The Bane of the Bijuus

The sand arm swiped at her from the side. The Sand Spirit was growing bored and frustrated - the pesky human was far more accomplished than most it had seen through Bunpuku's eyes. Attempting to end the fight, Shukaku raised its own arm and swung it at Tsunade, while the Great Arm of Sand came at her from the opposite direction. 

However, Tsunade saw through the attack, and a pathway opened up to her in her mind. Briskly stepping past the One Tails' main arm, she stored up her chakra in both of her own hands and absorbed the blow from the sand hand, which had formed into a clenched fist. Then, punching the sand arm with her left hand, she was able to break it off. While the sand hand regenerated, and stomping on the ground to send dust and thousands of fragments of rocks and dirt as cover, Tsunade took the opportunity to rush straight at the Sand Spirit. Before launching herself into the air, she grabbed a nearby kunai and threw it at the Tailed Beast's head, which the Sand Spirit casually smacked away, thinking that the kunoichi had been crushed. However, seeing her fly towards itself, Shukaku, not expecting a sudden attack, was too slow to react. 

As she hovered in front of its face, with all her might and determination to protect the Leaf Shinobi behind her, Tsunade roared, before swinging her chakra-enhanced right hand straight into the mouth of the Tailed Beast. Shukaku was sent flying backwards and landed on its side. The One Tails was shocked. It had never been knocked down so brutally by a human before. 

Tsunade panted as she landed on the ground, moving away, slightly. She meant to hit the Jinchuriki, in order for him to wake up and as a result, for the One Tails to disappear as its host regained consciousness. However, she had just missed her target. Regardless, the Tailed Beast was now stunned and took time to process and heal the damage. Their fight had been short, but Tsunade realised she had put too much effort and chakra into that attack. Nonetheless, she had been able to severely damage the Tailed Beast and put herself back into a fighting stance. 

Damn, this fight is getting longer and tougher by the minute. Something needs to happen, quick. My hands are tied up - I should be healing people right now, and with this giant raccoon here, the rest of the medical ninja can't do their jobs properly either. 

Tsunade watched Shukaku get up, stumbling, as she gritted her teeth and recollected herself. The beast roared with ferocity and bloodlust, even more than it had ever before. Shukaku had been disgraced at the hands of a human, and refused to take the disrespect lightly. Meanwhile, Tsunade was having an internal conflict, her fists carrying the weight of her guilt and frustration. 

All of this. Everything I do. Everything I've done in this war. It wasn't enough. I wasn't enough. I couldn't even save my younger brother. It was my fault. I should've listened to Katsuro. Nawaki… I can't even describe how I feel. I wish you were here. I feel like I've lost a huge part of my soul. First our parents. Then Granny Mito. Now you.

Just before she was about to run up for yet another assault, hoping for it to be the last in this fight, an unyielding yet compassionate force held her back, as a warm, familiar, firm hand gripped her shoulder. 

"What are you doing here?!"

"Katsuro? What are you doing here?" Tsunade repeated. 

The shadow clone of the Senju Patriarch smiled at her. 

"Tsunade, you've done pretty well so far, I won't lie," the shadow admitted, inspired by the Princess' strength, but he wasn't shocked at all. He had always known how strong Tsunade really was.

"I'm just a shadow clone. The real me sent me here with a lot of chakra, seeing the One Tails emerge. You okay? Tell me what happened after, let's just get rid of this beast." Not having the strength to question the clone, Tsunade simply nodded.

"Yeah. We can take care of him."

"We? You mean you? The original sent me to just seal him up, so punch him real good!" The shadow clone of Katsuro said, giving her a thumbs up.

She got the urge to punch him and balled her first but, remembering it was a shadow clone, refrained.

In harmony, the two darted forward. Shukaku had only just gotten up swiftly, sensing a large amount of chakra nearby. Stunned, the Tailed Beast saw yet another Leaf Shinobi in front of him, alongside the kunoichi. This man seemed to be strong, possessing nearly as much Chakra as the black spiky haired man with the white cloak. Fortunately, Shukaku didn't have to face the real Katsuro - only a portion of his power.

Katsuro engaged with the One Tails, using his extensive Water Style Jutsus.

"Water Style: Heavenly Weeping!" The barrage of water needles that flew from Katsuro's mouth struck Shukaku in its eyes, disorienting the beast, as Katsuro prepared his next Jutsu.

"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu!" The clone made sure to put even more chakra than required into the Jutsu, producing a large fiery dragon from his mouth which crashed into the One Tails while it was already disoriented, severely damaging it in the process. As the beast fell to the ground, Katsuro readied the final attack. Just one more push, he thought, as he saw Tsunade skirting around the Sand Spirit. Hope you're ready, Tsuna.

"Water Style: Water Severing Wave!" The massive wave moved towards the Tailed Beast with immense power and velocity, probably sufficient to disintegrate it, especially because the Bijuu was made of Sand, but Katsuro wasn't one to take chances.

"Lightning Style: Chidori!" 

The 2 Jutsus merged, forming a terrifying wave of electrified water, and as it crashed into Shukaku, the beast knew it was over, as the sand fell away, revealing the sleeping Jinchuriki underneath.

Finally, as the beast lay incapacitated on the floors, paralysed from the immense electric shock, Tsunade made her move, leaping into the air and striking the Jinchuriki in the gut, instantly waking him up.

Bunpuku immediately began coughing up blood - Tsunade's punch hadn't been light, after all. Meanwhile, Katsuro's shadow clone walked up to Tsunade, smiling. 

"Need any help restraining the monk?" he asked innocently.

"I'll punch you next!" she threatened, as the shadow clone laughed. 

"See? This is why I told you to learn some sealing techniques," The clone said while kissing his teeth, before forming a 4 Symbols Seal on the monk's stomach. The seal was far more advanced than any sealing knowledge Sunagakure had, and was more than enough to contain the weakest Tailed Beast. 

"See you in a bit, Tsuna," he said, winking, before disappearing into a cloud of smoke, making Tsunade blush before she could hit him.

Meanwhile…

Meanwhile, the real Katsuro, who was battling the Kazekage, suddenly smiled. The memories from his clone told him about its battle - the One Tails had been dealt with before it could deal any significant damage.

"Seems like your trump card's been handled by a couple of medical nin," he mocked the older Shinobi while dodging a swipe of iron sand.

The Kazekage's jaw clenched, and his tone and next words were almost enough to scare even a Shinobi as powerful as Katsuro - almost.

"No matter. I will wreak havoc on the forces of Konoha," he vowed coldly, preparing his iron sand once again.

"Right after I kill you."

Katsuro unsheathed his Katana, causing the aura of lightning to extend to it, completely unfazed by the Kazekage's words.

"Bring it on."

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