Chapter 1243 The 4th Ninja War

On the crimson wasteland bordering the Land of Fire, black spirit-refining runes spread like a spiderweb, scorching the land for miles around. Shangguan Mo knelt on one knee, his palm pressed against the cracked ground, the spirit-refining hammer angled beside him, the pale gold runes on its head flashing intensely—a warning from the spirit-refining technique for extreme dark energy. The Meteor Scorpion lay prostrate behind him, its green tailed beast chakra forming a shield, protecting the scattered fragments of spirit-refining masters' remnants within. The meteoric fire on the scorpion's tail trembled slightly, clearly sensing the suffocating pressure as well.

“Three hundred li away is Akatsuki’s Spirit Refining Base.” Yamashiro Aoba’s voice was weary. He had just returned from scouting deep in the wasteland, and his forehead under his headband was covered in cold sweat. “There’s a monster inside. It’s not a tailed beast, nor a ninja. It’s a puppet pieced together from the Ten-Tails’ bones and Spirit Refining Black Crystal. The Akatsuki members call it the ‘Ten-Tails Spirit Refining God’.”

Shangguan Mo suddenly looked up, and the Eternal Spirit Refining Eye appeared in his eyes—this was the ability he awakened after fusing with the Tailed Beast Spirit Refining Diagram, allowing him to see through the essence of energy. His gaze pierced through layers of black mist, and he clearly saw a giant puppet, hundreds of meters tall, slowly moving in the black castle at the end of the wasteland. Black spirit refining energy flowed from the gaps in its bones, and every joint movement caused the ground to tremble. At the core of the puppet's chest, a "Ten-Tailed Spirit Refining Core" glowing with purple light was constantly devouring the surrounding natural energy, even turning the clouds in the sky into a distorted black.

"They are using the Spirit Refining Technique to catalyze the Ten-Tails' essence." Shangguan Mo's voice was icy. He recalled the last page of the Tailed Beast Spirit Refining Chart: "At the extreme of Spirit Refining, one can gather the essence of the Tailed Beasts and also reverse the rules of the Six Paths." The Akatsuki organization had obviously taken the latter path, using the forbidden Spirit Refining Technique to seal the remnant soul of the Ten-Tails into a puppet, attempting to create a war machine that surpassed the Sage of Six Paths.

The Meteorite Scorpion suddenly let out a sharp roar, its green tailed beast chakra pointing eastward. Shangguan Mo turned his head and saw that a black crack suddenly appeared in the distant sky, from which the giant hand of the Ten-Tails Refining Spirit God reached out and grabbed the migrating Sunagakure caravan, sucking the entire caravan and camels into its palm. The purple light of the Refining Spirit Core instantly surged by three-tenths.

"We can't wait any longer." Shangguan Mo gripped the Spirit Refining Hammer tightly, pale golden spirit refining energy flowing from his arm into the hammerhead. "Yamashiro Aoba, immediately return to Konoha and inform Lady Tsunade, so that all the nations of the ninja world can prepare for war; I'll lead the spirit refiner team to hold it off and buy some time." He turned to look at the twenty-odd spirit refiners behind him, survivors he had gathered from all over the ninja world, each of whom had awakened the Tailed Beast attribute in their spirit refining techniques. "Comrades, spirit refining techniques are not tools for creating war. Today, we will use them to protect the ninja world."

The spirit refiners responded in unison, each summoning their spirit refinement partners—the Flame-Tailed Fox's fire-attribute spirit refinement energy condensed into a wall of fire, the Azure Water Turtle's water-attribute energy gathered into a river on the ground, and the Thunder-Patterned Leopard's lightning-attribute energy coiled around its body like lightning. Shangguan Mo tossed the Tailed Beast Spirit Refinement Chart into the air. The moment the chart unfolded, the seven types of spirit refinement energy intertwined with the Starfall Black Scorpion's Tailed Beast chakra, forming a seven-colored bridge of light that led directly to the Black Castle.

"Spirit Refining - Tailed Beast Charge Formation!" Shangguan Mo was the first to step onto the light bridge, his Spirit Refining Hammer unleashing a golden blade of light that cleaved through the black barrier surrounding the castle. The Ten-Tailed Spirit Refining God seemed to sense the threat, abruptly turning its head, spewing black Spirit Refining Flames from its hollow eye sockets. Wherever the pillar of fire passed, the light bridge was instantly melted. Two Spirit Refiners had no time to dodge, their bodies engulfed by the flames, leaving only a wisp of pale golden remnant soul.