Facing a well prepared, fully rested Konoha force, the Kumo ninjas whose spirit had already been shattered by Mitsuki were naturally beaten into a panicked rout. For the Konoha shinobi who had endured the Kumo's tailed beast bomb tactics for so long, this was nothing less than a war of revenge.
"I've hated those Kumo bastards who rely on tailed beast bombs for a long time now."
"Lord Mitsuki is basically the First Hokage reborn."
"Damn Kumo ninjas. Now it's your turn to taste the power of tailed beast level attacks, hahaha."
After being suppressed for so long, the Konoha ninjas stationed on this battlefield had been holding in a lot of frustration.Taking advantage of the Kumo's lack of information about Mitsuki's abilities, they had just won a clean and decisive counterattack.
The sight of dozens of tailed beast bombs being reflected back with a single slash was something anyone would praise as worthy of the God of Shinobi, second generation edition.
Only the Uchiha within the Konoha ranks were quietly trembling. Especially those Uchiha jōnin who had previously scoffed at Mitsuki during clan meetings. Right now, their only wish was that after Mitsuki finished cutting down Kumo ninjas, he would not turn his blade on them.
…
"Lariat!"
A roared shout echoed as A charged at Mitsuki yet again, launching what must have been his countless attempt.
As expected, Mitsuki calmly avoided it with Flying Thunder God.
But unlike previous opponents, A was stubborn to the bone. As long as Mitsuki was within his sight, the very next moment would be another Lariat aimed straight at his face.
Mitsuki moved like a bullfighter, blinking back and forth between Flying Thunder God markers.
Thanks to the effect of Shadow Manipulation, each teleport destination was different, completely killing A's plan of memorizing the coordinates through repetition.
Within a hundred meter radius, white and blue flashes crossed and collided without pause.
Yugito's tailed beast form might have been a cat, but it certainly did not come with seven times the reaction speed. She had no way to interfere in a battle at this level of speed.
From her perspective, Mitsuki clearly possessed a special technique capable of reflecting chakra. The strength of that ability was terrifying, and the reflected scattered tailed beast bombs earlier were almost certainly his doing.
Thinking this far, she retracted the flames covering her tailed beast body, revealing the blue and black striped Matatabi form.
Clang.
Five sharp claws extended from each of Matatabi's forepaws, gleaming with metallic light under the harsh plateau sun.
Yugito locked her gaze on the battlefield between A and Mitsuki, patiently waiting for an opening.
Mitsuki swung Mistcutter, sending out a curved flame blade to disrupt A's advance.
At the same time, he formed seals with one hand, summoning nine Rasengan orbs that shot outward.
Yugito's eyes lit up. She instantly lunged forward, swiping a claw at Mitsuki.
Five cold flashes tore through the air, accompanied by a violent gust.
The tanuki on Mitsuki's shoulder rapidly formed seals.
"Sand Burial!"
Magnet chakra erupted as the ground within several hundred meters instantly transformed into a sea of sand.
Matatabi stepped into the quicksand and lost balance, her sure kill strike cutting through empty air.
Mitsuki's prepared jutsu completed in that very instant.
Buzz buzz buzz.
A deafening vibration shook the entire canyon as Mitsuki used the nine Rasengan as cores, releasing nine giant Rasenshuriken around himself.
"This is insane," Yugito thought.
She never imagined Mitsuki would be this reckless, even including himself within the jutsu's range.
Mitsuki curled his lips slightly.
"Let's see who's tougher, little kitty."
The next second, brilliant blue light illuminated a thousand meter radius, the sound like hundreds of massive cutting machines operating at once, tearing through the sky.
Rampaging winds formed nine overlapping blue storms, shredding the perennial Kumos clinging to the canyon peaks.
Countless microscopic wind blades sliced Matatabi's body layer by layer.
Crack crack.
As the wind pressure intensified, even the surrounding rock was ground into powder.
As for Mitsuki, he calmly used Flying Thunder God to escape to a marker outside the Rasenshuriken's range.
If Yugito were not currently fighting for her life, she would definitely have cursed him for lacking honor, saying one thing and doing another about testing durability.
Through the Six Eyes, Mitsuki observed that A was absurdly tough. This level of attack only opened shallow wounds across his body, unable to advance even an inch further.
Even so, A was forcing his way through the raging winds, pushing toward Yugito's position.
Yugito's condition was far worse.
Her tailed beast limbs had been completely shredded, her once proud claws cracking apart and disappearing amid the roar.
Matatabi was desperately pouring chakra into her body to maintain what little tailed beast form remained.
Otherwise, with Yugito's own physical durability, less than a second of exposure would have reduced her to dust like the surrounding soil and stone.
If Rasenshuriken could not finish it, then add more firepower.
Mitsuki formed seals with one hand, drawing on Shukaku's chakra to produce an overwhelming mass of Blaze Release flames.
Condense. Control. Nature transformation. Shape transformation.
In under a second, a massive dark purple flame arrow over thirty meters long was launched.
The arrow collided with the blue wind sphere, rapidly spreading and forming a towering fire tornado higher than the surrounding mountains.
The entire canyon instantly became a natural oven.
Several minutes passed before the apocalyptic scene finally subsided, leaving behind a massive crater over a kilometer wide.
Step. Step.
Mitsuki walked across the glasslike ground baked by extreme heat, mildly surprised as he spoke.
"So this is the resolve of the future Raikage, A."
Ahead of him stood A, his body covered in carbonized scars, and Yugito, whose back alone remained intact.
As the Blaze Release flames penetrated the storm, her already unstable tailed beast form collapsed further, reduced to little more than a cat's head.
At any moment, it could have shattered completely, exposing Yugito to the searing wind blades.
Fortunately, A arrived in time, throwing himself in front of her and using his massive body to shield her from the front.
Matatabi concentrated chakra to protect Yugito's exposed back.
Together, the two humans and one beast barely survived the assault.
The price was brutal.
A's entire body was branded with charred, crisscrossing wounds. Stimulated by Lightning Release chakra, some torn flesh still trembled faintly.Luckily for him, his dark skin made the damage less visually dramatic.
Still, this proved that A's Lightning Armor was far inferior to that of the Third Raikage.
Yugito had it far worse.
Though she survived, the overwhelming firepower left severe burns across her back.After having her full tailed beast transformations forcibly broken multiple times, even a perfect jinchuriki was approaching complete exhaustion.
Now, she could only weakly hang over A's right shoulder.