On a small island located slightly far from the mainland of the Land of Water, Haseo and Tsunade stood here, gazing at an unusually clear bright spot visible in the distant night sky.
This still counted as territory within the Land of Water, but no Mist Ninja would come chasing them here again.
Haseo stared at his "masterpiece," muttering softly to himself:
"I'm taking my shot—life can be brutal, after all.
No guilt in me, and honestly, I've got nothin' left to lose."
"What kind of chant is that?"
Tsunade, who had always kept her eyes on Haseo, quickly realized he had said something—but she couldn't catch a single word.
"Hmm... in a sense, it really is a meaningless chant... you could even say it's total gibberish."
Though completely meaningless, what Haseo said somehow sounded better than singing.
Luckily, he only muttered something quietly instead of breaking into dance in the Land of Water... that kind of behavior, in Haseo's opinion, was something only an idiot would do.
Fortunately, Haseo occasionally did say things nobody understood. Tsunade had already gotten used to this, so she didn't dwell on it. Instead, she asked, "How long can this jutsu of yours last anyway?"
"Who knows?"
"?!"
"To tell the truth, I really don't know. This is actually the first time I've used it against a Tailed Beast. As for how long until its chakra is completely consumed during such intense combustion... how the hell are we supposed to guess that?"
That's what Haseo said, and he was telling the truth.
He honestly didn't know how long the effect would last, because he was merely the one who started the fire—the matter of when the fuel would finally burn out…his only answer was that he didn't know.
But it could be imagined that this blaze would keep burning for quite a while. The glowing object suspended in the distance—"Patty"—would at least remain shining over Mist Village's night sky all night long.
Of course, right now Mist had no time to chase after Haseo and his companions. The immediate priority facing the Mizukage was how to extinguish "Patty."
Haseo kept staring toward Mist Village. After a while, he spoke again, "Believe it or not, I actually feel pretty heavy about this right now.
Not just ninja—tonight, many ordinary civilians in Mist will also perish... this is exactly what war brings.
Personally speaking, I never wanted to create large-scale destruction like this. But compared to endless fighting, even tragic events like this are ultimately less cruel.
So if a violent clash can bring this war to a halt or even end it entirely, then no matter how painful, it'd still be worth doing. From Konoha's point of view? This situation couldn't be more favorable. And that's exactly why I had to go through with this plan—I'm doing what Konoha needs."
"Haseo isn't a terrorist, but his identity and position as a Konoha ninja led him to commit acts similar to those of one... Although Konoha is just Konoha, after spending so many years there, Haseo naturally developed his own attachments."
"The problem is, how exactly did you pull off something like this?"
Hatake Sakumo, who was very familiar with Haseo and always believed he fully understood Haseo's abilities, asked this question. Clearly, Haseo had once again exceeded his expectations... No matter what, even if Haseo possessed extraordinary strength, theoretically he shouldn't be capable of launching an attack on this scale.
Facing the question, Haseo shook his head toward Sakumo Hatake. "Actually, this wasn't entirely my attack. My move was merely the trigger. Now... that over there is simply Six-Tails pouring out its energy with full force.
"That bright spot in the sky isn't my chakra, it's Six-Tails' chakra. Although my own chakra was mostly depleted to provoke such a spectacle."
Haseo's explanation made Hatake Sakumo thoughtful. He then seemed to understand something and nodded without saying anything further.
Haseo's brief explanation was sufficient. Obviously, he had used some method to release the tailed beast's energy. With this understanding, everyone could now grasp why he could cause destruction on this scale... So that massive glow everyone saw? Turns out the real source all along was none other than the Six-Tails.
"Why didn't you mention that earlier? No wonder it makes sense now—it's a Tailed Beast we're talking about!"
Would it be strange for a Tailed Beast to contain such violent energy?
Not at all.
People had different ideas about Tailed Beasts—some right, some wrong—but they all agreed on one thing: these beasts are ultimate power sources, almost impossibly pure in energy.
