Chapter 155: Robbery Along the Way
Shukaku's body was too massive. Walking on the road, he'd be spotted from great distances.
However, facing such a behemoth, presumably no one would be foolish enough to jump out and "uphold justice." Most would run far away immediately.
So Yasushi didn't worry about safety issues along the way. He even specially created a reclining chair on Shukaku's head to lie down and nap.
In the forest ahead, the Takumi Village quartet observed him with grave expressions.
"I thought it would be a jinchuriki. Turns out it's really a Tailed Beast. This is troublesome. Jinchuriki have small bodies—easy to restrain and absorb chakra from. But such a huge Tailed Beast..." The tall Tachi scratched his head looking at Shukaku in the distance, as massive as a small mountain.
"If a jinchuriki traveled, they'd at least bring companions for protection. Not easy to strike. Though Tailed Beasts have large bodies, ultimately they're just beasts without much intelligence. There are always ways to deal with them." The short, youthful Tatsumaki toyed with his telescoping sword. The pale blue blade seemed alive, dancing in his hands.
"Luring the Tailed Beast into the encirclement isn't difficult. The difficulty is Uchiha Yasushi on its head." Kamekichi lowered his monocular telescope and turned to Konpaku behind him. "Did you buy intelligence from the Exchange?"
Konpaku shook her head helplessly.
"Intelligence only says he knows Susanoo and Wood Release. More specific information is all vague. The underground world intelligence organizations don't have very detailed content either."
"Currently we only know Susanoo is an energy giant with omnidirectional defense. Normal attacks absolutely cannot break Susanoo's defenses. Susanoo's attacks are also extremely strong—comparable to humanoid Tailed Beasts."
"What's said about Wood Release is even more exaggerated—supposedly the kekkei genkai that Konoha Village's First Hokage Senju Hashirama used to establish the shinobi village system. Saying things like one person equaling a nation, easily destroying entire villages, and such."
"Hmph!" Kamekichi curled his lip dismissively. "Ancestor Seimei was also from that era. He definitely fought Senju Hashirama."
"Konoha Village didn't annex Takumi Village, which means this so-called Senju Hashirama was nothing special—at least he couldn't possibly be stronger than our Ancestor Seimei."
"We'll find a way to separate those two. We just need to stall Uchiha Yasushi for a while."
"As long as we obtain the Tailed Beast's chakra and revive Ancestor Seimei, we can naturally defeat this Uchiha Yasushi easily."
"I'll go!" Tachi volunteered. "Since this Susanoo is an energy giant, presumably my Infinite Armor can absorb him dry. Perfect counter."
"I'll go with you." Konpaku also stepped forward. "My Wind Release cuts down trees most conveniently. Perfect counter to Wood Release."
"Excellent!" Kamekichi nodded with satisfaction. "You two coordinate and can definitely stall Uchiha Yasushi."
"Tatsumaki, take the opportunity to lure the One-Tail to the appropriate position. I'll activate the 'Ninja Tool Barrier: Reverse Scale Formation' to gather chakra, impact the water veins, and summon a great water dragon to subdue the One-Tail."
"Once sand gets wet, it becomes extremely heavy. The One-Tail's power will be greatly diminished. Then I can seize the opportunity to activate the 'Hyacinth' and revive Ancestor Seimei."
"After ancestor's revival, this Uchiha Yasushi will be dead—easily eliminated."
After finishing their discussion, everyone dispersed and began acting separately.
After checking the terrain, Kamekichi went to find water vein convergence points to set his ambush.
Tatsumaki lurked in the forest, waiting until Uchiha Yasushi's side began fighting before attacking the Tailed Beast and luring the One-Tail away.
Konpaku and Tachi waited a while. Estimating the time was right, Konpaku took the initiative to attack.
She leaped from her hiding spot. While airborne, she raised both swords crossed high and slashed forcefully at Uchiha Yasushi.
"Wind Release: Thousand Faces Wind!"
Her ninja tool was created using some unknown principle. It needed no hand seals or preparation—just inputting chakra immediately allowed instant jutsu activation with considerable power.
Following her attack, thousands of whirlwind slashes manifested from the air, spinning downward to cover Yasushi from above and all sides—front, back, left, right—completely sealed tight without any gaps.
Tachi rushed out quickly, chest equipped with armor pieces shaped like a roaring tiger's mouth. He wielded a long-handled meteor hammer, charging up along Shukaku's tail. He was just waiting for Yasushi to activate Susanoo before rushing forward to absorb energy.
"Hmm... Did we encounter bandits?"
Yasushi sat up drowsily from his reclining chair, yawning. His body flickered, transferring along with the chair beneath him into Kamui dimension.
This chair would be needed later—couldn't let Wind Release destroy it.
Unlike Obito who used Kamui dimension for evasion and combat, Yasushi mostly treated Kamui dimension like a storage ring, keeping all sorts of miscellaneous junk inside.
For example, that huge tail cut from Shukaku earlier was still lying inside!
When Yasushi materialized again, the Wind Release had already completely passed through his body. Tachi had also reached him, raising his meteor hammer to strike down at Yasushi's head.
"Heh, truly childish."
Yasushi casually waved his hand. A massive energy hand appeared from thin air and fell downward casually, stirring up violent airflow.
That heavy meteor hammer lightly touched the chakra hand—immediately like an egg hitting stone, it was sent flying with a "clang."
The large hand scooped downward smoothly, five fingers gripping to capture Tachi in its grasp.
Relying on his "Infinite Armor's" energy absorption ability, Tachi wasn't alarmed but delighted instead.
"Haha, I'll absorb... Ahh!"
Tachi's maniacal laughter suddenly transformed into screams.
His armor's absorption speed couldn't remotely match Susanoo's recovery rate. Before he could drain Susanoo's large hand, his body was crushed by it.
With a "splat," flesh, blood, and bone fragments sprayed from between the fingers like bullets, shooting far into the distance.
Susanoo opened its palm. The viscous blood and flesh mixture slowly slid down the finger bones. Yasushi looked at the meat paste-like substance, disgustedly tossing it aside, only keeping the armor that remained spotlessly clean on the surface.
"This thing looks somewhat familiar." He scratched his head, raising his eyes to look at Konpaku ahead.
Konpaku was immediately shocked, hastily raising her twin swords again. But before she could launch another attack, she felt the surrounding space suddenly fluctuate. The air suddenly solidified. Her limbs grew sluggish.
A tremendous force suddenly descended—vast and overwhelming, impossible to resist.
Her entire being was instantly like being thrown into a washing machine—compressed and twisted, bones and organs all kneaded into a ball.
When expelled again, this beautiful woman had already transformed into a puddle of meat paste, spread flat upon the earth.
A pair of arms still tightly gripped those twin swords, falling straight down from midair. The blade tips pointed downward, stabbing precisely into that meat paste.