Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

The traitor Five-Tails said disdainfully, then intensified its plundering of King Mu's chakra.

Before long, the tailed beast transformation on Han's body began to disintegrate, and the chakra of King Mu within his body was less than one-third of its peak strength.

At this moment, Han regained consciousness. As soon as he woke up, he immediately understood his current situation.

Then, in his mind's eye, he said to King Mu, "I have explosive tags hidden on me. Use your last bit of strength to activate them. As long as I die, you will be able to reappear sooner or later."

This was the only thing he could do for the village before he died; he didn't want King Mu to fall into the hands of the enemy forever.

King Mu hesitated when he heard Han say this.

Since Han is dead, even if it were to revive again, it could never be the same as it is now.

But it quickly made a decision: it would rather die than let that damned traitor obtain all its chakra and soul.

The next moment, it decisively used its own chakra to trigger the explosive tags that Han had attached to his body.

"Bang!!!"

A huge explosion followed.

At the same time, a voice that hadn't been heard for quite some time appeared in Kirito's mind, far away at the Konoha camp.

Chapter 288: Onoki's Madness

"He actually self-destructed; how ruthless of him."

Bai Jue's clone looked at the explosion crater on the ground ahead and the bits of bone and flesh inside, and sighed.

"Thank you for your help, Lord Hattori Masanari."

The next moment, a Konoha ninja whose body was wrapped in a huge white tail expressed his gratitude.

The other two Konoha ninjas, who were also enveloped in white tails, quickly expressed their gratitude.

The Five-Tails Jinchuriki suddenly self-destructed, leaving the three of them who had used the Adamantine Sealing Chains completely unable to react. Moreover, the explosion was extremely powerful. Fortunately, the new leader of Amegakure was skilled and intervened in time to save them; otherwise, they would already be reporting to the Pure Land by now.

"You flatter me. It was thanks to your sealing techniques that I was able to successfully extract the Five-Tails' chakra from the Five-Tails Jinchuriki. If you had been injured, I would have had no face to see your Lady Tsunade and this Lady Kirito."

The white-haired clone said politely.

After saying that, he withdrew the Five-Tails' materialized tails that were wrapped around the three of them.

"This man is truly remarkable. Not only did he successfully steal the Five-Tails' chakra from the Five-Tails Jinchuriki of Iwagakure and obtain the Five-Tails' power, but he also seems to have subdued the Five-Tails and can use its power flexibly. Perhaps in a while, he will become a ninja who can perfectly control the power of the Tailed Beast, just like Kirito, and become a perfect Jinchuriki."

One of the Konoha ninjas watched in astonishment as the White Zetsu clone effortlessly retracted its three enormous white tails back into its body.

The term "perfect Jinchūriki" was coined by others after Kirito became a Jinchūriki and demonstrated his ability to freely use Shukaku's power.

In fact, Kirito denied this, telling others that he was not a perfect Jinchuriki. However, in the eyes of other ninjas, he was able to reveal the true form of the Tailed Beast without going berserk and control it in battle, which already made him a perfect Jinchuriki.

In the eyes of this Konoha ninja, the White Zetsu clone's ability to flexibly utilize a portion of the Five-Tails' body in battle signifies that he is already on the path to becoming the perfect Jinchūriki.

"Hey, Hattori Masanari, you did this on purpose, didn't you? With your abilities, you should have noticed the explosive tags on this guy a long time ago. Why didn't you take them sooner? That useless human is dead now, and his true form has disappeared. I'm still a third short of becoming the true Five-Tails."

Meanwhile, in the mental space of the White Zetsu clone, in a boiling lake, the traitorous Five-Tails, now transformed into a giant beast, roared angrily.

White Zetsu's clone appeared in the form of a spirit above the boiling lake. He looked at the white behemoth roaring at him, his eyes revealing undisguised contempt, and said coldly, "I will do what I want, and I don't need you to tell me what to do."

Yes, he had noticed the explosive tags on Han's body long ago. This method of ninjas using them to perish together with their enemies before dying was common among ninjas and there was nothing strange about it.

And he did indeed have the ability to stop Han from self-destructing.

The reason he didn't stop it was simply to verify one thing: whether Madara Uchiha would temporarily halt the Eye of the Moon Project if the Tailed Beasts were incomplete.

