Reborn in the Shinobi World with an Arceus Inside

Having crushed the annoying pests before it in one fell swoop, the five-tailed Nawaki turned its attention to the massive form of Manda.

It carried a part of the Nine-Tails' will within its chakra, though it wasn't completely controlled by it. For now, it was a beast that knew only slaughter, driven to destroy every living creature before it. The more of the Nine-Tails' chakra that flowed out, the more it became like the Nine-Tails itself, until it could break free completely.

And so, upon spotting Manda several hundred meters away, the five-tailed Nawaki gathered a massive Tailed Beast Bomb without a moment's hesitation.

The enormous energy signature immediately caught the attention of Kaito and the others.

"Again?"

"It's aiming this way!"

Without another word, Kaito and Orochimaru took off. Manda's pupils contracted, and it quickly coiled its winding body into a tight ball.

The next second, as the faces of everyone present went pale, the world-destroying Tailed Beast Bomb shot forth, carving a deep trench in the earth's surface and scoring a direct hit on Manda. It erupted into a massive, expanding fireball, the light of which shot into the heavens. The resulting storm ripped every blade of grass from the ground and pulverized them.

"Whew, that was terrifying. I almost got vaporized," Kaito, who had dodged just in time, said, retreating a thousand meters away and patting his chest in lingering fear as he looked at the mushroom cloud rising in the distance.

"I wonder if Orochimaru is dead?" He activated his Aura and suddenly sensed a colossal creature moving underground. He couldn't help but chuckle. "He really never gives up."

He stomped his foot down hard. An invisible ripple spread out, and the ground shook violently, cracking into irregular pieces. Manda, trapped below, was squeezed by the earth and, in unbearable pain, couldn't help but burst through the surface, snapping its jaws at Kaito.

Of course, Kaito, aware of its presence, easily dodged, leaving it to bite at empty air.

"Damn you!" The toad in its grasp had slipped away. Manda was furious. It had just shed its skin to survive that terrifying attack and had thought it could kill two birds with one stone by swallowing another delicious morsel.

It glanced at the five-tailed Nawaki in the distance, which seemed to have taken an interest in it again. In the end, Manda didn't dare to linger. It let out an angry roar at the sky. "Kid, one day I will swallow you whole! And you, Orochimaru, next time, remember to prepare a sacrifice in advance!"

After spitting out its threats, Manda vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Next time you dare to show your face in front of me, I'll turn you into snake soup!" Kaito said nonchalantly. Compared to treacherous humans, summoning animals were far too easy to deal with.

He suddenly felt a jolt and looked toward the five-tailed Nawaki, only to find that its gaze was now fixed on him.

"Crap!"

He couldn't deal with a five-tailed jinchuriki in his current state. Without a second thought, Kaito turned and ran.

Seeing its prey take flight, the five-tailed Nawaki grew excited and gave chase. The two of them, one chasing and one fleeing, moved at incredible speeds, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye. Only the occasional roar of explosions indicated that they were still fighting.

Not long after, a patch of earth stirred, and Orochimaru's battered figure emerged from the mouth of a large snake. He looked at the scorched black earth, still smoking around him, and fell silent.

"Humans are truly fragile," Orochimaru exhaled a breath of turbid air. He leaped a few times to the place where Tsunade and the others had been fighting and once again performed a summoning jutsu, calling forth a large number of small snakes.

With the efforts of those small snakes, the human bodies in the area were all dragged to his side, among them Tsunade and Danzo.

Danzo was in bad shape. Half of his body was a bloody mess, and his breathing was shallow. He was clearly on the verge of death. Compared to Danzo, Tsunade was much better off. The wounds on her body were already beginning to scar over.

Orochimaru went over, took out a military rations pill, and fed it to Tsunade.

"Mmm..." Replenished by the pill, Tsunade quickly regained consciousness. She glanced at Orochimaru, then looked around. Not seeing the figure she was expecting, she quickly asked, "Orochimaru, where's Nawaki?"

"If you're referring to that monster, Kaito led it away."

"Which way did they go?"

"This way, of course," Orochimaru pointed in the direction of Konoha. "Sarutobi-sensei won't let it enter Konoha and wreak havoc. With him taking action, you should be able to rest easy."

"Phew~" Tsunade did indeed let out a sigh of relief. She looked at the others lying on the ground, formed a hand seal, and summoned Katsuyu to temporarily treat them.

"Orochimaru, you watch over them here," Tsunade said, straightening her clothes. "I'm going to go see. I won't be at ease otherwise."

"Go ahead. Just try not to get yourself killed."

"Right!"

On the other side of the battlefield, Kaito was being chased by the five-tailed Nawaki, dodging and weaving as he headed toward Konoha. At this point, only the Konoha ninja would take the initiative to rescue him.

Along the way, many of the Konoha ninja who had come as reinforcements spotted the two of them fighting due to the considerable commotion. However, after a few reckless ninja paid with their lives, they no longer dared to intervene.

"No good! We can't handle it! Go get the Third Hokage!"

"Right!"

"Sigh, you should have realized that sooner and called for help," Kaito grumbled. He dodged behind a large rock, but the rock was quickly sliced to pieces by the five-tailed Nawaki's small chakra hands.

Amidst the flying debris, he used Dig to escape underground. The chakra hands chased after him, tearing through the earth as if it were tofu. Kaito was forced to resurface. Feeling his golden energy dwindling, he had a headache. "Damn it, do I have any skills that can deal with this guy?"

Sing? No, it would be too easy to interrupt. Roar? Wake-Up Slap? It's worth a try.

After dodging another one of its chakra machine-gun blasts, Kaito turned, took a deep breath, and let out a furious roar at the five-tailed Nawaki.

The sound wave, like a lion's roar, made it cover its ears in discomfort. Seizing the opportunity, Kaito quickly doubled back, swung his hand, and gave it a huge slap across the face.

"Wake up!"

SMACK! BANG!

The five-tailed Nawaki was sent spinning like a top, crashing into a pile of rocks on the side, where it was buried out of sight.

Looking at the motionless pile of rubble, Kaito leaned over, his hands on his knees, and panted heavily. "Did it work?"

The words had barely left his mouth when two chakra hands shot out from the rubble, instantly wrapping around Kaito's body and binding him.

"Crap!" Kaito cried out in pain as the Nine-Tails' chakra burned him.

Just then, the chakra plate within his body burst into a dazzling light and actually began to actively absorb the Nine-Tails' chakra that was wrapped around him. The two small chakra hands simply dissipated into nothing.

"Eh?" Kaito was astonished. "I don't know what's going on, but it seems I can absorb Tailed Beast chakra?"

He looked at the equally surprised five-tailed Nawaki, and a bold idea formed in his mind.

"As they say, fortune favors the bold. Let's do this!"

Using the last of his energy, Kaito used Extreme Speed and, in one fell swoop, embraced the five-tailed Nawaki!