Chapter 309: The Flying Fortress Headed To Kirigakure

This terrifying power stunned every shinobi in Konoha, as if they were witnessing the descent of a god.

Tsunade, standing beside Riku, looked up at the Thunder Prison titan that had blocked the beam of chakra. This time, she was truly shaken.

In all her years, she had never seen such a breathtaking jutsu—or such a monstrous creature summoned by Riku.

Just the shield it conjured was enough to hold back that devastating chakra beam, one even more powerful than a Tailed Beast Bomb.

After a few seconds of collision between the beam and the titan’s shield, it was the chakra blast that began to weaken first.

Although the Nine-Tails contained an immense amount of chakra, it was still finite. It couldn’t sustain such a massive attack for hundreds of kilometers without limit.

As the chakra beam finally dissipated, far across the ocean—hundreds of kilometers away—Shen stood aboard the flying fortress, eyes narrowed as he watched the scene unfold on the monitor.

The failure clearly enraged him.

“Damn it. Why does that guy possess such terrifying power? If I can’t destroy Konoha… then I’ll choose another target.”

Having been thwarted by Riku’s intervention, Shen immediately redirected his sights toward other shinobi villages.

At that moment, aboard the fortress, Yamato was desperately trying to rescue Naruto.

But Shen’s strength was overwhelming. Yamato couldn’t face him head-on.

What was more concerning was how completely the chakra restraint system—Zero-Tails’ Control Core—was absorbing Kurama’s chakra.

Shen may have already measured the Nine-Tails’ reserves, because even as Naruto kept pouring out chakra, the device showed no signs of strain.

Empowered by the Nine-Tails’ chakra, the flying fortress began turning toward its new target: Kirigakure, in the Land of Water.

Originally, Shen had planned to use the Zero-Tails and his weaponized fortress to dominate the shinobi world. His first step had been to destroy the Five Great Nations—but with Konoha proving impossible to wipe out, he shifted to the next viable option.

Cloud and Stone would take too long to reach and required prolonged battle.

Sunagakure was too far inland, and logistics across the desert made it less ideal.

But Kirigakure—separated only by a sea—was both nearby and vulnerable.

And so, the flying fortress sped toward the Land of Water.

Meanwhile, Konoha’s forces were still dealing with the remnants of the mothership over the sea near the Land of Fire. They were all stunned at what had just unfolded.

Now, with the Nine-Tails’ chakra accelerating the engines, the flying fortress moved faster than any shinobi could travel, reaching the coastline of the Land of Water within just a few hours.

Riku, watching from Konoha, immediately realized Shennong’s next target.

Kirigakure had no idea what was coming.

Still recovering from the tyranny of the Blood Mist era, their forces hadn’t yet returned to full strength.

They were in no condition to defend against a full-scale bombardment from a flying fortress.

In the past, they had Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage and Jinchūriki of the Three-Tails. Fully synchronized with his tailed beast, Yagura might have been able to counter this threat—perhaps even fire a Tailed Beast Bomb to intercept the attack.

But now? The Three-Tails had gone wild and disappeared into the wilds, and the Six-Tails’ Jinchūriki, Utakata, had defected long ago.

While Terumi Mei’s ninjutsu could deal large-scale damage, even her most powerful Water Style or Lava Style techniques wouldn’t be able to stop a chakra beam more potent than a Tailed Beast Bomb.

When this development was reported to Tsunade, she immediately summoned Riku to the Hokage’s office.

Frowning deeply, she said, “Riku, can you stop Shennong before he reaches Kirigakure? He’s using Naruto’s chakra to power that fortress. If Kirigakure is attacked… it could spark a full-scale Shinobi World War.”

Riku’s expression turned grim.

He wasn’t afraid of war. But he didn’t want it—not now, not like this.

Tsunade was still Hokage. She had to think about Konoha’s current situation.

And Konoha… couldn’t afford to be dragged into a war—not with the village still rebuilding, not with the enemy wielding Kurama’s chakra as a weapon.

Even if Konoha didn’t lose, the cost would be far too high.

That’s why Tsunade was counting on Riku to intervene.

She had no interest in turning Kirigakure into an enemy either.