Chapter 174 The Mighty Three-Tails, Pain's Sudden Arrival
"So, you're the leader of the Hidden Mist rebels?" Kakashi looked up at Mei Terumi above the Six-Tails' head and said coldly.
"Kakashi Hatake?" Mei Terumi gritted her teeth, looking at Kakashi floating in the air. "Why are you here?"
Kakashi glanced back at the Three-Tails' injuries before saying to Mei Terumi, "To be able to force a tailed beast to this point, no wonder your Fourth Mizukage swallowed his pride and begged Konoha for help."
"What?" Mei Terumi looked in disbelief at the Three-Tails behind Kakashi, who had shaken off the acid and regrouped. Although in her eyes, Yagura Karatachi was already a heartless guy, she didn't expect that his bottom line could be this low.
Konoha and Kirigakure have a deep-seated hatred for each other from the war. Almost every Kirigakure resident has a family member who died at the hands of Uchiha Touko. Yet now, Yagura Karatachi, for his position as Mizukage and to continue his brutal rule in the Bloodstained Mist Village, is actually asking their enemy for help?
"Now that we're here, your rebellious actions should end here," Kakashi said.
As Kakashi finished speaking, the Six-Tails Saiken's figure slowly dissipated, and Mei Terumi and Utakata landed back on the ground.
"Utakata?" Mei Terumi looked at Utakata in confusion.
Utakata, having withdrawn from his Tailed Beast form, looked at Kakashi with a grave expression: "His eyes... they're Mangekyou Sharingan."
"What?" Mei Terumi exclaimed in surprise. Now she understood why Utakata had withdrawn from his Tailed Beast form. Against a Mangekyou Sharingan user, the power of the Tailed Beast was completely suppressed, far less effective than the Jinchuriki's own power. "Did Uchiha Touko bestow this power upon you as well? He's quite generous."
"No, it was merely a gift from a friend," Kakashi replied.
"What do we do now?" Utakata asked gravely. After the previous battle, he still had the strength to fight again thanks to his Tailed Beast form, but as a Jinchuriki, he was practically useless against a Mangekyou Sharingan user. Mei Terumi, who was supposed to be the main force against Kakashi, had nearly exhausted her chakra during the attack on the Three-Tails.
If it were just Kakashi alone, it wouldn't be so bad, but there was the Three-Tails lurking behind him.
"Now, we can only retreat and reconsider." Mei Terumi glanced at the surrounding battlefield, reluctantly uttering these words through gritted teeth.
"Everyone, listen up! Take your wounded comrades and retreat!" Mei Terumi and Utakata retreated rapidly, shouting to the remaining rebel ninjas on the battlefield.
"Hmph, trying to escape?" Kakashi sneered, then looked at the Three-Tails behind him.
Seeing this, the Three-Tails began to gather the power of its Tailed Beast Ball again, this time targeting the rebel ninjas who were gradually gathering on the other side of the battlefield, preparing to retreat.
Seeing this, Utakata gritted his teeth, entering Tailed Beast form again and beginning to gather his Tailed Beast Ball. After all, if the Three-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball were allowed to fall among their remaining ninjas, less than one-tenth of them would survive.
The two Tailed Beast Balls collided in mid-air, and the aftershocks of the explosion overturned a group of resistance fighters who had finally managed to regroup under the pursuit of Konoha's elite forces. The next moment, the Three-Tails suddenly roared and charged towards the Six-Tails on its four short legs.
"I'll hold him off, you take the men and retreat!" Yu Gao shouted, and the Six-Tails, Saiken, wriggled its body, blocking the Three-Tails' path.
The two tailed beasts began hand-to-hand combat. The Three-Tails, being injured, was quickly suppressed by the Six-Tails. Mei Terumi took this opportunity to gather her subordinates and find the heavily wounded Zabuza.
"Lady Mei Terumi, Kisame-sama is engaged in a fierce battle with a Konoha ninja at the South Gate, and our losses are quite heavy," a ninja who had rushed from the southern battlefield reported to Mei Terumi.
Because the Konoha ninja had joined the battle from the south, the South Gate unit, which had initially faced the least pressure, was now suffering the most losses. Even their captain was entangled with a Konoha strongman and had not yet been able to escape the battlefield.
