As the Three-Tails (Isobu) continued drawing near, the many shinobi who had just tried stopping it with Water Release: Water Collision Wave were left utterly petrified. But after Terumi Mei and Gonbee's reminders, they snapped out of their shock and hurriedly retreated.
However—
Splooosh—!
All of a sudden, Isobu slapped the surface of the water, sending giant surging waves rolling back with tremendous force.
Splaaash!
Whssh—Whssh—
Huge breakers slammed into those Kiri shinobi, sending them flying in all directions.
Not only did a number of shinobi get tossed around by the violent currents; even the huge rocks along the shore and some of the trees in the nearby forest were swept up by the waves.
"These idiots…!"
Terumi Mei felt utterly helpless. She had already given clear orders, but these fools hadn't listened—what could she do?
Professional matters ought to be handled by professionals! And no one was more professional than Uzumaki Senshi, the "job-harvester" from the Amegakure.
Seeing the Three-Tails, Kakuzu and Kisame both adopted serious expressions. Kakuzu asked Senshi:
"Do we have a plan of attack?"
Senshi replied offhandedly:
"You two just watch from the sidelines. Leave this to me."
Given his current abilities, "a mere Three-Tails" was no problem at all.
Meanwhile, Elder Genji (元师) and the other senior figures of the Kiri, as well as the Blood Mist leaders, arrived at a spot not too far away. Terumi Mei and Gonbee quickly moved over to Genji's side.
Although Genji was already quite advanced in years, he remained devoted to the village's well-being. The moment something went wrong, he rushed to the scene as fast as he could. Seeing Terumi Mei, he instantly asked:
"What is going on here?"
Terumi Mei did not conceal anything and recounted what she knew:
"Lord Genji, this was caused by those Blood Mist scoundrels. They used a secret art to force the Three-Tails into a rampage, and now they've hidden away somewhere."
When she finished, Genji and the other top brass of the village looked grim. Genji anxiously pressed:
"Do you have a way to deal with this?"
All eyes turned to Terumi Mei. In truth, many of the senior Kiri shinobi had already begun treating Terumi Mei as the future Fifth Mizukage-in-training. Hearing Genji's question, she answered candidly:
"I've spent ten million ryō to hire a certain powerful ninja to handle this."
From the Kiri leaders' viewpoint, short of an actual Kage-level ninja, perhaps an exceptionally strong one at that, no one could hope to handle a Tailed Beast rampage. They naturally assumed Terumi Mei was being swindled. Genji could only ask:
"Any backup plan? Or maybe we can negotiate with the Blood Mist?"
He did not believe any hired ninja would actually show up. And even if one did, Genji doubted they would have the strength to quell the Three-Tails. The rest of the Kiri high command felt the same.
On the Blood Mist side, Karatachi Tachii and Hōzuki Getsuki both watched in shock as Isobu rampaged. Hōzuki Getsuki turned to Kondō Ryū behind him:
"Who caused this?"
Of all the people in the Blood Mist, they had the deepest knowledge of the Three-Tails. Seeing it go berserk, Hōzuki Getsuki immediately knew someone from their side must have triggered it. Although they had reached a verbal pact with Terumi Mei earlier, as long as no evidence tied them to this, Genji could do little to them. Hōzuki Getsuki recognized that this situation posed a golden opportunity:
The Genji faction had no means of dealing with the Three-Tails; in the end, surely only the Blood Mist shinobi could settle things, making them out as saviors once again.
"I did."
Kondō No's grim voice emerged as he appeared behind Kondō Ryū's group.
"You…did well."
Seeing Kondō No, Hōzuki Getsuki's eyes gleamed with approval. Karatachi Tachii also spoke:
"For a brighter future of the village, certain sacrifices are inevitable. If people die for the sake of the village's advancement, then that's a worthy death."
Clearly, these four Blood Mist fellows were no good guys. To them, some villagers' deaths were insignificant if it would let the village "develop" better. However, their plan was about to fail spectacularly!
"What…what is that?"
Kondō Ryū's pupils shrank as he stared out at the lake. Hōzuki Getsuki, Karatachi Tachii, and Kondō No similarly peered in that direction.
Swish—
They all witnessed something that made their scalps tingle: a bolt of blue lightning flashed to Isobu's face. Then that human figure…actually held the Three-Tails' protective shell as though shoving the giant turtle—like pushing a small hill backward.
