Hoshiyomi's expression darkened as he caught the stench coming off the Six-Tails' body. He had no interest in finding out what it felt like to be burned by acid—but there was no way he was going to take a loss, either.
Watching the Six-Tails' writhing antennae, Hoshiyomi suddenly drew his blade.
Secret Technique — Swallow Reversal!
Before the Six-Tails could fully secrete acid, Hoshiyomi charged directly towards the location of its antennae. During his forward dash, three flashes of sword light suddenly flickered in the air.
Just as the Kirigakure shinobi wondered if they were seeing things, Hoshiyomi, having completed the Swallow Reversal, flicked his sword finger and used the Grass Long Sword, Kusanagi Blade behind him to propel himself high into the air
The three attacks of Swallow Reversal landed simultaneously on the Six-Tails' left antenna. The slashes—coming from above, left, and right—cleanly severed the entire antenna.
The Six-Tails, which had been spewing acid wildly, suddenly froze for a moment—then began thrashing violently.
Its convulsions were no less intense than a small earthquake, even shaking the distant Mizukage Building. Dust began to rain down from the structure, and if the creature's rampage grew any worse, Hoshiyomi suspected it might actually bring the already-crumbling Mizukage Building down entirely.
At this point, no living person remained near Hoshiyomi and the Six-Tails.
When the Six-Tails had unleashed Wisdom Wolf Decay, Elder Genji had wisely ordered a full retreat. Fortunately, his command had come just in time—otherwise, that quake just now might have caused dozens of casualties among the Kirigakure shinobi.
The pain of having its antenna severed was far greater than that of losing a tail. For a slug-like creature such as the Six-Tails Saiken, its antennae were vital sensory organs.
They were far more sensitive than any other part of its body—having them cut off was agony beyond imagination.
The Six-Tails almost immediately fell into a berserk rage. It had been silent until now, but suddenly roared in fury:
"Damn human! I'll kill you!"
As it shouted, its large, hollowed mouth gaped wide. From within, a small black sphere began to form—then started expanding rapidly, visible to the naked eye.
It was the ultimate move shared by all tailed beasts—the Tailed Beast Bomb.
Hoshiyomi was no stranger to it. Back during the Second Great Ninja War, he had faced one before. At that time, he'd had no way to stop the Four-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb—he could only rely on Ōnoki's help to deal with it.
Now, what was he supposed to do about this one?
Sure, he had the speed to dodge it—but if he let it explode within Kirigakure, neither Elder Genji nor Pakura would survive.
In that case, he couldn't possibly let it finish forming.
If there was no way to neutralize the Tailed Beast Bomb after it was complete, then the solution was simple—destroy it before it finishes forming!
As Hoshiyomi came to that decision, the Kirigakure shinobi in the distance were already pale with terror.
They had never seen such a thing before, but all of them had heard the stories—the Tailed Beast Bomb was a force that could obliterate entire mountains. No human could possibly oppose it.
It's over, they thought. If the Six-Tails fires that, Kirigakure will be wiped off the map!
Elder Genji was filled with bitter regret. He cursed his frail, aging body for being too slow—if only he had stopped Numako the moment he appeared, Kirigakure wouldn't be facing this annihilation.
But now it was too late. Once a Tailed Beast Bomb began to form, it couldn't be stopped. Kirigakure was finished. None of them would escape.
Just as despair swallowed the Kirigakure shinobi, Hoshiyomi moved. He controlled the Grass Long Sword, Kusanagi Blade, creating distance between himself and the Six-Tails.
At the same time, he focused his mind—his body began to radiate natural energy.
Sage Mode—Activated.
Seeing the bluish-silver light flaring up around him, Hoshiyomi's confidence only grew stronger. The Tailed Beast Bomb hadn't yet stabilized—its energy wasn't at full strength. That meant he might still be able to blow it apart!
Taking a deep breath, Hoshiyomi tightened his grip on the Mikazuki Munechika. As he poured chakra into the blade, the chakra of the Two-Tails stored within it was reignited.
The sword blazed with a familiar, eerie blue flame.
With both hands gripping the hilt, Hoshiyomi swung the sword down in a powerful arc. A streak of azure sword energy shot diagonally toward the forming Tailed Beast Bomb in the Six-Tails' mouth—but before it could even touch the sphere, it was instantly shattered by the wild, unstable chakra radiating from the bomb.
"One strike isn't enough, huh? Then ten strikes! Twenty!"
Phantom Sword Dance!
With that resolve burning in his chest, Hoshiyomi kept slashing, again and again. In Sage Mode, his speed skyrocketed; his swings came faster and faster.
Before the first sword slash had even flown a few meters, the second one was already chasing after it. More and more sword waves poured forth, overlapping and intertwining in midair, creating a strange, dazzling spectacle above the battlefield.
The Kirigakure shinobi, who had been drowning in despair, now stared blankly at Hoshiyomi above. None of them quite understood what he was doing..
At that moment, Pakura, standing to the side, spoke up:
"Lord Hoshiyomi—he's trying to shatter the Tailed Beast Bomb!"
Her words made everyone's breath catch.
Shatter a Tailed Beast Bomb?
Was that… something a human could even do?!
But there was nothing they could do now except pray—pray that Hoshiyomi could somehow make the impossible happen.
And Hoshiyomi did not stop. In less than a single second, he had unleashed twenty-three consecutive sword strikes.
Feeling the burning ache in his arms, he inhaled sharply and roared:
"Break apart!"
With that shout, he unleashed his final slash.
This last one carried chakra far denser and more powerful than all the previous blows—its sheer size alone was more than double that of any earlier slash.
The final wave of sword energy, roaring with unstoppable force, shot toward the still-gathering Tailed Beast Bomb.
As it flew, it caught up to the earlier slashes—one after another—until all twenty-three merged into a single, overwhelming torrent.
That fused strike slammed directly into the unfinished Tailed Beast Bomb.
The swirling tailed-beast chakra surrounding it couldn't withstand such terrifying force. The combined sword energy tore straight through and struck the unstable Tailed Beast Bomb head-on.
Through the Byakugan of three Hyūga shinobi watching from afar, it was clearly visible—
The Tailed Beast Bomb… shattered!
One of the Hyūga murmured, voice trembling:
"Lord Hoshiyomi… he actually did it…"
But before the words were even finished, his comrade grabbed his arm, gripping so tightly it left deep marks.
"No—look! It's not over yet!"
Before their wide, astonished eyes—and before the stunned Six-Tails itself—the enormous wave of sword energy still hadn't dissipated.
After smashing the Tailed Beast Bomb apart, it pushed the disintegrating mass of chakra forward—driving it straight back into the Six-Tails' gaping mouth!
The Phantom Sword Dance had forcibly returned the Tailed Beast Bomb to its source.
BOOM!
A muffled explosion echoed out. The Six-Tails' massive body convulsed violently, then crashed heavily to the ground.
The Six-Tails Saiken—could no longer rise again.