The four-tailed beast, its eyes crazid with bloodlust and madness, seemed to be provoked by Kushina's emanating tailed beast aura, unleashing a sky-shattering roar.
Slamming its chest twice with its forelimbs, it spewed a torrent of scorching lava. Its two thick hind legs then dug into the ground, and the Four-Tails' massive body, following the lava rain, descended from the sky onto the petite Kushina with the force of Mount Tai.
"Bastard, you think you can jump on Captain Kushina's head?"
"Get down here!"
Kushina cursed with a determined pout, and three of her long tails split, one forming an umbrella shape to shield her head. The remaining two rapidly extended, skillfully wrapping around the Four-Tails' legs. With a fierce yell, she yanked downwards with all her might, dragging the airborne Four-Tails to the ground, creating a massive crater.
Lava splashed, and fiery rain fell.
After fully transforming into its tailed beast form, Roshi had lost all sanity. Seemingly unfazed by pain, he flipped over and climbed out of the lava pool. He slammed his fists heavily onto the ground, causing the earth to tremble violently.
Cracks spread outwards like a spiderweb from where the Four-Tails' fists struck, with crimson light flickering within them. After a dull rumbling, surging lava erupted from the fissures in the ground beneath the Four-Tails.
The battlefield between Kushina and the Four-Tails was instantly submerged in lava, leaving no room for ordinary humans to stand.
The three companions watched with trembling hearts. No matter how much they had prepared themselves mentally for creatures like tailed beasts, witnessing such cataclysmic destruction made them instinctively retreat. At the same time, a genuine sense of awe filled their hearts for the Nine-Tails who always chuckled and played pranks on them.
"If the Four-Tails' rampage causes this much destruction, how terrifying must the Nine-Tails, the strongest of all tailed beasts, be when unleashing its full power?"
The Yin Nine-Tails, currently in Konoha and guiding Kushina's battle, certainly wasn't going to explain to them what it meant to suppress with power or what a solo king was.
"Girl, the Four-Tails is different from other tailed beasts. Its body structure is much closer to humans."
"Find a way to entangle its limbs, use your smaller size to engage it in close-quarters combat, and absolutely do not give it a chance to release a Tailed Beast Bomb."
"With your current body, trying to forcibly blow away a Tailed Beast Bomb like I can would likely result in irreparable damage!"
A bold smile appeared on Kushina's small face, and she shook her head vigorously.
"Ha!"
"Kurama, you underestimate me too much!"
"With Teacher and you here, Kushina-Captain is not afraid of any damage!"
"As a partner of a tailed beast, today, I will definitely teach this guy who harms tailed beasts a lesson he'll never forget!"
"I'm going, Kurama, give it your all!"
The Yin Nine-Tails' lips curved into a gratified arc, its deep voice filled with complete approval.
"Alright!"
"Then I will do my utmost to protect you!"
"Kushina, go for it!"
Inside the Eight Trigrams Sealing, the Yin Nine-Tails suddenly rose, clasping its two forepaws in front of it. An almost infinite amount of chakra, in the gentlest form, rapidly filled Kushina's entire body.
A soothing sensation echoed through her meridians. Kushina's external body trembled, and she blinked her eyes shut at an inopportune moment. As her three long tails danced, a fourth tail quietly emerged.
"Bastard, you who steal tailed beast power, die!"
Kushina roared with newfound confidence. Her fingers instantly became sharp and slender. Her body slightly crouched, like a small fiery beast, and stepping on lava hot enough to melt gold and fossilize rock, she charged at the Four-Tails without hesitation.
Kushina, in her Four-Tails form, with Kurama's full cooperation, did not transform into a beast form like Naruto Uzumaki, nor did she possess the ability to release a simplified Tailed Beast Bomb – the Mole Cannon. However, her strength and chakra volume were not inferior in the slightest.
Her two pairs of slender claws, enveloped in Kurama's chakra, felt no heat from the Four-Tails' lava. Grabbing half of the Four-Tails' lower leg and yanking hard, the Four-Tails' massive body crashed to the ground.
As for why she didn't grab its entire lower leg...
Well... Kushina didn't have that long of arms...
The Four-Tails let out an angry roar, its eyes ferocious. It sat up from the ground and, with a backward swing of its thick, long arms, slammed down towards the tiny ant in front of it.
"Boom!"
A tremor shook the earth and mountains. A deep pit filled with glowing red lava instantly appeared where Kushina had been standing.
Kushina wouldn't be foolish enough to stand still and take a beating. Since childhood, apart from having her head flicked by Teacher Orochimaru and Big Sister Tsunade, Captain Kushina had only ever been the one to beat others.
Her long tails, controlled by Kurama, suddenly transformed into two large red chakra hands, pinning the Four-Tails' arms that were stuck in the pit. Kushina's figure, however, had already appeared on the Four-Tails' head.
"Hya, take this punch!"
Kushina let out a sharp cry. Seizing the opportunity while the Four-Tails couldn't retract its arms from the tail restraints, a punch imbued with Kurama's chakra and immense strength smashed into the back of the Four-Tails' head.
"Roar!"
The Four-Tails let out a pained howl, its body almost bent in half by the brutal punch. In pain, the four octopus-like tentacles on its back thrashed wildly.
Kushina, ultimately, paid the price for her inexperience. She hadn't even considered that she could use the tails attached to the tailed beast cloak for combat. How could the tails growing from the Four-Tails' own body be merely decorative?
Her beginner nature was immediately exposed.
"Girl, be careful!"
The Yin Nine-Tails, who was in the sealing space assisting in maintaining the chakra cloak, his expression changed, and he urgently warned her.
But it was still too late.
Before Kushina could even react to what she needed to be careful of, a thick octopus tail swept towards her with a whistling sound.
"Ouch!"
The tail struck her waist heavily. The little girl let out a groan of regret and shot back towards her three companions.
"Kushina, are you alright?"
The companions rushed forward, wanting to help Kushina up, but unable to penetrate Kurama's chakra cloak, they could only anxiously watch from the side.
Kushina ignored her sore backside and scrambled to her feet, her expression grim as she watched the Four-Tails begin to gather a Tailed Beast Bomb.
"Pah!"
"Captain was careless just now and was ambushed by this bastard!"
"I didn't expect to still give it a chance to use a Tailed Beast Bomb..."
The three companions' hearts skipped a beat. They had all personally witnessed the scene of Kurama releasing its Tailed Beast Bomb. Although it was only a small Tailed Beast Bomb released playfully by Kurama to cooperate with Orochimaru's teaching, it didn't prevent them from understanding the tailed beast's ultimate attack.
"This is troublesome!"
"Sister, can the power borrowed from Kurama block this Tailed Beast Bomb?" Nawaki asked with a frown, feeling the increasingly strong chakra fluctuations in the air, his expression solemn.
Kushina shook her head with certainty, her face full of confidence.
"Kurama said I can't block it!"
The companions were utterly bewildered by Kushina's actions.
Can't block it? Then what's with that confident expression on your face?
"But I have another way!"
Kushina smiled mysteriously and even retracted her chakra cloak.
"What way?"
In response to the trio's synchronized questioning, Kushina cupped her small hands into a large speaker and shouted upwards in a certain direction.
"Teacher, help!"
The three companions were so stunned by Kushina's move that they were collectively speechless.
High in the sky, Orochimaru, who had concealed his presence and was hovering above the battlefield using the Art of the Great Peacock, stiffened. He almost fell from the sky.
"This girl..."