Arima's right fist gathered strength before slamming hard into Taigen's chest. The burst of chakra at the moment of impact was no weaker than an A-rank jutsu.
Taigen's Lightning Release Armor shattered on contact.
His chest turned into a mess of blood and flesh, and he immediately coughed up blood as he felt his internal organs suffer serious damage.
Though Arima had only used thirty percent of his strength in that punch, it was enough to kill an average shinobi outright.
The fact that Taigen withstood it spoke volumes about his incredible physical resilience.
A searing pain spread through Taigen's organs, and blood pooling in his chest started leaking into his lungs, making it harder and harder to breathe.
He knew that if he didn't get treatment soon, he wouldn't last much longer.
But he couldn't move. He was like a puppet pinned in space, unable to budge, left at the mercy of Arima.
All he could do was channel Lightning Release chakra within his body, trying to repair his damaged organs.
Thanks to years of brutal training, his organs barely managed to endure the stimulation of the chakra coursing through them.
Seeing this, Arima shook his head. "It's pointless. Even if you were at full strength, what would that change?
Even with your impressive body, you won't survive my next punch. Just now, that was only thirty percent... just a warm-up."
Taigen didn't respond. He kept focusing inward, desperately repairing his broken body.
At that moment, the duration of Arima's Mangekyo ability, Kamigami, seemed to reach its limit.
Taigen regained control over his body, but as soon as he moved, his legs gave out, his head spun, and his vision blurred. The world seemed to twist around him.
He realized he had lost too much blood, his brain was starved of oxygen.
His body collapsed in front of Arima, landing flat on his back. As he stared up at the sky, the drifting clouds reminded him of his days training.
A bitter smile crept onto his face. Frustration welled up in his chest.
He couldn't believe the defense he had always been so proud of was crushed so effortlessly by this boy, barely in his teens.
He had never expected his once-grand ambitions to end like this.
Taigen murmured, "What a shame... Little A hasn't grown up yet. As his guide, I really wanted to see him come into his own..."
With that final whisper, Taigen passed out completely, lying motionless at Arima's feet.
Arima had intended to finish him off with one last blow, but those words gave him pause.
Before he could dwell on it, he sensed an attack coming from behind. He instantly sidestepped and flipped away, landing in a defensive stance to confront the new threat.
Before him stood Kin, now partially transformed into the Five-Tails.
His rationality was almost completely gone. Kin dropped to his knees, clutching his head, letting out a painful, beast-like howl.
'Incomplete Jinchuriki... he can't synchronize with the Tailed Beast,' Arima thought. 'He's become a mindless killing machine, driven only by destruction and rage.'
He remembered how his grandfather had distributed the Tailed Beasts among the great villages.
In hindsight, it had sown seeds of chaos. Without harmony like Mito had with the Nine-Tails, the Jinchuriki were always on the verge of going berserk.
But in Konoha, as long as he was here with his Wood Release, the Tailed Beasts would never run wild.
And with his Mangekyo Sharingan, he could easily suppress their movements. These two bloodline powers were the source of Arima's confidence.
As Kin's sanity completely collapsed, he finally completed his transformation into the full form of the Eight-Tails.
The once-crimson chakra rapidly took on flesh and mass, until it fully became a massive ox-headed, octopus-tailed beast.
It had finally been set free.
The Eight-Tails broke free of its Jinchuriki's body. It reared back and let out a thunderous roar, its eight tentacles lashing through the air.
The sheer pressure it exuded made even Arima feel a flicker of unease.
This was his first time confronting a fully berserk Tailed Beast head-on. The wild chakra churned around him, throwing the natural energy in the air into disarray.
A faint burning sting began to creep across his skin, surprising Arima slightly.
He'd always felt the Nine-Tails chakra inside Mito was gentle, even brimming with life. Now he realized it wasn't always that way.
'No wonder Grandma warned me over and over, Tailed Beasts are the most dangerous things in the shinobi world.
Their very existence is chaos and destruction. I still can't figure out what the Sage of Six Paths was thinking when he created them.'
Aside from his initial astonishment at the Eight-Tails' presence, Arima soon became calm, utterly unmoved by the beast's howls of rage.
To him, this enormous creature was just a giant target waiting to be taken down.
With Wood Release, the Mangekyo Sharingan, Sage Mode, and sealing techniques at his disposal, Arima had countless ways to subdue a Tailed Beast.
He could probably toy with it for three days and nights if he wanted.
