Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 448 Sealing Flaw

"Shukaku, obediently return to the sealed teapot!"

On top of the Shukaku puppet's head, Sasori shouted to Shukaku, who was not far away.

"You're not good enough!" Shukaku ignored Sasori's words.

The only person in this world who could make him obediently return to the sealed teapot is that bastard Fourth Kazekage.

But now that bastard has disappeared, and may even be dead, so no one can control Shukaku's freedom anymore.

Sasori of the Red Sand, a petty thief who stole his power, actually dared to think he could subdue him? What a pipe dream.

"Since that's the case, then don't blame me."

"Ninja Technique - Sand Iron and Thunder Realm!"

Sasori no longer held back, fully manipulating the iron sand deep in the desert to condense and, combined with the coverage of lightning chakra, a large amount of iron sand filled with lightning covered the ground within a four-kilometer radius like a vast ocean.

Zizizizi!

Shukaku, caught in the electric shock, trembled violently and jumped around.

"Ouch...it's numb, it hurts!"

The lightning strikes from the Piercer's Iron Sand Thrust not only have a powerful paralyzing effect, but their offensive power should not be underestimated.

Although not fatal, it left Shukaku bewildered.

"This guy..."

Shukaku felt a sense of unease, a feeling that arose for the first time regarding this thief.

His sand manipulation was cut off after being covered by the Sand Iron Thunder Boundary, and he was no longer able to control the sand beneath the desert.

"Tailed Beast... Ugh!"

Just as Shukaku was about to condense a Tailed Beast Ball, he was tightly bound by a thick iron sand lightning whip that shot out from the Iron Sand Lightning Barrier covering the ground.

Its mouth was like a wolfhound's mouth that was tied with a rope and couldn't be opened.

"what!"

Shukaku roared in anger, unleashing all its chakra, but it still couldn't break free from the Sand Iron Lightning Realm's restraints.

On the distant Shukaku puppet's head, Sasori did his best to control Shukaku, but that was all he could do; he could do nothing more.

To seal Shukaku, others will need to step in.

"Well done!"

"As expected of my grandson!"

Seeing Shukaku bound like a puppy, Granny Chiyo was overjoyed; it was worth it for her to release Shukaku.

Her grandson was indeed powerful; he could subdue Shukaku, a mere fourth-generation ninja, and her good grandson could do the same.

"good!"

"As expected of Lord Sasori of the Red Sand!"

"I have no objection to Lord Sasori becoming the Fifth Kazekage!"

"I have no objection either!"

Sasori's strength impressed the three major clans, as did other commoner ninjas. After the Fourth Kazekage went missing, the village indeed needed a ninja capable of subduing Shukaku to become the Fifth Kazekage and take charge of the village.

Seeing the commoner ninjas cheering for the three major clans beside him, most of Li Yao's supporters of his Wind Release clones fell silent and did not utter a word of rebuttal.

After four generations, they have not found a strong enough person to rival Scorpion.

Originally, there was also the sun goddess Yekura, but unfortunately Sasori returned early, and Yekura was tied up at the front line and couldn't come back.

Now they can only watch helplessly as the three major families once again seize the position of Wind Shadow.

"Huh... why doesn't Lord Sasori seal Shukaku?"

As everyone cheered for Scorpion's power, someone suddenly asked in confusion.

In the distance, Sasori had completely suppressed Shukaku, but he had not been able to seal Shukaku. The sealing teapot should have been with him long ago, so why didn't he seal Shukaku?

Everyone was also puzzled.

"Could it be...?"

Looking at Shukaku, who was being firmly suppressed but still struggling in the distance, and then at the scorpion on the puppet Shukaku's head, Granny Chiyo was suddenly shocked and her face turned ugly.

She realized that although her grandson had suppressed the tailed beast, he did not have the extra energy to control the sealing teapot to seal Shukaku.

"It's all that bastard Fengxing's fault!!"

"Grandma Chiyo said fiercely."

In the past, one only needed to input chakra into the sealing teapot to control the sealing technique and seal Shukaku, whose body was imprisoned, without needing to exert too much effort.

However, ever since Shukaku willingly allowed himself to be sealed inside the teapot by Li Yao's Wind Release clone, in order to study the sealing technique of Shukaku inside the teapot, Li Yao's Wind Release clone modified the sealing technique of the teapot, allowing Shukaku's head and limbs to extend out of the sealed teapot and move around, just like the chibi version of Shukaku in Boruto.

In this way, Sasori can both study Shukaku's chakra and seal Shukaku, preventing him from releasing all his power.

It's just a chibi version of Shukaku. Although it can also manipulate chakra, its power is much weaker. An ordinary Chunin can easily take it down, making it much safer.

However, because Shukaku has been given some freedom, the sealing teapot's seal on Shukaku is not as absolute as before.

If Shukaku is already sealed in the teapot, that's fine; Shukaku can't resist.

However, if Shukaku is outside, the difficulty of sealing Shukaku using the sealing teapot, which already had a loophole for Shukaku, increases a hundredfold.

After all, Shukaku was originally the most skilled in sealing techniques among the nine tailed beasts, and its own sealing technique patterns could withstand the seals of others.

The Sand Village... or the ninja clans of the Land of Wind, were researching how to seal Shukaku long before the era of ninja villages began.

However, even now, the strongest seal for Shukaku is still the sealing teapot, a legendary sealing ninja tool left over from the era of the Sage of Six Paths.

The sealing of Jinchuriki did not occur until after the Ninja Village era, when the first Jinchuriki, Bunboku, appeared. All previous Jinchuriki sealing attempts had failed.

This shows just how difficult it is to seal a single tail.

Shukaku may not be the strongest of the tailed beasts, but it is certainly one of the most difficult to seal.

Now that the strongest sealing technique for Shukaku, the Teapot, has been weakened by Li Yao's Wind Release clone, it has become even more difficult to seal Shukaku.

So this is what happened.

While Sasori was using all his strength to control the Sand Iron Lightning World to suppress Shukaku, he was also trying to use the already flawed Sealing Teapot to seal Shukaku.

"Come on, grandson, I believe in you!"

At this point, there's a high chance that Granny Chiyo, a Kage-level powerhouse, could control the sealing teapot and seal Shukaku, who was being suppressed.

But not Granny Chiyo.

In her view, only by sealing Shukaku by herself could her grandson at least not be inferior to that bastard, the Fourth Hokage.

Only in this way could she have the confidence to face the Fourth Kazekage, who might return alive in the future.

Despite Chiyo's seemingly eager-to-kill attitude towards Li Yaofeng's clones returning, she is actually one of the people least willing, or rather, most afraid, of Li Yaofeng's clones returning.

That wind-style slash... was too powerful!

Every time she thought of Li Yao's Wind Release clone casually slicing Shukaku in half with a terrifying strike, the Third Hokage couldn't imagine what in this world could not be cut by Li Yao's Wind Release clone's Wind Release slash.

Shukaku, the One-Tailed Beast, is said to possess absolute defense, and its terrifying absolute defense has been proven in numerous battles against the three great ninja clans of the Land of Wind.

But even such a terrifying defense proved incredibly fragile when Li Yaofeng used his clone technique.

(End of this chapter)