The floor cracked beneath their feet as chakra collided with chakra.
Kozan slid backward, knees bent low, absorbing the force of Yagura's strike with a wall of water shaped into a spiral. Steam hissed where fire and mist met—Yagura's tailed beast chakra igniting the very air.
"You're no ANBU," Yagura growled, his voice echoing with the Three-Tails' power.
"No," Kozan answered. "I'm your reckoning."
---
Yagura lunged again, spear forming from chakra-hard water. Kozan ducked low, weaving three quick seals. A shimmering afterimage took his place as Yagura's attack shattered the pillar behind them.
The clone exploded in a silent pulse of mist, obscuring Kozan's true movement.
In that moment, Kozan struck—needle-thin chakra threads fired from his fingertips, binding Yagura's arm mid-motion.
Yagura snarled and yanked free, flesh tearing as he spun a tail around like a mace.
Kozan blocked with a water shield and was thrown back through the wall.
---
The tower shook.
Outside, Mei's forces pushed deeper. Ao's voice rang through the chakra comms, reporting chokepoints and injuries. Chōjūrō breached the south barracks with his team, cutting down resistance with ruthless efficiency.
But they all knew the battle would mean nothing unless Yagura fell.
---
Inside the chamber, Kozan rose from the rubble, blood in his mouth.
Yagura stood silhouetted by broken windows, cloak flaring, a spectral tail coiled behind him.
"You don't have what it takes," the Mizukage said. "You think this village can be saved?"
Kozan didn't answer.
He closed his eyes—and felt the mist inside him.
A childhood of silence. A thousand screams swallowed. A girl he chose not to kill.
He opened his eyes. They glowed.
"I know it can."
---
They clashed again—this time with fury.
Yagura unleashed coral spikes and boiling waves. Kozan answered with mirrored water, trapping the attacks and reflecting them with deadly precision. It wasn't strength versus strength.
It was will versus legacy.
---
In the final moment, Kozan feinted low and slipped past Yagura's strike, pressing both palms to his chest.
"Seal: Reversal Spiral."
A pulse of chakra burst between them. Yagura's body spasmed. The chakra tails flickered.
Then stopped.
Yagura collapsed to one knee, panting, chakra unraveling.
Kozan stood over him, chest heaving.
"You lost the moment you ruled with fear."
Yagura's last words were not of defiance.
Just a whisper.
"Don't become me."
---
The fog in the chamber began to lift.
Kozan knelt, exhausted.
The reign of the Bloody Mist was over.
---