Ao...

"Yōton - Yogai no Jutsu!"

On another battlefield, Mei Terumi spat out yellow acid. Wherever it passed, grass, trees, rocks, kunai, tachi, flesh, blood, skin, and bones were all corroded into a pool of thick, foul-smelling yellowish-brown liquid, exposed damply to the air.

"Damn it, this woman's Kekkei Genkai is too terrifying!"

"It's time to retreat!"

"Exactly. Zabuza is already dead, there's no point in us staying here!"

The rebellious Mist Ninja, having first witnessed Zabuza being turned into dust by a Tailed Beast Bomb, and now being dissolved into a puddle by Mei Terumi, had their mental states explode. They hastily left behind a few pools of thick, foul-smelling yellowish-brown liquid and fled.

Mei Terumi and Ao did not pursue. They tacitly turned to look at the Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, and saw him standing there alone, his small body motionless.

"Mizukage-sama!" Ao's expression changed. He thought Hanfu had stolen the Three-Tails and rushed forward in a hurry.

"Genji-sama, what just happened?" Mei Terumi, however, calmly looked at Genji standing beside her.

Genji leaned on his snake-shaped wooden staff, his aged face also showing a look of puzzlement. He said, "That Mizuki Ninja just now used the Hidden Mist Technique. I couldn't see clearly what he did, but when the mist dissipated... I saw the Three-Tails' tail was gone."

"Tail?" Mei Terumi was stunned.

Genji nodded and added, "Although the tail is gone, the Three-Tails itself was not lost."

Mei Terumi breathed a sigh of relief, but then her brow furrowed sharply. Vaguely, she seemed to realize that she had missed a golden opportunity!

Boom!

As soon as this thought arose in Mei Terumi's mind, she heard a roar from ahead. Looking up, she saw Ao being sent flying into the sky by a single iron rod strike from