[Oto no Kami, Rice Forest]
Kakuzu's body contorted, the air cracking with tension. This sight showed the tremendous power and chakra reserves of a tailed beast. Yet, even the elite genins in the forces of Otogakure stayed calm.
Why?
Because their leaders stood in front. Danzo's back was akin to the greatest shield of all.
Harumi's hissing tongue was akin to a mother's embrace.
Otogakure made it clear to them. Everyone had a role to play, and united, they created an equilibrium that would make the most dangerous foes kneel in front of them.
Isobu's roar echoed through the forest, a primal sound that sent tremors rippling across Otogakure's outskirts, causing merchants, samurai and villagers in the vacinity to attempt escaping in primal fear.
Danzo stood unmoved, his lone eye narrowing as he raised a hand. Behind him, the ranks of Otogakure's corps snapped into formation—kenjutsu specialists with blades gleaming in the low light, genjutsu weavers weaving hand signs and handling their Kinzoku bell artefacts in unison, and sabotage teams priming explosive tags and seals accross the forest as per the Shimura Support Corps' directives.
Kakuzu—or the thing that had once been Kakuzu—lunged forward, a tidal wave of chakra surging ahead of him. The two remaining shadow masks screeched, unleashing torrents of fire and lightning. But before the attacks could land, Byakuro's hands flashed through a sequence of seals.
Fuinjutsu: Shimura Chakra Siphon [A]
A lattice of glowing seals erupted from the ground, drinking greedily from the three-tails' energy. The firestorm flickered and died; the lightning fizzled into sparks. Kakuzu snarled, his skeletal claws raking the air as he charged Danzo directly.
Danzo didn't flinch. With a flick of his wrist, Hiramekarei's twin blades materialized in his grasp, thrumming with wind chakra.
Shimura Kenjutsu Art: Vortex Severance [S]
The blades whirled, carving a cyclone of razor-edged wind that collided with Kakuzu's advance. Flesh and bone splintered, but the three-tails' regenerative chakra stitched him back together instantly
"You cannot kill what is already dead, Otokage!" Kakuzu's voice gurgled, half-drowned by Isobu's growls
"Who said anything about killing you?" Danzo replied, a ghost of a smile on his lips. "I need you alive. Or rather, I need it alive"
As Kakuzu reared back for another assault, the ground beneath him erupted.
Hiroto of the Genjutsu Corps emerged from a veil of mist, his hands ordering the rest of the genjutsu corps to focus their sonic attacks onto the beast.
Kinzoku Hidden Arts: Chains of the Deep [A]
Illusory anchors materialized, their spectral chains coiling around Kakuzu's limbs. For a moment, the three-tails' chakra faltered—a split-second opening. Despite the chakra difference, the beast felt completely trapped, with no way out. It started breaking the illusion, one by one, but the layers were too immense in number. More than two hundred genjutsu sonic attacks were chaining its limbs, Isobu's brain refusing to communicate with its body.
Although the genjutsu only gave a split second opportunity, it was all Himaru Shimura needed. The Kenjutsu Corps leader charged forward, each wielding the Shimura Kenjutsu Art
Kenjutsu Shimura Art: Gale Formation Thrust [A]
Although most had only mastered the A-rank version of the shimura art and its basic forms, when used by hundreds at the same time, it became a fearsome weapon of destruction. Isobu, the three-tailed, roared in pain as its legs, body tongue and eyes were lacerated with wind-powered cuts.
Kakuzu choked. The three-tails' chakra writhed, its corrosive energy suddenly diluted. But the weakness was only momentary
The Shimura Support Corps and Sabotage Corps, working together, unleashed seal formations that bound the beast - not in illusory chains this time, but in chakra-powered ink seals bounding its legs to the ground.
However, Isobu used this predicament to take full control. The humanoid red form became a monstrous gigantic turtle, its carapace revealing an eerie, grey iron shine onto the brightness of the day. Almost instantaneously, an enormous wave of chakra condensed onto a sphere:
Tailed Beast Bomb [SS]
Perhaps one of the most destructive jutsu of all, the tailed beast bomb, could raze Otogakure to the ground. Years of hard work and wealth accumulation could be wiped out in a moment. Yet, in spite of the powerful force, Danzo smirked.
His arm was a signal. The Sabotage corps, suddenly sent thousands of spheres resembling smoke bombs. Yet, it was not ordinary smoke, but instead, a disrupting regent. The tailed bomb exploded in the air, hurting the beast itself.
"You planned this", Isobu's words exclaimed in a powerful roar
"Of course." Danzo stepped forward, Hiramekarei's blades merging into a single spear. "The Sonic seals disrupts bijuu chakra. A recent innovation, courtesy of your village's own Hero Water research. How does it feel to be outplayed by your own kind?"