Using such an energy entity as natural dynamite is indeed an innovation, but considering dynamite inherently contains explosive potential, it's not surprising that it exploded.
As for how exactly the Tailed Beast's energy erupted? Probably best we don't go there. Because going further would involve discussing what exactly Haseo's 'secret arts' actually are.
In fact, Haseo wasn't hiding anything on purpose—he just couldn't be bothered explaining. Even if he described the technique in great detail, no one else could possibly learn or replicate it anyway.
"So... you already determined beforehand that you could accomplish something like this, which is why you arranged this invasion?" Jiraiya belatedly asked at this point.
Haseo only smiled slightly without answering the question directly.
"Are all our people accounted for?"
"Except for Orochimaru, everyone else is here."
"I'm worried he might have been caught up in your attack... Haseo, next time you have a plan like this, please try to give prior notice so we can mentally prepare ourselves. Otherwise, it doesn't just catch the enemy off guard—it catches us too."
Jiraiya continued.
Orochimaru still hadn't returned, which was somewhat concerning. Although his survival abilities were extraordinary, if he had truly been caught in Haseo's attack, he should've already been charred to death.
Uchiha Kushan and the others had already begun evacuating under Haseo's orders… Originally, their mission had only been espionage, not combat. Everyone else moved extremely fast; once they received Haseo's retreat signal, they all quickly withdrew from Kirigakure.
"I understand," Haseo said decisively. "Next time I'll definitely pay more attention. The truth is, since I wasn't completely sure myself, I didn't explain my plan to you beforehand. After all, if those baseless hopes end up dashed, it would make any prior explanation seem especially ridiculous… Even I myself hope this kind of situation never happens again."
Oh sure, *now* you don't sound ridiculous, but back when we were fleeing for our lives, weren't we all shitting bricks with fear?
But what could anyone say at this point? They could only hope Haseo wasn't the type who bravely admitted mistakes yet refused to change.
As the group exchanged words, the sea surface rippled slightly. Then, a giant snake emerged.
Its body was pitch-black, clearly severely injured. Looking closer, its rear half had completely vanished—it wasn't just gravely wounded; it was obviously dying.
So the question arose: How exactly did this snake get injured? First possibility ruled out—definitely not bitten by sharks during the crossing.
The giant snake's upper jaw pushed open from inside, and then Orochimaru stepped out from its mouth.
He appeared completely unharmed—not a single wound on him.
"I almost died back there in the Mist," Orochimaru said. "Haseo, your attack engulfed half of Kirigakure now, even though it's finally stopped spreading… The Eastern Front war is practically over."
Orochimaru, the last one to return, brought back the latest intelligence.
If Kirigakure suffered fifty percent casualties tonight, the war naturally couldn't continue. Would a major ninja village really be so thick-headed as to keep fighting?
Would it remain indifferent toward enemies beyond Konoha?
"The place where I fought the jinchuriki was originally quite remote," Haseo said. "If that had been Kirigakure's center…" He shook his head involuntarily.
Another question came up—was Orochimaru caught in Haseo's attack by accident, or did he deliberately charge into it just to study the technique?
Considering everyone else had evacuated in time, was this guy the only one whose legs happened to be too short?
But these were just minor details anyway—at least everyone made it out safe.
After regrouping, Haseo and the others didn't leave immediately—they stayed on the island, monitoring the ongoing effects of the technique.
It took nearly an entire night and most of the following day for the ball of light to finally fade away completely — clearly, an imitation could never hope to match the real Great Red Spot. Unlike the true Great Red Spot, which not only surpassed it in scale but could also endure for centuries, this counterfeit simply could not measure up.
The power difference between something that lasts less than a day and something that endures for centuries is enormous.
After the attack dissipated, Haseo didn't do anything reckless next — like leading his squad in another reconnaissance mission to assess Mist's battle damage. Instead, he obediently led everyone away from the area.
Even Haseo understood one basic rule…
Don't provoke a rabid dog — not just yet.
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