CHAPTER 48

Chapter 48: The Nine-Tailed Jinchūriki Joins the Battle

In Konohagakure, Hiruzen Sarutobi was enraged upon receiving intelligence from the front lines.

The report that Kirigakure had attempted to forcibly release the Three-Tails Isobu within Konoha's borders completely infuriated the Third Hokage. The audacity of bringing a tailed beast into the Land of Fire crossed a line, and Hiruzen resolved to make Kirigakure pay dearly for their aggression.

Despite his fury, the matter of mobilizing the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki a move of unprecedented risk could not be executed unilaterally. As protocol demanded, Hiruzen convened a meeting with the Konoha Council of Elders.

Once briefed, Shimura Danzō was the first to speak, his face cold and decisive. He immediately declared that Kiri must be made to pay in blood for such a provocation.

Beside him, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu exchanged glances. Their expressions remained reserved, but they ultimately voiced their agreement. They acknowledged the threat posed by the enemy's actions and supported deploying the Nine-Tails as a show of force and strategic necessity.

With consensus achieved, Hiruzen wasted no time. A masked ANBU Black Ops operative was sent directly to notify Uzumaki Kushina of the Hokage's authorization.

After scanning the intel, Kushina possessing a strong will and a fierce devotion to Konoha agreed without hesitation.

Within thirty minutes, Kushina was quietly escorted out of the village, accompanied by elite ANBU and Root operatives. The operation was handled with the utmost secrecy, avoiding known spy routes and using shadowed terrain to stay undetected.

However, the escort stopped short of the front lines. Upon nearing the outer perimeter, Namikaze Minato marked by Flying Thunder God seals along the path used his Hiraishin no Jutsu to instantly teleport Kushina directly into the Konoha forward operations camp.

To the average shinobi, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Apart from a handful of top brass Minato, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Nara Shikaku—no one was aware that the full Nine-Tails Jinchūriki had now arrived on the battlefield.

This cloak of secrecy was deliberate. With spies from Kirigakure known to be active within the Allied Shinobi Forces' perimeter, stealth was essential to gain the upper hand and catch the enemy unprepared.

In the days following her arrival, Konoha's senior commanders subtly adjusted battlefield orders. Under Tsunade's supervision, front-line squads were directed to adopt a more defensive posture, conserving strength and drawing enemy forces into denser concentrations.

The plan was simple: wait until the bulk of Kiri's forces were in one place and then unleash Kushina.

Against tightly grouped enemy formations, the power of the Nine-Tails' chakra cloaks and Tailed Beast Bombs would achieve maximum effect. It would also limit prolonged engagement, reducing Konoha's own casualties.

A few days later, Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage and a perfect jinchūriki of the Three-Tails, reviewed new troop reports. To his surprise, the number of Kirigakure ninja returning to the central camp was 1.5% higher than expected.

Though seemingly minor, the discrepancy tugged at Yagura's instincts. As both a battlefield veteran and a jinchūriki, his senses were razor-sharp. Something felt off.

Following his intuition, Yagura ordered preparations for a strategic withdrawal to Uzushiogakure's ruins in the Land of Whirlpools, Kirigakure's intended staging ground. He planned to execute the retreat the next morning, once the final group of scouts had returned.

Unfortunately for him, Konoha acted first.

With most of Kirigakure's ninja now in a single location, the Konoha command seized the moment. That same afternoon, Minato gave the signal to initiate full-scale engagement.

Yagura had no choice. The positioning of his units made an immediate retreat impossible. Abandoning the field now would mean leaving hundreds of comrades to die or be captured. And after their previous retreat from the Fire Country's border where Kiri had already lost strategic ground fleeing again without a fight would devastate morale and embolden Konoha.

Yagura knew that conflict was inevitable. If a battle had to be fought, better to fight while his shinobi's spirits remained intact.

Before launching his defense, Yagura gave a covert order to his ANBU deputy commander: lead a squad to circle behind enemy lines, locate the yet-returned Kiri ninja, and prepare them as a surprise pincer force. They would attack from the rear once the main assault began.

Meanwhile, a few hundred meters away from the Kirigakure camp, two figures silently appeared atop a forested ridge.

It was Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina.

Unfortunately for them, the ridge fell within the outer radius of Kirigakure's sensory barrier. The moment their chakra signatures manifested, the sensor division at Kiri's command tent snapped to attention.

The expressions of Kirigakure's sensory-type shinobi changed drastically. Their faces went pale with dread, and cold sweat streamed down their temples as they focused on the two chakra sources that had suddenly appeared on the ridge.

> "W-What is this monstrous chakra?!"

"That's Namikaze Minato's signature! And the other"

"It's the Kyūbi! That's the chakra of the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki!!"

One after another, voices filled with panic broke out in Kirigakure's central command tent. Even the high-ranking strategists and the Mizukage Yagura were visibly shaken. Their hands clenched and their eyes narrowed as the reality settled in. This was no ordinary threat it was a catastrophe.

Yagura, himself a perfect Jinchūriki of the Three-Tails Isobu, froze momentarily. Then, his instincts kicked in. He shouted an emergency dispersal order to minimize casualties but even using their fastest communication through a sensory relay, it was too late.

