Chapter 170: Konoha Reinforcements
As Terumi Mei's voice fell, the surviving barrier squad ninjas present immediately sprang into action. Several pillars of purple light shot towards the sky, enveloping Yagura Karatachi and the three (Mei, Zabuza, Utakata) within.
"Yagura Karatachi, surrender without resistance!" Terumi Mei roared angrily.
The Three-Tailed giant turtle at the center of the battlefield said nothing upon seeing the gradually forming barrier around it. It merely opened its massive mouth on its own accord, and violent chakra began to gather before it. A black sphere of terrifyingly compressed chakra slowly took shape.
"Tailed Beast Bomb? Are you insane?" Utakata, within the Six-Tails Saiken, said in disbelief. Subsequently, Utakata shouted to the individuals around him maintaining the barrier, "All barrier squad members, stop what you're doing and retreat! Retreat as far as possible!"
Utakata himself was a Jinchuriki, so no one knew better than him the destructive power of this thing. Although Tailed Beasts possessed various wondrous abilities, the most destructive technique for all Tailed Beasts was invariably the Tailed Beast Bomb.
Compared to other flashy ninjutsu, the Tailed Beast Bomb was pure numerical power, the most violent destructive force.
And the barriers cast by their rebel army, at best created by Tokubetsu Jounin, could absolutely not survive the impact of a Tailed Beast Bomb.
However, after Utakata's voice fell, the surrounding barrier squad members all looked up blankly at Terumi Mei and Zabuza atop Saiken's head.
"Everyone, fall back!" The two, experiencing the might of the compressing Tailed Beast Bomb at close range, repeated Utakata's words from just now.
Only then did the barrier squad begin to retreat. Utakata, seeing this, also began to gather a Tailed Beast Bomb together with the Six-Tails Saiken.
The next moment, the Tailed Beast Bombs before the Three-Tails and Six-Tails shot out simultaneously, colliding in mid-air.
"Boom!" A massive explosion sounded, and a huge mushroom cloud slowly rose above Kirigakure. This area of houses was almost instantly pulverized in the explosion. The barrier squad, which had hesitated and was thus not quick enough in retreating, only managed to escape the central blast zone. The shockwave of the explosion sent them all flying a great distance. A few slightly weaker ones had their internal organs damaged by the blast wave on the spot, spraying out a mist of blood.
"This... is this the destructive power of a Tailed Beast?" Although Terumi Mei was unscathed under the protection of Utakata and Saiken, looking at the vast expanse of barren land around her, she couldn't help but show a look of horror.
Back then, when Senju Hashirama distributed the Tailed Beasts to the various villages, although it didn't bring lasting peace to the ninja world as he had envisioned, it still played a role in suppressing the intensity of wars. Although the ninja villages of the Five Great Nations all possessed war weapons like Tailed Beasts, the instances where Tailed Beasts and Jinchuriki were truly deployed on the battlefield during the four Great Ninja Wars were few and far between. Therefore, apart from Konoha, which had genuinely been ravaged by the Nine-Tails, most ninjas actually had no concrete concept of a Tailed Beast's destructive power.
Now, as the destruction wrought by the two Tailed Beasts' Tailed Beast Bombs entered everyone's eyes, only then did they recall why, in ancient records, Tailed Beasts were often referred to by the term "natural disaster."
"A battle like this, we can't interfere at all," Zabuza said after swallowing hard.
Terumi Mei was alright; her two Kekkei Genkai did not lack large-scale destructive capabilities, so she could still play a role in a duel of such behemoths. But Zabuza's entire skillset lay in assassination; facing such a battlefield, he was completely willing but powerless.
"Zabuza, you go help the others first. Leave this place to me and Utakata," Terumi Mei said after taking a deep breath.
"Alright, then you two be careful." Zabuza nodded. Subsequently, Utakata sent him to the edge of the battlefield. Zabuza didn't hesitate much either, turning and heading towards the battlefield between the rebel army and the Kirigakure ninjas.
...
"It seems things have already started over there too," Uchiha Douhuan looked impassively towards the direction of the explosion. He wasn't very far from the area where the two Tailed Beasts were battling; he could easily see their figures by raising his head.
Just then, a Kirigakure Jounin, seeing Uchiha Douhuan was somewhat distracted, immediately charged forward with his sword, wanting to seize this opportunity to kill Uchiha Douhuan. However, Uchiha Douhuan merely leaned slightly and dodged this fatal blow, then beheaded the ambusher with a single slash.
