The instant the ray-shaped Tailed Beast Bomb clashed against Kyōka Suigetsu, the collision of Reiatsu and Chakra erupted like two worlds colliding.
It was as if twin planets had slammed into each other midair—then shattered into countless fragments, each scattering like flaming meteors, tearing the air apart with shockwaves.
Whoooom—!
The violent gale forced even those standing miles away to shield their faces with their arms.
"What kind of power is this!?"
"Is this still within the realm of mortals?"
Countless shinobi cried out, shaken to the core.
After more than ten seconds, the thunderous aftermath finally began to subside.
When the smoke cleared, all eyes turned skyward. Aizen floated above, his white mask cracked, and a large portion of the collar below it had been torn away, exposing the bloodied skin beneath.
Aizen lowered his gaze to the wound, his voice calm despite the devastation.
"So… even with my current strength, am I still a step short of perfectly matching a Tailed Beast Bomb?"
He brushed his hand across the injury. Spiritual energy poured from his palm, mending the broken mask, the skin beneath swiftly knitting back together.
Below, Sand shinobi prepared to shout for Aizen to withdraw—
But their words were swallowed by the roar that followed.
With a spray of crimson, Three Tails' armored body revealed a massive wound, a cut stretching more than ten meters long. Blood surged from it like a broken dam.
"Graaaaaghhhh!!!"
The beast thrashed violently in the ocean, waves towering with every strike of its colossal body.
"Th-Three Tails… it's injured!?"
Shinobi stared in disbelief, their eyes wide.
"No… look—its face has been split open!"
Among them, a boy barely twelve years old clutched his blade tight. The future Sixth Mizukage, Chōjūrō, gazed in horror as Three Tails writhed, nearly torn apart before his eyes.
He swallowed hard, his voice trembling.
"He cut it… while blocking a Tailed Beast Bomb? Just how much sword energy did that take to wound a monster like this!?"
As a swordsman himself, Chōjūrō understood better than anyone the sheer terror of that strike. To block the Tailed Beast Bomb head-on, and still have blade pressure left over strong enough to carve open Three Tails' face—
This was beyond Konoha's White Fang. It wasn't even comparable. It was something far greater.
High above, behind the mask, Aizen's Sharingan locked onto the flailing beast. He raised a single finger.
"Bakudō #62: Hyapporankan."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Columns of light fell from the heavens, pinning the massive turtle-like form of Three Tails to the ocean surface.
"Bakudō #63: Sajō Sabaku."
At his command, enormous spiritual chains erupted from the beams of light, coiling like serpents around the beast's body, binding it tighter and tighter until movement became impossible.
Aizen's gaze sharpened.
"As expected of a so-called immortal creature. Nearly decapitated in a single stroke, and yet… already beginning to heal."
Through the clarity of his Sharingan, he saw the wound stitching itself together at alarming speed.
"Rrrrrooooaaarrr—"
Three Tails bellowed one last furious cry, its strength fading rapidly. With its final roar echoing across the sea, its massive body finally grew still, head drooping in exhaustion.
Yet in that fleeting moment, before its eyes closed, a strange flicker appeared—Three Tomoe Sharingan, reflected in its pupils, vanishing the instant after.
[Current Template Character: Aizen Sōsuke | Unlock Rate: 29.97%]
"Mist sealing unit—prepare the barrier!" Aizen ordered sharply.
At once, shinobi from both sides—those who had followed Terumi Mei as well as those formerly loyal to Yagura—moved in unison. Together, they erected a sealing barrier around the immobilized beast, locking Three Tails firmly within.
It was then a graceful figure appeared, hurrying toward the battlefield, supporting a young man no older than fifteen.
Terumi Mei… carrying Yagura.
Their arrival instantly drew the eyes of every shinobi present.
"He's gone," Mei's voice rang clear as she lowered Yagura's lifeless body. She spoke with a heavy heart, yet her words carried the weight of truth.
"Before his death, the Fourth Mizukage revealed everything. For years, he was nothing but a puppet… controlled by an organization known as Akatsuki. They are the ones who turned Kirigakure into the Village of Blood Mist."
She straightened, her emerald eyes gleaming with unyielding resolve.
"From this moment on, I—Terumi Mei—will succeed as the Fifth Mizukage. I swear to guide our village out of the darkness of the Bloody Mist era… and avenge both the Fourth and all who perished under this curse."
Her declaration shook the field like thunder.
Gasps and whispers erupted among the shinobi.
"What…? Controlled all these years?"
"A Mizukage, manipulated like that… impossible!"
"Could anyone truly keep such a secret hidden for so long?"
The crowd roiled in disbelief.
But then Ao stepped forward, his single Byakugan eye gleaming.
"Arrest all shinobi under Yagura's direct command!"
At once, Terumi Mei's forces moved. The remnants of Yagura's faction, stunned by the revelation, offered little resistance.
High above, Aizen watched silently.
"So… she claims it was his dying words."
He recalled the original Five Kage Summit, where Terumi Mei had revealed Kirigakure's ties to Akatsuki, and how they had controlled the Fourth Mizukage.
Now it was clear. The truth she carried came directly from Yagura himself.