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Chapter 38: Battle Against Shukaku
"Hahahahaha!! You overconfident fool, you're dead now!! Hahaha!!"
Seeing that Yusuke hadn't dodged his attack, Shukaku burst into maniacal laughter, fully confident in the power of his Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet.
Amid the billowing cloud of sand kicked up by the powerful impact, four Fire Style shadow clones split from Yusuke. Each clone held a scroll and sprinted off in different directions, forming a square around Shukaku's position.
As the swirling sand gradually settled, Shukaku finally noticed that not only had his target survived the attack, but he'd also multiplied and was seemingly preparing to surround him.
But these four clones weren't meant for a group assault—they were part of a plan to prevent Shukaku's escape. Yusuke was preparing to activate a barrier technique using the clones as anchor points.
Each clone unrolled its scroll onto the sand and swiftly performed a series of hand signs. When the sequence was complete, they pressed their right palms onto the blank center of each scroll.
"Barrier: Four Violet Flames Formation!"
With those words, walls of violet energy began extending from each scroll's position, forming a sealed cubic barrier that enclosed both Yusuke and Shukaku.
This technique was the same one used by Orochimaru in the original series to trap the Third Hokage. Its advanced version, the Four Red Yang Formation, was even capable of containing the Ten-Tails. Clearly, this family of barrier techniques was no joke.
Yusuke had another technique capable of imprisoning enemies—Flames Engulf the Fortress, a special ability of Ryūjin Jakka.
However, given his current level, casting that technique would completely drain both his chakra and the Yin chakra of the Nine-Tails sealed within his curse mark.
Even if he managed to trap Shukaku using it, Yusuke wouldn't have the strength left to subdue or seal the tailed beast.
So he opted for the more efficient and less draining Four Violet Flames Formation.
The moment Shukaku realized he was trapped in a barrier, he was thrown into a panic, flashbacks of his tortured existence sealed within a jinchūriki flooding his mind. Rage erupted.
"RAAAAAAH!!!"
With a deafening roar, Shukaku began forming a Tailed Beast Bomb, far more destructive than the Drilling Air Bullet.
Tailed Beast Bombs are unique chakra-based attacks created by mixing Yin and Yang chakra in an 8:2 ratio. Because of the Yin component, even Yusuke's intangible illusion-clones couldn't nullify its effects.
Inside the confined space of the barrier, dodging such an attack was impossible. Yusuke had no choice but to defend.
He retreated to the very edge of the barrier and quickly formed hand signs.
"Blaze Style: Single Violet Flame Formation."
Yusuke erected an additional wall of violet fire in front of himself, sealing off his corner and forming a protective enclosure with the barrier walls behind him.
"Die!!"
The Tailed Beast Bomb was fully charged—and Shukaku fired.
However, rather than aiming at Yusuke, Shukaku targeted the walls of the barrier itself, attempting to destroy it first.
When the bomb struck the barrier wall, the shockwave exploded inward—but the barrier held firm.
Because the Four Violet Flames Formation was so solid, the energy had nowhere to go laterally. It was forced to release vertically, sending a pillar of sand hundreds of meters into the sky and carving a deep crater into the ground within the barrier.
"Tailed Beast Bomb really is on another level," Yusuke thought, silently impressed by the sheer destructive force.
Without that flame barrier shielding him, he would've been obliterated by the shockwave alone.
Once the explosion settled, Yusuke canceled the inner flame wall and began to walk toward Shukaku, now slowly emerging from the swirling dust.
He had already released Ryūjin Jakka into its Shikai form.
Shukaku, covered in ash and visibly shaken, realized that not only had the barrier withstood his strongest attack, but his opponent remained completely unharmed. Fear flickered in the tailed beast's eyes.
It knew all too well that some shinobi in this world wielded power beyond that of tailed beasts—and once caught, they were almost always sealed away again, their freedom stolen.
For Shukaku, who had only just regained his freedom, being sealed again was unthinkable.
"Wind Style: Sand Scatter Shot!"
In desperation, Shukaku opened its mouth and unleashed a dense barrage of sand bullets—like a torrential rain of high-speed projectiles.
There was nowhere to dodge. The bullets were powerful enough to punch holes the size of fists through human flesh.
But as the deadly rain approached, Yusuke calmly drew his blade and slashed forward, releasing a wall of fire that incinerated all the incoming sand bullets. Only thin wisps of blackened ash remained in the air.
By now, Yusuke had activated his Dual Polarity Curse Mark—his body covered in black markings, Yin chakra surging violently through him.
After neutralizing Shukaku's attack, Yusuke sheathed his sword and took a stance.
