Captive

"Lord Mizukage!" Mei Terumī and the other Mist Ninja had red-rimmed eyes as they shouted toward the giant turtle.

"He can’t hear you from this far away." Yota curled his lip. "He was put under a genjutsu long ago. We should hurry up and subdue him."

As soon as he finished speaking, a massive amount of Chakra surged from Yota’s body, forming a black giant. It scooped everyone up and flew straight toward the Three-Tails turtle.

"W-What is this?!" Ringo Ameyuri shouted in astonishment from midair. "Whoa, this is way too high!"

"It’s the Uchiha clan’s Susanoo, the legendary ultimate technique of the Asura of the Shinobi World! A forbidden technique that can only be achieved by taking the Mangekyo Sharingan to its utmost limit!" Mangetsu Hozuki shouted as well. "Legend says that anyone who has seen Susanoo is doomed to die!"

Yota rolled his eyes. Listening to Mangetsu Hozuki, he was starting to feel embarrassed.

Having inherited the traditions of a certain country, these people always made things sound both exaggerated and embarrassingly edgy—something about a supreme divine eye that pierced the Three Realms. Anyone who did not know better would think opening the Mangekyo Sharingan could turn someone into Erlang Shen!

If everyone who saw it was doomed to die, then how had information about Susanoo been passed down?

Still, Susanoo really was powerful. Especially Yota’s, which he had developed into its Complete Form. With just a few flaps of its wings, Susanoo had already hovered above Kirigakure.

Kirigakure had long since descended into chaos. Yota had swept up all of its powerful fighters in one go. The only ones left in the village who might be able to stop the Fourth Mizukage were the Six-Tails Jinchuriki Utakata and Kisame Hoshigaki.

However, if Utakata fought the Fourth Mizukage directly within the shinobi village, Kirigakure would probably be wiped out in no time. As for Kisame Hoshigaki… sorry, but he was on Obito Uchiha’s side.

Thus, what everyone saw now was the Fourth Mizukage rampaging through Kirigakure, cutting down swaths of ninja with crashing waves.

"Look at Lord Mizukage’s eyes! Those are the Mangekyo Sharingan!" Ao cried out in shock and fury. Beside him, Zabuza said coldly, "I saw them a long time ago. What I want to know is who exactly is standing… standing on the Mizukage’s head?"

Obito Uchiha, wearing a spiral mask, stood atop the Three-Tails’ head and looked up at the Susanoo in the sky. "You damned bastard! Black Shadow Ninja, you’ve been playing me all along!"

"So you’ve already received the news? Looks like you have some means of transmitting intelligence over long distances too." Yota spread out his Observation Haki and scanned the surroundings. "Black Zetsu is quite cunning. Is he avoiding meeting me directly?"

"But you’re rather irrational. You don’t have the bearing of a mastermind at all, staying here to destroy Kirigakure… Or are you still dreaming of taking back the Rinnegan?"

"Hmph!" Obito Uchiha snorted, nearly grinding his teeth in rage. His gaze swept over and landed on Orochimaru and Sasori. "What are you two doing here?"

Sasori did not respond to Obito Uchiha at all, merely continuing to examine him from head to toe. Orochimaru licked his lips. "Naturally, we’re here to purge the organization’s traitor, the masked man Tobi!"

"Bastard! The Akatsuki was clearly established through my efforts!" Obito Uchiha was almost furious enough to cough up blood. Ever since Nagato had begun cooperating with him, he had worked tirelessly, using White Zetsu to gather intelligence and personally recruiting people. Yet now that the Akatsuki had taken shape, he, one of its founding elders, had been kicked out in one stroke!

"Is that so? Then you can only blame your terrible people skills." Yota spoke indifferently. "Besides, if it weren’t for you, the Akatsuki back then wouldn’t have been destroyed, would it?"

Obito Uchiha sneered. "Looks like you know quite a lot."

"Not bad. I definitely know more than some self-important Obito Uchiha." Yota sneered right back.

Obito Uchiha’s pupils contracted slightly, and he said no more. The Three-Tails lying on the ground let out a roar and spewed a terrifying Tailed Beast Ball from its mouth.

"Careful, that’s a… Tailed Beast… Ball~~" Mei Terumī had started to warn them, but Susanoo drew its long Chakra blade and slashed downward. The Tailed Beast Ball was split and detonated in midair, while even the Three-Tails let out a pained cry, a deep gash appearing across its shell.

The entire Kirigakure seemed to quake as though struck by an earthquake.

"You’ve got to be kidding! That was a Tailed Beast Ball…" The other Mist Ninja swallowed hard. Pure destructive power was what shocked people most—and what won them over most easily.

Yota reached out and placed all the other people from Kirigakure onto Susanoo’s back. "If you think you can fight me with a single tailed beast, then all I can say is that you’re thinking too highly of yourself, Obito!"

"Super—Universal Pull—Original Darkness Termination!"

A terrifying black hole formed in Susanoo’s hand. The same ninjutsu, amplified by Susanoo, had increased in power almost explosively. Black mist spread for hundreds of meters. The Three-Tails roared endlessly, yet it still could not steady itself on the ground. In less than a dozen seconds, it was dragged into the sky. The round turtle was eventually stretched into a noodle-like strip, spinning as it was sucked into the black hole.

The once-noisy battlefield suddenly fell silent as death. Everyone stared in disbelief at the enormous Susanoo in the sky.

"D-Did it kill it?"

"That can’t be possible, right? That was a tailed beast, a shinobi village’s ultimate fighting force. How could it be defeated in one move…"

"What about Lord Mizukage? Lord Mizukage was sucked in too!"

Yota dismissed Susanoo and descended from the sky. Only then did the chaotic Mist Ninja notice Mei Terumī and the others. As if they had found their backbone, they all gathered around them.

"Lady Mei Terumī…"

"Young Clan Head Hozuki…"

Before Yota and the others had arrived, the Fourth Mizukage had already been rampaging for quite some time. By now, more than half of Kirigakure had been destroyed.

Fortunately, ninja had always been highly resilient. Kirigakure did not have many civilians either—among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, only Konoha had civilians. At most, the others had ninja family members.

Therefore, although more than half the village had been destroyed, only twenty to thirty percent of its ninja had been killed or injured. Of course, that was practically the result of a Ninja World War. If Yota and the others had not returned in time, it was entirely possible that Kirigakure would have been wiped out in a single wave.

"Lady Mei Terumī, who are these three people? And how is Lord Mizukage now?"

Several Anbu ninja asked at that moment. Mei Terumī and the others stiffened, not knowing how to answer.

Yota merely raised a hand slightly. A black hole appeared, and the Fourth Mizukage was immediately spat out.

However, most of the Three-Tails’ Chakra within him had already been devoured by Yota. It was unknown how many years it would take to recover. His current Chakra reserves might not even surpass the Fourth Mizukage’s own Chakra.