"This scene truly lives up to the name 'Village Hidden in the Bloody Mist'!" Ryuji remarked with feeling.
The battle between Yagura and the Kaguya Clan's Clan Head intensified.
No one dared to approach the area around them anymore.
The Kaguya Clan's Clan Head fought with complete disregard for his own life, so even though Yagura's strength surpassed his, he couldn't gain the upper hand for a while.
"Shikotsumyaku, Sawarabi no Mai (Dance of the Early Fern)!"
The Kaguya Clan's Clan Head, constantly at a disadvantage, had completely lost his sanity. He recklessly unleashed his strongest technique without considering the consequences.
Sharp bone spikes erupted from the ground. Although not as powerful as Kimimaro's final attack in his battle against Rock Lee in the future, the numerous sharp bone spikes formed a small forest of white bones within a radius of several hundred meters.
Yagura's expression gradually darkened. His opponent was fighting with no regard for his life, but Yagura had just become Mizukage and still wanted to live.
Using chakra to push off in mid-air, he flipped backward, then slammed his weapon onto the ground, shattering several bones and creating a temporary foothold.
Just as the Kaguya Clan's Clan Head tried to take advantage by attacking from below with bone spikes under Yagura's feet, Yagura had already pushed off forcefully again, leaping upward.
"Shikotsumyaku, Tsubaki no Mai (Dance of the Camellia)!"
The Kaguya Clan's Clan Head drew a bone sword from his right hand, charged into the bone forest, and clashed with Yagura.
"Suiton: Suikyou no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Mirror Technique)!"
Yagura formed a one-handed seal, creating a mirror in front of him. A water clone identical to the Kaguya Clan's Clan Head emerged from the mirror.
The Kaguya Clan's Clan Head, unconcerned, thrust forward, then a vertical slash cleaved the water clone apart. He paid no mind to the water clone's right-hand bone sword piercing his left shoulder.
"Yagura, unleash the tailed beast's power! If you think you can finish me in your current state, you're utterly delusional!"
He casually discarded the bone sword in his left hand, placed his hand on his own spine, and roared.
"Shikotsumyaku, Tessenka no Mai (Dance of the Iron Thread Flower)!"
He pulled out a long section of his spine from his right hand. The spine, soft like a whip, lashed out and entangled Yagura.
Yagura's weapon was first wrapped once, then the spine bound itself around his upper body.
The longer a Kaguya clan member used their Kekkei Genkai, the more severe their illness became. At this point, the clan leader's face showed no trace of normal human color.
Only a deathly pallor remained.
Even if he defeated Yagura now, he wouldn't live much longer, let alone that Yagura hadn't yet used his final trump card.
Seeing the spine-formed whip bypass his weapon and bind him,
Yagura immediately surged chakra to break free, but after a couple of attempts, there was no reaction.
The spine, after entangling him, instantly hardened, becoming like steel shackles.
Seeing this scene, the Kaguya Clan's Clan Head's pale face broke into a maddened smile.
"Let me finish you!"
"Shikotsumyaku: Yae Kusa no Mai (Dance of the Eightfold Bindweed)!"
The bone blades on his hands struck with extreme speed in rapid succession. The obstacles he himself had created were shattered one after another as he charged towards Yagura, who was firmly bound by the spine.
Yagura exploded chakra beneath his feet, rapidly retreating backward. If his opponent reached him, the outcome would likely be severe injury or even death instantly.
The Kaguya Clan's Clan Head, with bone spears wrapped layer upon layer around his hands, forming two massive drills, thrust towards Yagura's head. This was his strongest strike.
Yagura's pupils reflected the Kaguya Clan's Clan Head's figure growing larger. He closed his eyes.
A blood-red tailed beast cloak instantly covered his entire body. His power surged explosively. Although his reason would be greatly affected, to quell this rebellion, he had no choice.
He was well aware that besides Kisame, other high-ranking officials were observing this battle.
