The highly corrosive poisonous water caused Gaara's body to rapidly decay.
When a Jinchuriki dies, the Tailed Beast doesn't actually die; they will re-coalesce somewhere in the world after a period of time, but at that point, their personality and memories will be reset, essentially returning to factory settings. This means they would revert to the state they were in when the Six Paths Sage separated them, which is a form of death in some sense. As intelligent beings, they naturally don't want to be reset.
The One-Tail Shukaku had no choice but to use its Chakra to repair Gaara's body.
Even if it was the Tailed Beast with the least Chakra, it was still a Tailed Beast.
Its recovery ability and Chakra manipulation speed were incomparable to any Ninja.
It repaired quickly and struggled fiercely against Shikaku's Shadow Imitation Technique.
Fortunately, Ino's Poison Pufferfish, infused with Water Release characteristics, merged with Gaara's blood, giving it a persistent, bone-deep quality. The toxins penetrated quickly and deeply, making it impossible to eradicate in a short time.
Gaara's screams continued to echo. Initially, his voice was muffled inside Shukaku's body, but as the Poison Pufferfish created hundreds of small holes in the Tailed Beast's body, his voice sounded very real.
Pain! He had never felt such pain!
This was completely different from his previous experiences. Before, it was the inability to sleep, the madness, the mental torment. Now, this was physical pain, bodily destruction.
He had never imagined his body could hurt this much.
Temari and Kankuro, who had secretly followed, became anxious. Their slight hesitation revealed their presence, and they were subsequently captured alive by the swarming Ino–Shika–Choji Ninja.
Seeing that the Poison Pufferfish hadn't taken down the One-Tail, and its recovery speed was much faster than expected, Ino had no choice but to use her biggest trump card.
Using this move would put her body into an extremely weak state. Many times, she aimed for no glory, but no mistakes, precisely because she feared losing her life by falling into a weakened state.
Ninja have high offensive power but weak defenses, and there are simply too many instances of them being caught off guard.
With family elites all around her now, she felt much more at ease.
At this moment, her family was her greatest support, and the Ino–Shika–Choji alliance was a solid shield.
"Everyone, get back!" she yelled, and the large Akimichi Clan members retreated. Her hand seals were incredibly fast.
She created a Water Clone, and just as Naruto's Shadow Clone could help him create Rasengan, she also simplified the steps for Steam Impurities Explosion. Two Shadow Clones—one adding water, one adding oil—cooperated with her main body's hand seals. In less than two seconds, Fat Ino appeared.
"Let that little raccoon see our art! Blow him up!" With a pointing gesture from her, Fat Ino accelerated and charged towards the One-Tail Shukaku, who was standing still, constantly expelling toxins from its body.
The water-based Chakra within Fat Ino was rapidly heated, causing hot steam to emanate from her entire body. After the internal heat accumulated to its limit, she violently crashed into the One-Tail Shukaku.
Facing the suddenly charging Fat Ino, even the One-Tail was startled. Instinctively, it knew this thing was not a joke.
Expelling toxins and breaking free from the Shadow Imitation Technique were both at their final stages. The One-Tail had no choice but to draw a portion of Gaara's Chakra for defense. There are always trade-offs; by gaining the host's Chakra, it inevitably had to return some control over the body.
The One-Tail used Gaara's Chakra mixed with its own to tightly compress the surrounding sand, forming a sand statue wearing a straw hat, quite similar to the One-Tail itself.
This was the strongest defensive Ninjutsu, known as Shukaku's Shield.
At this moment, the One-Tail Shukaku made the same mistake Orochimaru had made earlier: it assumed Fat Ino couldn't turn!
Accompanied by Ino's shout of "Cut!"
Like a meteor striking Earth, Fat Ino bypassed Shukaku's Shield, then gleefully crashed into the Tailed Beast.
The shockwave swept in all directions, shattering trees, bricks, houses on the street, and various debris. The steam transformed into a massive pillar of air, and sand melted by hot oil splattered everywhere. A large fire ignited on the scene, accompanied by thick, rolling smoke.
Inoichi used a Wind Release Ninjutsu to disperse the smoke, and everyone looked towards the explosion site.
They saw a circular crater on the ground, over ten meters in diameter and more than a meter deep.
The One-Tail Shukaku, with its round belly, was in a sorry state. It was injured; hot oil covered half its body and was still burning.
Tailed Beast blood flowed out like water.
Injured by a Ninja, it was almost driven mad. Its large mouth slowly opened, as if in slow motion, and resisting the Nara Clan's Shadow Imitation Technique, it gradually gathered Chakra, preparing to forcefully use a Tailed Beast Ball.
"One more time! Quickly!" Shikaku was struggling immensely. Each of the Nara Clan Ninja had their eyes tightly shut, veins throbbing on their foreheads, desperately supporting their clan head's Shadow Imitation Technique.
"Protect me," Ino called out to the Yamanaka Clan Ninja, then formed hand seals again.
Her Chakra had increased, and the speed at which she re-condensed Water Clones also accelerated significantly. The air temperature rapidly dropped, and the plump Water Clone quickly reformed.
The One-Tail Shukaku's eyes were filled with killing intent as it watched Fat Ino charge at it again.
Ino shouted, "Cut!"
With a loud "Boom!"
The One-Tail Shukaku emerged from the smoke and dust, covered in wounds. Ino then shouted "Cut!" again.
Fat Ino crashed into him once more.
After being bombed three times consecutively, the One-Tail Shukaku didn't have Orochimaru's tricky substitution Jutsu. It took three Steam Impurities Explosions head-on. Ino was drenched in sweat from exhaustion, and he couldn't hold on any longer either.
The One-Tail's Chakra was too depleted, and its consciousness slowly receded. Gaara, on the other hand, reverted from his fully transformed Tailed Beast state to his possessed state.
His body, over ten meters tall, shrank to normal human size, with only his face and right hand still retaining the Tailed Beast's appearance.
Shikaku, supported by his clansmen, firmly controlled his body.
"Shadow Imitation Technique successful. Now it's up to you."
Ino immediately used the Mind Body Switch Technique to enter Gaara's inner world.
Gaara was much simpler than Naruto; his inner world didn't have a bunch of "idle people" playing mahjong. Ino only saw his androgynous uncle, Yashamaru, in his memories. He was the best person to Gaara, bar none. Unfortunately, the Fourth Kazekage, who liked digging in sand and picking up trash, foolishly destroyed this bond for a so-called test.
Gaara personally killed his beloved uncle Yashamaru, after which he fell into endless self-reproach and pain. After his emotions reached a limit, they began to rebound. He hated this world; he hated everyone.
Ino had forgotten how Naruto had "talk-no-Jutsu'd" Gaara in the original timeline. Their upbringing and experiences were different, and she didn't quite understand his emotions, so she couldn't empathize. She could only use her own words.
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