The Eight-Tails roared furiously atop the colossal statue, drawing the attention of everyone nearby on the battlefield.
Mito narrowed her eyes at the Eight-Tails.
She sensed the Nine-Tails inside her momentarily grow anxious, as though it feared for its kin's safety, but the emotion vanished almost immediately, leaving her unable to grasp the Nine-Tails' true feelings.
She suddenly remembered Arima once mentioning that the nine Tailed Beasts shared a common origin, and that they could potentially reunite.
It made her realize how little she truly understood this world. Even the Nine-Tails had become increasingly enigmatic in her eyes.
Hiruzen and the others were seeing a Tailed Beast for the first time. Even from afar, they could feel the creature's savage, overwhelming power.
Staring into the distance, Hiruzen murmured, "If that thing ever took a stroll through the village, it'd tear Konoha apart... They say the Mangekyo Sharingan can control Tailed Beasts.
Uchiha Madara used it to unleash the Nine-Tails on the village. Thank goodness the First Hokage was there back then."
The mention of the Sharingan stirred sorrow among them.
Kagami had been their friend, comrade, and fellow warrior. They used to laugh together, even made plans to visit his bride's family once the war ended.
Now his cold corpse seemed to mock those broken promises in silence.
Trying to break the heavy mood, Koharu scoffed, "Hiruzen, you damned monkey. Quit jinxing things with that mouth of yours. I'd rather our village stay safe and sound. With Lady Mito here, the Nine-Tails won't be a problem."
She finished with a respectful glance at Mito.
In her heart, she thought, 'Arima is even more powerful than the First Hokage.'
But in Mito's presence, saying that out loud felt inappropriate.
Still, Koharu firmly believed that as long as their young brother was around, even the Tailed Beasts wouldn't be a threat to Konoha.
Hiruzen was about to retort, but when he saw Mito didn't react much to the mention of the Nine-Tails, he swallowed his words.
Facing a Tailed Beast for the first time, Hiruzen felt a tremor of fear deep inside.
Trying to ease his nerves, he said, "I wonder what Arima plans to do with the berserk beast? Maybe once he captures it, we should bring it back to the village?"
Koharu thought for a moment and replied, "Arima did confiscate the Sage weapons from Gold and Silver Brothers.
Those two Six Paths tools can both be used to seal a Tailed Beast. This is the perfect chance to put them to use."
Danzo, for once, held his tongue. He simply nodded, the sight before him leaving a deep impression.
His legs trembled instinctively from the beast's aura, and that shameful weakness sparked a surge of self-loathing.
Trying to distract himself, he spoke up, "Using Wood Release to subdue a Tailed Beast won't be difficult for Arima... but who's going to be the next Jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails?
You, Sarutobi? Or you, Koharu?"
The question felt loaded, and the two glanced at each other, unsure what to make of Danzo's tone. Then they remembered how deeply Kagami's death might've affected him and let it slide.
Torifu said offhandedly, "Arima's body is strong. He'd make a great Jinchuriki."
That casual comment made Koharu immediately picture the gentle boy with octopus tails.
The thought of combining his image with the hideous, violent Eight-Tails made her shudder. She quickly shook her head.
"No, not him."
Everyone turned to look at her, and she felt like her thoughts had been laid bare.
To cover her embarrassment, she said, "He's still young. His body hasn't finished growing yet, right, Homura?"
Homura adjusted his glasses, confused by Koharu's reaction. He found it strange, everyone knew Jinchuriki selection wasn't based on age but on physical compatibility.
How could Koharu not know that?
He stared at her meaningfully, as if to say, 'You're hiding something.'
Koharu gave a sheepish laugh and quickly added, "Lady Mito is here, you should ask her opinion."
Everyone turned to Mito.
She had been listening the whole time, and in truth, she thought the idea wasn't bad. If Arima had a Tailed Beast, it would give him another trump card.
To her, Hashirama distributing the Tailed Beasts had temporarily balanced the great powers, but the hidden threat remained. War was like a sword constantly hanging overhead.
Thinking of this, she felt a surge of longing for Hashirama. His contributions to Konoha were undeniable, but when it came to family, he had fallen short.
She resented that he had left her so soon. One day, in the Pure Land, she planned to tug his ear and pinch his waist in payback.
Before she could say anything more, a deafening explosion echoed from the sky.
Everyone turned to look. The colossal statue had just blocked a massive Tailed Beast Bomb, detonating it midair in a thunderous blast.
Everyone thought the same thing:
"Arima has officially begun his battle with the Tailed Beast."
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