Reluctant as he was, Mr. Enemy finally made his decision.
He forced out a white egg covered in mysterious cursed markings — the very object that sealed Moxi away.
Crack.
Freed from the immense pressure of his suppressing power, the shell shattered instantly. Out crawled a small blonde girl with twin tails, her body still covered in sticky residue.
"You bastard! I finally got out! Just you wait, I'll— huh? Where even is this place?!"
Moxi started shouting insults the moment she saw him, only then noticing her surroundings and realizing something was very wrong.
"I know you hate me," Mr. Enemy said, his composure and confidence fully restored now that he had lifted all restraints upon himself.
"But those humans are closing in. We should join forces. I promise I won't use that method against you again."
But Moxi wasn't falling for it.
"Do you take me for an idiot? You clearly messed things up and now you want me to go out front and take the heat for you! Let me tell you — keep dreaming!"
She wasn't going to play along. A tail made of writhing worms shot out from her back, followed by a pair of wings. She turned invisible and shot straight up into the sky.
"And don't think this settles our score! Next time you bother me, I'll smash your head to pieces!"
Mr. Enemy's smile froze on his face, and killing intent flared sharply in his eyes.
If the situation wasn't so dire and he didn't need to avoid making more enemies, he would have ended her right there. Still, he counted it a win that she hadn't turned around and sided with the humans against him.
If he had caught her once, he could catch her again. There was no rush — let her strut around for now; he would settle the score later.
"And you?" He turned to Kongni.
"Even now, you refuse to join us? It's obvious those humans waited until we had weakened each other just to wipe us all out together."
Kongni hesitated. Her gaze rested on the Raikage for a moment — and she saw no killing intent directed specifically at her in his eyes.
"The five minutes are up," she said coldly. "I won't join you. But neither will I help the humans. If you bother me again, next time we meet, it will be to the death."
With that declaration, she vanished straight into the storm clouds, never to be seen again for the moment.
Moxi and Kongni clearly had their own agendas. Both chose to walk away, siding with no one.
It wasn't the best outcome, but far from the worst. To Mr. Enemy, however, their actions were nothing short of betrayal. In his heart, he had already sentenced them to death.
Next time they met, he wouldn't try to recruit them. He would simply erase them. If they wouldn't serve his purpose, it was better they be destroyed than fall into human hands.
He watched coldly as Kongni disappeared.
Meanwhile, Mahito and the others gathered around him.
The first wave of Tailed Beast Balls had caught them off guard, but since they had kept their distance earlier, the combined defenses of Cyborg and Hanami had saved their lives — though they were badly injured.
The remaining six blasts had been swallowed whole by Mr. Enemy, indirectly saving them from certain death.
"Kill every last one of them!"
Mr. Enemy gave his coldest command.
Sand filled the air, giant vines erupted from the earth, and Mahito shifted into his true form.
The great battle began: four Special Grade Cursed Spirits against the elite forces of Kumogakure, led by the Raikage himself.
The terrifying clash lasted for hours. In the end, Mr. Enemy tore open a rift in space and fled, taking the heavily wounded Cyborg and Mahito with him.
Hanami chose to stay behind and cover their retreat, dying a tragic death in the process.
On the surface, it looked like the village had won — but it was a hollow victory, a battle where both sides suffered devastating losses.
Five elite Jōnin alone were confirmed dead. Countless Chūnin perished.
Nii Yugito was left in a coma from her injuries.
One major reason for such a terrible toll was a lack of intelligence.
The leader's Obliteration Curse Art was, in a way, similar to the Tsuchikage Onoki's Dust Release — a technique that injured upon contact and killed instantly upon impact.
Worse still, he could absorb any ninjutsu thrown at him. He seemed like the natural bane of all shinobi.
Had the Cloud Village's forces not specialized heavily in taijutsu, they likely would have been wiped out completely.
Yet even that danger paled compared to the threat posed by the man made of stitched‑together body parts.
That seemingly ordinary hand of his brought terror to every fighter present.
Anyone it touched was instantly transformed into a monster, screaming and begging their comrades to kill them.
Once they realized this, the Cloud shinobi stopped giving him any chance to strike, using their superior numbers and combat skill to overwhelm him.
But what they could not accept was that nothing they did could kill him.
Even when beaten into a pulp, he would regenerate instantly and rejoin the fight.
At first, they thought they could simply keep him restrained.
But then Mahito seized an opening and expanded his Domain.
Everyone caught inside was turned into a puppet he could play with or destroy at will — no exceptions.
That was when they suffered their first heavy blow, losing several top Jōnin in an instant.
That was when the Raikage snapped.
Relying purely on his god‑like taijutsu, he nearly beat Mr. Enemy to death, giving him not even a split second to cast techniques or expand his Domain.
The Raikage had fought Kongni countless times before, gaining vast experience in battling Special Grade spirits.
You can absorb ninjutsu, sure. But let's see you absorb a fist!
If Hanami hadn't sacrificed himself in the end to buy time for the others to escape, Mr. Enemy — ambitious as he was — might very well have met his end right there.
"Lord Raikage… the price we paid for this victory was far too high."
Looking at the field of corpses, the Raikage ground his teeth in rage and grief.
He raised his foot, ready to crush Hanami's lifeless body to vent his frustration, but thankfully his men stopped him in time.
The only gain bought with so many lives should not be destroyed meaninglessly.
"Bring back every body. We return home."
They had to swallow the bitterness of this defeat disguised as a victory.
But the Raikage swore — next time, things would be completely different.
He now had full intelligence on all of them and understood exactly what they could do.
- That patched‑up freak? No need to fight him. Just use sealing jutsu. That's the fastest and most effective solution.
- That gentleman? Smash him down with taijutsu immediately. Give him zero chance to retaliate.
- And that 'Sand Spirit' Cyborg? Just bring a few shinobi skilled in Water Release — that alone is enough to counter him.
Yet looking at the cost paid just to learn these things, he wondered if it was truly worth it.
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