The chakra cloak of Mizukagami Zetsuchou radiated outward from Haseo's body before enveloping him completely. In the next instant, a corrosive acid rain—composed of highly caustic liquid—poured down on him once more.
But this time, Haseo had already raised his defenses ahead of schedule. As a result, the deadly acidic secretion from Six-Tails was blocked well before it could even touch Haseo's body.
It seemed as though two thick layers of glue had collided. Yet clearly, the tailed beast's attack surpassed Haseo's defensive capabilities. With an audible hissing sound from the corrosion, his chakra cloak began rapidly collapsing inward.
Still, holding off that attack for even a second was enough. Before long, the water curtain surrounding Haseo's body surged forward, and the strong acid clinging to its surface slid off like droplets on a lotus leaf—its reluctant detachment was almost as gross as phlegm peeling off skin.
Haseo had been fighting all his life—hitting others, being hit in return—but he'd never endured such humiliation before.
Being drenched in mucus wasn't half as disgusting as wallowing in cow dung.
Burnt stench and rising white vapor wafted from the areas where the acid had struck. Even in the thick mist that always blanketed the Hidden Mist Village, the stench cut through like a knife.
Crouching slightly inside the gel-like shell he'd created, Haseo continued spreading crackling arcs of lightning across his body. By now, anyone who knew his name wouldn't have been confused or curious about this dual-nature ninjutsu form anymore.
"Why does combining Water and Lightning nature chakra not result in Storm Release?"
That question simply did not exist within the mind of the Six-Tails jinchuriki. Instead of wasting time contemplating something like that, he simply spat another jet of acid at the spot where Haseo stood.
Pushing off hard with both feet, Haseo used the recoil to propel himself high into the air. At the same time, he reached out and caught the long blade that had previously been knocked away by his enemy.
While flipping back downward and planting his feet firmly, he sheathed his weapon and resumed forming hand seals swiftly.
[Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu!]
The intensity and destructive power of the Six-Tails jinchuriki's acidic assault far exceeded Haseo's own skills—though their techniques appeared similar, the fact remained: a tailed beast wielded power inherited directly from the Ten-Tails, placing its energy far above what ordinary beings possessed.
Therefore, under these circumstances, there was no way Haseo could attempt a summoning jutsu. A large creature like Katsuyu wouldn't offer any help—it might instead be melted away entirely by the acidic onslaught launched by the jinchuriki.
Ordinary ninja would have almost no means of confronting such an opponent equipped with devastatingly potent corrosive attacks, capable wide-range offensive strikes, and nearly limitless chakra reserves. Fortunately, though, Haseo held exactly the right kind of defensive ninjutsu for the situation—and most importantly…
he had no shortage of chakra either.
[Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu!] His recent use of it hadn't been meant to destroy or damage anything—he'd only needed a technique strong enough to block and scatter the acidic flood coming from the jinchuriki.
At the same time, he darted back into striking range.
Haseo's movements were fierce and his techniques swift. In contrast, the enemy seemed to be standing still, launching attacks like a statue—something everyone knew was suicide in the ninja world. In a profession where speed and agility meant life or death, standing motionless in battle was an act of complete disrespect toward one's opponent.
Anyone daring to do such a thing had better be either a true legend… or a total madman.
Riding the surge of the Water Dragon Jutsu, Haseo shot straight toward the Jinchuriki's position.
And in the blink of an eye, he flashed across the short distance, leaving a trailing afterimage behind. But just as he closed in, the enemy shattered the torrent of the water dragon technique. What came at Haseo now wasn't any kind of attack from the Jinchuriki—but two coiling tails aimed directly at him.
Those tails looked like thick tentacles but moved with the flexibility and speed of slithering snakes. The enemy gave Haseo no chance to react, instantly wrapping his high-speed dash within their grasp.
The ninja Mukan—who claimed to be Mist's strongest shinobi—wasn't just bragging. At least in terms of reaction speed and timing, he had surpassed even the Third Mizukage, who had once fought Haseo before.
Got him?!
Game over!
As soon as a tangible sensation traveled through the tails, Mukan immediately confirmed that he had won this fight—no physical body could escape such restraint.
The slimy liquid oozing from the tails surged out more intensely than ever.
The attacking Haseo appeared like a courageous hero charging forward, while the six-tailed host, all claws and fury, seemed like an invincible force—at least in the eyes of Mist shinobi or anyone sympathetic to them, that's exactly how the battle looked right now.
But just then, near Haseo's real body and beyond the reach of the Six-Tails' appendages, his Shadow Clone suddenly appeared. Immediately afterward, his original body and the clone switched positions directly.
All of this happened without any clear passage of time, so from the Jinchuriki's point of view, what had occurred was simply the transfer of Haseo's Chakra Cloak from himself to the clone.
But in reality? The "victim" beneath those tails had already become Haseo's Shadow Clone.
The two exposed tails of the tailed beast clenched violently—and with a soft *plop,* Haseo's Shadow Clone vanished into thin air.
"Have you heard of Flying Thunder God?"
Haseo occasionally went out of his way to kindly answer the questions swirling in his enemies' minds—even though at this moment, he had already tensed his muscles, filled himself with chakra, twisted his torso, and swung one leg outward.
This time-space ninjutsu once wielded by the Second Hokage shook the entire ninja world—surely no one has already forgotten its name?
A streak of lightning swept across the battlefield in an arc. First, the chakra cloak surrounding Haseo's body shattered. Then, in that single instant, the arc of lightning wrapped around his leg suddenly intensified beyond limits.
Yet despite its immense power, this brilliant surge of lightning emitted no matching brightness—it seemed somehow suppressed.
Though that, in fact, was only an illusion—
It was silent only because it was a Thunder God hidden in shadows.
At this moment, Haseo fully unleashed the Nine-Tails' chakra within himself. Channeling this pure destructive energy into a physical strike, he precisely hit the Six-Tails Jinchuriki right in the chest.
Lightning surged across the enemy's body in an instant. Then, as if fired from a cannon, the impact launched him backward at tremendous speed, hurling him straight into a line of buildings.
A thunderous roar reverberated through the air as one structure fell after another, like dominoes toppling in succession. Dust and debris burst outward, clouding the mist-laden battlefield.
This attack alone could easily send a regular ninja's head flying, but it wasn't enough to kill someone whose vitality was extraordinary—someone who had already begun to harness the power of the tailed beast.
Still, killing his enemy had never been Haseo's goal from the start.
He just wanted to make one thing perfectly clear to his enemy.
In the next instant, with an explosive burst, a massive amount of rubble shot into the air as the Jinchuriki once again emerged from the wreckage.
From their brief clash just now, Haseo had already realized that his opponent had mastered control over the tailed beast's power. Indeed, the enemy was a truly capable jinchuriki—but still, he was far from being a perfect one, was he?
All six tails flared behind the jinchuriki while dark, crimson chakra bled across his body like spreading ink stains.
"Nine-Tails?"
Whether it was the voice of the Six-Tails or Mukan was unclear, but whoever—or whatever—he was, the voice echoed with a strange double resonance.
See? As long as Haseo used a significant amount of the Nine-Tails' chakra, any enemy with half a brain would eventually notice.
"Why don't you take a guess? Whether it really is the Nine-Tails or not."
Yet Haseo remained deliberately evasive about the question.
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