Just moments ago, Samehada had been snarling ferociously, looking as if it wanted to drain its opponent dry. Yet now, because of the opponent's Chakra, it was actually vomiting.
"Am I seeing things?" Mangetsu's purple pupils trembled beneath his white hair.
Samehada was known as a Mini-Tailed Beast. Not only could it absorb others' Chakra, but it could also transfer chakra to its wielder, stimulating cell regeneration and healing injuries.
Yet what was happening before their eyes left even Fuguki, the first wielder of Samehada, dumbfounded. This was the first time he had ever seen Samehada get stuffed to the point of vomiting!
Watching Samehada absorb the dark red Chakra inside the water prison and then spit it out, Fuguki looked as if he had seen a ghost.
"There's something wrong with this guy's Chakra!" Fuguki stared at that dark red Chakra, feeling an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
"How does this guy have such terrifying Chakra?! Is he a Jinchuriki?" Mangetsu flickered next to Fuguki, holding Shibuki in front of him, his face full of wariness and disbelief.
Kirigakure had two Tailed Beasts, the Three-Tails and the Six-Tails. The Six-Tails' Jinchuriki, Utakata, still struggled to control his Tailed Beast and often required other Ninja to help suppress it.
As for the Three-Tails' Jinchuriki, that was the Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura.
Therefore, whether it is Fuguki or Mangetsu, they are not unfamiliar with the aura and chakra of Tailed Beasts.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Fuguki sharply denied, "There's no intel about any Jinchuriki leaving from the other Great Ninja Villages!"
As the Commander of the Kirigakure's Anbu, all intelligence from other villages passed through his hands. The status of each village's Jinchuriki was naturally a key focus.
Aside from the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki of Konoha and the One-Tail's Jinchuriki of Sunagakure, both suspected to have been replaced, the Jinchuriki situations of the other villages were more or less known.
Besides, Shura had been active since last year, attacking both Konoha and Kumogakure. There was no way he could be a Jinchuriki from either of those villages.
As for him being a Jinchuriki from Sunagakure or Iwagakure, that was even more unthinkable.
"Damn it, Samehada actually got stuffed from absorbing that massive amount of Chakra!" Fuguki stretched out his hand and called out to Samehada.
This sword had a life of its own. Once it recognized a master, it could be wielded like a weapon or even thrown out like a summon.
But this time, Fuguki's usual summoning gesture had no effect.
Inside the water prison, Samehada kept vomiting out the dark red chakra, only to swallow it again, then vomit once more… as if it had no memory of its own suffering. Even after stuffing itself to the point of convulsions, it refused to stop absorbing Chakra.
Samehada, now bloated and twitching, completely ignored its master's call.
This made Fuguki's expression darkened.
He was the first wielder of Samehada! And yet, his own sword was ignoring him!
Inside the water prison, Menma's body was shrouded in dark red Chakra, which continuously poured into Samehada's mouth, filling the creature that fed on enemy Chakra to the brim.
Finally, Samehada collapsed backward, its maw full of sharp teeth gaping open.
Then, it suddenly perked up again, its spines softening as it nuzzled against Menma's leg like a puppy, panting with its tongue out. Even its tail, which is the handle of the sword, wagged incessantly, expressing its joy.
This pitiful, begging appearance left Fuguki and Mangetsu outside the water prison utterly stunned!
Since the Second Mizukage forged the Seven Ninja Swords, no one had ever seen Samehada behave like this.
"You bastard!" Fuguki's eyes burned with fury. No matter how much he called, Samehada inside the water prison remained unmoved, clinging to their enemy like a dog.
"Let's think of a way to take him back first!"
Meanwhile, Mangetsu was considering how to transport the 'captured' Shura back to the village for imprisonment.
As for Samehada, once Shura was locked up, it would have all the time in the world to feast on his Chakra.
Inside the water prison, Menma, who had been squatting to interact with Samehada, heard the two outside discussing how to imprison and torture him.
"Oh?" Menma stood up, gripping Kubikiribocho in his left hand while reaching out with his right to grab Samehada's tail.
Instantly, the obedient Samehada hardened, entering battle mode.
"Did I ever say I was going with you?" Menma's left hand held the gleaming Kubikiribocho, while his right gripped the massive Samehada. His white three-eyed fox mask lifted, unleashing a terrifying pressure that surged toward the two like a shockwave.
Even through the water prison, Fuguki and Mangetsu were shaken by this overwhelming force.
"Hmph! No matter how strong you are, the Water Prison Technique can't be broken from the inside!" Fuguki snarled through his sharp teeth.
"Then how about this?" As Menma spoke, the Three-Tomoe Sharingan in his left eye beneath the mask activated. The Amaterasu flames sealed in his left eye erupted from beneath his feet like a volcanic explosion. A dark red fire barrier burst from the ground, engulfing Menma entirely.
The black flames spread outward, burning Fuguki's water clone's hand.
The Water Prison Technique was pierced through by this overwhelming inferno!
Bang!
The water clone instantly dissolved, collapsing into a puddle on the ground.
"Oh no!" Fuguki was so frightened that he quickly retreated, and didn't even have time to care about Samehada.
'Yet another never-before-seen technique!'
'He could actually break the Water Prison Technique from the inside!'
[Hiding in the Mist]
Fuguki quickly formed hand seals, thickening the mist even further.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!" Mangetsu also began forming hand seals, a surge of water rising beneath his feet, rapidly swelling until it erupted like a bursting dam, crashing toward their enemy with overwhelming force!
The colossal tidal wave descended like a force of nature, carving a wide path through the surrounding forest.
"Good move!" Facing the towering flood, Menma laughed wildly, channeling the endless Black Nine-Tails' Chakra into Kubikiribocho and Samehada as he swung them forward, cleaving through the oncoming deluge.
The two blades, wrapped in dark red Chakra, reacted violently. Samehada, stimulated by the dark red Chakra, tore into the flood like a ravenous beast, devouring the water in its path.
Seizing the momentum, Menma surged forward. With Samehada in one hand absorbing the flood and splitting the massive wave apart, he gripped Kubikiribocho in the other and charged straight at Mangetsu.
"What?!" As the Great Waterfall Technique was torn open, Kubikiribocho, wrapped in dark red Chakra, came crashing down onto Mangetsu's shoulder… while his hands were still locked in the hand seal.
With a bone-deep gash, Mangetsu instantly activated his Hydrification Technique, his entire body dissolving into water.
"And you!" Seeing Mangetsu turning into water, Menma's Sharingan beneath the mask shifted focus, locking onto the fleeing Fuguki.
With a flick of his wrist, he hurled Kubikiribocho like a shuriken. The massive sword struck Fuguki in the side mid-flight, pinning him against a thick tree trunk with a sickening thud!
"Pufft!"
Fuguki coughed up blood between his sharp teeth, his small eyes wide with shock as he stared at Kubikiribocho embedded in his gut.
A few years ago, during the Third Great Ninja War, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist encountered an inconspicuous Konoha's Genin and suffered heavy casualties.
Fuguki was able to save his life by fleeing in panic.
But now, an even more mysterious enemy had effortlessly crushed the three of them.
'Hah… The strong in this world… truly are endless.'
Fuguki looked at the gradually approaching figure, and his consciousness was swallowed by darkness.