The needle on the Hunting Fang detector swung wildly for a while before finally settling on a treacherous region within the Land of Water, shrouded in dense fog year-round and dotted with swamps and acidic hot springs: the Acid Mist Swamp. The harsh environment made it difficult for ordinary people to venture deep inside, making it an ideal place to hide.
"Target located: Six-Tails Jinchuriki, codename 'Hong.' She is most likely hiding here." Shen, of the Ghost Branch and in charge of operating the detector, reported the results. A map of the hazy energy readings appeared on the screen.
Uchiha Sakuya stood before the enormous strategy map, his cold gaze sweeping over the swamp marked in red.
"Our target this time specializes in Acid Release and Foam Release. The terrain heavily favors her. We must finish this quickly and avoid a prolonged battle or damaging the terrain," he ordered. "'Mirror,' 'Akatsuki,' 'Scale,' 'Feather,' and 'Ghost,' the first five branches will deploy. Shen will handle environmental concealment and genjutsu interference. Haku and Fu will engage her head-on and counter her abilities. Obito will provide support and prevent her escape. I'll capture her myself."
The strongest five-person team among the Ten Branches assembled in an instant.
Deep in the Acid Mist Swamp.
The fog was so thick it seemed impossible to disperse. It not only obscured their vision but also carried a faint, acrid smell that corroded their clothes and skin. Beneath their feet lay soft, sticky mud, where bubbles occasionally rose and burst, releasing even thicker clouds of acid mist.
Shen formed hand seals, a faint glimmer passing through her ice-blue eyes. "Demonic Illusion: Mirage!" The surrounding fog seemed to be stirred by an invisible hand, growing even more elusive and distorted. It skillfully concealed most of the team's movements and chakra signatures, like optical camouflage draped over them.
Following the Hunting Fang's final readings and concealed by Shen's genjutsu, the five-person team ventured into the heart of the swamp like ghosts.
At last, beside a vast hot spring lake in a relatively open area, its surface churning with colorful acidic bubbles, they spotted their target.
A figure sat on a rock by the lake, her long hair unmistakable, its colors shifting like a rainbow from deep purple to orange-red. She seemed to be resting, but transparent bubbles continually formed and burst around her, betraying her keen vigilance. She was Hong, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki.
Almost as soon as they spotted her, Hong jerked her head up! Animal instinct had alerted her to the deadly threat!
"Who's there?!" she shouted, springing to her feet and flinging out both hands!
"Acid Release: Acid Rain Cloud!"
In an instant, the fog above her gathered into a dense cloud that reeked of acid. Acidic raindrops showered down like arrows, blanketing the general area where Sakuya's team stood! The attack covered such a wide area that they couldn't possibly dodge it all!
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!" Haku immediately formed hand seals and raised a massive wall of water to block the attack. But as the acidic raindrops struck, they hissed and quickly corroded through it! "Scale Powder Concealment Technique: Scatter!" Fu scattered scale powder with a neutralizing effect, but it could barely hold back part of the attack.
"Ice Release: Ice Rock Hall Nothingness!" Haku changed tactics again, raising a massive wall of ice crystals from the ground. It temporarily blocked the acid rain, but the ice wall was visibly corroding and melting away!
"Found you!" Hong sneered. Using the acid rain to pinpoint the enemy's general position, she rapidly formed hand seals. "Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique!" (A Kekkei Genkai combining acid and heat.)
She spewed out mist even more acidic than before, scorching hot and surging forward like a tsunami! Rocks dissolved and the swamp boiled in its wake!
"What a troublesome technique," Obito said with a frown, preparing to absorb it with Kamui.
But Sakuya stopped him. "Save your ocular power in case something unexpected happens."
He turned to Fu and Haku. "Suppress her!"
Fu took a deep breath, and the silhouette of the Seven-Tails appeared behind her. "Scale Powder Concealment Technique: Scatter!" An even thicker cloud of scale powder, carrying a powerful paralyzing effect and disrupting chakra, surged toward the scorching acid mist like a storm. The two forces clashed violently in midair, hissing as vast clouds of white steam billowed up. For the moment, neither side gained the upper hand!
Haku pressed both hands to the ground. "Ice Release: Nine Dragons Ice Seal!" Nine enormous ice dragons surged up from the swamp and roared toward Hong from different directions!
Hong retreated swiftly, sweeping both hands outward. "Foam Release: Foaming Waves!" Countless colorful bubbles, each imbued with terrifying acidity and explosive force, surged out of the lake to meet the ice dragons!
