A massive amount of chakra suddenly erupted like a pillar of light, blasting Yagura Karatachi away. The intense chakra flow drove the surrounding air to form a violent gale, slicing the lake surface wide open.
Under Mangetsu Hozuki's long-charged, strongest strike, Yagura Karatachi's body streaked across the lake like a cannonball. He finally crashed heavily into the lake bed, kicking up a storm of monstrous waves.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Having done all this, Mangetsu Hozuki stared at the huge water pillar exploding from Yagura Karatachi's crash. His chest heaved violently as he gasped greedily for fresh air. At this moment, his mind felt somewhat dazed, and his limbs were weak from that all-out strike.
"Are you okay?"
Mei Terumi gently supported Mangetsu Hozuki, doing her best to hide his weakness from the others. After all, Mangetsu's strike had dealt a massive blow to the morale of the Blood Mist ninja.
As the Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi's strength was highly recognized within the Hidden Mist Village. Consequently, the impact of Mangetsu's attack made them simultaneously realize one thing: Is the Mizukage not invincible after all?
"I'm fine."
Mangetsu Hozuki brushed off Mei Terumi's support to show his body was perfectly fine. Only by doing so could he give enough confidence to the ninja who wanted to resist the Blood Mist.
Just as Mangetsu Hozuki was about to celebrate prematurely and persuade the ninja to join the resistance, Ao rushed over, his face changing drastically.
"The Three-Tails is coming out!"
His eyes turned entirely to horror as dark red Tailed Beast chakra surged from the lake bed like magma.
Yagura Karatachi's body expanded wildly. Eventually, the chakra wrapping around him faded, and the full Three-Tails form emerged. It resembled a turtle, bearing a grayish-white, ferocious outer shell. The slight movements of its massive body shook the earth and mountains. Spikes covered its entire body, and three giant tails churned the water wantonly.
"He's coming!" Ao shouted a grave warning.
In the next second, an unimaginably massive tail ripped the lake surface open. The target of its attack was precisely where Mangetsu Hozuki stood, the very person who had just blasted it away!
Seeing this, Mei Terumi had no choice but to grab Mangetsu Hozuki, utilizing the Body Flicker Jutsu to dash to the side.
The moment they left their original spot, the giant tail controlled by Yagura Karatachi slashed down heavily, splitting the area apart. Following closely, the full Three-Tails form rapidly surfaced. It looked like an island hidden beneath the lake. Its terrifying size suffocated everyone present, and the mere action of breaking the surface created unimaginable waves.
"This is bad."
Mei Terumi's expression turned exceptionally grave. Utakata had sunk to the bottom of the lake from Yagura's earlier attack and had not returned. Meanwhile, their current combat force consisted only of herself, Ao, and an exhausted Mangetsu Hozuki. No matter how she looked at it, they were no match for this Tailed Beast and the remaining Blood Mist ninja.
Thinking of this, she gently bit her red lips and made a swift decision. "Ao, locate the Six-Tails Jinchuriki immediately. Protect him and retreat with Mangetsu." A flash of resolve crossed her eyes. "I will handle Yagura Karatachi!"
"Mei Terumi, your current strength isn't enough to face the Three-Tails. Let me do it..." Mangetsu Hozuki immediately rejected the idea, but Mei Terumi silenced him with a disdainful glare.
"Look at yourself right now. You're already doing well just by not dragging me down. Hurry up and move according to the plan!" Under her urging, Mangetsu Hozuki finally compromised.
After using his Byakugan to scan the lake bed, Ao finally found a trace of Utakata. He quickly dove into the lake water with Mangetsu.
Seeing this, Yagura Karatachi naturally refused to sit idly by. The massive body of the Three-Tails stirred instantly, throwing up terrifying waves as it crashed forward.
Mei Terumi formed hand signs with both hands and pressed them against the water's surface.
"Water Style: Giant Waterfall Jutsu!"
An equally massive wave surged, colliding with the oncoming torrent to form a giant wall of water that pierced the clouds. Mei Terumi leaped over the water wall, spitting a large amount of acidic liquid from her mouth while forming hand signs.