Subsequently, Uchiha Douhuan casually discarded the standard-issue ninja sword in his hand, which had become dull again, kicked the weapon of the ambusher from just now into the air, and caught it. In just this short while, Uchiha Douhuan had already changed swords three times.
"Good skills, but you still need to focus a bit more during battle," just then, a somewhat cold-sounding voice spoke up from behind Uchiha Douhuan.
Uchiha Douhuan turned his head. Zabuza, wielding the Executioner's Blade, had saved one of his team members while also slaying that person's opponent. He looked at Uchiha Douhuan with a hint of admiration in his eyes.
"Lord Zabuza." Uchiha Douhuan nodded in greeting.
"With your skills, after we succeed this time, you might even become one of the new Seven Swordsmen," Zabuza said.
"Then I shall accept Lord Zabuza's auspicious words," Uchiha Douhuan replied. But after Zabuza left, Uchiha Douhuan, however, frowned and thought inwardly: "It's this late, why haven't they arrived yet?"
At this moment, although it was nighttime, as the battle gradually intensified, Kirigakure's ever-present dense mist had taken on a bizarre pinkish-red hue under the weak lights. The smell of blood in the air also grew increasingly thick. The Bloody Mist Village was truly living up to its name tonight.
Uchiha Douhuan wasn't very clear about the situation on the other battlefronts, but on the battlefield he was on, the rebel army had already gained a significant advantage.
Most of the Kirigakure Chuunin and Genin who came to resist the rebel army showed little desire to fight in the face of the rebel's main force, usually surrendering after a few symbolic acts of resistance. Only those powerful Jounin and Anbu were still fighting desperately; they were the beneficiaries of the Bloody Mist policy and also Yagura Karatachi's diehard loyalists.
Boom! Another earth-shattering tremor. Over on the Tailed Beasts' battlefield, two Tailed Beast Bombs collided again.
Simultaneously, high-temperature steam rose after the explosion. The Three-Tails Isobu, enveloped in this steam, let out a deep roar, appearing to have completely lost its sanity.
"Yagura Karatachi! Are you still going to resist?" Terumi Mei roared angrily. "You have no chance of winning! Continuing to resist will only add to our village's casualties!"
Inside the Three-Tails, the Mangekyou Sharingan genjutsu in Yagura Karatachi's eyes was slowly unraveling. However, as the genjutsu dissipated, the Three-Tails' chakra became even more violent. Simultaneously fading was Yagura Karatachi's life force.
On the other several battlefronts, the rebel army held a significant advantage. Especially at the South Gate, personally led by Hoshigaki Kisame, who had no intention of participating in the fight against the Three-Tails from the start, the battle was already nearing its end. Only a dozen or so Jounin and Anbu remained, banded together and barely holding on under the relentless bombardment of Hoshigaki Kisame's Water Shark Bomb technique. However, their complete collapse was only a matter of time.
However, just as they were about to perish under Kisame's Water Shark Bomb, a figure burning with blue aura flew in from a distance, cleaving through the large area of water formed by the Water Style ninjutsu. Subsequently, it kicked apart the giant shark-shaped water projectile in the air. The giant shark formed by condensed water chakra shattered with a roar, turning into tiny droplets that rained down.
The figure that suddenly charged out then landed, steadily stopping atop the small lake formed by the battle using the water walking technique. The water droplets formed after the Water Shark Bomb was shattered landed on the newcomer, but were quickly evaporated by the aura on this person, turning into wisps of steam that rose into the air.
"Who are you?" Hoshigaki Kisame narrowed his eyes and saw the newcomer dressed in a green jumpsuit. Under the weak light, the bowl-cut hair on his head shone with a somewhat dazzling light. Hearing Kisame's question, Might Guy grinned, baring his teeth, and simultaneously gave a thumbs up: "Konoha's Might Guy!"
"It's... it's him?" The surrounding rebel ninjas, seeing this, couldn't help but show expressions of disbelief. Many among them had participated in the previous operation on Konoha's border. Last time, this man before them, merely by training on a seaside cliff at the Land of Fire's border, had forced their commander to retreat. Some of them had curiously investigated the reason back then, and only then did they learn that their village's proud Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had four of their number killed by a man dressed just like this, fighting one against seven, during the Third Great Ninja War. And this time, he had appeared here.
"A Konoha ninja? What do you want here?" Hoshigaki Kisame asked, frowning.
