Chapter 122: Wu Song Slew a Tiger; Sakura Beats a Cat
"ROAR—!"
Matatabi saw the tiny insect hurtling toward it, let out a shriek, and swung one enormous paw down in a swat meant to end things.
"DIE—!"
Chakra roared to life in Sakura's fist. She bellowed and drove straight into the strike.
Bare human fist against tailed beast paw. The last person to do something like this had been Kumogakure's Third Raikage.
Today, a second had arrived.
The size difference was absurd — an ant lifting a mountain. And yet.
Matatabi's colossal body punched straight through the ceiling and kept going.
"...You're joking." Darui, who hadn't gotten very far, watched the Two-Tails go airborne from a single punch and let his eyes open a little wider than usual.
"ROAAAAAR—!!!"
The hit had enraged Matatabi beyond reason. The beast's shriek rolled across the sky like the world ending.
And then the world started answering back.
Because it wasn't just a sound. The mountain felt it.
Every mass of snow that had been sitting on that peak — tons of it, waiting — began to move.
The avalanche announced itself with a sound like ten thousand horses at full gallop, and the white wall came.
"Oh, absolutely not." Darui was gone in the same instant.
"Lord Enma!"
Sakura didn't look at the Matatabi already wheeling back for another pass. She turned to Enma.
"Get Sasuke and the others out!"
"Sakura—" Enma's voice had something urgent in it. "What about you—"
"I have the slug contract."
"Go."
Enma looked at her. For just a moment, through the pink hair and the young face and the green eyes that didn't flinch, he saw something else — a gold-haired figure standing alone against the Nine-Tails.
The shape of it was the same.
"Understood."
"I'll come back."
No more hesitation. He turned and ran for the direction Shino and the others had gone.
The avalanche's reach would swallow this entire area. At the pace Kiba and Shino were moving with an injured Sasuke in tow, they couldn't outrun it alone.
Sakura watched Matatabi bearing down on her and let a fierce, unyielding grin settle onto her face.
"Come on then, kitten."
No more reason to hold back. The avalanche was already coming — she couldn't make things worse. Time to take this cat apart properly.
BOOM.
The earth cracked like a struck bell. Sakura launched herself into the ancient monster with everything she had.
Blow after blow landed with the rhythm of a war drum — each one loud enough to rattle the bones.
"ROAR!"
That first exchange had been a casual swat. Now Matatabi understood what it was dealing with, and it wasn't going to hold back.
Size meant force. Size always meant force. The paw that came down was a ceiling falling.
Sakura didn't dodge. She caught it with one hand.
Her knee buckled slightly under the weight.
But her other hand shot out and grabbed the paw.
Claws came out — without warning, mid-grab.
A gash opened across Sakura's face.
Of all the—
Is my face really just a target?! Is everyone in this war aiming for the face specifically?!
"You want to beat me?!"
"Get the Sage of Six Paths first!"
Every last reserve of strength detonated through her arms.
She lifted the tailed beast.
"DOWN—!"
With a roar of her own, she drove Matatabi into the shattered ground.
"MEOW!"
Matatabi howled with fury, thrashing to get upright — and found the insufferable pink pest had used its paw as a climbing ramp and was already in its face.
"Soaring Heaven Kick!"
Every gram of force she could gather. A kick like a cannonball to the jaw.
Even Matatabi's eyes rolled back.
"Stupid cat!"
"Sit down and behave!"
The enormous creature was staggering, wobbling, trying to find its feet — and Sakura was already exploding toward it again.
Then she saw it. Energy condensing in Matatabi's mouth, building fast — impossibly fast—
Is that a Tailed Beast Ball?!
No. Too quick. A Tailed Beast Bomb. The Ball took longer to charge.
Doesn't matter—
Sakura's speed spiked another notch. She went straight for the open mouth.
"Cats are pets. Well-behaved, obedient pets."
"With your power level, you should be home catching mice, you absolute disaster!"
She reached the jaws before the shot could fire. Both hands seized — one on the upper jaw, one on the lower — and pushed.
The mouth closed.
The bomb had nowhere to go.
It went off inside.
A muffled WHUMP resonated out through Matatabi's body. Every eye watching would have seen the sleek form visibly expand for a moment, like an overfilled balloon.
Thin lines of black smoke leaked out from between clenched teeth.
For a tailed beast — a being made of pure chakra — it wasn't fatal. It wasn't even close. But it was unpleasant.
"MRROW—!"
Matatabi thrashed, whipping its head to throw this infuriating leech off. It couldn't. Sakura had locked on like she'd been glued there, clinging to the fur with both hands, periodically delivering a punch to whatever surface was most convenient.
A tailed beast could take a lot. But repeated impacts from this hit differently after a while.
The Two-Tails rolled and bucked and shook the earth with its struggles, which only accelerated the avalanche that was already coming.
"ROAR—!"
Brass-knuckled fist crashed into Matatabi's skull.
Matatabi meowed.
Once upon a time, Wu Song slew a tiger with his bare hands.
Today, Sakura was beating a cat.
The avalanche arrived.
The most violent force nature had on offer — and the white wall swallowed the view entirely in an instant. One woman and one tailed beast, buried.
The world shook with the sound of it.
Sakura's hands locked in Matatabi's fur. She felt the wave hit — they were both thrown like leaves in a river, tumbling without any sense of which way was up.
Her stomach heaved. The world spun. She didn't let go.
Through the thundering roar of the snow, she could still hear Matatabi screaming.
And Matatabi could still feel — with absolute clarity — the presence of the insufferable creature still attached to its body.
It had fought the Nine-Tails. It had never felt this humiliated.
In this moment, Matatabi had one thought.
Yugito, you useless woman — could you not have picked a normal opponent?!
(Chapter End)
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