"BLOOD!" the Shukaku roared, its voice shaking the very foundation of the forest.
The towering sand demon slammed its massive, clawed hands into its bulging stomach.
"Wind Style: Air Bullet!"
A sphere of highly compressed air, the size of a two-story house, shot out of the beast's mouth like a cannonball, hurtling straight toward us. The sheer wind pressure tore the remaining trees up by their roots.
"Doom! Give it hell!" I yelled.
ROOOAAR!
Doom planted his massive paws into the dirt. The bone-like ridges along his spine glowed a furious, molten orange. He opened his jaws and unleashed a concentrated, sweeping beam of black-and-crimson Hellfire directly at the incoming air bullet.
The elements collided in mid-air.
BOOOOOOM!
The explosion was blinding. Doom's Yin-laced Hellfire didn't just burn; it consumed. It superheated the compressed air, turning the shockwave into a localized firestorm. The heat was so intense that the sand caught in the blast instantly fused into jagged chunks of glass, raining down on the battlefield.
But Doom was an A-Rank entity. The Shukaku was a Tailed Beast. The sheer scale of chakra was wildly disproportionate.
Through the curtain of fire and smoke, a massive, thick tail of sand whipped out with the speed of a striking viper. It swept across the ground, aimed right at my summon.
Doom tried to jump, his predatory instincts flaring, but the tail was simply too massive. It clipped his hind legs.
YELP!
The impact sounded like a wrecking ball hitting a truck. Doom was sent flying backward, hurtling toward the tree line at terminal velocity.
[Skill: Elastic Chakra (Bungee Gum)]
I threw my hand out, shooting a thick cord of pink chakra, attaching it to the skull collar around Doom's neck. I planted my feet and absorbed the kinetic energy, stretching the gum to its absolute limit before reeling him in gently.
Doom landed beside me, panting heavily. His black fur was dusted with sand, and he favored his left hind leg slightly. He bared his fangs and let out a deep, rumbling growl, ready to charge again.
"Easy, boy," I placed a hand on his back. "You're an A-Rank predator, but that's a natural disaster. You can burn his sand, but he has a whole desert to work with. We need a tank."
Behind us, leaning against a shattered tree stump, Sasuke Uchiha watched the exchange.
His body was completely paralyzed, wracked by the agonizing, throbbing pain of the Curse Mark. But the physical pain was nothing compared to the absolute devastation tearing through his pride.
Sasuke gritted his teeth, his Sharingan spinning wildly as he stared at me, then at the towering sand demon.
What is this? Sasuke's inner monologue screamed, his hands trembling helplessly in the dirt. That monster... it's a completely different level. And Kenji... he's fighting it. He's standing right in front of it and not even flinching.
Sasuke's gaze shifted slightly, landing on the blonde idiot currently standing between him and the beast.
Naruto hadn't run away. His knees were shaking, yes. He looked terrified. But he hadn't taken a single step backward. The red, bubbling chakra of the Nine-Tails was beginning to leak from Naruto's pores, reacting to the sheer desperation of the moment and the presence of another Tailed Beast.
Even Naruto... Sasuke clenched his fists until his fingernails bit into his palms, drawing blood. Why am I so weak?! I'm an Uchiha! I'm an avenger! I'm supposed to be the strongest, but I'm just sitting here in the dirt while they fight to protect me!
"Hey, Kenji!" Naruto yelled over the roaring of the wind, his voice cracking but resolute. "I'm not letting that thing touch Sakura or Sasuke!"
"Glad to hear it, whiskers," I called back, dodging a stray chunk of glass. "Because my dog is built for DPS, not taking hits. If you've got a giant meat-shield in your back pocket, now would be an excellent time to use it!"
"Right!"
Naruto closed his eyes. He stopped panicking. He took a deep, centering breath, focusing entirely on that dark, massive well of red chakra buried deep within his seal.
I need it, Naruto thought furiously. Not a tadpole. Not a baby toad. I need the Boss!
His eyes snapped open. The pupils had momentarily slit into feral, crimson vertical lines. He bit his thumb so hard blood instantly welled up. He slammed his hands together, weaving the signs perfectly.
Boar. Dog. Bird. Monkey. Ram.
"SUMMONING JUTSU!"
Naruto leaped high into the air, aiming straight for the gap between me and the Shukaku. He slammed his bloody palm into the empty air, projecting his chakra downward.
The sky itself seemed to crack.
A massive, incredibly complex black summoning array expanded in mid-air, dozens of meters wide.
KABOOOOOM!
The explosion of white smoke was so large it rivaled the Shukaku's own transformation. The sheer displacement of air blew the falling glass and sand away, forcing me to shield my eyes.
The earth shook violently, a localized earthquake rattling the bedrock as something unimaginably heavy landed in the clearing.
"What?!" The Shukaku roared, shielding its single eye from the dust.
As the white smoke slowly began to clear, a massive silhouette emerged.
It was a toad. But calling it a toad was like calling a hurricane a slight breeze. It was easily the size of a small mountain, matching the Shukaku in sheer vertical height. It wore a dark red, Yakuza-style happi coat over its warty skin. A massive, freshly lit pipe hung loosely from its lips, and a giant wakizashi sword was strapped to its hip.
Gamabunta, the Toad Boss of Mount Myoboku, had arrived.
"Where is Jiraiya?" Gamabunta rumbled, taking a long drag from his pipe and exhaling a cloud of smoke that covered the treetops. His voice was incredibly deep, vibrating with unquestionable authority. "And why is it so damn noisy out here?"
Standing on top of the toad's massive, flat head, Naruto pointed a dramatic finger down at the beast.
"I summoned you, Toad Boss!" Naruto yelled, completely ignoring the sheer scale of what he had just done. "And I need your help to beat that giant sand-raccoon thing!"
Gamabunta blinked, slowly looking up at the blonde kid standing on his nose. Then, he looked down at me and Doom.
"A kid summoned me?" Gamabunta scoffed, blowing smoke. He eyed Doom carefully. "And someone brought a Nether-Hound to the human realm? What is this, a petting zoo?"
Doom didn't take kindly to the insult. He bared his fangs and barked fiercely, a jet of hellfire shooting from his jaws.
"Quiet, Doom," I patted the hound's shoulder, looking up at the giant toad. "Hey, Kermit! Less talking, more tanking! The tanuki looks like it wants to play!"
Gamabunta finally turned his massive head, his golden eyes locking onto the Shukaku.
The Shukaku giggled maniacally. "A TOAD! I WILL SQUASH YOU AND PAINT THE DESERT WITH YOUR BLOOD!"
Gamabunta's eyes narrowed dangerously. He slowly reached down, his massive, webbed hand wrapping around the hilt of his giant wakizashi.
"A tanuki with a loud mouth," Gamabunta grunted, pulling the massive blade from its sheath with a metallic shing that echoed for miles. "Kid. You got guts summoning me into a Bijuu fight. Hold on tight. Let's carve this thing up."
I grinned, pulling my kunai.
"Now we have a boss fight," I said. "Doom. Let's go support the frog."
Author's Note:
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