Chapter 361: Despair In The Face of The Ten Tails

A heavy atmosphere of despair rapidly spread as the Ten Tails continued condensing its massive Tailed Beast Bomb.

"It's over... We can't do anything."

More and more shinobi began to lose the will to fight.

"Damn it!"

Looking at the gigantic Ten Tails in the distance, humanity felt so small and powerless in its shadow.

But even so...

The Kage looked around at the steadily falling morale. They knew they couldn't let it end like this. They hadn't lost yet!

"Mizukage!" the Fourth Raikage suddenly roared.

Mei Terumī didn't answer, she simply began weaving hand seals.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

And for once, the Fourth Raikage didn't rely on taijutsu. He too formed hand seals, his body crackling with lightning, before channeling it into Mei's technique.

"Lightning Water Dragon Bullet!"

The Raikage roared as a roaring water dragon, crackling with lightning, surged toward the Ten Tails.

"A combination jutsu by two Kage?" Madara watched this calmly.

"Impressive… but pointless." Just as he said, the attack failed to harm the Ten Tails at all.

As the progenitor of chakra, the Ten Tails' resistance to all chakra natures was already maxed out.

This kind of combination jutsu might have worked against other tailed beasts, but against the Ten Tails, it was completely ineffective.

"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"

Ōnoki had finally prepared his most powerful Dust Style technique.

The fact that Madara didn't interfere with the Lightning Water Dragon gave Ōnoki a glimmer of hope. His Dust Release shouldn't be underestimated.

But just as it was about to hit..

Madara appeared and stared calmly at the incoming jutsu, even admiring its power.

Dust Release, a Kekkei Tōta, that could indeed harm the Ten Tails.

And so...

"Preta Path!" Madara's Rinnegan absorbed the Dust Release entirely.

Even a Kekkei Tōta couldn't escape the realm of ninjutsu, and thus, it could still be absorbed by the Rinnegan.

"Damn it!" Ōnoki gasped in frustration, helpless against Madara.

Shikamaru took a deep breath as he watched the scene unfold. He realized the plan to stop the Tailed Beast Bomb from being fired had failed.

Even the combined efforts of the Kage couldn't prevent it.

Now, they had no choice but to try to block the attack.

If the Ten Tails had still been in its humanoid first form, stopping the beam might've been possible, they could've targeted the ground beneath it to throw off its balance.

But now it had transformed into its quadruped second form, low to the ground and stable. Toppling it was no longer an option.

It would have to be blocked head-on.

After a moment of thought, Shikamaru contacted his father.

"Shikamaru, if you've got a plan, don't wait, talk directly to the Alliance. Ino's already capable of linking everyone's minds. This isn't the time to be modest... doing something is better than doing nothing." Encouraged by his father, Shikamaru nodded.

With Ino's help, he contacted Kitsuchi of the Stone Ninja and obtained a simple Earth Wall Technique.

Then he began linking minds across the entire Allied Shinobi Forces.

He didn't give a motivational speech. There was no need. What they were about to do was for their own survival. No one would be holding back.

Under Shikamaru's command, all shinobi who couldn't use defensive ninjutsu were assigned to perform the basic Earth Wall Technique.

Even without an an affinity to the chakra nature of Earth, it was simple enough to perform.

The quality was poor, but the goal was to win by sheer quantity. If they could pile up enough Earth Walls, they might just stop the Tailed Beast Bomb.

Of course, Earth Walls alone weren't enough.

Shinobi who could use stronger defensive ninjutsu wove their techniques in between, like Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall.

Meanwhile, Water Release: Water Formation Wall was saved for last, as water could soften impacts.

With the preparations finished, Shikamaru looked once more at Mizukage Mei.

"Lady Mizukage, we'll need your Lava Style to fill all the gaps with molten lava."

Mei looked at the massive structure made from countless earth walls and barriers. It was a colossal task, but this wasn't the time for "can't."

So she nodded, formed hand seals, and opened her sultry lips to spew rivers of lava.

"Finally, Lord Kazekage, your sand will be our last line of defense." Shikamaru turned to Gaara.

Gaara nodded silently. He was known for his absolute defense, and this was his moment.

"With this, we've done all we can. If it fails… well, then it's over." Shikamaru sighed.

"It'll work!" Ino said firmly.

"I hope so."

"The last struggle of ants?" Madara, standing atop the Ten Tails, watched the flurry of teamwork with mild surprise.

He was impressed by how swiftly they'd acted in unison, but he didn't believe any of it could actually stop the Ten Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb.

At last, the Tailed Beast Bomb was fully formed.

Even with so many barriers in place, the Ten Tails could feel it, something on the other side of those walls had the same chakra as itself.

Its instinct could not tolerate that.

Suddenly, like a planetary cannon firing, a black sphere shot forth like a beam of light, cutting through the air and streaking toward the Allied Forces' barricade.

The massive black ball tore through the earth walls as if they were paper.

One after another, the layered barriers of Earth Wall and Earth-Style Wall were obliterated.

Lava between them boiled and exploded.

And yet, the sphere kept moving, like an unstoppable force.

Finally, after smashing through an untold number of defenses, it slowed down.

Shikamaru spotted it instantly.

Gone was his usual laziness. With Ino's help, he shouted into everyone's minds,

"It's slowing down! Keep going! Push harder! We're doing it!"

As if ignited by his words, everyone roared in unison, pouring the last of their chakra into their jutsu.

It didn't matter if their walls were destroyed, they would just build more behind them.

"This is… the power of ordinary people?" Madara murmured from atop the Ten Tails, somewhat moved.

