The whistling sound of wind brushed past his ears.
Behind Motomu, Yagura's team and the Hozuki ninja had converged.
Boom!—
A water bullet crashed beside Motomu's feet, the resulting massive wave brushing past his heels.
'Why is everyone so violent?'
'Going crazy over such a small thing.'
As Motomu gradually widened the distance, the commotion behind him grew louder.
With more Hidden Mist Village ninja joining the pursuit to capture him...
...the target Motomu was looking for finally appeared.
In the heavy rain, a large blade with a crescent-shaped notch flew toward him, spinning through the air.
Wood splinters sprayed above Motomu's head as two-thirds of the great blade embedded itself into the tree trunk.
Motomu, crouching to dodge, used a Body Flicker fueled by Psychokinesis to leave his spot before looking back.
Biwa Juzo stood with his feet on the hilt of the blade, his face—covered by a scarf and painted with a hideous red design—staring back at him.
This guy would eventually be Itachi's teammate in the Akatsuki, and was currently a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
Motomu's most vivid memory of him from the plot was him being impaled by his own broken Executioner's Blade after being hit by a Tailed Beast Bomb.
Now that he had appeared, it meant the Third Mizukage's main force was nearby.
After noting the location...
...Motomu ordered Big Eyeball to approach while he ran in a different direction.
He slowed down after traveling a certain distance.
As expected, only Yagura and the Hozuki clan members were still chasing him; there was no sign of Biwa Juzo.
As the Third Mizukage's guard, that guy naturally wouldn't leave his post.
The situation was now clear.
The Third Mizukage and the Three-Tails were highly likely near Biwa Juzo's previous position.
Once the location was confirmed...
...finding something as large as the Three-Tails would be simple.
Now, he only needed to control Big Eyeball to lock onto the target, and his plan would be complete.
As for the people behind him, they were irrelevant.
Interception by these people was impossible against Big Eyeball's beyond-visual-range strike, guided like a satellite.
Motomu tightened his grip on the Kusanagi Sword and activated the Reverse Summoning Jutsu.
With a puff of smoke, he vanished from the spot.
In the rear...
Several sensory ninja in pursuit were instantly stunned.
"The enemy has disappeared."
"Same here."
"Dammit, if only we had a Byakugan."
The sensory ninja who had been guiding the way were all out of ideas. As the leader, Karatachi Yagura reacted quickly and immediately ordered the team to split up and search.
In the sky above them,
Big Eyeball withdrew its gaze.
It flew leisurely toward the direction where Biwa Juzo had just been encountered.
A C-shaped valley lay quietly amidst the torrential rain.
Ripples from an isolation barrier flickered as raindrops passed through.
Bypassing the square barrier, Big Eyeball looked down from high above.
The hidden landscape of the C-shaped valley was fully revealed to Motomu.
In the center of the valley, within a dark green deep pool, a massive grayish-white monster with hooked horns on its forehead was swimming irritably.
Three giant tails, covered in bony armor, lashed back and forth.
On the shore...
Multiple figures were blurred into small dots.
Motomu could vaguely make out a figure wearing a light blue hat among the crowd—it was the Third Mizukage he had been searching for.
As Big Eyeball lowered its altitude...
Features like the man's long black hair and narrowed eyes gradually came into focus.
Motomu confirmed the man's identity as the Third Mizukage.
The man said something to the people beside him.
Soon, more Mist ninja appeared.
As if they had practiced it countless times, dozens of Mist ninja carrying giant scrolls expertly deployed a sealing formula.
Black incantations spread toward the water.
They covered the surface.
The giant beast roared, and the pool water surged upward.
'Is the Tailed Beast sealing starting?'
'Luckily, I made it in time.'
Motomu reappeared in the outside world. After climbing a high mountain, he took out the Kusanagi Sword hidden in its scabbard.
The blade was straight, very similar to the longsword Motomu had commissioned before—or rather, the previous sword had been modeled after this one.
After quickly familiarizing himself with it using Psychokinesis, Motomu recalled it and tried injecting chakra into it.
Chakra injected.
The Kusanagi Sword lit up smoothly with a blue chakra glow.
Motomu had tested his chakra nature before.
He had Fire, Lightning, and Earth affinities.
However, his training in nature transformation was pathetic.
He couldn't perform nature transformation with his chakra yet.
For now, he couldn't form a fire sword or a lightning sword.
Motomu sighed; he would leave that for later study.
'Right now, tricks are no match for raw power.'
'I can't manage enchantments.'
'But luckily, this kid's got strength!'
'Brute force can make anything fly.'
As a divine artifact, the Kusanagi Sword's material was countless times better than his previous ordinary longsword.
Motomu estimated that its acceleration could reach hypersonic speeds at minimum.
This was a simple estimate based on the limit of chakra coating influence.
As soon as Motomu let go, the massive amount of blue chakra on the Kusanagi Sword vanished from his perception in less than two seconds.
Two seconds.
The time for stable acceleration was only two seconds.
In Motomu's plan...
The first stage of acceleration would be completed in two seconds, sending the Kusanagi Sword into the air.
Then, Big Eyeball in the sky would complete the second stage of acceleration and fine-tune the direction.
The target: Isobu, the Three-Tails being sealed.
'I wonder if this one heavy hit will count as a successful Gym Challenge.'
He sat cross-legged on a giant rock on the cliff.
The Kusanagi Sword floated quietly in front of him.
"So, this is where you were hiding."
Karatachi Yagura stepped out from the woods behind him alone.
The Hozuki clan members who had been relentlessly chasing Motomu were nowhere to be seen.
"What is your purpose for attacking the Mist ninja?"
Karatachi Yagura was in no hurry to strike.
The baby-faced boy with purple eyes asked calmly.
'For what?'
'What else could it be? Am I supposed to say I'm here for a Gym Challenge?'
Motomu was somewhat speechless.
Nearby, the sealing was reaching its climax, and the Three-Tails' roars from within the barrier were shrill and furious.
Waiting for his moment, he didn't want to fight this guy.
If he missed the Three-Tails' weakest moment, wouldn't all his efforts be for nothing?
He scrutinized Karatachi Yagura through the reflection of the Kusanagi Sword.
Seeing that the other had no intention of attacking yet, Motomu thought for a moment and said in a low voice,
"To hone my swordsmanship."
'Hone your swordsmanship? What kind of excuse is that?'
Karatachi Yagura hadn't expected such an answer.
In his estimation, the other party's attack on the Hozuki clan was most likely for their Bloodline Limit.
"To hone your swordsmanship? Then why attack the Hozuki clan and even kidnap their elder?"
"Who said I kidnapped him?"
"My swordsmanship has reached the realm of Water-Severing."
"The Hozuki clan members were merely whetstones for my blade."
"Hah!"
"What arrogance!"
Several more Mist ninja leaped out from the forest.
Judging by their tone, they were the pursuers from the Hozuki clan.
"Kid, hand over Hozuki Muyu-jōnin obediently."
"We'll give you a quick death."
"You bastard!"
"Where on earth did you take my father!?"
Noisy questions rang out one after another.
In the valley barrier, the Three-Tails' rage tore through the curtain of rain.
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