"Concentrate on one point... reach the pinnacle!"
"Sage Art: Glorious Greatsword—Eight Million Gods' Coercion!!!"
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