On the ridge overlooking the battlefield, Kushina Uzumaki had already released part of the Eight Trigrams Seal placed on the Nine-Tails, allowing her to partially transform. Her form was cloaked in corrosive, red chakra, glowing and flickering with violent, boiling energy. Five chakra tails swirled behind her each a sign of mounting power and growing instability.

Above her, the air twisted as both Yin and Yang chakra of the Kyūbi surged outward. The red Yin chakra and the blue Yang chakra spiraled and fused, manifesting into a set of Bijūdama—Tailed Beast Bombs. The convergence ratio was skewed heavily toward Yang chakra, giving them a dense purple hue. Each orb, the size of a baby's fist, pulsated with annihilating force. Ten in total, they shimmered in a ring around her.

Without a word, Kushina hurled the ten miniature Bijūdama across the sky. The streaks of energy arced like comets, splitting the horizon as they raced toward their targets within the Kirigakure encampment.

BOOM!

Though each projectile had a slightly different speed and trajectory, their impact was synchronized, erupting simultaneously with terrifying precision. The ground convulsed as a chain of massive explosions engulfed the area. Flames, shockwaves, and debris erupted into the air. Ten mushroom clouds towered above the landscape, distorting the sky itself. The shockwaves rolled outward, toppling trees, blasting apart rocks, and leveling everything in their path.

At ground zero, Kirigakure shinobi caught near the impact zones were instantly vaporized. Not even ashes remained. Others farther out were torn apart by sheer force—their bones shattered, their organs ruptured, and their chakra networks obliterated.

To the unfortunate Mist-nin at the edges, it was the end of the world.

Some were ripped into shreds before they could react. Others were crushed by the shockwave, their lungs collapsed and blood flooding from their mouths. Some were hurled hundreds of meters, only to land broken and limp, barely clinging to life.

In a single instant, Kushina's surprise strike had reclaimed more lives than the previous week's worth of combat losses combined. Konoha's earlier retreat had pulled the enemy in, and now this devastating counterattack had shattered them.

In the Konoha camp, far from the frontlines, those unaware of the secret operation stared at the sky, dumbfounded by the sudden inferno.

"What the hell was that?! We haven't even begun our charge!"

"Did the enemy blow up their own armory?!"

Among the confused troops, Uchiha Gen stood silently, eyes narrowed. Though he hadn't been told the plan, he had studied enough battlefields and chakra to understand the meaning of that energy signature.

"Only one thing in this world makes that kind of noise… Bijūdama."

At the command ledge, Tsunade raised her right hand with authority and bellowed across the battlefield:

"The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki has entered the battle! All units—advance! Crush Kirigakure and bring this war to an end!"

The frontline commander beside her echoed the order and raised his arm:

"Advance! End this war!"

The call rippled outward—one voice became ten, ten became hundreds. The Konoha shinobi roared in unison:

"Defeat Kirigakure and end the war!"

"Defeat Kirigakure and end the war!"

"DEFEAT KIRIGAKURE AND END THE WAR!"

The battlefield surged with Konoha's momentum. Morale soared. Swords drawn, jutsu ignited, and formations surged forward. The charge was overwhelming—unstoppable.

Back in Kirigakure's command tent, chaos ruled. The officers rushed out, only to see the massive craters carved into the camp, burning trees, overturned fortifications, and smoke thick as a storm.

A commander cried out:

"Mizukage-sama! Confirmed it's the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki! And Namikaze Minato is on the ridge!"

At Yagura's side, Jōnin Ao activated his Byakugan, his transplanted dōjutsu glowing as he surveyed the destruction. His expression was grim.

"Konoha's main force is charging. They'll breach the camp perimeter in less than thirty seconds."

Yagura's lips tightened. "Damn it... if only Isobu hadn't been withdrawn…!"

He gritted his teeth. "Order full retreat. We can't win this."

They had lost the initiative. The psychological blow of the Bijūdama was catastrophic. If they stayed, they wouldn't just lose they would be annihilated.

Whistles sliced through the air.

Kirigakure's ANBU activated their flares. Three blood-red Kirigakure forehead symbols exploded in the sky an emergency retreat signal used only in the direst circumstances.

Seeing the signal, the Mist shinobi broke rank. Discipline crumbled. They didn't argue. They didn't hesitate. They just ran.

The shock of Kushina's assault had stripped away their will to fight. Fear, raw and primal, now gripped them. Even hardened jōnin understood the battle was lost before it began.

Back on the ridge, Kushina, still in her five-tailed cloak, narrowed her eyes at the fleeing enemy. Her chakra pulsed again. Another tail burst forth the sixth and the surrounding air warped as more chakra began to gather.

The Yin and Yang chakra surged outward again. The next wave was coming—and this time, it would be even worse.

---

30+ advanced chapter on patreon....Visit patreon now to read my exclusive content... posting 5 chapters per day, Our collection is now available on PATREON

visit patreon.com/Elbertovic to view 30+ advanced chapters

Please subscribe guys