Chapter 217 — One-Tail Shukaku… What Even Is That?
Taichi gripped his short blade and charged straight at the incoming Sunagakure ninja—no dodging, no hesitation.
His swing came down like a vendetta made flesh, as if the man before him had slaughtered his entire family.
The sheer ferocity of that strike stunned his opponent for a split second. Instinctively, the Suna ninja raised his kunai to block.
Clang!
The moment steel met steel, a crushing force surged through his arms. He was sent staggering backward, completely unable to resist.
Taichi didn't even spare him a glance. He slipped past like a gust of wind.
But right behind him—
Yōhei seized the opening perfectly.
His kunai flashed across the still-unsteady ninja's throat.
One clean cut.
No pause.
No second look.
He moved on.
That was the battlefield.
There was no time to recover, no chance to reset.
One mistake—
And you were dead.
Against a team like Taichi's—one that moved with flawless coordination—
That margin for error shrank to nothing.
Taichi acted as the spearhead, carving through the enemy ranks. He didn't obsess over killing every target himself. All he needed was to disrupt them.
Break their rhythm—
And his teammates would finish the job.
As the slaughter continued, someone finally recognized him.
Then another.
Soon—
Cries began to ripple through the battlefield:
"The Shadow Reaper!"
"Shadow Reaper incoming!"
For the jōnin, it didn't matter much.
But for the genin and chūnin—
The rumors were real.
Fear took root instantly.
Before even clashing with Taichi, their momentum faltered, their killing intent weakened.
If Rasa knew this…
He might actually cough up blood from anger.
While Taichi rampaged through the Suna ranks—
Across the river, another scene unfolded.
A group of five, heavily guarded, stepped forward to the riverbank.
At their center—
The jinchūriki of Shukaku.
Alongside him stood four sealing-nin.
As they reached their position, the sealing team immediately formed hand seals and removed the chains around the boy's neck.
Clatter—
The chains fell.
The boy slowly raised his head.
His eyes—
Were no longer human.
They were the eyes of a beast.
The lead sealing-nin pointed toward the opposite bank.
"Ryosuke."
"It's time for you to serve the village."
"Don't worry—your family will be taken care of."
"Now… go."
"Kill every last Konoha ninja."
He stepped back.
Three steps.
Then waved.
The team withdrew instantly.
Leaving only Ryosuke behind.
For a moment—
Silence.
Then—
A low, suppressed chuckle escaped his throat.
It grew louder.
And louder.
His body trembled.
His form began to change.
Swelling unnaturally.
Sand seeped from the ground, clinging to his body like armor.
From his spine—
A tail emerged.
Yellow.
Thickening.
Lengthening.
At the same time—
A violent surge of chakra erupted outward.
The transformation completed.
Partial tailed-beast form.
Ryosuke tilted his head back.
His face—half human, half beast—twisted in madness.
He opened his mouth.
Dark energy began to gather.
From every direction—
Black particles converged into a single point.
Five seconds—
Then—
He fired.
A Tailed Beast Bomb tore forward, blasting toward the battlefield where the smoke was just beginning to clear.
The moment that overwhelming chakra signature appeared—
On the rear command wall, Jiraiya reacted instantly.
He pointed toward the source and shouted:
"Special assault teams—advance!"
"Engage the Shukaku jinchūriki at all costs!"
"Sealing squad—prepare for containment!"
The battlefield—
Had just escalated.
To something far beyond human.
Jiraiya turned to Minato and said, "Take four jōnin with you and move in to support them." Minato didn't waste a second. "Understood." With that, he leapt off the wall alongside four elite ninja, circling toward the source of the tailed beast's chakra.
Just as Jiraiya was about to issue another command, the sensing ninja beside him suddenly went pale and shouted, "Massive chakra concentration detected! It's a Tailed Beast Bomb—and it's aimed at us!" Jiraiya's expression changed instantly. "Everyone, get off the wall—now!" He jumped down first, the others following without hesitation.
While still midair, Jiraiya was already forming hand seals. The moment he landed, the technique was completed. "Earth Style: Earth Dome Prison." A thick circular wall surged up from the ground, forming a hemispherical barrier that sealed everyone inside.
At the exact moment the dome closed, the Tailed Beast Bomb tore through the smoke above the river, smashed through the first defensive wall, and slammed into the command position they had just vacated. A deafening explosion erupted, the shockwave flattening everything in its path as the towering wall shattered into debris.
Inside the dome, everyone felt the terrifying force. Cracks spread rapidly across the earthen barrier, only to be forcibly repaired by the constant infusion of Jiraiya's chakra. The violent trembling and the sharp cracking sounds made it clear just how devastating the Tailed Beast Bomb truly was.
When the shaking finally subsided, Jiraiya released the technique. The dome split apart, revealing a massive crater nearly twenty meters wide. The only intact ground was the small elevated patch where they stood. Several people swallowed hard. This was their first time facing a Tailed Beast Bomb, and its power far exceeded their expectations. If they had tried to flee instead of taking shelter, the aftermath alone would have been enough to kill them.
