Naruto: Starting as the Third Hokage with Tears in His Eyes

The Three-Tailed Isobu was clearly taken aback by the fact that this little insect possessed such power. After a brief moment of astonishment, he erupted into an even more raging fury.

It opened its enormous mouth, filled with sharp teeth, and a blinding blue light shone from deep within its throat.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

Five highly condensed chakra water cannons, each powerful enough to easily sink a steel warship, were fired in a fan-shaped pattern, blocking all of Hiruzen Sarutobi's evasive routes.

Hiruzen Sarutobi strolled leisurely through the gaps in the attack that could have been fatal.

The first water cannon shot grazed the hem of his clothes and shattered a small hill behind him.

The second and third shots passed by his left and right sides almost simultaneously, the air currents they created blowing his hair.

He even had the leisure to turn sideways and continue teaching on-site.

"Look, the attack trajectory is too uniform; once it locks onto the target, it won't change course. This is the second weakness."

"Furthermore, there is a chakra regeneration interval after the three consecutive shots, which is a common problem for tailed beasts that rely on charging up their energy. During this time, you can do a lot of things."

To make it clearer for his students.

Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his hands together.

"Water Release: Cannonball Technique!"

A gigantic water sphere, identical in size, color, density, and even chakra fluctuations to the water cannon fired by the Three-Tails, appeared out of thin air in front of him.

No, it's not just exactly the same.

It is a case of the student surpassing the teacher!

If the Three-Tails' water cannon is a solid iron ball, then Hiruzen Sarutobi's water cannon is a lead ball filled with mercury and with an incredibly high density.

"boom!"

The enormous water sphere roared out at an even faster speed, striking the Three-Tailed One-Eyed Blade precisely as it had just completed its five-shot burst and was in the process of recovering its energy, unable to dodge.

"Awooo—!!!"

The three-tailed creature let out a painful cry, its massive body slammed against the force of the impact, crashing back into the sea and creating even more violent waves.

Yagura, Mei Terumi, and Kaigetsu Hozuki have become completely numb.

The three of them—no, the four of them, including Hozuki Shio, who had given up thinking and was only left with the emotions of "wow" and "hunger"—were all like the most devout students, taking out specially made waterproof scrolls and ink pens from their ninja tool bags and frantically taking notes.

Yagura's pen tip traced afterimages on the scroll: "Hokage, the Three-Tails' water cannon attack was replicated on the spot, with amplified power... the reason is unknown, but it seems that his understanding of chakra nature transformation surpasses that of the tailed beast itself!"

Mei Terumi's handwriting was delicate yet messy: "The Hokage pointed out that the Tailed Beast attacks have a weakness in terms of ki recovery... This point must be included in the new textbooks of the Hidden Mist Ninja Academy! No, it must be included in the textbooks of all ninja villages!"

Hozuki Kaigetsu took a more pragmatic approach, drawing a simple stick figure with the caption: "Core idea: Don't confront fools head-on. Utilize their rigid thinking to launch a devastating attack!"

Only Hozuki Shio, after drawing a big question mark, drew a sizzling, oily octopus leg next to it and put a checkmark on it.

In the center of the battlefield, the Three-Tails, thoroughly enraged, rose from the sea once more.

It realized that conventional ninjutsu was ineffective against the human before it.

Therefore, it chose its most powerful physical attack method.

It abruptly retracted its head and limbs into its shell, instantly curling its entire body into a huge, spiky ball of flesh.

The next moment, the sea urchin began to spin rapidly, stirring up the seawater and air, emitting a piercing sonic boom, like a giant meteorite falling from the sky, crushing towards Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"The physical defense is indeed impressive. With the tortoise shell and the hardness of the Corpse Bone Pulse, even ordinary Kage-level fighters can't break through it."

Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled, finally no longer empty-handed. "Too bad... you've met someone who's a perfect match for you today."

He stretched his right hand forward.

"Come out, old buddy."

"Buzz!"

A long staff, entirely black with ancient gold hoops at both ends, appeared out of thin air in his hand.

