The Three-Tails' Fate (Part Two)

After the extremely hot acidic mist hit Tobi, Afei's body gradually turned into nothingness. The acidic mist then passed through Tobi's body and hit the trees behind him.

"Sizzle... sizzle..."

The trees covered by the acidic mist were instantly corroded into huge, dark pits. Some trees were even completely rotted by the corrosive liquid, a truly terrifying sight.

"What? How is that possible? I definitely hit you..." Mei Terumi's confidence had been greatly diminished. No matter how hard she fought, there was nothing she could do if she couldn't hit her opponent.

"Attack all at once, give it a try! Create time gaps, then attack continuously!" Qing ordered the members of the Anbu to launch an attack on Tobi. He didn't believe Tobi could dodge the continuous attacks; if he could, it would be too illogical.

"Whoosh..."

"Whoosh..."

Everyone drew their Shuriken and Kunai and threw them at Tobi with incredible speed. As expected of elite Anbu Ninja, even their ordinary weapon attacks were exquisite.

"Tch..." Tobi watched the attacks from the Kirigakure Village members with indifference, letting them attack him as they pleased. He stood still, and when the ninja tools flew over, Tobi instantly turned his entire body into nothingness and threw himself into another dimension. He watched as the ninja tools passed through his body. In fact, his body was no longer in this dimension, but in another dimension. What remained here was just a phantom of his body.

"!!!" Everyone fell silent this time. Was this still a power that humans could possess? Having witnessed Issui's immense strength before, everyone felt powerless. Now, encountering Tobi's strange ability, they felt even more helpless and bewildered. Issui's ability couldn't be described as powerless; it was more like being powerless. Tobi's ability was truly powerless. In short, no matter what, these two people were the same to them: they were both freaks and perverts.

"Alright, now that you've attacked, it's my turn. I don't have time to waste with you. Deidara- senpai might beat me up if he gets impatient... Fire Style: Blast Wave Wild Dance!!!"

Tobi swiftly formed hand seals, first using the Kamui of his Mangekyou Sharingan to create a spiral-shaped spatial distortion, then spitting out a large amount of flames into this space. The flames spread rapidly along the spiral, attacking the Hidden Mist Village group with incredible speed.

"Boom..."

The spiraling flames brought a scorching heat to the entire space as soon as they appeared. Before the Kirigakure members could react, the spiraling flames coiled around them, instantly engulfing everyone. All the Hidden Kirigakure, including Mei Terumi, were blasted away by the Fire Style attack. Some of the Anbu at the center of the flames were burned to death, while the survivors were covered in soot, their bodies burning and in excruciating pain, and they no longer had the strength to fight.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Tobi flashed in front of the Sealing Squad and stored the Three-Tails in his own alternate dimension. Then, his body twisted and gradually disappeared.

"Thank you for your generosity, Mizukage- sama. I won't play with you any longer. I believe we'll meet again soon, and I'm really looking forward to that moment. I'll capture the Three-Tails now..."

Tobi disappeared, leaving behind his arrogant voice. The silent space was filled only with Tobi's mocking tone, as if he were laughing at the Kirigakure Village's vulnerability, allowing him to so easily seize the Three-Tails.

"Damn it!!" Mei Terumi kicked Ao away, then roared angrily in the direction Tobi had fled. Since becoming the Fifth Mizukage, when had she ever suffered such humiliation? Unforgivable.

Ao gave Mei Terumi a resentful look. "You think I'm easy to bully? If you can't beat someone, don't take it out on me. You know I'm seriously injured right now. Tobi's Fire Style almost killed me."

"What should we do, Lord Mizukage?" Chōjūrō asked, somewhat angrily. Being able to serve Mei Terumi Mizukage him from some of the attacks, he would probably have been seriously injured.

"What are we going to do? Do we even know what kind of impact this will have on our village if word gets out? A Mizukage from Kirigakure, with so many subordinates, couldn't even protect his own spoils, and we only have one enemy. We still haven't figured out his true identity. This is a disgrace to Kirigakure. This mysterious Masked Man not only manipulated the Fourth Yagura, Kirigakure, causing internal strife in Kirigakure, but now he's even stealing the Three-Tails. He's incredibly arrogant. Unfortunately, we can't do anything about him..." Mei Terumi said bitterly.

"Then... then what should we do... Mizukage..." Chōjūrō asked timidly, Mei Terumi's immense anger, afraid that he would be kicked away by her like Ao.

"Sigh, there's no other way. We'll have to put this matter aside for now and issue wanted notices to the other ninja villages. Don't write the reason. We'll just send the detailed information to Konoha. We can't find that mysterious person right now, so there's nothing we can do..." Mei Terumi said bitterly.

