Chapter 71: Boom! He Exploded! Damn! That Escalated Quickly!

Kazuyama was watching Han closely as the Jinchūriki began to activate Boil Release. His thoughts drifted momentarily to memories of a pressure cooker from his past life. He recalled how crucial it was to ensure the air vent remained unblocked. If it were clogged, the internal pressure could spike uncontrollably, leading to an explosion.

To Kazuyama, Han had become that very pressure cooker—dangerously on the verge of detonation.

Kokuō's Boil Release was a terrifying technique. It rapidly elevated the user's chakra to a boiling point, drastically enhancing their physical power in an instant. Chakra, as Kazuyama understood it, was energy, and boiling it required an immense chakra flow. As this energy transformed into steam within the body, it had to be released—vented—before colliding with the volatile boiling chakra inside. Otherwise, the result would be catastrophic: an atomic-level explosion.

By now, Han's Boil Release had already started. His chakra surged wildly, filling the air with an overwhelming and oppressive aura.

To the Iwa ninja observing the scene, their mighty Jinchūriki, Lord Han, was on the brink of unleashing his signature steam. They fully expected him to annihilate the two Konoha ninja standing in his way.

For Minato Namikaze and Fugaku Uchiha, however, it was a different story. Fugaku's Sharingan tracked every movement, and the rapid, violent expansion of Han's chakra alarmed him.

"Minato! Be careful! His Chakra Flow is terrifying—it's beyond human!" Fugaku called out, his voice sharp with urgency.

"He might not be just any ninja!" Fugaku's Sharingan glinted as he reached a grim conclusion about Han's identity.

Suddenly, a deafening roar echoed across the battlefield as steam began to billow from Han's body. His expression shifted, his aura swelling with confidence. He now looked like a god of war, drunk on his own power.

"Die..." Han growled, preparing to attack.

But then, a sharp crack cut through the tension.

"Huh? What—" Han's arrogant expression faltered. He glanced down in shock. His armor—crafted specifically to withstand even Minato's specialized kunai—had begun to fracture.

"Something's wrong," murmured one of the Iwa ninja. "Why isn't Lord Han releasing steam?"

By now, Han's unease was palpable. His eyes burned red with intensity, his broken armor a clear sign that something had gone awry. Without the steam venting properly, his body began to bulge unnaturally, and his armor expanded under the strain.

"Damn it!"

"Minato, retreat!" Fugaku shouted. His Sharingan flared, the tomoe spinning violently. Through his heightened vision, he saw the horrifying truth: Han's chakra, compressed to its absolute limit beneath the fractured armor, was on the verge of detonating.

If his guess was correct, the battlefield was seconds away from witnessing a devastating explosion.

"No!"

Feeling the steam building uncontrollably within his body, Han finally understood the problem. The exhaust vents on his armor, designed to release steam, had somehow become blocked.

The inability to release the steam was bad enough, but it wasn't the most critical issue. Suddenly, a wave of numbness coursed through his body. As the sensation grew more intense, his control over chakra slipped completely.

Finally, with a roar of desperation, Han exploded.

"BOOM!!!"

How powerful could an explosion of chakra, suppressed to its absolute limit, possibly be?

Kazuyama, positioned a staggering 2 kilometers away, found out the hard way. The sheer force of the explosion blasted him off his perch.

"Boom!!!"

A colossal mushroom cloud rose into the air, while the shockwave rippled through the entire Land of Grass, waking anyone who had been asleep.

"Chōmei! Help me!" Kazuyama screamed in panic. "I miscalculated!"

Caught in the blast's shockwave, Kazuyama was hurled hundreds of meters into the air, his body wracked with pain. If not for the distance he had maintained, he might've been torn apart. But why was he airborne in the first place?

It turned out to be his unfortunate position—standing on a tree tens of meters above the ground. When Han, rooted firmly to the earth, detonated, the sheer force of the blast launched Kazuyama skyward.

The explosion's swirling airflow kept him hurtling higher and higher.

"Hahahaha! It exploded! It really exploded!"

"You're killing me! Kokuō's Jinchūriki is such a goofball!"

Chōmei erupted into laughter the moment Han detonated. He couldn't help it—anyone who saw their own unique technique backfire so spectacularly would find it hysterical.

"Here it comes! Kazuyama!"

"Control your form!"

In an instant, Chōmei's chakra surged into Kazuyama's body. Wings sprouted around his waist, steadying his form mid-air. He leaned back into the wings, activating Hive Mind to focus on the explosion's epicenter.

At the core of the devastation stood Han—bare, his skin shredded and his eyes vacant white. Blood? It had long since been vaporized in the heat of the blast.

As for the Iwa ninja? Almost all had been reduced to ashes.

Wait. Survivors?

Kazuyama squinted, spotting movement near the 10-meter-diameter crater at ground zero. Four trembling figures emerged—Earth Release users who had wisely buried themselves underground just before the explosion.

"Right, where are Minato and Fugaku?"

"Don't you fucking explode."

Kazuyama suddenly remembered the black-and-white duo—yin and yang—who had been pursuing him. Panic gripped him as he frantically scanned the area. Those two couldn't be in trouble. If anything happened to them, he would never be able to return to the village.

After a frantic search, he finally found them amidst the ruins, about a kilometer from the explosion's epicenter.

Neither of them was in good shape.

"Fugaku… are you okay?"

"Cough, cough… Two ribs are broken, and my left leg seems to be out too… What about you?"

"My right arm's broken… I hit my head and feel a bit dizzy… Other than that, I'm fine. Luckily, I threw my kunai earlier. Otherwise, we might not have made it…"

Minato cradled his injured arm and shook his head. Shadows danced in front of his eyes.

A concussion. Definitely a concussion.

"Damn, what the hell happened?"

"Why did he suddenly explode?"

Regret struck him like a blow. Even though he'd used the Flying Thunder God Technique to escape the heart of the explosion, the sheer force of the blast was staggering. The shockwave alone had left them battered and bruised.

"Chakra compression," Fugaku said, wincing. "But I don't know why the compressed chakra caused fluctuations."

"That's all I saw too. I don't know the specifics."

"Hiss… Damn, we need to retreat," Fugaku gritted out, every movement sending sharp pain through his body. His forehead glistened with cold sweat.

"Okay…"

"ROAR!!!"

Before they could make their move, a violent roar shattered the tense silence.

Both of their faces darkened instantly.

Through the thick smoke, a massive creature emerged, its hideous features coming into view.