In the original storyline, it was because the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, committed suicide after being dispelled by Ao, who possessed the Byakugan, that the Three-Tails died, forcing the Akatsuki organization to postpone their Tailed Beast hunting plan for three years.

Now that the Five-Tails' original form has died, it will take three years to revive it.

Of course, strictly speaking, the traitorous Five-Tails inside him can also be considered the Five-Tails. If Madara Uchiha were to take over the traitorous Five-Tails inside him, he could also revive the Ten-Tails.

However, based on his understanding of Madara Uchiha, this guy is an extreme perfectionist, and it is very likely that he would postpone the implementation of the Eye of the Moon Plan after learning that the Five-Tails died along with Han.

"You lowly human, how dare you speak to me in such an attitude? You're courting death."

After absorbing most of the power of the original body, the traitor Five-Tails' strength increased dramatically, and his unwillingness to be bound also swelled. When he heard what the White Zetsu clone said, he immediately wanted to turn against him.

In an instant, a surge of evil and tyranny-filled red chakra was released from the traitorous Five-Tails, transforming into a blood wave that surged forth from the spirit of the White Zetsu clone, attempting to corrupt it and drive the White Zetsu clone into a berserk state.

But as soon as the blood wave appeared, blue chakra chains radiating Sage Chakra fluctuations were born from the void. They pierced into the blood wave, instantly holding back the raging wave, and then quickly entangled the traitorous Five-Tails.

After the traitorous Five-Tails was bound by these chakra chains, its massive chakra instantly went dormant and it lost control.

One moment it was full of ambition, believing it could break the seal and then roam freely in the outside world; the next moment, it was handed over as a beast by the White Zetsu clone, losing its previous domineering and confident air, and trembling in front of the White Zetsu clone.

"Who exactly are you? How do you know how to use this sealing technique, and you also possess the power of immortal arts?"

"Traitor Five-Tails said in terror."

After being taught a lesson by the Sage Art: Vajra Sealing Technique used by the White Zetsu clone, it was filled with true fear. Its power was completely out of control, and the emptiness of losing power was terrible, filling it with immense terror.

"You don't need to know who I am. Just stay here obediently and provide me with chakra, and I won't do anything to you. Otherwise..."

The white Zetsu clone said coldly.

"Otherwise, what will you do?"

"The traitor, Gotae, asked weakly."

The white Zetsu clone immediately replied, "Then I will create another you and let it replace you."

After witnessing how a Tailed Beast's split soul could develop independent consciousness if not retracted for a long time, Kirito devised a more effective way to control it: artificially creating a new Tailed Beast soul to devour the disobedient original Tailed Beast.

With his current soul ninjutsu abilities, doing such a thing is not difficult for him. He can even add some special materials to the newly born tailed beast soul, making the newborn tailed beast soul close to him and unable to resist him.

When the traitorous Five-Tails heard the White Zetsu clone say this, his first reaction was disbelief that the White Zetsu clone had such an ability.

But the white clone seemed to have guessed his thoughts. Suddenly, a hazy blue light shone from the other's right hand, and then he grasped at the air. The white clone immediately felt its soul being torn apart.

In no time, a small piece of its soul was forcibly torn away and fell into the hands of the hateful and terrifying ninja in front of it.

"See, I wasn't lying. This small fragment of soul will soon gain your chakra and should soon become a new Five-Tails, just like you were back then."

The white Zetsu clone said quietly.

The traitorous Five-Tails fell silent, his eyes filled with fear.

It knew that what the White Zetsu clone said was true, because that's how it was born.

As a traitor, it was even more afraid of being devoured by the other clones of the Five-Tails than the Five-Tails itself.

"It seems you understand your current situation. But don't worry, I won't let you stay inside me for too long. Once I kill a guy named Uchiha Madara, I'll let you go."

Seeing that his warning to the traitorous Five-Tails had gone smoothly, the White Zetsu clone immediately gave the traitorous Five-Tails a carrot.

A stick in one hand and a carrot in the other—that's the way to tame animals.

"Uchiha Madara! Is he really not dead?"

"Traitor Five-Tails exclaimed in surprise."

It had just learned a lot about what was happening in Iwagakure by absorbing the soul and chakra of the original body, including the fact that Madara Uchiha was still alive.

It initially thought the news was fake, but it turned out to be true.

