It worked! But it didn't fully succeed
But the sealing formula had fully deployed, and the target was now standing within the formation, unable to circulate chakra at all.
To be safe, Yagura asked the sealing ninja around him, "Has the sealing technique succeeded?"
The closest caster replied, "It succeeded. He can't circulate even a shred of chakra now."
Yagura's tightly wound nerves finally loosened a little, and he revealed a faint smile.
"No matter what plan you had, now that you can't use chakra, everything is over for you."
Mitsuki had always been Kirigakure's number one internal threat. Capturing him alive like this could genuinely be considered a major victory that could change the course of the war.
Thinking of that, Yagura spoke to Mei with unreserved praise:
"You did great, Mei. I'll report your achievement to the Mizukage exactly as it happened."
Mei said nothing. She simply walked closer, crouched beside the edge of the sealing array, and looked at the immobilized Mitsuki trapped within it.
She honestly hoped she had been mistaken. After all, she had finally found a normal, handsome guy in Kirigakure—a place full of weird-looking people—only to discover he was an intruder.
If he weren't Mitsuki, she would have been tempted to drag him back to Kirigakure. Unfortunately, he was that Konoha Gale, the village's number one bounty target.
"What a pity," Mei sighed.
"What's a pity?" a familiar voice sounded right beside her ear.
Mei jolted, cold sweat running down her back. By pure reflex, her hand flipped and drove a kunai backward.
Mitsuki caught Mei's wrist in an instant, and just as he prepared to unleash a slick Chidori combo to kill her, Yagura reacted immediately. He swung his iron staff at Mitsuki's head.
That was definitely a hit Mitsuki could not take. He released Mei's wrist and used Body Flicker to appear several meters away.
Saved from certain death, Mei quickly looked toward the center of the sealing array — Mitsuki was still there. She threw the kunai in her hand at the bound Mitsuki.
The kunai cut through the air and stabbed straight into Mitsuki's shoulder—except no blood came out.
Poof.
Turns out all the effort—surrounding him, sealing him, everything—only caught a clone!
Every Mist ninja present felt as if they had been slapped in the face, especially Yagura. No wonder the guy hadn't even tried to evade the sealing formation.
Fortunately, he hadn't rescinded the village evacuation just because they believed they'd caught Mitsuki.
Yagura shouted to Mei,
"Go take shelter now! This enemy isn't someone your age can handle!"
Then he charged toward Mitsuki with his iron staff.
Mei clenched her fists tightly. She was unwilling—deeply unwilling. They were about the same age, but Mitsuki was already a war hero of Konoha, while she still needed protection.
Taking a deep breath, Mei chose to obey the command. She turned and ran from the battlefield. Complaining wouldn't solve anything. The fact was that she was still weak; staying would only make things worse.
Yagura's weapon was unusual—a massive iron rod taller than him, nearly a meter and a half long, with a hooked end.
Ninjas who used such specialized weapons usually shared one thing in common: extremely high taijutsu ability.
Mitsuki sidestepped the swing and slammed a Rasengan toward Yagura's chest.
Yagura swept his iron rod across, showing zero concern for defense—he meant to trade injuries.
Mitsuki activated Flying Thunder God, instantly teleporting to a marked kunai. While everyone's attention had been on the clone earlier, he had already placed several marks around the area.
"Impressive instincts, Yagura."
Mitsuki had long wanted to try delivering lines like a final boss.
Buzz—
Mitsuki increased his chakra output, upgrading the Rasengan into a Rasenshuriken. With a slight windup, he hurled it toward Yagura.
Faced with the attack, Yagura condensed a sphere of water in his palm, threw it forward to create a water mirror, then used the hook to tilt the mirror down.
"Water Mirror Technique!"
Within the mirror, Mitsuki's reflection did not tilt with the mirror—instead, it stepped out of the reflected world as a physical clone, complete with its own Rasenshuriken.
Mitsuki tried to redirect his Rasenshuriken around the mirror clone to hit Yagura directly.
But the water mirror clone drew the Mistcutter blade and lunged at him.
BOOM—!
Two S-rank Wind Release techniques collided, forming a massive blue sphere. The violent storm shredded all the nearby buildings.
The Mist nin scattered immediately. Moments ago, Mitsuki and Yagura had been fighting at close range—they couldn't intervene then.
Now that the battlefield was split apart, the Mist nin formed hand seals and unleashed jutsu toward the Mitsuki fighting the mirror clone.
"Water Bullet!"
"Great Waterfall!"
"Water Gun!"
Water jutsu flooded from every direction, some even laced with explosive tags.
Mitsuki powered his Chidori to maximum, forcing back the mirror clone, then swung the Mistcutter, activating Full Counter.
The unseen domain expanded. The mirror clone, due to the technique's rules, shattered the instant it touched the field, collapsing into water.
All the incoming water jutsu and explosions were sent back the way they came. Roars of destruction echoed as water, explosions, and debris were flung outward like bullets from the center point—where Mitsuki stood.
Some rookie Mist nin couldn't dodge in time and died instantly.
Seeing his subordinates fall, Yagura was furious, but he didn't lose his composure. He immediately ordered:
"All of you disperse! Report to the Mizukage. Search the village for any suspected space-time markers. Destroy them on sight!"
"A wise decision," Mitsuki said, walking out of the smoke.
Yagura braced himself. He needed to stall Mitsuki here.
"Hm?" Mitsuki sensed something and leapt back.
A deep sword mark appeared where he had just stood.
He hadn't felt an attack at all; it was as if the slash had materialized out of thin air.
Mitsuki looked up at Yagura — or rather, at the long-haired man with narrow eyes standing behind him.
The newcomer was the Third Mizukage.
Yagura noticed too. "Mizukage, my apologies—the capture operation failed."
"I understand. He's no ordinary enemy—don't blame yourself too much."
The Third Mizukage nodded lightly. He hadn't been idle during this time.
He had already overseen the village evacuation. After investigation, the intruder appeared to be only Mitsuki. No allies had been found.
But the space-time markers Mitsuki had set were extremely well hidden—not a single one had been located yet.