On the surging surface of the reservoir, Yagura Karatachi gazed solemnly at the figure standing in the center of the lake.
Quickly, he identified the stranger's identity by the unique "eyeless" blank mask he wore. "Is that... Root's 'Tennin'!?"
"But this jutsu..."
Yagura couldn't help but look around at the surrounding area. Seeing the lake's surface flattened as if crushed by a steamroller magnified a thousand times, a more startling realization dawned on him. In the Hidden Mist's records of powerful Wind Style users in the shinobi world, there was only one person—aside from a few outliers—who could achieve this. And that person was supposed to be a dead man: a fourteen-year-old boy who had just sacrificed himself in the Third Shinobi World War and been posthumously honored as a "Hero of the Leaf."
At this moment, the sudden appearance of Root's "Tennin" and the technique he had just unleashed was exactly like the one described by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen: Byakugan: Pressure!
No matter how unbelievable it seemed to Yagura, he had to face reality—Root's "Tennin" was likely that very same deceased Leaf hero, Hyuga Yu!
He was even stronger than he had been two months ago. Moreover, the speed at which he was growing was simply staggering.
"You—"
Just as Yagura was about to call out Hyuga Yu's name, Bi—who had also realized the truth—shouted a stern warning to Yagura from a dozen meters away. "Yagura, watch out! The wind around 'Tennin'... no, the pressure around him is changing!"
"He's prepping a jutsu! Don't get close!"
Hearing this, Yagura's expression tightened. He immediately reached back, unfastening the hooked club from his back and gripping it firmly. He looked at Hyuga Yu with total seriousness. Although Hyuga Yu had suddenly stepped in to help him, the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Mist were still technically at war. While Root's "Tennin" had collaborated with the Council of Elders before, it was impossible to be certain of his current motives.
He immediately barked at Hyuga Yu in the center of the reservoir, "Root's 'Tennin'! What is your purpose here?!"
Behind his mask, Hyuga Yu's face twitched slightly. Hearing those words come out of a "shota" like Yagura made it sound less like a tactical inquiry and more like a crude joke.
He slowly turned his head, looking toward Yagura through the mask. A calm, indifferent voice drifted out. "Listen—"
"Yagura Karatachi, Root has gathered the latest intelligence: the Three-Tails Jinchuriki is currently hidden away by the Third Mizukage!"
"You should understand what that implies."
"What!" Before Yagura could even respond, the faces of the four other Mist shinobi changed drastically. They quickly realized the consequences of such a deployment and the massive impact it would have on the direction of the "Cutting the Mist" civil war.
Yagura had already suspected as much when he saw the Six-Tails Jinchuriki go berserk. His expression turned grim as he looked up at Hyuga Yu and asked in a low voice, "This is a Hidden Mist internal affair! 'Tennin', is this your goal?"
"Correct," Hyuga Yu admitted bluntly, his voice cold. "Root is not stingy about helping 'Cutting the Mist' complete your coup. Our actions right now involve the lives of tens of millions in both the Land of Water and the Land of Fire."
"If you are allowed to continue your foolishness, countless more innocent people will die in the wars to follow!"
"My goal is to achieve peace!"
"Just as you have a great cause to complete, I have things I must finish here—and people I must protect!"
Hearing Hyuga Yu's high-minded words, even Yagura was slightly moved. It wasn't because of the pretty speech or the banner of peace Yu was waving; it was because, at this very moment, Hyuga Yu had chosen to stand right here.
His appearance was exactly the reinforcement they needed most.
Yagura looked at Hyuga Yu with a complex expression. "You..."
"Go," Hyuga Yu interrupted, turning his head back. "Leave this beast to me."
Yagura took a deep breath. Countless thoughts flashed through his mind, but he suppressed them one by one. His gaze toward Hyuga Yu became resolute. "I understand."
"Tennin, the Hidden Mist will never forget this debt!"
"I don't know what Elder Genji promised you, but I stake my name as the future Fourth Mizukage of the Mist on this promise—" Yagura declared firmly. "After today, I will stop the village from continuing the war against the Leaf!"
However, at that moment— "What a joke!"
A sharp, mocking sneer rang out from beneath the water!
"Hahahaha! Hahahahahahaha!"