"Sokatsui Slash."
Borrowing the spiritual pressure simulated by Yin chakra, Ryūjin Jakka burst from its sheath in a blazing flash, aiming straight for Shukaku's head.
Yet, unexpectedly, Shukaku displayed incredible agility for its size—leaping high into the air to dodge the strike.
While airborne, it began slapping its stomach with both arms in rapid succession, spewing out five or six more Drilling Air Bullets aimed directly at Yusuke.
But at this point, such attacks no longer posed a threat. Yusuke simply dispersed into his illusion clones, each immune to physical damage, nullifying the blasts entirely.
---
After several rounds of exchanges, Shukaku finally realized that the enemy before him was extremely troublesome. He had unleashed all his attacks, but still failed to land a single blow.
"Who the hell are you, and why are you coming after me?"
Suppressing his rage, Shukaku narrowed his eyes and questioned Yusuke warily.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm here for your power."
Yusuke looked up at the towering tanuki with calm eyes. "Your attacks are far too simplistic. They'll never hurt me. If you surrender quietly and let me seal you, you'll at least be spared some suffering."
"Bullshit!" Shukaku snapped, anger flaring once more. "Even if I can't kill you, do you really think you can seal me all by yourself?! Don't kid yourself!"
"Then let's find out," Yusuke replied coolly.
As he spoke, he began drawing upon the Yin Chakra of the Nine-Tails sealed within his cursed mark, continuously feeding it into Ryūjin Jakka.
With the surge of Yin Chakra, the blade's flames turned from crimson to a radiant golden hue, a blazing trail extending from the tip and forming a blazing halo behind him. This was the same form he had used against Shisui — his true shikai state.
Seeing Yusuke standing there like a deity of fire, Shukaku felt a rare sense of fear. That golden flame radiated terrifying heat — even for a tailed beast like him, it posed a real threat.
While tailed beasts could never truly die — their chakra would eventually reconvene somewhere in the world and re-form — the process was neither instant nor painless. For Shukaku, that place of rebirth was none other than the Nara Desert beneath his feet.
But being forcibly disassembled and scattered was still agony.
Knowing Yusuke wouldn't relent, Shukaku gave up on arguing. He began forming another Tailed Beast Bomb — the only attack in his arsenal that seemed to give this human any trouble.
Earlier, Yusuke had gone so far as to shield himself in a full barrier rather than rely on those intangible raven clones — proof that the Tailed Beast Bomb could actually harm him.
But this time, Yusuke wasn't going to defend.
With a burst of golden flame, Yusuke suddenly appeared right beside Shukaku's mouth, just as the Tailed Beast Bomb was about to fire.
A flash of his blade.
Shukaku was beheaded.
Flames still roared from the severed neck and head, the Tailed Beast Bomb unraveling into the air without detonating.
"AAAAARGH!!"
A piercing scream echoed across the desert. Despite losing its head, Shukaku wasn't truly dead — tailed beasts were, after all, nothing more than masses of chakra. Even dismembered or incinerated, as long as the chakra remained, they could reform.
Instead of fusing his head and body back together immediately, Shukaku started rolling frantically across the sand, trying to extinguish the unrelenting flames.
What he didn't expect… was that the flames from Ryūjin Jakka were no ordinary fire.
His rolling only spread them further.
More and more of his massive body caught ablaze.
"Damn you!!"
With a furious roar, Shukaku's body and head disintegrated into chakra-infused sand and vanished into the ground. Moments later, he reassembled himself nearby — but noticeably smaller than before.
Yusuke noted the change immediately.
Though not a permanent loss, it was a clear sign that his energy had been diminished.
"RAAHHH!!!"
Reformed, Shukaku let out another defiant roar and raised his massive arm to strike. But upon seeing Yusuke standing there, blade sheathed, a golden wheel of fire blazing behind him… Shukaku froze.
He couldn't move.
There was nothing left he could do.
Yusuke could see that the tailed beast was spent. No longer interested in drawing the fight out, he decided it was time to end it. He would unleash everything, bring Shukaku down, and seal him — before reinforcements from Sunagakure arrived.
After all, this was still technically within their territory.
With a smooth motion, Yusuke sheathed his flaming sword. The golden flames receded into the scabbard. But in Shukaku's eyes, Yusuke's aura became even more terrifying — as though the flames had not been extinguished, but simply compressed.
He was preparing to strike.
A finishing move.
But neither Yusuke nor Shukaku noticed it yet: beneath the sands of the arena, hidden within the confines of the barrier, a pair of cold, watching eyes had silently locked onto them both…