As the Kirigakure shinobi were locked in a bitter struggle, Naruto's group stood to the side, watching the spectacle unfold.
Finally, the situation changed.
Enraged beyond reason, the Sanbi Isobu let out a deafening roar. It no longer appeared to be under control, instead, it had lost all traces of rationality.
Its exposed head and limbs retracted into its sharp, spiked shell.
The three spiked tails folded tightly against its armored body.
With this transformation, the Sanbi Isobu resembled a giant, round ball, its surface covered in menacing spikes.
Then, under the terrified gazes of Mei and Ao, the Sanbi began to spin like a rolling pin or a rampaging football, hurtling toward them with overwhelming force.
The deafening sound of destruction echoed throughout the battlefield.
Wherever the Sanbi rolled, the ground was pulverized into dust.
Mei could already imagine her fate if crushed beneath that monstrous shell—she wouldn't even leave a whole corpse behind, reduced to a mere smear of flesh.
"This is bad... the rampaging, fully transformed Tailed Beast after Yondaime Mizukage lost control... it's even stronger than the Tailed Beast itself..."
Mei's face turned pale.
But thinking of the Kirigakure behind her, she gritted her teeth and desperately tried to hold back the Sanbi Isobu.
In her relentless provocation, the ground, the forest, the rocks—all were torn apart, the terrain itself reshaped by the Sanbi's unbridled rampage.
Ten minutes passed in this chaos.
"Ao, is it ready yet?"
Mei's chest heaved as she looked at Ao with exhaustion.
Even as an elite jonin, facing the berserk Yondaime Mizukage's full Tailed Beast form had drained him deeply. He was injured and fatigued.
Ao let out a breath of relief, then suddenly furrowed his brow in frustration.
"Mei-sama, I'm ready... but I can't see the Sanbi's eyes!"
"..."
Mei's lips twitched as she glanced at the ball-like Sanbi.
Indeed, even she couldn't locate its eyes.
"Get ready. I'll use Yōton (Lava Release) next. That should cause enough pain for the Sanbi to show its eyes..."
Mei bit her lip, ready to gamble once more.
At that moment, a voice full of amusement whispered into her ear:
"Forget it. Forcing the Genjutsu to break will only grant the Sanbi its freedom."
Mei's body went cold. A chill shot from the soles of her feet up her spine, making her scalp tingle.
Who!?
Someone else was here!?
Who was speaking to her!?
A flood of questions surged into Mei's mind, her scalp crawling as goosebumps covered her body.
To ensure the assassination of the Yondaime Mizukage, she had only brought Ao with her.
But this voice...
Ignoring the oncoming, berserk Sanbi Isobu, she forced herself to turn and look toward the source of the voice.
There, leaning casually against a semi-transparent door, stood a blond young man, watching her with a playful gaze.
No... he was staring directly at her lips...
"You're... Namikaze Menma..." Mei bit her lip, glaring at the blond youth.
"You know me!?" Now it was Naruto's turn to be surprised.
"How could I not know...?" Mei gritted her teeth.
"The one who helped Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi massacre the Uchiha Clan—the one Konoha publicly denounced as a traitor. Your bounty... it's famous."
As an elite jonin of Kirigakure, and someone plotting to assassinate the Yondaime Mizukage, she was naturally well-versed in the political landscape of the shinobi world.
The Uchiha Clan Massacre was the biggest upheaval in recent times, and during that turmoil, she had learned from the bounty lists about the terrifying S-rank rogue ninja before her.
What she hadn't expected was to encounter him here, of all places.
"Eh!?" Naruto's interest was piqued.
"I haven't really kept track... how much is my bounty now?"
He remembered that his bounty had been over ten million ryo last time, so it must have increased.
"Eighty million ryo!"
Mei bit her lip and spat out the number.
Just from the bounty alone, it was clear: the blond youth before her was among the strongest of the S-rank rogues.
For comparison, even elite jonin usually had bounties in the range of a few million ryo.
"Damn Konoha... damn Sarutobi Hiruzen... damn Danzō..."
A cold voice drifted from the air behind Naruto.
Izumi emerged from the portal, gritting her teeth in anger.
"They really want to kill Menma-sama, huh..."
"Exactly. We can't let those bastards off the hook..."
Karin stepped out of the portal, her voice equally cold.
"With such a high bounty, it's enough to make elite jonin hesitate."
Suigetsu followed, grinning.
"Well, what can you do... Menma-sama did take in the Uchiha Clan, after all."
Kimimaro appeared silently, not saying a word.
Seeing figure after figure emerge from the portal, Mei's initial shock gave way to numbness.
Just how many people were hidden around her!?
So many, right under her nose, and she hadn't even noticed.
If they'd wanted to kill her...
With the Sanbi wreaking havoc, she wouldn't have stood a chance.
Farther away, Ao was stunned, his expression frozen as he stared at the scene.
"You've got to be kidding..."
So many enemies had been hiding in the shadows, yet his Byakugan hadn't detected a thing.
Thinking of the implications, Ao's expression changed dramatically.
"Mei-sama, run! Don't worry about me!"
No matter how these people had remained hidden, their appearance could only mean one thing:
They were here for Mei-sama and himself.
But after fighting the rampaging Yondaime Mizukage's Sanbi, they had already expended most of their strength, barely holding onto a fraction of their power.
The only option was to escape as quickly as possible.
Mei's face darkened.
"You think we can still escape?"
Ao fell silent.
Though he had never met Namikaze Menma, he had heard the stories of his exploits.
The man never played small games.
He had fought against Kusagakure, then clashed with Konoha, battled the Uchiha Clan, and even participated in their massacre...
He was a true harbinger of disaster.
Trying to escape from the hands of such a monster?
Might as well give up.
As they pondered, the berserk Yondaime Mizukage, fully Tailed Beast-ified, had already recovered his senses and charged toward them, roaring furiously.
Naruto's eyes lit up.
He raised his right hand toward the Sanbi.
"Come on, let's see who's stronger."
(End of Chapter)
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