"Yagura Karatachi, has a dog eaten your brain? You actually believe the lies of a man from Root?!"
"How could we ever be willing to leave the future of the Mist in the hands of an idiot like you!"
Within the reservoir, a terrifying, oppressive aura suddenly exploded!
"Die for me!!"
"Corrosion Style: Chiroushu!"
A savage roar erupted from underwater. Immediately, massive amounts of white steam began to hiss and billow from the surface. Following the steam, a colossal surge of highly corrosive liquid churned up from the depths, spraying outward in a crashing wave!
This was the Corrosion Style of the Six-Tails, Saiken. It shared the same nature as Mei Terumi's Corrosion Style but was far superior in both scale and intensity!
Under the wash of the massive volume of corrosive liquid, the dam's structure began to visibly dissolve and crumble!
After terraforming the entire reservoir into a corrosive combat zone, a crimson, swaying shadow with six tails burst through the surface!
Its limbs wound like a snake's, sticking to the lake's surface as if it had no bones. It raised its head savagely, staring coldly at the six people on the lake with a grin that tore all the way to its ears. "None of you are getting away!"
"And... you!" Suan [the Jinchuriki] twisted his head again, glaring furiously at Hyuga Yu in the center of the battlefield. "I'll start by cutting you down!"
With that, he dived back into the water like a fish, tracing a crimson streak through the depths as he shot toward Hyuga Yu!
However, facing the rapidly approaching Six-Tails Jinchuriki, Hyuga Yu ignored him entirely. He looked at Yagura and frowned slightly. "What are you still standing there for?"
Yagura hesitated no longer. He gave Hyuga Yu a heavy nod and signaled to the other four Mist shinobi. "Let's go!"
The five gathered quickly. With Yagura in the lead and the other four in a wedge formation at his sides, they sprinted across the water toward the Hidden Mist Village.
Suan, who had already begun to lose his sanity, froze momentarily. He looked restless, wanting to attack Hyuga Yu but also unwilling to let Yagura escape. But in that brief opening—
Hyuga Yu slowly raised his hand and aimed it directly at him!
"Wind Style: Heavenly Subjugation!"
He snapped his fingers open!
With Hyuga Yu as the epicenter, an invisible sphere fifty meters in diameter—carrying countless concentrated wind blades and immense impact force—expanded outward!
BOOM!!
Under this strike, Suan was instantly swallowed by the indiscriminate, expanding river of wind. Without even a chance to cry out, he was hammered back into the depths of the lake!
This time, the last of Suan's sanity was completely swallowed.
"ROAR!"
He let out an incredibly furious howl. His face was entirely consumed by crimson chakra as animalistic instinct and a portion of Saiken's will took over the body!
An even more ominous aura shot into the sky!
One use of Byakugan: Pressure plus one Wind Style: Heavenly Subjugation hadn't even dealt as much damage as one of Yagura's savage Wind Style attacks. To Suan, cloaked in the Version 2 Tailed Beast Mantel, Hyuga Yu's Wind Style felt like a mere itch. However, because of his mass and the lack of leverage on the water's surface, he couldn't dig his tails or limbs into the ground to anchor himself like the Six-Tailed Naruto had against Pain. This sensation of being forced out of position infuriated him. It was like being taunted by an ant he couldn't quite hit. Thus, the mindless Suan instinctively chose the most brutal response for this situation—
"Complete Tailed Beast Transformation!"
Within the reservoir, which was now covered in corrosive fluid, a pillar of red light shot into the sky. A massive, terrifying, fifty-four-meter-tall giant slug rose from the surface of the water!
This was the Six-Tails, Saiken!
"ROAR!!!"
Upon manifesting its true form, it rolled impatiently across the lake!
Six tails—each fifty meters long and nearly ten meters wide—swung like the blades of a windmill, lashing toward Hyuga Yu!
Hyuga Yu's expression turned grave. He rapidly mobilized the Wind Style: Chakra Scalpel permeating his surroundings to alter the air pressure. He raised his palm again, fingers splayed. "Wind Style: Heavenly Subjugation!"
The invisible sphere of wind surged out once more!
However, this time, when the spherical river of wind blades slammed into Saiken's tails, it only managed to halt the first one. The remaining five tails tore through the wind river with overwhelming force!
