"Roooar…"
The monster howled and lunged at Teizawa.
Teizawa did not dodge.
He stepped forward instead, his right hand clenched into a fist. The terrifying vitality granted by Wood Release gathered inside him.
Green markings moved beneath his skin like roots, like vines, glowing faintly beneath the sunlight.
His fist collided with the monster's tentacle.
Boom.
The tentacle shattered, black ichor spraying everywhere.
Where it hit the ground, it corroded smoking pits into the earth.
The monster screamed.
Teizawa's second punch was already smashing into its chest.
The crack of breaking bone exploded through the air.
The monster's sternum caved in.
Its body flew backward like a kite with its string cut, slamming into the ruins and blasting out a massive crater.
More tentacles came rushing at him.
Teizawa did not move an inch.
He met the rain of falling tentacles head-on, punching through them one blow at a time.
Every punch smashed apart another mass of tentacles.
Black ichor splattered all over him, but he paid it no mind.
Fists, elbows, knees, shoulders…
Every part of his body was a weapon.
Every strike carried overwhelming force.
Every blow left an indelible wound on the monster's body.
"This… this is impossible!"
The monster's voice squeezed out of its twisted throat, broken and ragged.
"My Eight Gates… my Body Revival Technique… how could…"
Teizawa stood in the middle of the ruins, drenched in blood.
Not his blood. The monster's.
He looked up at the struggling creature, his gaze cold.
"The Eight Gates are far beyond this level. And besides… you're too weak."
He flexed his wrist, his knuckles cracking.
"Or rather, your body can't withstand the burden of the Eight Gates at all."
"Even without me doing anything, your blood vessels would burst in a few minutes and kill you."
Shinnō's pupils shrank violently.
He knew Teizawa was right.
His body was already screaming. His muscles were tearing, his bones were cracking, and his blood vessels were rupturing.
He was burning his own life away.
Gambling everything for power.
But even then, he still could not defeat the man before him.
"You… who are you?"
His voice was rough, as if his mouth were full of sand.
Every word seemed to drain the last of his strength.
They had no grudge against each other. No feud.
And since when had the Kazekage been this powerful?
Sunagakure had always been at the bottom among the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
So why was this Kazekage so strong? So impossible to defeat?
Teizawa did not answer.
He leaped into the air, raising his right fist high.
All the restorative power of Wood Release gathered into it.
His fist carved an arc through the sky.
Like a falling star.
Like a meteor.
Like a mountain crashing down from the heavens.
Boom.
His fist smashed into the top of the monster's head.
The earth collapsed.
A crater dozens of meters across opened beneath them.
The monster lay at the bottom, covered in blood.
The tentacles on its body snapped one after another, withering before crumbling into ash.
The Zero-Tails' chakra surged madly out of him.
It dispersed into the air like strands of black smoke.
His body slowly shrank.
Returning to human form.
Teizawa stood at the edge of the pit.
He looked down at the dying old man.
He said nothing.
Then he turned and walked back toward Temari and the others.
"Kazekage-sama…" Temari hurried over, looking him up and down. "Are you hurt?"
Teizawa shook his head.
"Just scratches."
His hands, face, and clothes were covered in black ichor and red blood.
But his wounds were healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The restorative power of Wood Release was even more terrifying than the Strength of a Hundred Technique.
No hand signs.
No chakra consumption.
All he had to do was wait a few seconds, and the wounds healed on their own.
They did not even leave scars.
The ANBU stared at his self-repairing body.
One by one, they stood frozen, exchanging stunned looks.
Kankurō swallowed and could not help asking, "Kazekage-sama… are you still human?"
Teizawa glanced at him and did not bother answering.
Temari walked over and looked at his completely undamaged hands.
A strange, indescribable flutter rose in her chest.
She had seen him use Magnet Release. She had seen him control Iron Sand. She had seen him crush enemies with power that could overturn mountains and seas.
But she had not known his body was this strong too.
He had not even needed ninjutsu. With pure physical strength alone, he had crushed Shinnō, who had opened the Eight Gates and used the Body Revival Technique.
"How many secrets do you still have?" she asked softly.
Teizawa lowered his head and looked into her curious eyes. Then he smiled.
"A lot."
He paused.
"Enough for you to spend a lifetime exploring."
Temari's cheeks flushed faintly.
She turned her face away and did not answer.
Kankurō silently turned his head.
Pretending he had heard nothing.
The ANBU also looked away one after another.
Some looked at the sky. Some looked at the ground.
Shinnō had already been dragged out of the pit by the ANBU.
His entire body was covered in wounds, and he was unconscious.
The Eight Gates had overdrawn his life.
The Body Revival Technique had only made things worse.
In the original plot, he should have died beneath Naruto's Rasengan.
But Teizawa did not kill him.
Not out of mercy.
He wanted to squeeze out every last bit of value Shinnō still had.
The method for controlling the Zero-Tails. The complete formula for the Body Revival Technique. The secrets hidden throughout the Sky Ninja Village.
Teizawa even had another idea.
Perhaps Shinnō and the Zero-Tails inside him could be used as a battery.
A battery for the flying fortress.
That way, even when Teizawa was not inside the fortress, it could continue operating.
"Take him back and lock him up," Teizawa said calmly, as if discussing the weather. "Don't let him die."
"Yes!"
The ANBU accepted the order and dragged Shinnō onto the prison cart.
Teizawa turned and looked toward the flying fortress, which had risen back into the sky.
The sun peeked out from behind the clouds.
Its light fell over the fortress's rust-streaked outer shell, coating it in a thin layer of gold.
This airborne fortress, which had slumbered for so many years, would become Sunagakure's strongest weapon of war.
"Let's go."
Teizawa reached out to Temari.
"It's time to return to the village."
Temari looked at the hand extended toward her.
A faint smile appeared on her face.
She placed her hand in his.
He held it and gave it a gentle squeeze.
The two walked back to the group side by side.
Behind them followed the vast ranks of ANBU.
Along with the prison cart holding Shinnō.
And the enormous metal beast floating in the air, dragged along by sealing chains.
The sunlight was bright. The wind was gentle.
In the direction of Sunagakure, thin trails of cooking smoke rose into the sky.
This trip had been more than worth it.
(End of Chapter)
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