Mission change

"Pfft!"

The Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall, along with the earth-attribute masked monster behind it, was pierced through by the high-speed Seven-Tails.

The immense kinetic energy instantly tore the two apart, and the Seven-Tails rose again, aiming at another target below.

Hover, aim, duck, dive.

Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.

The enormous fire dragon charged toward the Seven-Tails dragon, but the difference in size was simply too great.

The fire dragon disintegrated into sparks under the impact of the Seven-Tails, and the fire-attribute masked monster followed in the footsteps of the earth-attribute masked monster, being instantly torn apart by the Seven-Tails.

Having eliminated two enemies in succession, the Seven-Tails was extremely excited. As it hovered in the air, it emitted a high-pitched buzzing sound, the sound waves deep and heavy, like a declaration of victory, spreading far and wide through the air.

Having learned from two successful precedents, Seven-Tails was even bolder this time. Its flight path was no longer unpredictable; it charged straight at him like a bulldozer.

This time, the target was a lightning-attribute masked monster. Instead of defending or dodging, the masked monster charged straight at the impact. While in mid-air, the tentacles that made up the masked monster suddenly spread out, like a large net that instantly caught the Seven-Tails monster.

The next moment, surging lightning crackled and flashed on the giant net, as the lightning-attribute masked monster sacrificed itself to unleash a burst of lightning.

The ultimate, all-consuming strike.

The surging electric current instantly paralyzed the Seven-Tails: its three pairs of flapping wings froze on the spot; the entire Seven-Tails plummeted to the ground like a shooting star.

Storm Release: Lightning Flame Pillar

A beam of light, dozens of times thicker than the Light Fang, struck the Root of the Seven-Tails' three pairs of wings before it even hit the ground.

With just one strike, two of the three pairs of wings detached from the Seven-Tails' body, and the remaining two wings were only on one side. Now the Seven-Tails completely lost its ability to take off and fly.

"Boom!"

The Seven-Tails' massive body crashed to the ground, and the enormous impact finally relieved him from the paralysis caused by the lightning.

But what followed was the excruciating pain of having his wings severed.

But this was not the end. Before the Seven-Tails could even struggle to his feet, a massive amount of water surged around his body.

Water Style · Water Style: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave.

The water-attribute masked monster unleashed its power, and a massive amount of water engulfed the entire Seven-Tails. No matter how much it struggled, it could not escape the shackles of the water.

"Hurry up, one last strike!" Kakuzu urged loudly.

"Understood, Storm Release: Hellfire Lightning Break."

The thick, forked lightning bolt slammed straight into the water, flowing into the Seven-Tails' body without leaking a single drop.

In that instant, the blue Seven-Tails was dyed pale purple from the inside out.

After the Ninjutsu ended, the Seven-Tails was limp and motionless. The next moment, it shrank back to the shape of Fu.

With the Water Style deactivated, Kakuzu retrieved the last remaining water-attribute masked monster and quickly stepped forward to place Sealing Jutsu on Fu to prevent her from regaining consciousness.

"Damn it, so this is what you meant by not being able to unleash the full power of Tailed Beast."

Hiruko's voice rang out from behind him, holding his severed hand, his words filled with questioning of Kakuzu.

Kakuzu silent for a moment, speechless. He himself couldn't understand how his opponent could be so strong. Could an eleven or twelve-year-old girl be someone Taichi Matsushita?

Kakuzu stepped forward and took the severed hand from Hiruko's hand. The tentacles of the Earth Grudge Fear extended and connected the severed hand to the severed arm. In just a few minutes, the severed limbs were reconnected.

"Regardless, the mission is complete, let's retreat immediately."

Hiruko his fist repeatedly, trying out his newly reattached severed hand. Hearing this, he turned to look at Fu on the ground and couldn't help but curse, "This mission was a complete waste! I don't know how long it will take for this arm to recover. This time I definitely need to rest properly for a while and get my Demon Sprout back to normal."

"Let's refine Luo's technique further."

Kakuzu stopped talking, picked up Fu and walked out. His losses were much greater than Hiruko's; he had lost all three hearts, and it was unknown how long it would take to replace them.

The battle here has ended, but there's been no movement at all in Takigakure, which isn't too far away.

In fact, Takigakure already knew that Akatsuki was coming when Fu completed her full tailed Tailed Beast Transformation.

After all, with such a huge Tailed Beast flying around in the sky so close to their own ninja village, even the most oblivious ninja village should have reacted by now.

However Takigakure clearly chose to play the coward at this point.

The Council Hall of Takigakure.

The Fourth Elder was glaring angrily at the other three elders, his finger trembling as he pointed at them.