The Wind Style: Heavenly Subjugation was broken in a completely unreasonable manner. Simultaneously, a massive reactionary force kicked back into Hyuga Yu!
Visibly, Hyuga Yu—along with the five-meter-tall "high-pressure wind sphere" surrounding him—was bounced across the surface of the reservoir like a whipped top or a billiard ball. Then, he was scooped up by Saiken's slender, salamander-like arm!
As his body was lifted uncontrollably from the water like a caught chick, a giant, hideous head with ten nostrils and two tentacles appeared before him!
"ROAR!!!"
Saiken slightly opened its fissure-like mouth, which dripped with countless pustules of pus, letting out an arrogant, joyful, and savage roar!
The violent wind pressure completely shattered the high-pressure wind sphere surrounding Hyuga Yu. A foul-smelling, crimson wind blasted him in the face!
The force snapped the ties of Hyuga Yu's mask, sending it flying. The black contact lenses in his eyes were jarred and slipped out. The wind caused his cheeks and mouth to bulge uncontrollably, pulling his skin back as his black hair whipped behind him!
Then, from within the Six-Tails' gaping maw, massive amounts of corrosive fluid began to churn up from its body. It looked ready to vomit the solution directly onto the captured Hyuga Yu!
"Ha... ha..."
Hyuga Yu craned his neck against the crimson wind, his gaze remains calm, though his chest heaved with uncontrollable gasps. His heart hammered in his chest—not out of fear or terror, but because the moment the Heavenly Subjugation was broken and the wind sphere crushed, a terrifying reactionary force had acted directly upon his body. That force was now being fully absorbed by the "Twelve Meridians" of the Wind Style: Flowing Astral Qi he had constructed!
In that instant, twelve meridians on the surface of Yu's body began to glow with a brilliant white light through his skin!
It was as if he had absorbed and stored the entire force of an earthquake. Pure "force," driven by the violent winds, surged wildly through the twelve meridians within his body. Driven by his own teal chakra and the dark chakra of the Zero-Tails specimen, it transformed into a terrifying "kinetic energy" granted directly to Yu!
Next, this kinetic energy started from the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian and passed in sequence through the Hand Yangming Large Intestine, Foot Yangming Stomach, Foot Taiyin Spleen, Hand Shaoyin Heart, Hand Taiyang Small Intestine, Foot Taiyang Bladder, Foot Shaoyin Kidney, Hand Jueyin Pericardium, Hand Shaoyang Sanjiao, Foot Shaoyang Gallbladder, and Foot Jueyin Liver meridians, before returning to the Hand Taiyin Lung. Within the twelve meridians, every one of the 309 acupoints—from Zhongfu to Shenmen—lit up one by one!
10 acupoints...
30 acupoints...
80 acupoints...
150 acupoints...
Finally, a total of 225 acupoints shone with brilliant light!
"Hiss... Hah..."
Held in Saiken's grip, Hyuga Yu slowly exhaled a long, white ribbon of breath from between his teeth!
He closed his eyes slightly, feeling the majestic power rising within him!
Even the colossal strength of the Six-Tails, which nearly crushed Hyuga Yu's waist, gradually began to feel like a refreshing massage in his perception!
Hyuga Yu's body trembled as the gale within and outside him surged wildly!
During this process, Saiken gradually realized something was wrong. It felt the human in its grip becoming harder and harder. The force of its massive physique, which could snap steel, felt increasingly powerless against this "ant."
It even instinctively sensed that every bit of "force" it used to strike Hyuga Yu was being turned around to fuel the human's strength!
A look of confusion appeared on Saiken's face, but it quickly turned into a savage intent to crush a bug. It snapped its mouth wide—
"ROAR!!!!!"
A river-like torrent of acid was spat out, cascading down toward Hyuga Yu like a waterfall!
However, at that moment—
Hyuga Yu opened his eyes!
A glint of madness flashed through his snow-white pupils!
Under the influence of the "Yin Style" spiritual energy from the dark chakra and teal chakra surging within him, the muscles on Hyuga Yu's face began to twitch. He gradually became arrogant and uninhibited, unable to suppress the emotions he usually kept hidden. Entirely different from his usual calm demeanor, Hyuga Yu began to laugh.
It was a predatory, savage grin.
————
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