Mei Terumi glanced at the Six-Tails locked in melee combat with the Three-Tails, took a deep breath, and ordered, "Break through the south gate, and provide support to Kisame along the way."
"Yes, sir!"
Kakashi floated in the air, watching Mei Terumi lead the remnants of the resistance south. Then, Kakashi took out his radio and issued orders to his subordinates.
"Let them leave from the south."
"Yes, sir!"
After receiving the response, Kakashi hung up the radio, then looked at the increasingly fierce battle of the Tailed Beasts and sneered.
"The people can leave, but the Tailed Beasts can stay." After Kakashi finished speaking, he floated behind the Three-Tails, which was being pushed back by the Six-Tails' acid. His two Mangekyou Sharingan eyes spun rapidly, and his ocular power and chakra converged into a dark blue skeleton. The skeleton attached itself to the Three-Tails' body, repairing the cracks in the Three-Tails' shell that had been riddled with holes by Mei Terumi's Lava Release ninjutsu. The remaining skeleton then coalesced into armor on the Three-Tails' head and forelimbs.
The Three-Tails' power suddenly surged, and it viciously bit into the Six-Tails, tearing off a large chunk of flesh formed from chakra.
The Six-Tails let out a mournful cry, and even Utakata within it was in pain.
At this moment, Kakashi had already arrived inside the Tailed Beast dimension within the Three-Tails' body.
Kakashi frowned as he looked at the lifeless eyes of Yagura Karatachi. The markings in Yagura's eyes were identical to those in his own Mangekyou Sharingan, and he sighed inwardly.
He finally understood why Kirigakure had become increasingly chaotic in recent years.
"Obito, so all these years, you've already helped Rin take revenge on Kirigakure?" Kakashi said. "Then, leave the rest to me."
As Kakashi spoke, he used his eye power to connect with the Mangekyou markings on Yagura Karatachi's body.
During this process, Yagura Karatachi's consciousness briefly returned. Looking at Kakashi before him, Yagura Karatachi's eyes were bloodshot, but before he could speak, the power of his Mangekyou Sharingan overwhelmed his will once again.
Blood and tears welled up in Kakashi's eyes. He didn't possess the Uchiha bloodline, and the repeated activation of his Mangekyou Sharingan had taken a toll on his body far beyond his expectations. Yet, Kakashi stubbornly persisted, manipulating Yagura to burn his own life force to power the Three-Tails. Under
Kakashi's control, the Three-Tails went completely berserk, employing reckless and ruthless attacks. This made things extremely difficult for Utakata, who, seeing Mei Terumi and the others had successfully escaped, was also preparing to retreat.
The close-quarters combat between the two tailed beasts intensified, the two giant beasts crashing into and destroying numerous houses. At this moment, the survivors of Kirigakure could only kneel helplessly on the ground, their hearts filled with the fear and powerlessness of humanity facing a natural disaster.
The Konoha ninja, on the other hand, reacted calmly to the situation. A few of the bolder ones even muttered to themselves, "This commotion is far less than what the Nine-Tails caused back then."
Meanwhile, when Mei Terumi arrived at the battlefield near the southern gate of Kirigakure with the survivors of the resistance, the battle between Might Guy and Kisame Hoshigaki was nearing its end.
"Kisame! Retreat!" Mei Terumi couldn't help but warn Kisame, who was still using ninjutsu to fight Might Guy.
"Youth shouldn't be wasted on deserting!" Might Guy shouted, his feet igniting with red flames. He stomped through the water beneath him and launched a flying kick at Kisame in mid-air.
Kisame, now one with Samehada, faced with an unavoidable kick, unleashed his strongest ninjutsu. The water beneath his feet began to gather in the air, and a massive shark rose into the sky, hurtling towards Might Guy.
Seeing this, Mei Terumi could only squeeze out the last of her chakra, spewing out a cloud of orange acid in an attempt to somewhat hinder Might Guy's attack.
However, before the acid she sprayed could even touch Might Guy, it was vaporized by the intense heat generated by friction between the air and Might Guy.
"Is this the power of taijutsu?" Mei Terumi stared in disbelief at Might Guy, who was hurtling towards Kisame like a meteor from below.
For Mei Terumi, the shock to her worldview tonight was greater than in the past twenty years. The last time she encountered something like this was on the battlefield of the Third Shinobi World War, when she, as a reserve member of Kirigakure, heard Uchiha Touko single-handedly wipe out nearly a hundred of their Kirigakure troops.