"Yes, I understand. Everyone, heal your wounds quickly and then return to the village..." Ao nodded in agreement upon hearing Mei Terumi's words and directed everyone to treat their injuries.

The atmosphere among the Kirigakure members was incredibly somber. The series of dramatic ups and downs had become unbearable for everyone. The uncertainty before subduing the Three-Tails the excitement of defeating it... the tension of the approaching enemy... the fierce battle... Orochimaru's downfall, the immense power of the Issui- Tails deeply ingrained in their hearts... repelling the enemy... subduing the Three-Tails ... the return journey... the sudden appearance of the enemy... the seemingly insurmountable opponent... the Three-Tails being stolen, everyone severely injured...

Deidara slowly propelled the giant clay bird into flight, inwardly cursing Tobi. "Damn it! The mission wasn't even finished, and he deserted at the last minute, blaming me for everything! That's so unfair! We're supposed to be on the same team, even if Tobi's a bit of a jerk..."

"Deidara- senpai, haha, look, I found the Three-Tails..." Tobi suddenly appeared behind Deidara, released the Three-Tails from the other dimension, and threw it onto the ground.

"What?!" Deidara heard Tobi's voice, looked back, and was immediately dumbfounded. No way, this can't be real! Tobi was suddenly jumping around, and beneath him was none other than the Three-Tails! How could the Three-Tails be here? Damn it, this can't be real, can it? I didn't see it wrong, did I? It really is that bastard Tobi. The aura and Chakra of the giant beast beneath him proved that it was the Three-Tails.

"Senior Deidara, look, this is the Three-Tails..." Tobi patted the Three-Tails' head and said excitedly to Deidara.

"Tobi, don't tell me you were taking a dump and a Three-Tails came out?" Deidara said in confusion. "You weren't taking a dump, were you? How come no poop came out but Three-Tails appeared?"

"No, Deidara- senpai, you have no idea how much I regretted it after I said I was going to run away. After all, I was trained by Deidara- senpai himself; how could I just desert in the face of battle? Wouldn't that be an insult to our illustrious 'Art Duo'? So, after much agonizing reflection, I boldly chased after them, only to find that the super, super, super super pervert who fought Orochimaru was gone. So, I fought them in a fierce battle—a battle that shook heaven and earth! I shouldn't have been able to beat them, but Deidara- senpai's teachings always encouraged me, so I unleashed a powerful burst of energy and 'stole' the Three-Tails back..." Tobi rambled on, making it all up.

"???" Deidara was sweating profusely. Sure enough, it was that bastard Tobi. Only he could spout such nonsense, making everyone dizzy. However, he finally understood one thing: this kid had stolen the Three-Tails back. It seemed that this kid was still somewhat useful. He might not have any other skills, but his ability to escape was quite remarkable. In the past, he was the fastest runner in battles. This time, his great "advantage" of escaping finally paid off. This time, he had run back with the Three-Tails.

"How about it, Deidara- senpai? If we do this, we won't get beaten up when we get back, at least not on our bottoms..." Tobi said happily.

"???" Deidara was speechless. Talking to you is infuriating. It seems Sasori is more suitable for me. But how did he die?

"Senior Deidara, look at the great contribution I've made, shouldn't you give me a reward? Like, teach me the art of crafting. Look, this is the Deidara I made. How is it? It looks a lot like him, doesn't it? See, this is art..." Tobi said, taking out a clay pig from his pocket.

"Damn it, Tobi, you're playing with fire! I'm going to kill you..." Deidara had initially been quite impressed with Tobi, but when he saw the mud-bowl, he was enraged, utterly enraged. "You actually compared me to a pig? You're asking for trouble! I'm a human, I can't cross racial boundaries! Tobi, you're dead this time..."

"Ah, no! Deidara- senpai, what are you doing?! Help! Deidara- senpai is going to kill someone again..."

"Tobi, you bastard, you stop right there! This time you'll see Shinigami..."

"No, Tobi won't do it again..."

"I won't tolerate this any longer. Let's settle this today..."

The two chased each other away, but the giant Clay Bird left behind by Deidara lifted the Three-Tails and followed behind them...

A certain Akatsuki base in the Land of Rain.

"This time, we'll be stripping the Two-Tails and Three-Tails simultaneously. Everyone's speed this time is remarkable; at this rate, our grand plan will soon be realized, and the entire world will be ours. The dawn will break. These next few days will be tough; the stripping will last six days and will continue indefinitely. First, we'll strip the Three-Tails, the natural Tailed Beast, then the Two-Tails 'Jinchūriki. To avoid unnecessary trouble, strip the Tailed Beast immediately after capturing Tailed Beast or their Jinchūriki. I'll use the Magic Lantern Body Technique to teleport the others there. Alright, everyone get ready, let's begin the stripping! Hah! Sealing Jutsu — Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals!!"