Land of Takigakure coastal border.
Yagura slammed a fist into a boulder by the shore. "Damn it—"
Yagura was furious at his own helplessness. Many Mist Village ninjas had been part of the naval force that had attacked Hozuki Castle.
At the final critical moment, Yagura had failed to save them. As the Fourth Mizukage, he considered it an immense disgrace.
And then there was Three-Tails.
Yagura had once been a Perfect Jinchuriki, and the prerequisite for being one was Mutual Understanding between the jinchuriki and the Tailed Beast.
To Yagura, Three-Tails had not merely been a Tailed Beast, but family—or a comrade.
Yagura had been unable to save his best comrade.
Nearby, the Second Hokage crouched on the beach, extending two fingers of his right hand to press against the great earth as he activated chakra sensory mode and searched in the direction of Hozuki Castle.
The one who was truly ashamed was the Second Hokage. At that final moment, he had only been able to save Yagura. A large number of ninjas had been sealed away by Liao Wu's Uchiha Flame Formation, and even Three-Tails had not been rescued.
Back when the Second Hokage and his subordinates had been pursued and killed by Kinkaku Ginkaku in the Land of Lightning, he had stepped forward and become the sacrifice who drew Kinkaku Ginkaku away.
But this time, the Second Hokage had chosen to lead the escape, leaving his subordinates as sacrifices.
There had been no other choice. If he could have fought, the Second Hokage naturally would have wanted to, but saving Yagura had already been the limit of what he could do.
But abandonment was abandonment, and the Second Hokage's heart was heavy.
He liked absolute control, but Liao Wu, like his grandfather Madara, possessed a power that