Boom! Boom! Boom! The bubbles exploded the moment they touched the ice dragons, spraying acidic liquid everywhere. The ice dragons were blasted full of holes, then rapidly corroded and melted!
The battle had turned into a fierce clash of opposing elements and a war of attrition from the very start! Hong had the terrain on her side, and her Acid Release and Foam Release were both devastating and difficult to counter. For a time, she held her own against Haku and Fu!
Shen kept using genjutsu to disrupt Hong's judgment, but Hong's will seemed unusually strong, and she appeared to have some resistance to genjutsu. The attempts had little effect.
"Her chakra is connected to the acidic lake beneath the swamp. It's almost inexhaustible!" Shen reported urgently.
Sakuya calmly watched. The Eighty Gods Mirror continually analyzed Hong's every movement, her chakra flow, and the weaknesses in her techniques.
"Obito, thirty degrees to her left. Distort space to distract her for three seconds." "Haku, attack from the right with ice spikes. Force her to shift half a step to the right." "Fu, concentrate your scale powder overhead. Block her vision for one second." "Shen, use your strongest genjutsu three meters in front of her: Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique. You don't need to hit her; just draw her attention for half a second."
A series of instructions, precise to the extreme, instantly reached the minds of the four teammates!
Without hesitation, all four acted at once!
Kamui's spatial distortion appeared to Hong's left, making her instinctively wary and forcing her to evade! Haku's ice spikes shrieked toward her from the right! Fu's scale powder descended like a curtain! A flash of Shen's powerful genjutsu erupted directly in front of Hong!
Hong reacted with incredible speed, instantly assessing the situation: the space to her left was strange and untouchable; the ice spikes to her right could be blocked; the scale powder overhead had to be stopped; the genjutsu before her had to be broken! Her body instinctively shifted half a step to the right and back—the most reasonable response—while she prepared to block the ice spikes and blow away the scale powder!
Yet that was exactly what Sakuya had calculated! The spot half a step to the right and back was where her connection to the acidic lake beneath her feet fluctuated most frequently—and, as a result, where it produced an exceedingly subtle disturbance!
Now!
Sakuya moved!
The Eighty Gods Mirror had predicted everything! He moved so fast that he left an afterimage! His left hand instantly drew his handgun! He wasn't aiming at Hong herself, but at the swamp beneath her feet!
Bang! A specially made round engraved with a powerful Earth Release hardening seal shot out, instantly hardening the swamp beneath her!
Hong felt solid ground under her feet. Her energy connection faltered for an instant!
In the split second between the end of her previous momentum and the start of her next move, Sakuya's right-hand handgun fired again!
Bang! This time, the round was engraved with a powerful sealing formula and aimed directly at the seal on Hong's abdomen!
Hong was horrified and twisted with all her might to dodge!
Thwack! The sealing round missed the core of the seal on her abdomen, but struck her right shoulder hard! Its powerful sealing force surged into her body, instantly sealing the chakra in her entire right arm and leaving it immobile!
"Ugh!" Hong groaned in pain, her movements thrown off!
But Sakuya's attack wasn't over! He pressed in like a shadow that clung to its prey! A third handgun slid from his sleeve!
Bang! A round infused with Yin Release Chakra, designed specifically to disrupt the mind, shot toward Hong's head at close range!
At that distance, and with her badly wounded, Hong could no longer dodge it completely!
It felt as if a heavy hammer had struck her head. Her mind went blank, her consciousness blurred, and the scene before her eyes twisted and overlapped!
"Foam Release:..." She tried to fight back, but could no longer form the technique properly.
Sakuya had already raised his fourth handgun to her forehead.
"Stay still." His voice came through the mask, cold and flat.
Hong froze completely. She felt cold metal against her forehead, and sensed the terrifying chakra inside it—enough to destroy her brain in an instant. She had no doubt that if she moved even slightly, her skull would be blown apart the very next moment.
Despair engulfed her.
Haku and Fu immediately stepped forward and bound the helpless Hong tightly with specially made chakra chains.
Obito checked that the area was secure.
Sakuya put away his handgun and looked at the subdued Hong. "Notify Orochimaru. Have him prepare to receive the Six-Tails vessel," he said to Shen.
The battle should have been incredibly difficult, given the enemy's home-terrain advantage. But with Sakuya's precise commands, the Eighty Gods Mirror's unparalleled insight, and the handgun's innovative use in combat, it ended with remarkable efficiency.
The Ten Branches had claimed another victory. The Six-Tails was theirs.
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