Inside the valley's barrier.
The Three-Tails was being compressed and contorted by the black incantations, dragged bit by bit into the Third Mizukage's body by the sealing technique.
Its struggles grew weaker; the massive waves kicked up by its tails were easily blocked by the Third Mizukage's main force.
Isobu, the Three-Tails—the freest Tailed Beast in the shinobi world—was about to lose its freedom.
Big Eyeball transmitted information in real-time.
Seeing the opportunity was ripe, Motomu lightly brushed the blade of his sword, a pale blue glow adhering to it.
The clamor in his ears finally fell silent.
The Hozuki clan couldn't hold back anymore and was about to make a move.
But Yagura reached out to stop them.
Glancing back at Karatachi Yagura, he seemed to have sensed something; he was drenched in a cold sweat.
Motomu's voice rang out calmly.
"This strike... can slay a demon."
As Motomu focused his chakra, Psychokinesis coated the blade.
In less than 0.01 seconds...
The Kusanagi Sword surpassed the speed of sound.
The acceleration continued.
Everywhere the blade passed, the air was compressed into visible white shockwaves.
Mach 10.
Mach 20.
Mach 30.
As the speed continued to climb, the blade instantly became glowing red and scalding hot. The legendary divine tool that had slain the Great Serpent let out a sound of being overstrained, as if it were about to disintegrate.
And yet, at this moment, only one second had passed.
Amidst a terrifying screech, the Kusanagi Sword pierced through the clouds, its speed limit continuing to break.
At Mach 60—surpassing the Dongfeng-61—cracks appeared on the blade.
At Mach 70, the blade split the thick dark clouds apart as it passed.
Two seconds passed. Big Eyeball, positioned in the sky, successfully took over the relay.
Dragging a blue-white plasma tail like a meteor falling from the heavens, the Kusanagi Sword pierced straight through the barrier membrane above the C-shaped valley.
*Pop—*
The barrier, which was strong enough to withstand ninjutsu attacks, was as fragile as a cicada's wing before this flash of sword light.
Below.
The Third Mizukage had his eyes closed tight, doing his best to suppress the frantically struggling Three-Tails within him.
Black incantations like chains wrapped around the phantom of the giant beast, dragging it inch by inch into the seal.
Just as the last section of its tail was about to disappear into his body—
"Where is this attack coming from?!"
The Third Mizukage snapped his squinted eyes open.
He had never sensed an attack so pure.
It wasn't ninjutsu, nor was it taijutsu; it was merely the most basic force of impact.
He wanted to mobilize the Tailed Beast's chakra for defense.
But the Three-Tails was at the final stage of the sealing process; his body couldn't move.
He looked up at the falling meteor in the sky.
"Defend!"
Before he could finish his sentence...
The blade arrived.
The sword tip pierced through every obstacle in its path.
It plunged into the ground.
A shockwave erupted. The blast swept through the trees and vegetation of the C-shaped valley, even taking out the Mist Ninja who hadn't had time to react.
The terrifying shockwave was eventually bottled up by the valley walls and forced straight up toward the sky.
It scattered the dark clouds, punching a massive hole through them!
As the sun emerged from behind the clouds, golden light spilled down.
In the rain, the Tyndall effect appeared like a golden waterfall over the wreckage of the valley.
[DING!]
[CONGRATULATIONS TRAINER ON COMPLETING THE GYM CHALLENGE!]
CHALLENGER: MOTOMU
CURRENT GYM: LAND OF WATER, LEVEL 40-50 AREA
CHALLENGE TARGET: ISOBU THE THREE-TAILS (TRAINER: THIRD MIZUKAGE)
CHALLENGE LEVEL: LV.49
RECOMMENDED CHALLENGE LEVEL: LV.50-LV.51
[RIGHT EYE (LV.30) USED PSYCHOKINESIS!]
[IT'S SUPER EFFECTIVE!]
[THREE-TAILS ISOBU'S INTERNAL ORGANS HAVE BECOME EXTERNAL ORGANS!]
[HP -10086]
[VICTORY]
[RIGHT EYE ABSORBED EXPERIENCE]
[RIGHT EYE EXPERIENCE +12,000]
[OBTAINED ITEM: CHARCOAL]
[OBTAINED GYM BADGE: WATER BADGE]
[SYSTEM DETECTS TRAINER HAS COLLECTED 1 GYM BADGE. ELIGIBILITY FOR A SECOND POKÉMON IS UNLOCKED!]