"Wha—?!"
"What on earth…?!"
"Oh my god!"
Everywhere around them, people who witnessed this scene were utterly stunned. They had assumed there would be a dreadful battle here. But as it turned out, it seemed there would be no danger at all—for from the start, Uzumaki Senshi was completely overpowering the Three-Tails.
"Huh…? Using only one hand to push the Three-Tails back…?"
Even Elder Genji and the senior Kiri shinobi who'd arrived wore expressions of disbelief. Only moments ago, they doubted Terumi Mei's claim about hiring a powerful "outside ninja." Yet this man, apparently using raw strength alone, was forcing the Three-Tails backward!
Terumi Mei, Gonbee, Ao, and Chōjūrō had previously seen Senshi fight, but now they realized he was far stronger than they had imagined!
At that point, Senshi was continually pressing the Three-Tails from the shoreline back toward the center of the lake. Such a display shocked everyone but also thoroughly enraged Isobu. The beast gave a furious roar, launching a more savage attack on Senshi.
Boom!
Zzt, zzt, zzt, zzt…
Isobu raised one massive claw and slammed down at Senshi. Instantly, lightning-chakra armor flared all around Senshi. With his strongest shield, he simply endured the Three-Tails' strike.
Boom!
Yet Senshi didn't even budge. Taking the force of that blow, he raised his head at the beast and grinned:
"You ever heard of a stone wall before?
This is a Ten-Tails-level strongest shield, buddy!"
Of course, the beast didn't understand his words, merely sensed provocation from this human—unforgivable! Meanwhile, the watching crowd was floored once more:
Just one hand pushing the Three-Tails backward and tanking its direct hits without moving an inch? What kind of monster was this?
Terumi Mei's group was likewise speechless.
"Hsss—!"
Even the elderly Genji and other high-ranking Kiri officials gasped in shock. Long after they'd gasped all the cold air they could, Chōjūrō still stood slack-jawed, no more cold air to inhale.
Not far away, Karin felt her own tension melt away. Ever since Uzumaki Senshi had rescued her, she'd been following him, gradually relying on him—whereas in Kusa, she could hardly ever sleep from fear. Now she could nap on his back and drool freely, though she still grew a bit uneasy when he faced a Tailed Beast alone. Fortunately, it seemed he was handling the Three-Tails just fine.
Kakuzu too was staggered by what he saw:
"He's definitely gotten stronger again. How can anyone improve so fast?"
While Kakuzu pondered that, Kisame was intently watching Senshi's fight with the Three-Tails—shocked as well.
At present, the fight wasn't an even match but a one-sided beatdown. Senshi was basically toying with Isobu.
"Rooooar—!"
As the beast scuffled in close quarters, it kept howling. Eventually, it lifted its claw for another furious swipe, which Senshi directly caught.
"I'm a Tailed Beast," it might have been thinking. "Innately powerful, terrifyingly destructive, with massive chakra reserves. Yet this human…? It feels like he is the Tailed Beast, completely reversing the script!"
Boom!
Seething, Isobu opened its enormous jaws wide, lunging to bite down on him. This frightened all the onlookers:
"Careful!"
"Look out, the beast's about to attack you!"
"Oh no! He didn't dodge!"
But their fears were groundless. Next, Senshi demonstrated the terror of a "human Ten-Tails."
"Up you go!"
Seizing Isobu's giant forepaw, he abruptly flung the Tailed Beast's mountain-like body aside, swinging it around several times:
Swish, swish, swish, swish!
Boom—
After swinging it in a circle, he tossed the Three-Tails far away. It hurtled downward, smashing into the lake and sending columns of water into the sky—waves exploded outward in all directions. Everyone who saw it was dumbfounded, never having expected such an extreme mismatch. They'd thought this would be a precarious battle, yet from start to finish, Senshi had it well in hand.
"Rumble…"
Of course, Isobu wasn't so easy to tame. Rising from beneath the churning water, the creature lifted its massive head again. This time, an intense flow of chakra built up at its mouth.
It was gathering water chakra into a high-pressure bullet—nearly on par with a Tailed Beast Bomb—
Water Release: Great Water Mass Bullet
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 50 Chapters Ahead of Others!