"Stop staring," Jiraiya snapped. "Push forward! Don't let the frontlines think we've been wiped out." Orders were immediately issued. "Launch white signal flares—tell the front to continue the attack. Sensory unit, track the jinchūriki's position. Notify the sealing team."
On the frontline, Taichi was the first to sense the overwhelming chakra. With a single slash, he cut down the Suna ninja in front of him, then suddenly stopped. He raised his head toward the source of that power, his eyes blazing with excitement.
Behind him, his squad halted as well, forming a defensive circle while knocking away incoming weapons. Yōhei moved closer, frowning. "Taichi, what's going on? This is the battlefield—we can't just stop here." Taichi's voice carried an unmistakable thrill. "That's a tailed beast. The One-Tail, Shukaku. Just like the Two-Tails we encountered before."
Yōhei and Saori's expressions changed immediately, recalling the overwhelming sense of helplessness from before. They hadn't expected Sunagakure to deploy something like that on the battlefield.
"Yōhei, you take command," Taichi said. "I'll be right back." Before anyone could respond, he vanished. A moment later, two Suna ninja ten meters away were sent flying, and Taichi charged forward without slowing, carving a path straight through the battlefield toward the source of the chakra until he disappeared into the enemy ranks.
The rest of the squad stood there for a split second in disbelief. Wasn't he the one who had just lectured them about maintaining formation? About discipline? And now he was the first to break it. That thought clearly wasn't limited to Yōhei—Kakashi and the others were thinking the same thing. All eyes turned to Yōhei.
Yōhei sighed inwardly. What could he even say? "Saori, Rin—right side. Kakashi, Obito—left. Maintain formation. We keep pushing forward." Even he knew his words lacked conviction, but there was no other choice.
Meanwhile, Taichi advanced like a storm. Small groups were cut down directly. Larger groups were bypassed using marked kunai and Flying Thunder God. After breaking through multiple layers of resistance, he finally saw the jinchūriki.
At that moment, the jinchūriki had just fired another Tailed Beast Bomb. Taichi instinctively turned toward the explosion's direction. A flash of light followed by a thunderous roar echoed across the battlefield. That direction was the command center. He trusted Jiraiya would survive, but his fists still tightened unconsciously.
Across the battlefield, both sides witnessed the explosion. Sunagakure erupted into cheers as their morale soared. Konoha's side faltered momentarily—if their command had been destroyed, how could they continue the fight? But before panic could spread, three white signal flares rose into the sky. The message was clear: the command was intact. Continue fighting. The morale stabilized, and the intensity of battle surged to an even higher level.
Taichi no longer paid attention to any of it. He sheathed his blade and charged forward barehanded. The jinchūriki had grown to over five meters tall, barely resembling a human anymore. A blade was no longer effective.
He moved like lightning, striking at the exact moment the jinchūriki relaxed after firing. One punch, reinforced with monstrous strength, slammed into the beast's chest. The impact caved it in instantly, sending the massive body flying like a projectile as sand exploded outward.
The sight was shocking—a man barely over one meter tall sending a five-meter monster flying with a single punch. Even the Suna ninja watching froze, their rising morale abruptly halted.
The jinchūriki roared in fury and rose again. His chest had already regenerated, and his body continued to grow larger. With a sweep of his arm, massive sand shuriken rained down. Taichi didn't retreat. Water bullets formed around him, intercepting the projectiles, while the rest he dodged with minimal movement.
Closing the distance again, he struck. This time, the jinchūriki's body softened on impact, dispersing the force. Taichi wasn't surprised. One punch didn't work? Then he'd throw two. Three. Five. In just moments, repeated blows shattered the structure of the sand, destroying one of the jinchūriki's legs and sending the massive body crashing down.
Taichi immediately moved toward the head and attacked again. This time, the jinchūriki panicked, flailing wildly. Though chaotic, the sheer size made the attacks dangerous enough to force Taichi to retreat briefly.
Now he understood. This jinchūriki possessed immense power but had no experience using it. He had likely never properly controlled Shukaku's power before. In this unstable form, he was nothing more than a brute.
Even so, that brute force was terrifying. Taichi couldn't afford to take even a single direct hit.
The jinchūriki roared again, hurling massive sand kunai—each as thick as a human arm—while the ground itself surged upward, trying to trap Taichi. Taichi kept moving, constantly evading.
Then he saw his chance. A Flying Thunder God kunai shot upward. At its peak, Taichi vanished. The attacks below struck nothing. Three meters above the jinchūriki, Taichi reappeared, hand seals already complete.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Bomb."
A blazing golden fire dragon erupted at point-blank range, instantly engulfing the jinchūriki. The sand armor melted under the intense heat, flowing down his body like molten liquid.
A scream tore from within the beast, echoing across the battlefield.
This fight had already drawn the attention of nearly everyone—especially Sunagakure's higher command. At first, they hadn't been concerned. Without specialized techniques, fighting a tailed beast head-on was suicide. But after witnessing Taichi repeatedly overpower the jinchūriki, their expressions changed.
"Move! Stop Matsushita Taichi immediately!"