The waves of miserable screams rising and falling made Terumi Mei, who had secretly followed from afar, twitch her eyelids. Yet under the curtain of night, a dense mist was surging ahead, and she could not see the situation in the distance at all.
"Biwa Jūzō… is he really that strong…"
Listening to the faint screams coming from within the thick mist, Terumi Mei felt somewhat puzzled. She could not help but furrow her brows and murmur softly, "This time, even the Mizukage himself personally took the field, and brought more than 30 Kirigakure ANBU. Surrounding one Biwa Jūzō should have been simple. What Biwa Jūzō could do would probably be nothing more than turn and flee, not fight back."
"But judging by the current situation, not only did he fight back, he also killed quite a few Kirigakure ANBU, and even seriously injured many ANBU shinobi. In the years since he defected… has his strength improved this fast?"
At that moment, Terumi Mei noticed that within the dense mist ahead, a violent gust of wind suddenly seemed to arise out of nowhere. The roaring wind blew away a massive portion of the fog.
"...Wind Release?!" Terumi Mei frowned even more deeply, for she remembered the intelligence regarding Biwa Jūzō.
Biwa Jūzō's greatest specialties were taijutsu and Water Release.
This former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist didn't seem to be skilled in Wind Release, did he?
Just as her doubts fell, the mist ahead was completely dispersed. Under the dim moonlight, Terumi Mei faintly saw a scene so horrifying it made her eyes widen abruptly.
"This is…"
In Terumi Mei's line of sight—countless dark, grotesquely twisted thorny wooden spikes spread across an area of at least a thousand meters in radius, wrapping around many of the houses in that village.
One Kirigakure ANBU after another was trapped within the forest of thorned wooden spikes.
Some had been hoisted high into the air by the thorns, scarlet blood endlessly dripping down, their eyes already devoid of light; some were bound tightly by masses of thorns, the sharp spikes piercing their bodies and boring hole after bloody hole through them.
Some reacted quickly, hacking away desperately at the thorny spikes winding toward them with their ninja blades, clearing out a small "safe area" with all their strength, then looking around in shock and lingering terror.
Seeing comrades everywhere who were either gravely wounded or instantly killed, their hearts were filled with both shock and dread.
Momochi Zabuza was already drenched in sweat.
His ANBU mask was slashed open by a thorned wooden spike that suddenly thrust up from the ground, revealing half of a face covered by a mask. The skin on his face also seemed to have been cut open, and blood was slowly flowing out.
He was breathing somewhat heavily, still shaken.
As for his two comrades on either side—one had already been pierced through by the thorned wooden spikes like a sieve; the other was making strange "heh-heh" sounds. When he turned to look, he saw that the man's neck artery had been severed, his body convulsing, breathing less in and more out.
Momochi Zabuza realized that in merely the blink of an eye, in that brief instant—
More than half of the over 30 elite ANBU from Kirigakure had already fallen!
Although the remaining half were still alive, there were almost no Kirigakure ANBU completely uninjured; most bore some degree of scratches and wounds.
And the one responsible for all of this was Biwa Jūzō's companion!
"Could this be… the legendary Wood Release…"
Zabuza's gaze passed over the layers upon layers of entangled thorned wooden spikes, his eyes filled with grave vigilance and fearful apprehension, landing on Uchiha Keizumi not far away.
"Could this be… a shinobi from Konohagakure!"
At last, Zabuza understood why this senior, Biwa Jūzō, had dared to brazenly return to the Land of Water after defecting from Kirigakure.
So, the other party had already clung to Konohagakure's leg—or rather, had already joined Konohagakure!
This made Zabuza furrow his brows tightly.
To be honest…
He did not feel much hostility toward Biwa Jūzō, and even held some respect for him. After all, Zabuza too felt that the current Bloody Mist Village was already beyond saving; every day spent there made him feel physically uncomfortable, and the tragic internal chaos of the village was something he could hardly bear to look at.
But if Biwa Jūzō had merely defected from Kirigakure and relied on his own strength to resist the village's pursuit, that would have been fine.
However, joining Konohagakure was, in Zabuza's eyes, an act of cowardice.
"The once Seven Ninja Swordsmen… have fallen to this extent?"
Zabuza wiped the bloodstains from his face.
He murmured with some disappointment.
…
On the other side.
Karatachi Yagura, who had taken in everything before him, furrowed his brows tightly. After glancing once more at the Kirigakure ANBU trapped amid the countless thorned wooden spikes, Karatachi Yagura shouted loudly, "Why have you stopped?! This is the Land of Water! Not a place where outsiders can run wild!"
His tone turned cold, and in the depths of his eyes seemed to flicker a faint trace of red light, suppressing that faint struggle completely as killing intent spread while he shouted, "Keep going! Kill him!"
The order from the Mizukage left the remaining Kirigakure ANBU with no choice but to grit their teeth and cooperate, using all sorts of Water Release ninjutsu.
In an instant, torrents of water surged madly through the thickets of thorns, shattering the dark thorns that were not particularly tough or solid.
The Kirigakure ANBU who had regained their freedom immediately scattered in all directions.
They all kept what they considered a safe distance from Uchiha Keizumi and the others, faintly encircling them.