He had to suppress this rebellion with an absolute display of power. Otherwise, even if he ultimately won at great cost, it would only give them ammunition to attack him or leave them with the impression that he was 'nothing special,' fostering rebellious thoughts.
After the tailed beast cloak covered him, Yagura's body began to swell. He was entering Tailed Beast Mode.
"Get ready. It's almost time for us to make our entrance!"
Kureno Ryuji watched as Yagura prepared to release the tailed beast's true form, understanding that with the tailed beast's destructive power, no one in the entire Kaguya clan would likely survive.
"Yes, Master!"
Aka shook her hands, already adopting a combat stance. She would charge in the moment Ryuji gave the order.
"Kana, leave that child named Kimimaro to me. As for the other small fry, just pick a few as you like. Don't worry about the strength of the others."
Kana nodded. The task of capturing prisoners was being entrusted to her.
"However, even if it's just a small group, they will still rebel!"
Kana had absolutely no confidence in the loyalty of these people.
"No need to worry. I don't need their loyalty. I only need their combat power. In the future, we just need to provide them with opportunities for battle. Everything else is unnecessary."
To deal with madmen, one needs a way of interacting specific to madmen.
...
Yagura instantly broke free from the spine entwining him. His body rapidly grew in size, reaching several stories tall in the blink of an eye.
The bone spikes the Kaguya Clan's Clan Head had created on the ground were rendered useless, shattering one after another under the pressure of the Three-Tails.
"Roar!"
The Three-Tails gradually revealed its full form, its body turning into a massive sphere. Its carapace made it function like a clearing machine, a steamroller advancing to crush everything before it.
The Kaguya Clan's Clan Head still did not choose to retreat.
The bone spears in his hands were thrust hard against the Three-Tails' carapace. The Three-Tails' frantically spinning shell scraped against his bones, producing spark after spark.
The Kaguya Clan's Clan Head's legs, braced on the ground, were already driven into the earth up to his knees under the immense pressure.
The bone spikes on his hands erupted with wave after wave of sparks, finally cracking with a 'crack' and shattering.
Next, the massive dark shadow before him rolled over, completely burying the Kaguya Clan's Clan Head's body beneath the ground.
The Three-Tails' body, like a bowling ball, plowed into the midst of the Kaguya Clan's members engaged with the Anbu, indiscriminately crushing forward.
The screams of those crushed were drowned out by the roar of the Three-Tails rolling over them.
Those directly crushed by the Three-Tails were instantly turned into pulp.
Kimimaro, only a few years old, was also within the area about to be crushed. Looking up at the looming Three-Tails, unlike others who closed their eyes awaiting death, he crouched, bone spikes emerging from his fingers, attempting to imitate the fallen Clan Head.
The moment the massive body was about to crush him,
Ryuji suddenly appeared, grabbed him, and leapt forward, jumping out of the Tailed Beast's crushing range.
Then, a hand chop to the neck knocked the Chunin-level toddler unconscious on the spot.
Opening his Personal Space, Ryuji casually tossed the unconscious Kimimaro inside. By then, Aka had also grabbed several other Kaguya Clan's members, knocked them out with a few punches, and thrown them into the Personal Space as well.
They selected only children a few years old or teenagers in their teens. None over twenty were taken.
The older they were, the more insane they became. The Kaguya Clan's lifespan was originally short. Faced with death, madmen would only become more insane.
The Three-Tails halted its motion. It noticed the arrival of uninvited guests, turning its head to coldly stare at Ryuji standing opposite it.
Ao, observing from afar, quickly turned to Mei.
"That man has arrived!"
"Who?"
Seeing Ao's reaction, Mei showed rare panic.
"Senki Ryuji!"
The matter of the various Shinobi Villages uniting against Sunagakure was known to Mei, Ao, and a few others.
Recently, Kirigakure had been continuously purchasing various types of steel, ore, etc., engaging in large-scale construction. A significant portion of the village's income had been invested into it.
She just didn't have the authority to know exactly what was being built.
