Naruto: The Sage Body of Konoha

On the battlefield, Tashigi had been defeated and fallen into unconsciousness.

To an ordinary ninja, tailed beasts might have seemed like unbeatable foes. However, in the eyes of true strong individuals, they were nothing more than oversized playthings.

The reason was simple.

Wild tailed beasts generally possessed low combat intelligence — all power without control, classic examples of "strong but dumb." This wasn't just true for weaker ones like Three-Tails; even Nine-Tails, the strongest of them all, could be easily controlled by the Mangekyo Sharingan [a powerful variant of the Sharingan eye technique].

But when a tailed beast fused with a human ninja, its terrifying power could finally be unleashed.

Take Tashigi, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki — he'd already reached the stage of Semi-Tailed Beast Transformation.

If he could evolve into what they called a "Perfect Jinchuriki," he'd fully transform into the Six-Tails' original form while maintaining self-awareness, thus unleashing Saiken's immense chakra and devastating strength.

Only then would he truly be qualified to stand against Heiyan.

Right now, however, Tashigi clearly wasn't Heiyan's match.

Click clack! Click clack!

After defeating Tashigi, Heiyan took step after step toward Gato.

"Y-You... don't come any closer!"

Gato panicked, backing away desperately. The man who once looked down on life itself now revealed his cowardly nature when staring death in the face.

"You lot, stop him now! I'll give every one of you one million ryo — no, ten million ryo!"

Gato frantically shouted at his suited underlings and hired ninja.

But not a single soul dared move forward. Instead, everyone scattered like frightened rats, not daring to look back.

Truth was, once Heiyan beat Tashigi, the rest of the battlefield knew it was over. With their fighting spirit broken, they were mercilessly cut down by Fugaku and Hiashi, fleeing in all directions.

Helplessly watching Heiyan approach, Gato's eyes grew increasingly desperate.

"Wa—"

Before Gato could finish shouting, a golden flash sliced through the air.

Ssck!

Thunder God Sword [an ancient blade said to summon lightning itself] slashed across Gato's neck. Instantly, his eyes bulged wide open as he clutched his throat, crashing backward with a loud thud.

This evil merchant, blacker than sin, met his end here, paying for every crime he'd ever committed.

Heiyan pulled out a Storage Scroll, sealing Gato's body inside, and retrieved two briefcases as well. Inside were exactly fifty million ryo in cash — the amount paid for Tashigi and others' corpses.

Full circle — this money had returned to Heiyan's hands again.

Then Heiyan walked over to the unconscious Tashigi — the strongest ninja from Kiri.

After a moment's thought, he decided to take him with him.

The best plan? Bring Tashigi back to Uzugakure and let the Uzumaki Clan extract the Six-Tails (Saiken) within his body for proper reuse.

Wasn't it their own fault for spreading those rumors about the Uzumaki clan gathering Tailed Beasts to build weapons?

Since that's settled, let's make this rumor come true.

This way, Uzugakure would finally have its own Jinchuriki – maybe enough to stand a chance against the doom threatening their nation.

As an Uzumaki, this was all Heiyan could do for his clan so far.

Whoosh!

With that thought, Heiyan activated the Adamantine Sealing Chains once more. A golden chain shot from behind him, wrapping tightly around Tashigi before she could gather her strength again.

Yet during this action, something unusual about Tashigi caught Heiyan's peripheral attention.

Wait—what?!

He gasped softly in surprise and tore open Tashigi's clothing, revealing her entire upper body crawling with dense, intricate seals like writhing earthworms. In the circular center of those seals stood one prominent character… "Explosion."

At that moment, Tashigi suddenly opened his eyes. His scarlet eyes radiated a destructive, frenzied will.

I won't let you succeed! Let's die… together!

He roared fanatically, triggering the seal technique without hesitation, detonating both himself and the dormant Six-Tails at once!

In an instant, blinding chakra light erupted, about to engulf Heiyan.

This can't be happening!

Heiyan's heart pounded. If Tashigi successfully self-destructed here, the blast would consume the entire Mist Island.

No one on the island would survive — not even Heiyan's two teammates.

At this life-or-death moment, Heiyan made a split-second decision.

He placed one hand on Tashigi.

[Flying Thunder God Technique]!

Swish!

In the blink of an eye, Heiyan transported Tashigi to the sea hundreds of meters away from shore — that was his current limit.

Knowing it wasn't enough —

[Adamantine Sealing Chains]!

With another surge of effort, he unleashed all eight golden chains from behind at lightning speed, wrapping and binding Tashigi completely from head to toe.

Thanks to the Adamantine Sealing Chains' power, half of the explosive seals across Tashigi's body were forcibly sealed.

Still, the explosion couldn't be stopped.

Crack!

All eight chains coiled around Tashigi shattered entirely. From every orifice — eyes, nose, mouth, ears — destructive white light burst forth, igniting a massive explosion.

Boom!

With a thunderous roar splitting the sky and shaking the earth beneath, the entire Mist Island was rocked. Black cracks dozens of meters long split the surface, while terrifying chakra shockwaves swept across half the island.

Many survivors from the earlier battle perished in this explosion. Even Fugaku and Hiashi were caught in the blast, their chakra systems thrown into chaos and temporarily losing their combat abilities.

As for Heiyan himself, standing right at the epicenter, he endured unimaginable devastation.

Boom!

His body hurled backward like a cannonball, clothes in tatters and trickling blood from multiple wounds. Most shocking of all were the eight gaping holes left on his back where the Adamantine Sealing Chains had been blown apart.

He could have easily dodged that explosion, but he chose to make a self-sacrifice for the sake of his teammates.

Even so, Heiyan bore no regret.

Boom!

He crashed into the woods near the shore, toppling several trees one after another before finally disappearing beneath the thick bushes, his fate unknown.

Perhaps by coincidence—or cruel irony—he had fallen exactly into the same patch of forest where he'd previously set up his invisible Barrier and stationed a Shadow Clone...

"Heiyan!"

Far away, Fugaku and Hiashi screamed in unison at the sight before them. Their eyes burned red with fury as tears spilled out instantly.

At this moment, both men's souls were shaken to the core.

"Now! Quick, attack!"

Finally getting the perfect chance, Black Zetsu urgently and excitedly gave Kakuzu orders, "Leave only Fugaku Uchiha alive! Make sure the rest of them die right before his eyes!"

He emphasized this point repeatedly.

"Understood."

Kakuzu grunted in reply, a man of few words but swift action. Without hesitation, he revealed himself and charged directly toward the bushes where Heiyan had fallen.

"Who is that?!"

The sudden arrival of Kakuzu immediately drew the attention of Fugaku and Hiashi.

When they realized Kakuzu was targeting Heiyan, both rushed into the battlefield without hesitation, filled with shock and rage, throwing themselves forward to intercept him at full force.

<><><><><><><><>

Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!

~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!

<><><><><><><><>

~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!

~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!

patreon.com/Tansnovel

<><><><><><><><>