The air was filled with the stench of their comrades' corpses, along with the uncontrollable screams of grievously wounded Kirigakure ANBU.
Every ANBU's palms were slick with sweat.
Biwa Jūzō looked around, glancing at these Kirigakure ANBU who no longer concealed their figures.
Although most still wore their masks, Biwa Jūzō could vaguely recognize some of them.
Biwa Jūzō said coldly, "You lot… do you really intend to offer so-called loyalty to a Mizukage who's already been taken over? In the eyes of the one pulling the strings behind the scenes, your loyalty is laughable. Do you know that everything you're doing right now isn't for Kirigakure, but for the puppet master controlling the Mizukage?"
"Wake up, all of you! That puppet master only wants to toy with Kirigakure, to plunge the village into endless internal strife—until Kirigakure vanishes completely from the flow of history! In his eyes, you're nothing but a bunch of foolish pawns!"
"No… you don't even count as pawns. In the eyes of that puppet master, you're merely playthings to be toyed with. Everything he does is to make you die in utter despair!"
Biwa Jūzō didn't speak in riddles; he directly revealed the truth he knew before this group of Kirigakure ANBU.
Among the crowd of ANBU, the vast majority were unmoved, only gripping their weapons tightly with killing intent in their eyes.
A small number, however, froze slightly.
Among them was Momochi Zabuza.
This small group even looked back, almost in unison, toward Karatachi Yagura—because in their eyes, this Mizukage's behavior had indeed become somewhat different from before.
Many times…
It was as if he had become a completely different person.
"Jūzō, stop making this pointless struggle. I am the perfect Jinchūriki of Kirigakure. A Jinchūriki cannot be controlled by the Sharingan. Are you treating the Kirigakure ANBU like fools to be toyed with?"
Karatachi Yagura spoke. His gaze passed over several Kirigakure ANBU, fixing on Biwa Jūzō as he continued, "They are all Kirigakure's elites, who have devoted their entire lives to the village. Your verbal assaults cannot shake their hearts."
Biwa Jūzō laughed. "Just as Uchiha Keizumi said, Uchiha Obito is a guy without a brain. The only reason he could become one of the masterminds behind the chaotic shinobi world is because there are many true masterminds helping him, acting as his external brain."
"Mizukage-sama, when did I ever say you were being controlled by the Sharingan? How do you know that so clearly? I think… the one speaking to me right now isn't the Mizukage-sama, is it? After all, the Mizukage is, of course, a clever man."
"I'm right, aren't I, Uchiha Obito?"
Biwa Jūzō's words made Karatachi Yagura's expressionless face freeze slightly.
At that moment—
Even the majority of the Kirigakure ANBU who had been unmoved earlier couldn't help but turn their heads, simultaneously staying alert toward Uchiha Keizumi and the others while looking back at Karatachi Yagura behind them.
"Nonsense!"
Karatachi Yagura gave a cold snort, his eyes now filled with a fierce killing intent. Gripping his dark hook-shaped staff, he took a step forward. "The words of a rogue who betrayed the village have no credibility whatsoever!"
As his voice fell—
A mass of Bijū chakra visible to the naked eye surged across Karatachi Yagura's body. The ground beneath his feet began to crack slightly, and the fine gravel, under the influence of the Bijū chakra, trembled lightly.
"Follow me—attack together!"
In an instant, Karatachi Yagura's not particularly tall figure shot forward explosively, moving so fast that only a fading afterimage could be seen.
Logically speaking, he should have executed Biwa Jūzō, the traitor of Kirigakure, first.
However—
Karatachi Yagura instead charged straight toward Uchiha Keizumi with deliberate precision!
"Kill the one from Konoha first!"
With a ferocious shout, the coral staff in his hand swept horizontally toward Uchiha Keizumi's head at lightning speed, as if intending to smash Keizumi's skull to pieces.
Uchiha Keizumi leaned slightly backward.
The coral staff grazed past the tip of his nose.
"Be careful of his tailed beast chakra!" Biwa Jūzō urgently warned. "His tailed beast chakra can make his enemies' bodies grow coral!"
In the next instant—
The ninja blade at Uchiha Keizumi's waist flashed from its sheath, the speed of his slash even faster than Karatachi Yagura's movements!
Before Yagura could make a second strike, the razor-sharp blade was already closing in on his throat!
[Clang—]
[Clang—]
Two Kirigakure ANBU rushed in swiftly, helping Karatachi Yagura block Keizumi's strike with their ninja blades. Yagura's movement shifted immediately, thrusting his coral staff straight at Uchiha Keizumi's chest.
[Boom!!!]
The coral staff pierced directly through Uchiha Keizumi's chest. The terrifying heat of magma tried to melt the coral staff.
But the Bijū chakra coiling around the coral staff rapidly generated vast amounts of coral highly resistant to heat.
In just the blink of an eye, Uchiha Keizumi's chest was completely covered in coral.
A faint arc had just appeared at the corner of Karatachi Yagura's mouth.
In the next moment, Uchiha Keizumi's body suddenly liquefied into a pool of magma.
The scorching air above made Karatachi Yagura's scalp prickle with pain.
His pupils contracted sharply.
He quickly raised his head—
Only to see a gigantic magma fist hundreds of meters in diameter crashing down from above, crushing everything beneath it with unstoppable force!