The Seven-Tails and the Black Hand!
"Shirō! Retreat quickly! You can't stay in the sky!"
"I'm already retreating! Damn it! These lunatics from Takigakure—are they trying to start a war?!" While responding to Nakamura's shouts, Shirō urged the giant bird to descend.
The air was its domain, not theirs. No one on their team had the ability to fight effectively in the skies. And when the enemy was this particular creature, who would dare claim they could?
Yes—it.
Soaring toward them from the horizon was none other than Takigakure's Tailed Beast—the Seven-Tails, Chōmei.
This was why Shirō called Takigakure insane. A small border mission, and they deployed a Tailed Beast?
Everyone knew Tailed Beasts were like living nuclear weapons in the shinobi world—reserved for only the most desperate of battles. Yet here was Takigakure, recklessly unleashing Chōmei at the very edge of the Land of Fire, directly against Konoha shinobi!
Even if Shirō's squad somehow escaped unharmed, this incident alone was enough to give Konoha reason to declare war on Takigakure.
But politics could wait. Right now, survival came first. Against the Seven-Tails, they had no chance of victory.
Even if Shirō's Magic Crest was fully charged, it wouldn't be enough.
The last time he'd dealt with a monstrous foe—Mōryō—it had only worked thanks to several jōnin restraining the creature, buying him time to unleash his attack. Against a flying opponent like Chōmei, capable of dodging freely, it was a different story entirely.
Worse still, they had a liability.
Katsuki's Kagura's Mind Eye granted her immense sensory perception. But that sensitivity worked against her here. The oppressive, suffocating chakra radiating from the Tailed Beast struck her far harder than anyone else. She crouched low on the bird's back, trembling, clutching her head.
Even hardened shinobi shivered before a Tailed Beast's chakra. For someone like Katsuki, the pressure was unbearable.
But they couldn't afford to let her crumble completely.
"Shikamaru, stay with Katsuki. Keep her safe!" Shirō ordered.
"Understood." Shikamaru nodded without protest. His combat ability wasn't decisive anyway. At this point, not becoming a burden was the best contribution he could make. Still, his gaze was heavy with worry—how were Shirō and the others supposed to stand against the Seven-Tails?
Unbeknownst to them, a pair of eyes watched from the darkness beneath the trees.
A presence as silent as the earth itself—Black Zetsu.
"Heh heh… let's see, Emiya Shirō. Have you truly inherited the Weimiya clan's forbidden arts?"
Since the incident in the Land of Demons, Zetsu had investigated. He'd confirmed the Weimiya clan had indeed been wiped out generations ago, their techniques lost. Yet somehow, this boy had reproduced their so-called secret skill.
The clan's ninjutsu had been mediocre. What had made them dangerous was a unique technique—one that could bind and suppress even Tailed Beasts, perhaps even the Ten-Tails itself. That was why Zetsu had once conspired to erase them. If he couldn't control their secret art, then it had to vanish.
And vanish it did—or so he thought.
But now, seeing Shirō wielding abilities that should have been consigned to history, Black Zetsu's suspicions grew. Had the boy uncovered remnants of the lost technique? Or was this something new?
Either way, Zetsu had set this trap—maneuvering Takigakure into unleashing Chōmei here—all to see the truth for himself. Sacrificing a pawn village meant nothing to him.
If Shirō truly possessed a way to bind Tailed Beasts, Zetsu would know. And if not, eliminating a Konoha prodigy was a gain in itself.
Patient as ever, he resolved to remain unseen. If this attempt failed, he could always try again. For now, he would watch.
Meanwhile, on the ground, Shirō's squad had just landed when the first attack came—a massive boulder, hurled by Chōmei's monstrous strength.
"Quick, to me!" Shirō barked, gathering everyone close.
"Summoning Technique: Rashōmon!"
With a thunderous bang, a colossal iron gate erupted from the earth before them. The boulder slammed into its surface and shattered.
This was one of Orochimaru's gifts—a summoning scroll he had traded to Shirō in exchange for fragments of magical theory. Though Shirō had only mastered the first Rashōmon gate, it was enough to shield them.
No sooner had the dust cleared than Chōmei descended, beating its wings with hurricane force.
"Shadow Clone Technique!" Nakamura formed the seal, splitting into two. Unlike Naruto, who wielded clones like an army, most shinobi used them sparingly—for recon, diversion, or combination attacks.
And that was exactly Nakamura's plan.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
"Lightning Release: Ground Flash!"
Both his real body and clone moved in sync, weaving earth and lightning together. The mud dragon surged forward, its body sparking with violent currents.
"Combination Technique—Lightning Dragon Bomb!"
The roaring earth dragon, infused with lightning, surged toward Chōmei.
Shirō's eyes widened. Earth and Lightning were usually incompatible—Lightning dispersed Earth techniques far too easily. But Nakamura had found a loophole: the water-rich mud bullets of Earth Dragon Bullet could conduct Lightning Release, letting the two merge into a destructive new attack.
The makeshift Lightning Dragon slammed into the Seven-Tails with a thunderous crash.
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