In mid-air, Might Guy collided with the giant water shark hurtling towards him.
An explosion no less devastating than a Tailed Beast Ball shattered in the explosion, turning into a spray of water mist that scattered. When the water droplets landed on the faces of those below, almost everyone was startled by the scalding heat.
Might Guy and Kisame, exhausted from their mid-air attacks, plummeted downwards. Konoha and the rebel ninja rushed to catch their leaders. Might Guy, however, only managed a few gasps before staggering to his feet, while Kisame, bleeding from the mouth, was completely unconscious.
"Retreat!" Mei Terumi gritted her teeth.
Their operation tonight had nearly succeeded, but the sudden attack by Konoha ninjas had ruined everything. Two of the rebels' strongest members were severely injured, and it was uncertain whether Utakata, responsible for covering the retreat, could escape.
As Mei Terumi and her group left, the Konoha ninjas offered no resistance, allowing the remnants of the rebel army to escape Kirigakure.
Meanwhile, the battle between the two tailed beasts was drawing to a close.
The Three-Tails and the Six-Tails each used their last strength to unleash a Tailed Beast Ball, the resulting explosion engulfing both beasts.
After the dust settled from the explosion, the figures of the two tailed beasts had vanished, leaving only the bodies of Yagura and Utakata on the ground, both collapsed, their fates unknown.
Kakashi emerged from the void and appeared beside the two, seeing them barely breathing.
"In that case, this trip wasn't in vain."
However, just as Kakashi was about to place a seal on the two Jinchūriki, a whooshing sound suddenly came from afar.
Kakashi frowned and entered a Hollowfication state, countless attacks from summoning beasts passing through his body.
Kakashi turned around and saw six figures in red cloud robes rapidly flying towards him.
"Akatsuki?"
"Put down the tailed beasts and leave with your people, or die." The orange-haired man leading the group spoke expressionlessly.
"What if I say no?" Kakashi touched the mechanism on his wrist and said with a serious expression.
"Before God, your resistance is utterly insignificant." Pain raised his hand, a purple light flashing in his Rinnegan. "Universal Pull."
A massive suction force appeared out of thin air beside Kakashi, who, caught off guard, instantly lost his balance and was uncontrollably propelled towards his opponent.
Fortunately, Kakashi reacted quickly, using Kamui to enter a state of intangibility. His illusory body escaped the pull of gravity and hovered in mid-air.
"Hmm?" Pain also noticed the anomaly, his brow furrowing. "The ability to intangify your body? How long can you maintain this?"
As he spoke, the five figures beside him, clad in red cloud robes, launched their attacks. A deluge of ninjutsu, ninja tools, and explosive tags enveloped the area where Kakashi was.
"This is troublesome." Kakashi gritted his teeth, watching the overwhelming attack. Kamui's intangibility could only last five minutes, but the opponent's attacks were clearly much more than that.
Kakashi thought for a moment, then turned and ran towards the two Jinchūriki lying on the ground not far away. Since the other party had appeared at this moment, they must have their eyes on these two Jinchūriki from Kirigakure. Getting closer to them would make the Akatsuki members hesitate to act.
However, just as Kakashi was about to reach the two lying on the ground, two giant eagles with black rods stuck in their bodies descended from the sky, grabbed the two lying on the ground, and flew into the air.
"Damn it!" Kakashi gritted his teeth. If the Jinchūriki were taken away, then their actions tonight would have been completely paved for the enemy.
"You Akatsuki organization, isn't it enough that you provoked Iwagakure? You want to start a war with Konoha too?" Kakashi looked back at Pain as the summoning beasts had already carried Yagura and Utakata into the sky.
"This is just a small warning. Our Akatsuki and your Konoha will inevitably clash sooner or later," Pain said expressionlessly. "At that time, you great nations will also taste the pain of war."
At that moment, a bolt of lightning ripped through the night, and the summoning beast, the Falcon, carrying two Jinchuriki, was cleaved into a cloud of blood mist by the descending lightning. Simultaneously, jet-black ocular power began to gather around Kakashi.
Seeing the Susanoo gradually taking shape beside him, Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief. Although he didn't know how Uchiha Touko had arrived from afar, as long as he was here, he could rest easy.
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(End of Chapter)