"The Akatsuki are attacking! Our ninjas are fighting in the canyon, and even Fu Tailed Beast Transformation! And you're not even going to their aid? Are you still the higher-ups of Waterfall Village?"

"It's precisely because we're high-ranking members of Waterfall Village that we've decided we can't go to provide support."

The Great Elder spoke with righteous indignation, showing no remorse whatsoever for his words.

"Everyone knows Fu's situation; it's impossible for her to have mastered the power of Tailed Beast right now. At this moment, above the canyon..."

"The Seven-Tails is definitely in a berserk state. If we go to provide support now, we'll be facing not only the Akatsuki, but also a berserk Seven-Tails."

"Yes, Fourth Elder, the village's current strength is such that, let alone the Akatsuki, even the Seven-Tails is beyond our capabilities. Everything—must prioritize the greater good."

The Fourth Elder's Fourth Elder veins bulged as he listened, but he couldn't find a reason to refute him, which made him so angry that he kept panting heavily.

After a long while, he turned to look at the person kneeling in the main seat, his face full of pleading.

"Chief, no matter what, we must send someone to Scout. If the situation is favorable, we can send reinforcements immediately."

Seeing that the leader's expression was softening, the Third Elder immediately interrupted.

"No, we sent Fu away from the village to protect its secret. If we keep sending people there, won't that just make it easier to expose the village's location?"

Seeing that the leader, who had just been somewhat unsettled, had now become completely still, the Fourth Elder was furious and raised his fist, ready to rush forward and fight the Third Elder.

Unfortunately, no one was on his side. He had barely shown any interest in doing so when the Great Elder and the Second Elder stopped him.

Just as they were arguing and bickering, the battle on the other side of the canyon finally ended.

As the absence of intense Chakra fluctuations persisted for a long time, the five people present stopped arguing. They all knew that arguing any further was pointless.

All that's needed now is to wait. If the Takigakure ninja return, it means the Akatsuki has been defeated.

If not, then there's no point in even thinking about it.

Time ticked by, and the Fourth Elder's face grew increasingly dark. When an hour had passed and still no news had arrived, the Fourth Elder finally lost his temper and slammed his hand down on the coffee table beside him, shattering it.

The others merely glanced at the shattered coffee table and then paid no further attention; there was absolutely no need to provoke the Fourth Elder at this point.

Just as the higher-ups of Waterfall Village were trying to bury their heads in the sand and accept the loss of the Seven-Tails, a ninja rushed into the Council Hall.

"Chief, four elders, someone requests an audience!"

"What! Has information about the Seven-Tails arrived?"

The Fourth Elder jumped up as if he had been injected with chicken blood, took a few steps to the messenger ninja, grabbed his shoulders and shook him back and forth.

The other three elders and the leader were also excited. If Waterfall Village could defeat the Akatsuki on his own, it would be something to be happy about.

At least, Iwagakure and Cloud Village lost their own Jinchuriki.

The messenger ninja was shaken so much by the Fourth Elder that he felt dizzy, but at least he managed to make out what the higher-ups were saying.

"Ah! The Seven-Tails —it's not about the Seven-Tails, it's the Konoha ninjas who have arrived as reinforcements!"

Everyone's complexion visibly darkened.

What's the use of sending reinforcements now? The Jinchuriki have already been captured.

However, since they were sent by Konoha, we should still give them a meeting.

Leader Kui Mu straightened his clothes, stepped forward, and asked the messenger ninja, "Where are the Konoha support ninjas? Who are they?"

"They're in the reception hall outside the village; it's the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Sannin, one of the Tsunade."

"Click~ Click~ Click~"

A mechanical, twisting sound came from a neck, and all five high-ranking members of Waterfall Village stiffly turned their heads to look at the messenger ninja.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi? And Tsunade too?" Leader Kui Mu confirmed again.

"Yes—yes!" The messenger ninja nodded, realizing he had probably messed up; he hadn't even prioritized the important matters he was reporting.

"Fool!" came the angry shout from Chief Kui Mu.

"Great!" the Fourth Elder exclaimed.

The others all turned to look at the Fourth Elder, with a hint of annoyance in the eyes of the leader Kui Mu.

You don't need to go against me now!

The Fourth Elder realized his words were ambiguous and quickly added, "Leader, Konoha has sent such strong support. We can ask them to retrieve the Jinchuriki. The Akatsuki haven't been gone long."

Upon hearing this, everyone else's eyes lit up.

Believe it or not, it actually works.

"Let's go, hurry up and go see the Third Hokage and Tsunade of Konoha. Thank Konoha for arriving so quickly."