It recognized this person; it was this same person who had approached it years ago, given it a severe beating, and interrogated it about the whereabouts of the Nine-Tailed Fox.

In my memory, this person was incredibly strong, not much weaker than that human named Hashirama Senju.

"That's right, this guy is still lively and energetic, and he's even planning to target you tailed beasts. As for why he's doing this, I'm not entirely sure, but I think you should know something about it."

The white-haired clone asked tentatively.

When the traitorous Five-Tails heard from the White Zetsu clone that Madara Uchiha was on the watchful eyes of the Tailed Beasts, a name that terrified it to the core flashed through its mind. It then quickly denied it, saying, "I don't know his purpose, but I agree to your request."

Madara Uchiha wanted to revive the Ten-Tails.

Regarding Madara Uchiha's purpose in collecting the Tailed Beasts, the traitorous Five-Tails had only this thought in his mind at this moment.

Although it wasn't sure if it was true, it felt it was better to agree to the request of this terrifying human in front of it.

"We absolutely cannot allow the Ten-Tails to be resurrected!"

The traitor, Wuwei, thought with unwavering resolve.

Just as the White Zetsu clone successfully persuaded the traitorous Five-Tails, the battle between Kirito's flesh puppet and Onoki was also nearing its end.

Kirito's attitude towards Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage, was the same as his attitude towards the Third Raikage: he intended to capture him alive.

Unfortunately, while Onoki was far inferior to the Third Raikage, who had mastered the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, in terms of speed and defense, he was more difficult to deal with than the Third Raikage.

This ninja who possesses the Bloodline Elimination technique has an astonishing number of skills. He is not only proficient in Earth Release, Fire Release, and Wind Release, but also has outstanding expertise in sealing techniques, far surpassing the Third Raikage, a Kage-level powerhouse who specializes in only one area.

Therefore, whenever Kirito secretly sets up a sealing technique underground, Onoki quickly becomes alert, moves away, and uses Earth Release ninjutsu in conjunction with the surface to prevent him from having the opportunity to use the sealing technique.

However, in the Land of Rain, Kirito, who was proficient in Water Release and Lightning Release, ultimately had the advantage of terrain. Although he was unable to capture Onoki alive, he kept pressing Onoki and had already inflicted considerable damage on him.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, as long as the fight continues, the Third Tsuchikage will eventually fall into his hands.

"Let's stop here, Kirito Tohsaka. We Iwagakure admit defeat this time. How about we call it quits?"

By this time, Onoki had noticed that Han's chakra fluctuations had disappeared. Overwhelmed with grief and anger, he also clearly understood that Iwagakure could not possibly win this battle. If they continued fighting, Iwagakure would only suffer more casualties.

"Give up? It's not that simple. Do you think fighting is child's play, something you can just listen to whenever you want? Besides, the situation is clearly in Konoha's favor right now. That Amegakure leader has already taken the Five-Tails. Once he joins the battle, Iwagakure will undoubtedly be defeated, and might even be completely wiped out."

Kirito flicked his finger, sending a purple flash towards Onoki, and sneered.

He did want to capture Onoki alive, that was true, but that didn't stop him from killing all the other Iwa ninja here.

An enemy is an enemy after all; it's best if they die.

Onoki hurriedly used Earth Release: Super Gravity Rock Technique to create powerful gravity that distorted the surrounding space, causing Kirito's Storm Release: Flash to miss its target. Then, with a ferocious expression, he said, "Don't force Iwagakure to perish together with your Konoha."

"To die together? You think you can take us all down with you?"

Kirito scoffed when he heard Onoki's threat.

It wasn't that he looked down on Iwagakure, but he simply couldn't imagine what Iwagakure would be capable of taking Konoha down with them if Onoki were gone. Even if Onoki were still alive, Iwagakure wouldn't be able to take Konoha down with them.

"Konoha is indeed strong because of you, but I know that person is even stronger than you. Once he makes a move, you can forget about supporting Konoha again. If I and all the other Iwa ninja here die, the remaining Iwagakure ninja will definitely follow that person to attack Konoha and destroy it."

Onoki said through gritted teeth, a look of madness in his eyes.

He absolutely did not want to resort to threatening Kirito as a last resort unless absolutely necessary.

But there's no way around it; if he and the other Iwa ninja here perish here, Iwagakure will truly be finished.