Sakura stepped forward as well, her gaze briefly circling over Akira before she turned to Tsunade with determination.
"Shishō, I'm going too. One more person means one more set of hands."
Tsunade swept her eyes over the room full of eager young faces and waved them off. "Fine, fine. All of you go. Better than having you crowding my office."
The little brats had been itching to move for a while. Now that Tsunade had given permission, they were like horses with the reins cut loose.
Aside from that runaway Sasuke, the Konoha Twelve were basically all present.
Kakashi moved the fastest. By now, he had probably already caught up with Yamato.
The noisy Hokage's office immediately quieted down, leaving only Akira and Tsunade.
Tsunade rose from behind the mountain of documents and walked to Akira's side, looking out at the rolling dust rising in the distance. Worry filled her face.
"This really won't turn into something serious, will it? Why haven't those rats hiding in the dark shown themselves yet?"
Compared to her anxiety, Akira looked completely calm. His expression did not shift at all as he said lightly, "Wait a little longer."
His sensory net had already spread out.
Not one of those sneaking shadows would get away.
At that moment, in the forest several kilometers away, more than a dozen elite ANBU were rushing toward Sora's location together with Yamato, Kakashi, and Asuma.
The first three ANBU to make contact with the enemy were already being beaten down by Sora.
Sora had completely lost his reason. A scarlet chakra cloak wrapped around his body, and three tails whipped wildly behind him.
The destructive power of that state was completely unreasonable. The three ANBU did not dare get close and could only throw ninjutsu and kunai from a distance, which barely had any effect.
Just as the ANBU jonin leading them prepared to burn his life force and use a suicidal move to suppress Sora by force, a sinister figure suddenly burst out from the trees to the side.
A strange staff tore through the air with a sharp whistle and stabbed through the jonin's chest from behind without warning.
The jonin had already exhausted himself fighting Sora. To protect his two subordinates, he had taken several heavy blows head-on.
Now his chakra was nearly empty, and he was focused entirely on preparing his final attack. How could he defend against such a vicious ambush?
Blood sprayed.
The dutiful ANBU jonin widened his eyes in disbelief as he looked down at the staff tip protruding from his chest.
The attacker was Kazuma.
This old man had been an elite jonin on Asuma's level more than a decade ago. Killing an ordinary jonin who was already at the end of his strength was far too easy for him.
Blood foamed at the jonin's mouth as he forced out his last breath and shouted at his two stunned subordinates.
"Run...!"
The two ANBU chunin's eyes turned red. They gripped their blades and wanted to rush forward, but their captain's desperate gaze stopped them in place.
Gritting their teeth hard, tears burning in their eyes, they finally turned and raced back toward Konoha to request reinforcements.
Kazuma expressionlessly pulled out the bloodstained staff and flicked the blood from it. A mocking sneer tugged at his mouth.
"What fools. Throwing your lives away for a woman who only knows how to gamble."
With that, he did not spare the body on the ground another look and walked straight toward Sora, who had already lost himself.
Although Sora's mind was hazy, some instinct still remembered Kazuma's presence. He did not attack him.
Kazuma reached him without obstruction, fanaticism shining in his eyes.
"The true cause of your father's tragedy is in Konoha. Those hypocrites destroyed your family and made you grow up hated and rejected as a monster."
"Now release all of your power. I'll help you take revenge."
As he whispered those poisoned words, Kazuma raised his right hand. Chakra lights representing wind, lightning, water, fire, and earth glowed from his five fingertips.
The Five Elements Seal was advanced, but for a ninja of his level, it was not some unreachable secret. Orochimaru could use it. Jiraiya could use it. Naturally, Kazuma could handle it too.
"Release Jutsu: Five Elements Unseal!"
Kazuma's five fingers curved like claws and slammed into Sora's abdomen.
The Five Elements Seal that had been suppressing Sora's power shattered instantly.
Once the seal broke, it was like a dam collapsing. A terrifying flood of chakra erupted from Sora's body, suffocating in its intensity.
Boom!
Kazuma, who stood closest, was blasted dozens of meters away by the shockwave. His organs were jolted painfully, and a line of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.
But instead of getting angry, he clutched his chest and laughed madly.
"Hahaha! Good! Excellent! Sora, go flatten Konoha for me! Right now, you are the perfect jinchuriki. You are no worse than the real Nine-Tails vessel!"
Hearing that vicious command, Sora's muddled mind was instantly filled with the desire to destroy. He sharply changed direction, and the chakra tails behind him split and condensed again.
Three became four.
A fifth even began to take shape.
"Roar!"
A piercing beast-like howl tore into the sky, shaking the air around him.
A terrifying sound wave mixed with solid chakra stormed outward from Sora as the center. Every towering tree within dozens of meters snapped cleanly like stalks of wheat.
In just a few seconds, the dense forest was cleared into a horrifying open field.
The shockwave alone, before his rampage had even fully begun, was already as powerful as a high-level Wind Style jutsu.
At this point, Sora was on all fours. His skin had peeled away beneath the dark red chakra covering him, making him look like a smaller version of the demon fox.
In the next instant, he turned into a red blur and charged wildly toward Konoha.
His speed was terrifying. After all, the Nine-Tails was known for both speed and power.
A kilometer meant only a few breaths to him.
Just as that red disaster was about to slam into Konoha's outer wall, a blinding bolt of lightning suddenly fell from the clear sky without warning.
Crack!
Boom!
It was a cloudless day, yet that bolt of thunder struck with cruel, perfect accuracy.
The ninjas standing ready on Konoha's wall all stared in shock, mouths hanging open.
"What... how is there lightning in weather like this?"
At the same time, Naruto, Sakura, and the ANBU who arrived behind them finally caught up to Sora.
The lightning bolt was incredibly powerful. It blasted the rampaging Sora back several hundred meters, and even the chakra cloak around him dimmed a little.
Sora had lost his reason, but he still sensed the provocation. He roared furiously toward the wall, clearly blaming the Konoha guards for the attack.
Standing at the edge of the wall, Naruto stared down at the half-human, half-beast monster below. His brows pulled so tight they almost formed a knot.
"Sora! How did you end up like this?"