It's over!
Motomu, who had nearly exhausted all his chakra, breathed a long sigh of relief.
The Three-Tails wasn't that strong; he had successfully completed the Gym Challenge.
As for those annoying guys behind him...
Motomu looked back. Yagura and the Hozuki clan were nowhere to be seen.
"They reacted pretty fast, but it's just as well they ran. I'm in bad shape right now. If I had to fight again, I'd probably mess up."
As for the Kusanagi Sword...
There was no need to even think about it; it had long since turned into a flat piece of scrap metal.
The value of reclaiming it wasn't worth the danger of staying here.
He had to return quickly.
Three days had passed; Kakashi and the others should have reached the border.
After retrieving Big Eyeball and setting off, Motomu opened his system panel to check the details.
First, he had gained 12,000 experience points.
Big Eyeball No. 1 easily leveled up from 30 to 33.
Consequently, Big Eyeball No. 2 reached level 32 as well.
With Three-Tomoe Sharingan in both eyes, he was no longer a "cripple" as the Clan Leader had put it. Motomu's eyes were finally symmetrical.
Besides that...
The Gym Challenge also had item drops.
[OBTAINED ITEM: CHARCOAL]
[FIRE-TYPE MOVE POWER INCREASED BY 20%]
'Only fire-type moves?'
'Doesn't seem very useful.'
Motomu glanced at the description and set it aside.
He turned his expectant gaze toward the badge emitting a blue light in the system space.
[WATER BADGE]
[PROOF OF A TRAINER'S STRENGTH.]
[USE THIS TO UNLOCK ELIGIBILITY FOR RAISING A SECOND POKÉMON.]
Yes!
The most critical item from this Land of Water adventure was in his hands.
With this, he could begin training his second Pokémon.
He just didn't know which part of his body the system would pull from to generate it.
There were too many variables.
For now, it was best to return to Konoha and wait until things were safe.
As his chakra slowly recovered, Motomu took off his mask and traveled at full speed. Within half a day, he regrouped with the three members of the Akimichi squad on their ship.
They left the Land of Water just as chaos was about to break out.
Half a month later, Motomu returned to the Hidden Leaf Village.
The village was as calm and peaceful as ever.
After submitting his mission at the Hokage Building...
Motomu bid farewell to his captain and Obito, returning to his small home alone.
"System, unlock the Pokémon raising eligibility."
[DING]
[WATER BADGE DETECTED]
[UNLOCKING PERMISSIONS]
[RANDOMLY SELECTING POKÉMON, PLEASE WAIT]
[DING]
[HEART IS HAPPY TO BECOME YOUR PARTNER]
[POKÉMON: HEART]
[LEVEL: 1]
[TYPE: FIRE/FIGHTING]
[CURRENT EXP: 0/10]
[BASE STATS: HP: 2 | ATK: 1 | DEF: 1 | SP. ATK: 0 | SP. DEF: 0 | SPD: 5]
[INDIVIDUAL VALUES: 4/31]
[EFFORT VALUES: 10/100]
[NATURE/ABILITY: LIVELY]
[MOVES: TACKLE]
[PASSIVE MOVES: NONE]
[DESCRIPTION: ...]
Motomu: "???"
A feeling like he wanted to vomit rose from deep in his throat.
After dry heaving twice...
A bright red, beating heart was vomited out of Motomu's mouth.
"Puji-pa!"
The fist-sized little heart fell to the ground.
Thump-thump! It began bouncing around.
Silence.
After a stifling silence that lasted for two and a half minutes...
Motomu spoke gloomily.
"System, can you explain how this Pokémon is supposed to attack?"
There was no answer in his mind.
It seemed the System Lord wanted him to figure it out himself.
Fighting and Fire-type?
Great, just wonderful!
Motomu felt like he was going to lose it.
When his Sharingan became Pokémon, he could still manage.
Now, his own vital organ had become a Pokémon.
"Come on! You damn system! Tell me how I'm supposed to play this!?"
"Should I show a Pidgey my little heart?!"