All those involved in this construction and their families were also strictly monitored.
This matter was in a state of secrecy.
And now, the person their village had gone to such great lengths to deal with had actually appeared within the village.
"What is he here for?"
Mei, knowing Ryuji had arrived, decided to remain hidden. If she went out now and got eliminated as cannon fodder, it would be a huge loss.
Ryuji looked up at the Three-Tails' massive form.
He didn't care whether current consciousness was controlled by Yagura or the Three-Tails itself.
He merely spoke to himself, "Did you force yourself to become a Jinchuriki to deal with the village's matters as Mizukage? But the price of gaining power too quickly is an unstable foundation. Now, I'm afraid you don't even have the qualification to return to normal, do you?"
Although in the original work, Yagura was a perfect Jinchuriki, the current Yagura had only been a Jinchuriki for a few months, far from reaching the level of complete control over the Tailed Beast's power seen in the original.
In fact, even in the original work, when Yagura faced Itachi and Juzo, whether he had complete control over the Tailed Beast was still debatable.
Ryuji rubbed his hands together. Since he had come to Kirigakure, he needed to make some noise before leaving. Kill their new Mizukage! Deal them another heavy blow!
The Three-Tails did not respond. It opened its large maw and roared. Then, small spheres formed from Chakra and Yin-Yang Release power continuously manifested in the air, gathering into its mouth.
This was the signature skill of all Tailed Beasts: Bijudama.
Ryuji leapt up, flying to the Three-Tails' head, then delivered a powerful axe kick from above, drawing a brilliant vertical line through the air.
Under the effect of the Chakra Amplification cloth armor, this kick possessed the power to split mountains and crack stones.
Boom!
A violent impact followed, a shockwave rippling out from the point of collision.
Ryuji's kick chopped down on the Three-Tails' head. The Three-Tails' upper jaw clamped onto its lower jaw, and then its entire head was smashed into the ground.
With a thunderous roar, the ground split open, forming a deep crater. The Bijudama that had been brewing prematurely dispersed, blowing down a row of houses and clearing away much of the bloody mist nearby, leaving only lingering dust in the air.
Kisame, along with Ao and Mei observing from a distance, also noticed the commotion here.
They didn't pay much attention to the few Kaguya Clan's members Ryuji casually captured, because no one would think that such a huge commotion was just to snatch away a few Kaguya Clan's members.
But in Ryuji's eyes, coming for people was the main goal; dealing with Yagura was incidental.
In the eyes of Kisame and others, it was exactly the opposite.
"Is this guy trying to brawl with a Tailed Beast!?" Kisame found it hard to believe rationally.
Although they lost to the opponent in the war in the Land of Whirlpools, it was Aka who had displayed power. As for Ryuji... although also very strong, it was more a combination of Ninjutsu and Taijutsu; he hadn't shown excessively powerful physical abilities.
However,
Though unbelievable, recalling the series of illustrious feats Ryuji had achieved in the Shinobi World, he had to believe his own conjecture.
"No, no, now is not the time to be surprised by this!"
Kisame shook his head, casting aside the random thoughts in his mind.
"Now we need to consider why this guy came to Kirigakure!"
…
(A/N: Additional note about Obito's Mangekyo: Rin was indeed one and only in Obito's heart; even Kakashi couldn't compare. But that doesn't mean there were no others in Obito's heart.
If Kakashi had been killed by Rin in front of him, Obito would still have awakened the Mangekyo, but he wouldn't have become twisted and corrupted. Instead, he would have strived to become Hokage to change the world.
If Obito's biological grandmother died before his eyes, he would also awaken the Mangekyo, but similarly wouldn't become twisted and corrupted. However, he would hate war even more and yearn for peace even more intensely.
Madara and Izuna awakened the Mangekyo upon killing a friend; Shisui awakened upon seeing teammates die; Itachi awakened upon Shisui's death. These people were not as important to them as Rin was to Obito, but they still awakened the Mangekyo.)