The group left the council hall in a hurry, and there was no argument at this point.

Reception room.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the empty entrance, puffing on his pipe absentmindedly, looking rather distracted.

Tsunade sat opposite Hiruzen Sarutobi, leisurely sipping her tea, occasionally glancing up at her teacher, and sometimes revealing a...

A smug smile spread across his face.

The problem with Waterfall Village was immediately apparent to them upon their arrival; all the Takigakure ninja seemed to be shrouded in a low-pressure atmosphere.

Without a doubt, it must be that something went wrong with the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki.

"Old man, what are you worried about? That's Tailed Beast from Takigakure, after all. Even if it gets stolen, it's not our fault."

Hiruzen Sarutobi glared at Tsunade, but after thinking for a moment, he decided not to lecture her. Besides, Tsunade understood those principles; she just didn't need him to worry about them.

Just then, footsteps approached Hiruzen Sarutobi looked in the direction of the sound and saw a group of five people hurrying towards them.

Comparing the information in his mind, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately confirmed that these were the current high-ranking members of Waterfall Village: the leader Kui Mu, and the four elders.

Kui Mu's enthusiasm surprised Hiruzen Sarutobi. The group always considered themselves from a small ninja village and always looked down on Hiruzen Sarutobi. Their flattery made Tsunade feel nauseous.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi was, after all, a seasoned politician with an exceptionally thick skin, and he stubbornly refused to proactively inquire about matters related to the mission.

Finally, the Fourth Elder couldn't stand it any longer and kept giving the leader meaningful glances. Kui Mu then sighed and began to speak the truth.

Mutually.

"Third Kazekage Hokage, you're too late!" Leader Kui Mu said, his face filled with sorrow. "Just an hour ago, the Akatsuki attacked us, and they've already captured the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki."

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Tsunade didn't show any surprise, which surprised Kui Mu. But now, he could only bite the bullet and continue, "The Akatsuki members haven't been gone long. We'd like to ask you to go after them and help us retrieve the Seven-Tails."

Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was about to speak, Tsunade was standing next to him, interrupted him.

"That's not the mission we agreed on before. Now that the Seven-Tails is in Akatsuki's hands, we'll be bound to be hesitant to act. If we accidentally hurt Jinchuriki, it'll be a difficult situation to resolve."

Tsunade knew she had to accept this mission. Both Konoha's current status and the need to stop Akatsuki from collecting the Tailed Beast forced them to accept it.

But let me make it clear from the start: the difficulties of this rescue mission are far greater than those of the guard mission.

Leader Kui Mu's face stiffened, but seeing Tsunade's magnanimous demeanor, he immediately swallowed his displeasure.

We can't afford to mess with them.

"Lady Tsunade is right. We have only done our best and left the rest to fate. We understand the ruthlessness of the Akatsuki, and even if the mission fails, we will not blame you."

Tsunade nodded and stopped talking, at which point Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately took over the conversation.

"Chief Kui Mu, we need information on who the Akatsuki members who came this time were, what Ninjutsu they used, and what the final outcome of the battle was."

"Ah----this----"

The leader, Kui Mu, looked somewhat embarrassed, as did the four elders beside him, all glancing around to avoid making eye contact with Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"To be honest, Lord Third Kazekage, we just received the intelligence and haven't had time to send anyone to investigate yet, so we don't know much about the situation there."

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Tsunade looked at each other, unsure of what to say.

Did they mishear? Didn't they say the attack happened an hour ago? How come they haven't sent anyone to Scout for so long?

Tsunade's face immediately darkened. Hiruzen Sarutobi, however, understood the mindset of these smaller ninja villages well. Composing himself, he said directly, "Then please have Chief Kui Mu send someone to lead the way. Also, your village should have someone accompany us during the pursuit, shouldn't it?"

"Yes, yes!" Chief Kui Mu turned and shouted outside, "Suien, come in."

A ninja with a cold face and a small mustache walked in from outside.

"This is Suien- Jonin from our village. He will accompany the two of them to the battle site to handle the follow-up pursuit."

Looking at the Tsunade Jonin front of her, Tsunade could sense with her own senses that this guy's strength had only just reached the threshold of Jonin, and she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

With that kind of strength, they probably won't need their protection in the future, right?

With the matter settled, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't linger and immediately called everyone to prepare to depart.

As soon as he left the reception hall, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked towards a corner, but unfortunately, it was empty, with only a shadowy figure.

"What's wrong?"

Tsunade leaned closer and asked in a low voice.

"It's nothing, maybe I was just imagining things. I just felt like someone was watching us."

Tsunade looked over in confusion; it was a blind spot, and no one should have been there just now.