"Lava Style: Melting Apparition Jutsu!"
This viscous liquid possessed a strong acid capable of corroding anything, and more importantly, it could effectively restrict the enemy's movements.
Mei Terumi's strategy proved correct. Due to its monstrous size, the Three-Tails was not particularly agile. Therefore, its space to dodge attacks was extremely limited, and it relied mostly on its solid outer shell to block incoming strikes. Consequently, Mei Terumi's Lava Style began to shine.
Although the acid attached to the liquid wasn't enough to melt the Three-Tails' hard shell, the sheer volume made up for it. Utilizing its viscous property to coat the Three-Tails' joints and restrict its movements worked perfectly.
Mei Terumi began dodging the Three-Tails' attacks while continuously using her Lava Style to burden the beast. Globs of viscous liquid landed on its joints, and as the liquid solidified, its movements became increasingly difficult.
This was a major disadvantage of the full Tailed Beast form. While a full transformation significantly boosted attack power and range, it came with a decrease in speed, making the user an easy target for concentrated attacks.
Because of this flaw, the existence of a Perfect Jinchuriki was highly precious. A so-called Perfect Jinchuriki could completely control the Tailed Beast's power. They retained human speed while undergoing varying degrees of Tailed Beast transformation, maximizing power while remaining flexible.
This was exactly what Yagura Karatachi did. The moment he realized his massive size was disadvantageous, he quickly deactivated the full transformation. The immense body turned into surging Tailed Beast chakra and retreated into his body, leaving only a partial transformation, such as the Tailed Beast cloak and tails. This instantly rendered Mei Terumi's previous attacks futile.
"Damn it..." Mei Terumi gritted her teeth, her face darkening further.
However, she did not give up. She launched another attack while Yagura was reclaiming the Tailed Beast chakra.
"Boil Style: Skilled Vapor Jutsu!"
An acidic mist erupted from her mouth, enveloping Yagura Karatachi along with several Blood Mist ninja who were trying to join the battlefield.
Instantly, those Mist ninja let out excruciating screams. Yagura Karatachi was fine, however. Protected by the Tailed Beast chakra, only a bit of white smoke drifted from his skin, leaving him largely unharmed.
Conversely, he seized the opening from Mei Terumi's jutsu. His feet shattered the water's surface as he charged forward like a cannonball once more.
With no choice left, Mei Terumi stopped her Boil Style and switched back to Lava Style.
"Lava Style: Melting Apparition Jutsu!"
Viscous liquid erupted from her mouth, forming a thick wall before her. The wall was covered in terrifying acid, capable of corroding steel to nothing upon contact. Mei Terumi intended to use this to stop Yagura's incoming strike.
Unfortunately, Yagura Karatachi, protected by his Tailed Beast chakra, did not care about this at all. His figure appeared instantly. His raised fist suddenly grew a large amount of hard coral, and he smashed it heavily against the wall without hesitation!
"Coral Palm!"
Unimaginable power poured from Yagura's petite body. The acidic liquid did deal impressive damage, but that damage was limited to the coral on his hands. The moment the coral shattered, the thick wall of viscous liquid burst apart as well.
Under Mei Terumi's terrified gaze, Yagura's fist drove straight through, seemingly intent on crushing her head! A sense of impending death echoed wildly in her mind. This punch will definitely kill me!
Suddenly, a dark shadow enveloped Mei Terumi. Fuguki Suikazan's burly physique had been lying in ambush beneath the water's surface, and he used Samehada to block the punch just in time!
"Fuguki Suikazan?" Yagura uttered a confused sound.
But he quickly noticed that Fuguki Suikazan's mental state seemed off. Is he under Genjutsu?
Making this guess, Yagura Karatachi kicked away Samehada, which was absorbing his chakra, and pulled back to distance himself from the enemy.
"Just when did..."
This question did not come from Yagura, but from Obito, who was watching from the shadows. As the owner of the Mangekyo Sharingan who had inherited a massive legacy from Madara Uchiha, his Genjutsu skills were among the best in the Shinobi World. Yet his trusted subordinate had fallen under a Genjutsu without his knowledge?