Just then, beside Might Guy, space gradually distorted. A white-haired man wearing a forehead protector materialized from the void. In his eyes, a pair of crimson Mangekyou Sharingan was particularly striking. After Kakashi arrived, he said somewhat helplessly, "Guy, you're too fast."
"Isn't it because my seasickness delayed too much time? I was afraid of delaying important matters," Might Guy said.
"For you Konoha to enter our Land of Water at this time, are you trying to start a war?" Hoshigaki Kisame narrowed his eyes, took Samehada from his back, and with a slight tremor of his wrist, the bandages wrapped around Samehada snapped inch by inch, revealing the somewhat狰狞 (zhēngníng - ferocious/fiendish) blade body.
"We received the Mizukage's plea for help, requesting our Konoha dispatch troops to help Kirigakure suppress the rebellious army causing trouble," Kakashi glanced at Samehada in Kisame's hand and said coldly. "It seems you are the rebels causing trouble in Kirigakure?"
"Pleading for help from Konoha? How could he do that? Has he forgotten how many of our comrades died at the hands of Konoha ninjas?" From within the crowd, a rebel ninja spoke out indignantly. "Konoha ninjas! Get out of our village! This is Kirigakure's own affair!"
Kakashi indifferently turned his head towards the speaker. A red glint flashed in his eyes. The person who had just spoken felt the world spin. After regaining his senses, he discovered that his upper and lower body had been bizarrely separated. The next instant, blood spurted out, and his legs, still standing on the ground, also swayed and fell.
"Konoha also lost many ninjas at your Kirigakure hands during the war," Kakashi said indifferently. "So, if your Mizukage hadn't promised substantial benefits, Konoha wouldn't bother getting involved in your affairs."
After speaking, the Mangekyou Sharingan tomoe in Kakashi's eyes spun rapidly. A Kirigakure Anbu member, who was in a perilous situation under Kisame's Water Shark Bomb just moments ago, vanished into thin air. The next instant, this person appeared beside Kakashi. Kakashi reached out, grabbed the person's collar, and asked, "Your Mizukage? He's not dead yet, is he?"
"Lord Mizukage... Lord Mizukage, he is currently fighting the rebel leader," this Kirigakure Anbu member, held by Kakashi by the collar, his legs thrashing about, said with some difficulty.
"Is Kirigakure's Anbu made up of trash like you? No wonder you can't deal with these rebels," Kakashi said, tossing the Anbu member aside like garbage.
A commotion came from not far away. Konoha's army had arrived at the outskirts of Kirigakure and begun fighting with the rebel ninjas.
The previous battles had consumed too much of the rebel army's stamina. Now, already a spent force, facing the Konoha ninjas who suddenly joined the battlefield, they quickly fell into a disadvantage.
"Guy, I'll leave this place to you. I have to go help that Mizukage. If he dies, there'll be no one to pay our fee," Kakashi said to Guy.
"Alright, leave it to me!" Might Guy stretched his body, and the blue aura erupted once more. He turned his head towards Hoshigaki Kisame, "By the way, you're their leader, right? What's your name?"
"Hoshigaki Kisame." Kisame gripped Samehada, feeling Might Guy's astonishing aura, and licked his lips. "Are you the rumored Konoha's Green Beast? Or, Yaremasune."
As his voice fell, the two charged towards each other simultaneously.
The next instant, the Samehada greatsword, carrying a foul wind, cleaved towards Guy's face. Guy leaned back, the blade grazing past his nose tip. The wind pressure it generated plowed a ten-meter trench in the water surface.
"Worthy of being Konoha's Green Beast." Kisame emerged from the water mist, his shark-like fangs glinting coldly. "But in the water... this is my home ground!"
Kisame's hand seals blurred into afterimages. "Water Style: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
The entire lake seemed to be lifted by an invisible hand, a hundred-meter-high wall of water blotting out the sky and sun.
Guy's pupils constricted sharply. Water Style of this scale had already surpassed the scope of conventional ninjutsu.
The instant the giant wave crashed down, he crossed his hands before his chest, chakra surging through the meridians of the Eight Gates.
"Sixth Gate, Gate of Joy, Open!"
Emerald green steam shot towards the sky. The violent airflow actually tore a gap through the waterfall-like water curtain. Guy walked on air, each step creating a circular shockwave on the water surface. Kisame grinned broadly. Samehada suddenly disintegrated into myriad scales, each transforming into a piranha-like shark and lunging) at Guy.
(End of Chapter)
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