While Arima and his team were planning tomorrow's operation, deep beneath the airborne fortress Ancor Vantian, a secret underground base hid a scene of grim finality.
Miyadera had just extracted the Zero-Tails from Shinno's body.
Despite being forcibly separated from the Zero-Tails, Shinno didn't die immediately. His eyes dulled as he stared at Miyadera, overcome by a wave of desolation.
He had lived his life cautiously, yet in the end, he'd been caught off guard by the very person he once regarded as a worthless failure.
Miyadera guided the half of the Zero-Tails he had retrieved from Shinno into his own body. In mere moments, the two halves of the creature's essence fused together again.
As the overwhelming surge of power coursed through him, Miyadera burst into satisfied laughter.
This was the culmination of his lifetime of careful maneuvering and calculated patience.
Perhaps he had worn his mask for too long, Miyadera no longer remembered who he truly was. Maybe he really did have multiple personalities.
What had started as a ploy to confuse Shinno had now become a belief he found himself increasingly convinced of.
Watching Miyadera gloat, Shinno's eyes burned with resentment. He growled through clenched teeth, "So I was nothing but a stepping stone for you after all.
But don't think your end will be any better! The Third Hokage has already taken notice of you. Your fate is sealed!"
Miyadera slowly approached him and replied, "Your method for unlocking the Eighth Gate of the Eight Gates Released Formation, it's incomplete and carries major side effects.
But my body can handle it. Even Senju Arima likely couldn't withstand that level of power if it meant trading her life for it!"
Hearing Miyadera's arrogant boasting, Shinno suddenly broke into laughter.
He had finally seen things clearly. The Zero-Tails was nothing more than a poison, anyone who touched it would lose themselves over time, eventually becoming its puppet.
He himself had sealed only half of it within him, yet even that had warped his personality into something arrogant and greedy.
Otherwise, with his original cautious nature, he never would have been caught off guard by someone like Miyadera.
In his mind's eye, Shinno could already picture Miyadera's inevitable downfall. The bitter lump in his heart melted into a dark satisfaction, and his laughter echoed throughout the vast chamber.
Irritated, Miyadera snapped, "You're on death's doorstep and still laughing? Fine then, I'll make sure the Zero-Tails consumes every last part of your body!"
But Shinno, already resigned to his fate, no longer cared. With an eerie final spark in his eyes, he shouted, "Enjoy your little victory while you can! The Zero-Tails is a curse!
The more you indulge in it, the quicker you die! Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first drive mad! Hahaha..."
Fed up with the noise, Miyadera covered Shinno's mouth with one hand. The Zero-Tails within him extended a tendril down Shinno's throat, invading his abdomen.
The tendril rapidly drained his life force, aging him in seconds. Shinno shriveled away and ultimately crumbled into a pile of ash.
Satisfied at last, Miyadera turned and left. His next destination: the Dragon Vein in Roran. Along the way, he planned to devour Moryo as well.
He and Shinno had previously joined forces to attack the Uzumaki clan in order to steal a sealing scroll capable of restraining Moryo.
But the Uzumaki elders had sacrificed their own souls to cast the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, thwarting his plan.
For now, Moryo was sealed within a fragment of meteorite stolen from Hoshigakure.
The information Shinno provided had been invaluable.
Without it, Miyadera would never have imagined that such a small meteorite could act as a temporary vessel for both Moryo and the Zero-Tails.
Although Miyadera wasn't afraid of Arima, he knew that letting him linger would only invite chaos. Every second counted.
Meanwhile, in a temporary base established by the three great shinobi villages, the three Kage had convened urgently in the dead of night. Two major pieces of intelligence had just come in.
The first: a large-scale military mobilization by Konoha and Kumogakure.
The second: the location of the airborne fortress, Ancor Vantian.
The movements of the Konoha-Kumo joint army had set the other three villages on edge. Suddenly, the tension in the shinobi world was palpable.
A further complication had arisen with Amegakure.
According to intelligence reports, the Konoha-Kumo forces were now confronting the armies of Sunagakure and Iwagakure, right in the middle of the Land of Rain.
Hanzo, the leader of Amegakure, had rushed back from Roran to deal with the crisis.
He was preparing to deploy his forces to expel the invading shinobi from all sides. His return forced the three Kage to temporarily shelve their plans to win him over.
The Third Kazekage spoke in a grave tone: "Tobirama Senju is stirring up quite a storm. Is this his way of warning us?"
The Third Mizukage narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "Perhaps in his eyes, we're nothing more than a pack of mangy wolves.
His message is loud and clear, touch the Third Hokage, and face the consequences."
Onoki shot Mizukage a sharp glance, clearly displeased with the analogy.
Frustrated with the idle chatter, Onoki brought the discussion back on track.
"Let's skip the nonsense. The real issue is whether or not we're still going to ambush Senju Arima. He's resting not far from our base, in that nearby oasis."
Kazekage shook his head. "Without a barrier to seal off her Flying Thunder God Technique, any ambush is pointless. He can come and go as he pleases. Even your Dust Release won't hit him unless she stays still."
Mizukage and Onoki both nodded in agreement.
Mizukage added, "We've already deployed most of our elites to intercept him. If we fail to kill him, we'll have to face the wrath of Konoha and Kumogakure's main forces.
It'll backfire completely. His jutsu are battlefield-level weapons, overwhelming him with numbers won't work."
Onoki glared at Mizukage again. First he'd compared them to jackals, now to weasels. The man had no tact.
But Mizukage seemed oblivious and kept going. "We can't slink back like Hanzo either. What will our people think?
That we failed in our sneak attack and ran the moment Konoha made a move? That would be disgraceful."
Despite himself, Kazekage had to admit, Mizukage's words, crude as they were, made sense.
Kazekage waved his hand. "Let's set that matter aside for now. What about the second piece of intel?"
Onoki threw two identical scrolls onto the table. Kazekage and Mizukage unrolled them and began reading.
After learning of Ancor Vantian, Onoki had secretly dispatched Explosive Release users to create large numbers of clay birds.
Sensory ninja had ridden them high above the desert, scouring the skies for any trace of the fortress.
Just recently, their scouts had pinpointed its exact location and relayed it back.
Onoki, clearly pleased, said, "Even if we can't kill Senju Arima, capturing the fortress will make this campaign worthwhile.
If we form a wartime alliance, we can use its airstrike capabilities to shatter Konoha and Kumo's blockade strategy!
Kazekage agreed with the plan, but found it odd that Onoki, never one to do something for nothing, was willing to share this kind of information.
Seeing their doubts, Onoki clarified, "If we don't work together, Konoha and Kumo will consume us one by one.
'He who fails to consider the big picture is unfit to lead even a single region.' We cannot let the shinobi world be ruled by their alliance."
Kazekage had no particular grudge against the other two, so he was happy to cooperate.
Despite the long-standing tensions between Kirigakure and Iwagakure, Mizukage also understood that this was no time to dwell on past grudges.
He agreed to the temporary alliance, whatever happened after they seized the fortress could be dealt with later.
Onoki continued, "Once we've taken the fortress, we divide the territory and govern our own zones. No interference from one another. Agreed?"
This was clearly an effort to prevent future infighting.
Mizukage, realizing there was no advantage in being excluded, nodded his assent. If Kirigakure were isolated, its position would only worsen.
The three leaders signed a wartime alliance document and each stamped it with a bloody handprint, a blood oath with no room for betrayal.
Moments later, the entire camp roared to life as the joint forces mobilized under cover of night, heading toward the floating stronghold in a whirlwind of activity.
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