Before Obito could figure this out, Yagura Karatachi faced even more attacks on the battlefield.
"Lightning Style: Violent Thunder!"
Accompanied by a female shout, a thick bolt of lightning descended upon Yagura's head.
"Boom!"
Lightning splattered, and fine electrical arcs spread alongside the exploding water droplets. Yagura Karatachi raised a tail, barely blocking the attack, though his body grew slightly numb under the influence of the Lightning Style chakra.
"What a thick hide," the newly arrived Ameyuri Ringo snorted.
Although she had lost Kiba, which enhanced her lightning attacks, her personal proficiency in Lightning Style was arguably the best in the Hidden Mist Village. Yet such an attack was easily blocked by Yagura. Aside from cursing the Tailed Beast's thick hide, she didn't know what else to think.
"You're still alive," Yagura Karatachi said, his three tails swaying in the air as intense killing intent erupted from him.
"I couldn't bear to die before killing you," Ameyuri Ringo fired back, completely abandoning any remaining decorum now that they had openly clashed.
The appearance of another figure pushed Yagura's fury to its peak.
"It seems Lord Mizukage's situation is quite bad." Zabuza Momochi rested a ninja sword on his shoulder, casually standing beside Ameyuri Ringo.
"You've betrayed me too, Zabuza?" Yagura Karatachi, or rather Obito behind him, asked in disbelief.
Mangetsu Hozuki, Mei Terumi, Zabuza, Fuguki Suikazan, Ameyuri Ringo... These were all elite Jonin of the Mist, the core combat forces of the village. Yet this very core had silently betrayed him. What hurt the most was that he hadn't noticed any of it.
For the first time, Obito began to question his own intellect. But more than that, he was consumed by the rage of betrayal! Under this terrible anger, Yagura Karatachi went berserk.
"Since you all want to die so badly, I will fulfill your wish!"
Yagura dropped to all fours like a wild beast, his three tails converging in front of him from different directions. As he opened his mouth wide, particles of chakra suddenly manifested in the air.
Under Yagura's control, red Yin chakra and blue Yang chakra rapidly merged, forming a sphere of absolute darkness. The moment the sphere took shape, an aura of pure destruction enveloped the entire battlefield!
"It's a Tailed Beast Bomb!"
Many present were ninja who had participated in the Third Shinobi World War, and they quickly recognized the technique. Deep terror immediately followed. They knew exactly how despairing the power of this move could be!
Meanwhile, the diving Ao and Mangetsu Hozuki finally found a trace of Utakata. However, someone else had beaten them to him.
Deep within the lake, Ao saw an elegant man wearing square-rimmed glasses extending a palm, pressing it gently against Utakata's abdomen. That was the location where the Six-Tails was sealed.
Inside Utakata's mental world, Simu's figure slowly emerged.
"Who are you?"
Accompanied by a cold female voice, Simu finally laid eyes on the Tailed Beast sealed inside Utakata—the Six-Tails, Saiken.
The Six-Tails looked somewhat like a slug, pure white and plump, with an unknown slime flowing across its surface. It possessed six thick, fleshy white tails behind it.
Faced with Saiken's question, Simu calmly pushed up his glasses and said sincerely, "I am the person who has come to liberate you."
"Liberate?" Saiken clearly did not believe his words.
Simu did not mind, continuing, "The Hidden Mist Village is in complete chaos right now. If you agree to become my summoning beast, I can consider taking you away from here."
"Summoning beast?" Hearing this phrase, Saiken's cold voice finally carried a hint of anger. "Do you think I would serve you filthy humans?"
With that, the dense mouthparts on its head sprayed a massive amount of acidic gas, intending to melt Simu right then and there.
Seeing this, Simu sighed with slight regret. "Since you don't agree to this option, I can only resort to Plan B."
"Which is..."
His body appeared instantly before the massive Saiken. The square-rimmed glasses on his nose had been removed at some point, replaced by a pair of crimson eyes.
Mangekyo Sharingan, awaken!