The Vajra Ruyi Staff!

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not make it bigger, but held it in his hand in its most primitive, normal state.

Faced with that massive, rapidly spinning ball of flesh, powerful enough to crush everything, he flicked his wrist slightly.

The tip of the Ruyi Cudgel struck seven times with unparalleled precision in the blink of an eye.

"Ding, ding, ding..."

The seven crisp sounds, like jade beads falling onto a plate, stood out starkly against the violent sonic boom.

After the sound, the three-tailed fox's earth-shattering spin came to an abrupt end.

Its massive body seemed to have been paused, eerily suspended in mid-air.

Immediately afterwards, on that indestructible carapace, seven points struck by the tip of the stick simultaneously revealed fine, spiderweb-like cracks!

"Awooo—!!!!"

An immense pain, far exceeding anything it had experienced before and originating from the depths of its soul, caused the Three-Tailed Beast to let out a deafening wail. It could no longer maintain its curled-up form, and its limbs and head stretched out in a disheveled manner, crashing heavily to the ground, convulsing uncontrollably.

On the shore, Yagura Karatachi, who had been trying to understand everything from a technical perspective, was struck dumb the moment he saw those seven dots. He snapped the brush in his hand with a snap.

"Those...those seven points...are...they are Tian Shu, Yao Guang, Kai Yang..." His lips trembled as he uttered a series of obscure names in a ghostly tone, "They are the seven core hubs that the Three-Tails' chakra must pass through when circulating within the body!"

"The Hokage is... performing an autopsy!"

At that moment, Yagura finally understood.

From the very beginning, Hiruzen Sarutobi never considered the Three-Tails a worthy opponent.

He simply used it as a living teaching aid to teach them!

The extreme pain and boundless humiliation completely burned away what little reason Isobu had left.

It no longer makes any attempts.

That enormous single eye was fixed on Hiruzen Sarutobi, filled only with pure destructive intent.

It opened its mouth, and a sphere radiating an ominous purple light rapidly formed within it, a perfect mixture of blue Yang Release chakra and black Yin Release chakra, compressed, and then rotated.

Tailed Beast Ball!

The surrounding air began to distort, and the seawater was pushed aside by an invisible force, forming a huge vacuum.

Faced with this final blow that could wipe the entire island off the map, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally dropped his relaxed expression.

His expression turned serious.

Hiruzen Sarutobi raised his Vajra staff above his head with one hand, like throwing a javelin.

"Quiet down!"

He muttered to himself, his voice not loud, but it seemed to possess some strange magic, clearly entering the minds of everyone present.

At that moment, those on the shore saw it.

I witnessed a scene I will never forget in my life.

As the Vajra Staff, which Hiruzen Sarutobi had hurled with all his might, flew through the air, an eye slowly opened in the center of its shaft.

A golden eye filled with savagery and ferocity, indistinguishable from that of an ape.

Yes, the Vajra Ruyi Cudgel was originally transformed from the spirit beast Ape Demon, and it possesses its own will.

"Swallow it back!!!"

The roar exploded directly in the Three-Tails' mind.

The Vajra Ruyi Cudgel that flew out grew larger and thicker in mid-air as it faced the wind!

Almost instantly, it transformed into a colossal pillar connecting the sky and the sea!

Then, under the gaze of a crowd who had lost the ability to speak, this enormous stick, carrying unparalleled force, struck with perfect accuracy...

It struck the Three-Tails' mouth.

"Bang—!!!"

The Tailed Beast Ball, which was still gathering in the Three-Tails' mouth and had not yet fully formed, was like a candy be forcibly stuffed back in. It was shoved back solidly by this enormous and unreasonable Vajra Ruyi Cudgel.

The club pierced straight into its mouth, and the immense force caused the three-tailed creature to stagger, its massive body falling uncontrollably backward.

Immediately afterwards, an extremely muffled explosion came from the three-tailed fox's belly, which was swollen like a frog's.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood there, a sinister smile spreading across his face as he looked at the faces that had been completely petrified.