"Too bad… this kind of unity only happens in moments like this. The rest of the time, you're consumed by war and hatred. This fleeting peace means nothing." He scoffed and shook his head.

At last, under the seemingly endless wave of defenses, the Tailed Beast Bomb failed to fully pierce through.

It detonated, and the explosion blanketed the entire battlefield.

"Kazekage!" Shikamaru shouted.

"Understood!" Gaara's whole body trembled, but he stepped forward. The sand surged, an endless storm of grains forming the final shield.

Among the sand was gold dust, left behind by his father Rasa during their previous battle.

Gaara poured in all of his chakra, this was their last chance to survive.

If they couldn't even defend themselves, what talk was there of counterattack?

The explosion of the Tailed Beast Bomb crashed into the Water Formation Wall first, but it instantly evaporated like raindrops in magma.

Then… it collided head-on with Gaara's sand.

At that moment, even Gaara's sand, renowned as absolute defense, was rapidly crumbling apart.

"Ngh!" Gaara clenched his jaw tightly, his teeth bleeding from the pressure, but he didn't have time to care.

He stared at his sand being torn apart by the blast's force. New sand surged forward to replace it, but it was breaking apart far faster than it could be replenished.

"Geez… I was about ready to give up, but seeing our little Kazekage trying so hard, how can I relax now?" Mei Terumī panted heavily.

The lava she had produced earlier had already pushed her to her limits. But…

Watching Gaara give his all, Mei gritted her teeth and decided to dig even deeper.

If not now, when?

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

After forming her seals, Mei unleashed an enormous surge of water, larger than all previous Formation Walls combined, to stand between the blast and the Allied Forces.

Unfortunately, even a wall of that scale couldn't contain the force of the Tailed Beast Bomb's explosion.

"Kitsuchi! Kurotsuchi!" Ōnoki shouted.

"We know, old man!" His son and granddaughter, Kitsuchi and Kurotsuchi, formed hand seals together and poured every last ounce of chakra into their defense.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

"Earth Release: Weighted Boulder Technique!"

Kurotsuchi might have been a bit lacking, but Kitsuchi's strength was enough to be Kage-level. Together, their earth wall would've been nearly impossible to break under normal circumstances.

Yet… against this explosion, it didn't last long.

It stalled the blast briefly, only to be shattered moments later.

"Is… is it over?"

Despite everyone's combined efforts, they still couldn't stop it. That single, dreadful thought crept into every mind.

Tsunade and the Raikage watched helplessly. Both were taijutsu specialists, or at best hybrid fighters—there was little they could contribute to this kind of defense.

"Don't… underestimate me!" Ōnoki roared.

He hadn't joined the earlier defense line, because he had been building up his chakra.

Now, in his hands glowed an enormous, unstable white light, a colossal Dust Release cube.

This was unlike anything he had ever attempted. He had never tried to control so large a volume of Dust Release before. But now wasn't the time to hesitate.

This attempt had to work, or it was all over.

"Dust Release: Boundary Annihilation Technique!"

A massive cube of white light erupted in front of the Allied Forces, just as the Tailed Beast Bomb's explosion reached their final line.

Thankfully, the Dust Release, which could disintegrate anything at a molecular level, lived up to its name. Even the explosion of the Tailed Beast Bomb began to be erased upon contact.

But it wasn't just one wave of energy.

Even after being weakened by everyone's joint efforts, the residual force of the Tailed Beast Bomb was still immense.

And that meant Ōnoki had to maintain his Dust Release beam continuously.

"Raaaaaahhhhhh!" Ōnoki bellowed as his arms trembled violently.

His clothes were torn to shreds. His long hair flew wildly in the wind. Gone was the tidy old man — now, he looked like a battle-worn warrior.

Hearing his roar, Tsunade immediately rushed to his side.

Strange markings coiled across her body, a sign of her most powerful jutsu.

"Yin Seal: Release!"

The markings glowed. Tsunade formed hand seals.

"Ninja Art: Creation Rebirth — Strength of a Hundred Technique!"

Once complete, she placed her hands on Ōnoki's back.

"Old man Ōnoki, let me handle the chakra!"

"Is that you, Tsunade? This chakra… what perfect timing." Ōnoki was stunned by how smoothly the chakra flowed through him, as if it were his own.

This might actually work…

He looked out at the Allied Shinobi Forces.

They could survive this.

Finally, the massive blast of the Tailed Beast Bomb dissipated.

Ōnoki collapsed to one knee, gasping. Even with Tsunade's chakra, he had reached his mental limit.

"We did it?! We actually survived?!" Cheers erupted across the Allied Forces.

In those few short minutes, they had endured what felt like years of agony, but now… they were alive!

"Yes. Congratulations on blocking the first Tailed Beast Bomb." Suddenly, Madara's voice echoed through the air, chilling every heart.

"Your reward is… a second Tailed Beast Bomb."

Everyone turned, and their eyes widened in horror.

While they had been focused on blocking the first, the Ten Tails had already begun charging a second one, and it was nearly complete.

The joyful expressions from moments ago instantly froze.

They looked at Ōnoki, collapsed...

At Mei and Gaara, both gasping for air.

Then at themselves, who were drained.

Could they really stop another one?

Shikamaru was drenched in sweat, his mind racing for alternatives.

The method they'd used before wouldn't work again.

There had to be another way.

There had to be something…

But no matter how hard he thought, against such overwhelming power his intellect felt utterly helpless.

Before Shikamaru could even issue new orders...

The Ten Tails unleashed its second Tailed Beast Bomb.

"This time… it really is over..."

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