Groaning, Kakuzu who regained a semblance of control, forced his remaining chakra outward, breaking Yukiko's illusion. But the delay had cost him. The Otogakure corps closed in, a synchronized machine of destruction. Kenjutsu users harried his flanks, their strikes precise, while genjutsu specialists layered confusion over his senses.
Danzo struck the final blow.
Futon: Molten Shimura Dragon Descent [S]
The four-tails chakra burning the wind, Danzo had created a unique jutsu, far surpassing regular S-rank jutsu. A massive dragon descended from the sky, its body hundreds of meters long, ravaging everything in its passage.
The combination of three elements, Danzo's futon, and the three-tails katon and doton, made it a fearsome attack. The forest burned, the trees blown up from the impact, Isobu's body tanking the impact with pure endurance, its carapace providing defense, yet even a carapace would erode under such pressure.
It was not all.
It was the turn of the Shimura Wind Corps to shine. This whole time, they had been waiting for the occasion.
Futon: Shimura Wind Net [B]
A jonin-level jutsu cast by nearly eighty shinobi lashed out onto the beast, further increasing the impact of Danzo's molten dragon descent jutsu, binding Ibosu's body into the ground, lacerating its body further and further.
The assault continued for hours, attacking in cycles, replenishing strength with soldier pills and recovery.
Eventually, Danzo cut the third tail of the beast, causing it to collapse on the ground, the landscape completely ravaged, hundreds of innocent lives lost in the process, yet only a dozen shinobi of Otogakure died, a miracle considering the scale of the battle.
Returned to a state of utmost weakness, its tails sealed in giant scrolls by the Shimura Support Corps, Danzo approached the red mass of chakra.
A seal matrix spiraled from his palm, expanding to engulf Kakuzu. The three-tails howled as its chakra was violently wrenched from Kakuzu's body, leaving the mercenary crumpled on the ground. The chakra was absorbed, yet the three-tailed had remained into Kakuzu's injured body. His Earth Grudge Fear truly was an almost invincible jutsu. Under the continuous assault of two kage-level figures and over a thousand Otogakure elites, his body had held on. It was battered, its springs completely weakened and not regenerating, yet he was still breathing.
Danzo smiled. If you killed a jinchuriki, the tailed beast would die as well, and reincarnate in its flesh where there is the most of its own chakra. It could be stored in an artefact, like the Iwagakure did, or in tentacles, like Kumogakure eight-tales jinchuriki did, hiding its own body part in the northern oecean.
Now that they possessed three of their tails, Otogakure, too, would see Ibosu reincarnate in their village. Danzo beheaded Kakuzu, the tale of a supposedly immortal mercenary ending.
*SPLASH*
"Study his body" Danzo ordered to Eiji next by, sheathing Hiramekarei, "Harvest every scrap of Ibosu's remain too. We will vaporize it and integrate it into the Ether supply. By dawn, Otogakure's citizens will breathe the strength of a bijuu"
As the corps set to work, Harumi approached Danzo, her gaze lingering on Kakuzu's corpse, which was being carefully stored in a coffin under the excited eyes of the mad Shimura Elder Eiji "And Takigakure?"
Danzo glanced westward, where the Land of Waterfalls lay vulnerable.
"Rin", Danzo summoned the Kaonashi's matriarch.
Rin Kaonashi displayed utmost loyalty. Once a rival to Harumi for the seat of Otogakure queen, her clan became a burden to her. Compared to the Hebikaze clan, the Kaonashi clan was lacking in talents, bloodline release and wealth. Still, she never stopped accomplishing great feats, hoping to raise the standards of her clan. She had been the one to retrieve with Hiroto one of the seven legendary swords.
"Yes, Otokage-sama", Rin immediately answered the call, kneeling in an alluring manner, a posture that earned Harumi an extremely cold stare
"You will take Kakuzu's form. You don't need to learn his technique. As strong as it is, it would only bind your potential. Learn to imitate it, and go to the Bloody Waterfall, infiltrate their ranks, take over their organization. We will pressure Tanigakure, and once they are at their lowest, offer them to join force. They will be forced to accept"
Rin nodded, the plan concording with Kakuzu's proposal. Actually, his proposal made a lot of sense, except for one thing: Kakuzu himself was not needed for Otogakure to conquer the land of waterfall.
"Once you infiltrate their ranks, destroy their supply of Hero water, this accursed regent having little interest to us. Kill their elders, blow up their military supplies, and burn their fields", Danzo said, "No mercy to those aiming at Oto no Kami"