Chapter 25 Can This Thing Actually Kill Someone?
Yuto lifted his head, gazing at the fully tailed-beast-transformed Utakata, now over three meters tall. He spoke softly.
"What a nuisance."
He raised one foot and tapped the ground lightly. A gust of pressure formed beneath him, and in the next instant Yuto vanished from where he stood.
Roar!
The beastlike Utakata let out a howl, his scarlet eyes sweeping the surroundings.
When he spotted Yuto rushing toward him, he raised one chakra-cloaked hand, laced with intense corrosive power, and swiped at him.
At the same time, the three tails behind him lashed out like whips, striking forward with such force that the air cracked with sonic booms.
Yuto's expression remained calm. His charging figure suddenly halted, easily slipping past Utakata's clawed strike.
He glanced casually at the three chakra tails whipping toward him and allowed them to land.
Yet the terrifying power dissipated the moment it touched Yuto, vanishing into nothing—his clothes didn't even crease.
Expressionless, Yuto let the transformed Utakata attack again and again as he walked step by step toward him.
"Do you understand? This is the difference in strength."
Seeing the disbelief in Utakata's eyes, Yuto spoke evenly.
Utakata tried to struggle again, but Yuto lifted a foot and kicked him away.
The immense force sent him crashing through countless trees before he finally stopped.
"Kh…"
Blood spattered from Utakata's mouth. Even with the tailed beast's extraordinary healing power, that kick had left his internal organs feeling displaced.
Do you want power?
Let me out…
I can defeat him. I can give you strength!
The faint voice echoed at Utakata's ear as violent chakra surged from his body.
He knew it was the monster within. He also knew three tails was his limit—any further, and he would lose consciousness.
But thinking of that young man's overwhelming strength, Utakata gritted his teeth. If this continued, he would certainly lose.
"In that case, don't blame me!"
He clenched his jaw, muttering inwardly.
Roar!
A storm of chakra engulfed him. In the instant he lost consciousness, his small frame expanded rapidly.
In the blink of an eye, a gigantic white slug with six creamy tails, towering a hundred meters high, appeared before Yuto.
The Six-Tails—Saiken!
"More disgusting than I expected."
Seeing the creature's slimy, dripping body, Yuto's face twisted with distaste.
"At last you've come out. As payment for releasing me, now go and die!"
The Six-Tails, Saiken, roared furiously in Yuto's direction.
Dense chakra gathered at its maw, condensing into a massive black sphere of energy. The monstrous aura spread as Saiken swallowed the sphere and then unleashed a blackish-violet beam in a straight torrent.
Watching the colossal blast rush toward him, Yuto's lips curled slightly. Instead of dodging, his body surged forward to meet it head-on.
A wave of exhilaration swept through him, every cell in his body seemingly awakened. He could not help but sigh.
"As expected of a Tailed Beast Bomb—the power is abundant."
Absorbed! The Tailed Beast Bomb had actually been absorbed!
Impossible—how could this be?!
Saiken's massive body trembled, sticky secretions dripping across the ground and sizzling with corrosive sounds.
Suddenly, a memory stirred. Long ago, the Three-Tails, Isobu, had once mentioned a man. According to Isobu, he was more terrifying than Uchiha Madara or Senju Hashirama.
At the time, Isobu's face had been filled with fear, which left Saiken curious. Yet no matter how much he asked, Isobu refused to speak further.
He had only said this—if you ever encounter a man who can devour chakra, more precisely, one who can casually swallow a Tailed Beast Bomb, then just run!
After all, to be swallowed alive… that was not an experience Isobu was willing to describe.
Most likely, when Yuto had directly consumed him without using any sealing techniques, it had left a permanent scar on Isobu's psyche.
Saiken turned toward Yuto, its voice hoarse and trembling. "You… you are the First Mizukage, Yuto?"
"You know me?" Yuto blinked, genuine curiosity on his face.
Of the nine tailed beasts, aside from the Nine-Tails and Three-Tails, none had ever met him directly.
During the First Five Kage Summit, Hashirama had proposed dividing the tailed beasts among the villages to maintain balance. At that time, however, Hashirama, Yuto, and the other three Kage had not yet captured them.
It was merely a matter of planning distribution: Konoha would hold the strongest, the Nine-Tails. The other nations would receive two each—Water with the Three-Tails and Six-Tails, Wind with the One-Tail and Seven-Tails, Lightning with the Eight-Tails and Two-Tails, and Earth with the Four-Tails and Five-Tails.
To Yuto and the others, tailed beasts were prizes they could seize whenever they wished. Allocation was only a matter of ownership.
Or as Hashirama himself had said: "Can these things even kill anyone?"
Later, due to the system's main quest, Yuto opposed Hashirama at every turn. In the end, the summit collapsed, and Yuto flipped the table outright.
Foreseeing the failure, he had already ordered his men, Byakuren and Yuya, to prepare in advance. They successfully captured the Three-Tails near the Land of Water, keeping it as a backup plan.
And afterward, the great battle erupted.
When Yuto admitted his identity, Saiken's massive eyes twitched violently. In the next instant, to Yuto's astonishment, the Six-Tails turned and fled into the distance.
"Tch—you're not running away!"
Yuto cursed aloud. Since when had tailed beasts lost all their backbone?
His body blurred into an afterimage as he darted after the fleeing Saiken.
Fortunately, the creature's enormous size made it an impossible target to lose.
Moments later, Yuto was standing atop its head.
"As Kirigakure's vital strength, you can't just walk away so easily."
He looked down at the beast beneath his feet, which thrashed desperately to shake him off, and spoke calmly.
(End of this chapter)
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