"Kurama—let's go!"
With Kyusei Uzumaki's furious roar, his entire being seemed to transform into a raging golden ocean. Vast, surging chakra burst forth from his body in an instant!
The dazzling, blinding golden light was so intense that many of the Kirigakure shinobi couldn't even keep their eyes open.
"So… this is the Nine-Tails?"
The man known as Hōzuki Gengetsu—whom the Three-Tails' jinchūriki had called out earlier—raised his arms to shield his face from the shockwave unleashed by the Nine-Tails' appearance, staring ahead in disbelief.
Nearly seventy meters tall.
Nine thick, golden tails swaying slowly behind it.
A body radiating brilliant light, etched all over with mysterious black markings.
The Nine-Tails.
Kurama.
After decades of absence, it had returned to the shinobi world.
"Kurama… I never thought you'd submit to a human," Isobu, the Three-Tails, communicated in its own unique way.
"I'm nothing like you," Kurama replied coldly, already charging forward as it spoke, barreling straight toward the massive turtle.
"ROAR!"
Isobu let out a thunderous bellow, meeting Kurama head-on without yielding an inch!
In an instant, the earth trembled violently beneath the clash of two monstrous tailed beasts. The ground shook again and again, as if the world itself were being torn apart.
Among all the tailed beasts, the Three-Tails possessed the greatest defensive power. If any beast besides the Eight-Tails could stall the Nine-Tails for even a short time, it would be this enormous turtle.
"ROOOAR!"
Kurama roared deafeningly. Its nine tails and both arms moved in unison as it grabbed hold of Isobu—then lifted the Three-Tails clean off the ground!
"ROAR!"
Isobu struggled furiously, but the raw gap in strength was undeniable.
With a sudden surge of power, Kurama hurled the Three-Tails away.
Straight toward Kirigakure.
"Not good!"
Hōzuki Gengetsu's face changed instantly as he saw the massive tailed beast flying straight at the village.
"All units!"
"Stop the Three-Tails!"
He barked out the order, forming seals as he poured out more chakra than he ever had in his life.
"Water Release: Water Formation Pillar!"
Almost every Mist shinobi followed suit.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
…
Streams of water converged, merging into a towering curtain of water—over a hundred meters wide—forming a defensive barrier in front of the incoming Three-Tails.
But Isobu's sheer mass, combined with the force Kurama had put behind the throw, proved overwhelming.
This defense—far beyond S-rank—still failed to stop it.
The Three-Tails' enormous body slid dozens of meters through the village entrance before finally grinding to a halt.
"Kurama!"
Kyusei grit his teeth as he looked at the destroyed stretch of Kirigakure.
He still didn't know where Naori's eye was.
This kind of indiscriminate destruction risked damaging it.
"Stop!"
"We can talk this out!"
Hōzuki Gengetsu rushed toward the towering golden Nine-Tails, shouting at the top of his lungs.
The Three-Tails was clearly outmatched. To turn the tide, the Six-Tails would need to join the battle—but its jinchūriki hadn't fully mastered it yet.
It would be better to offer concessions and send this monster away.
Kyusei stared coldly at the man who had been dodging and stalling this whole time.
Without hesitation, he lifted Kurama's massive foot and brought it down.
BOOM!
Earth and stone exploded upward as water sprayed in all directions!
At the last moment, Gengetsu activated a secret technique of the Hōzuki clan, narrowly escaping the fatal stomp.
"ROAR!"
The Three-Tails bellowed once more.
Its body curled in on itself, forming a massive spinning wheel as it charged toward Kurama at terrifying speed.
Kyusei recognized the technique. During the Fourth Great Ninja War, the Three-Tails had used this very move to give the Eight-Tails serious trouble.
"Kurama!"
"Adamantine Sealing Chains—Divine Might!"
A colossal, heavy war hammer appeared in Kurama's hands, blazing with radiant golden light.
As the Three-Tails barreled toward them, Kurama drew back and swung.
The massive hammer slammed down with an ear-splitting howl.
Crack!
Isobu's shell fractured under the blow!
The Three-Tails was sent flying, crashing into the nearby mountains, collapsing an entire peak and triggering a massive landslide.
Tailed beasts would revive even if killed, so Kurama attacked without restraint—striking with lethal intent, without the slightest concern.
Then—
A gigantic ice dragon surged up from within Kirigakure, roaring through the air as it charged straight toward the Nine-Tails.
Standing atop the dragon's head was a tall man wearing a conical hat, emblazoned with a single large character:
Water.
The Third Mizukage.
He had finally arrived.
Kyusei's eyes narrowed. In Kurama's hands, the war hammer transformed instantly into a massive golden bow.
Kurama drew the bowstring back, the shrill, teeth-grinding sound of tension echoing through the night.
Endless golden light gathered along the bow, locking onto the ice dragon in the sky.
At the same time, the Third Mizukage felt an unprecedented sense of danger seize him.
Acting purely on instinct, he leapt from the dragon.
The next instant—
A massive golden arrow shot forth like a beam of light, piercing straight through the once-arrogant ice dragon!
BOOM!!!
A tremendous explosion detonated in the sky.
Golden light turned night into day.
Violent shockwaves swept across the battlefield.
Thrown off balance by the blast, the Third Mizukage crashed awkwardly to the ground in front of his subordinates.
Moments earlier, the Mist shinobi had been cheering his arrival like a savior.
Now, seeing their Mizukage land so unceremoniously, they were struck dumb.
The Third Mizukage was of average build, with an unremarkable face—the kind of man who could disappear into a crowd without notice.
He brushed the dust from his clothes and calmly looked up at the towering Nine-Tails, showing no sign of anger.
"Nine-Tails' jinchūriki," he said evenly.
"What is it that you want?"
"I'll say it one last time!"
Kyusei's suppressed voice boomed across Kirigakure, amplified by chakra.
"Hand over the Byakugan!"
"If you don't—then Kirigakure doesn't need to exist anymore!"
The Third Mizukage shook his head.
"I don't know anything about a Byakugan."
"And you came here alone, didn't you?"
"You attacked Kirigakure by yourself."
"Should I take this as you trying to provoke a war between Konoha and the Mist?"
Hearing those words, Kyusei burst out laughing.
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
"Mizukage—do you even know my surname?!"
"If you won't hand over the Byakugan, then we'll settle old and new grudges together today!"
"This—"
"—is revenge from the Uzumaki!"
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