The Six-Tails Jinchuriki

"Kai, Genma, Ebisu, go get the squad to stop." Uchiha Akira looked at the Jonin present.

The teacher of those three, Akimichi Choza, was still fighting on the front lines.

Although Uchiha Akira was only a Chunin, his impressive record gave him a great deal of influence in the squad. He was no Jonin in rank, but he was every bit their equal.

"What do we do now?" Hyuga Homura asked gravely, looking toward the ten o'clock direction. The suspected Jinchuriki's presence put immense pressure on him.

"I'll handle that suspected Jinchuriki—"

"No, I'll do it!"

Uchiha Akira cut Might Duy off mid-sentence.

Uchiha Akira looked at Might Duy and said, "Kirigakure only has the Six-Tails Jinchuriki here, and they won't be easy to deal with. Senior Duy, you should focus your strength with the other Jonin on taking out Kirigakure's Jonin."

Then he turned to the Chun in present. "The Chun in and medical ninja will protect the wounded. We have the advantage this time."

Konoha only had twelve people here, three squads, but in terms of top-tier fighters, they actually outnumbered Kirigakure.

Each of the three squads was effectively assigned a Jonin.

In other words, aside from Uchiha Akira and Might Duy, Konoha had three additional Jonin.

No one present objected to Uchiha Akira's plan.

His rank might have been low, but he was strong. With the enemy apparently deploying a Jinchuriki, following the strongest person's lead was the right choice.

And if something did go wrong, they'd have someone to pin the blame on. What did they have to lose?

Hyuga Homura looked at Uchiha Akira and said gravely, "Be careful. If they're willing to send out a Jinchuriki, that means they can already use the Tailed Beast's power!"

"I'll be careful. You should be careful, too. The Kirigakure ninja who managed to infiltrate this far won't be ordinary." Uchiha Akira gave them a warning in turn.

Might Duy looked at Uchiha Akira and said gravely, "Uchiha, I'll give this fight everything I have and take down my opponent. Until then, just hold on."

Uchiha Akira nodded. "I'll do my best to keep my fight with the Jinchuriki away from the squad."

Hyuga Homura's eyes narrowed. The veins around his Byakugan bulged as he hurriedly said, "They're moving! They're charging this way!"

As soon as he finished speaking, five figures rushed forward.

Hyuga Homura, Kakashi, Chiba Ryu, Might Duy, and Uchiha Akira—the full strength of Konoha's top fighters was moving out to swiftly crush the Kirigakure attackers.

After racing several hundred meters, the two sides met in the dense forest.

Uchiha Akira's gaze immediately locked onto a middle-aged man with brown hair, dressed in a loose blue robe and holding a device for blowing soap bubbles.

Clearly, this man wasn't Utakata, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki Uchiha Akira knew of. He was Haori, the previous Six-Tails Jinchuriki before Utakata, who was also known as Utakata.

He was probably related to Utakata by blood.

With his Sharingan, Uchiha Akira could clearly see the enormous chakra inside the middle-aged man, who bore some resemblance to Utakata.

His chakra was no weaker than Akira's. Apart from the Fourth Raikage and Uzumaki Kushina, Akira had never met anyone whose chakra clearly surpassed his own.

Might Duy immediately opened the sixth gate of the Formation of the Eight Inner Gates, the Gate of View. As he swung his fists, countless air cannons shot toward the thirteen Kirigakure ninja.

Boom!

A tremendous roar rang out, and the battlefield erupted into chaos.

Everyone immediately engaged their opponents.

Kakashi, Hyuga Homura, and Chiba Ryu each took on a Jonin.

Might Duy unleashed his brutal assault on Kirigakure's Chunin.

After only a few exchanges, Uchiha Akira and the Six-Tails Jinchuriki had moved hundreds of meters away from the battlefield.

Clearly, both sides were deliberately keeping their distance from the fighting.

Uchiha Akira's crimson Sharingan fixed on the Six-Tails Jinchuriki. He formed Hand Seals in an instant. "Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"

Layer upon layer of flames surged like the sea, forming a thousandfold sea of fire that instantly engulfed the forest ahead.

"Water Style: Water Formation Pillar!"

The Six-Tails Jinchuriki was just as quick. He formed Hand Seals in an instant and spat out a flood of water like a river bursting its banks. It crashed into the towering sea of flames.

Boom!

A tremendous roar rang out. A pillar of dark-red chakra shot skyward, unleashing violent chakra storms.

Amid the dark-red chakra storm, trees all around were swept up like straw. In an instant, a massive yellow crater formed.

A figure with six dark-red tails, shaped like a human with a tail in place of a head, appeared in the crater, which spanned dozens of meters. He let out low growls over and over.

Rings of dark-red chakra rippled outward from the partially transformed Six-Tails Jinchuriki.

"Partial Tailed Beast Transformation. Kirigakure really has studied the use of Tailed Beast power in depth!" Uchiha Akira remarked, surprised.

Using the Tailed Beast's power to this extent was already formidable.

Whoosh!

Uchiha Akira's vision blurred. In an instant, Haori, the partially transformed Six-Tails Jinchuriki, appeared in front of him. A dark-red chakra claw swung down with thunderous force.

"Fast!" Uchiha Akira showed no sign of panic. Blue sparks of electricity flared across his body, and he vanished from where he stood.

Dozens of meters away, Uchiha Akira's figure flickered into view and gradually solidified.

Crack!

The next moment, the earth split beneath his feet. Dense, dark-red chakra tendrils burst through the ground like swords.

Blue lightning flared again, and Uchiha Akira vanished.

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Song Technique!"

In midair, Uchiha Akira formed Hand Seals and spat out four crimson fire dragons. They attacked Haori from above, below, and both sides.

"Roar!"

It seemed that the Six-Tails' chakra had affected Haori in his partial transformation. He opened his mouth and blew out a dark-red bubble. It burst, sending out an invisible shockwave that slammed into the four fire dragons.

The impact instantly broke the dragons apart. Their flames surged skyward, turning the entire sky bright red.

Sizzle—

The next moment, sizzling sounds came from beside the Six-Tails Jinchuriki. Uchiha Akira had appeared there without him noticing.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Blade!"

In an instant, Uchiha Akira thrust the Ninja Blade, forged from lightning, toward the Six-Tails Jinchuriki's chest!

This was one of the Lightning Release Ninjutsu Uchiha Akira had created himself, a B-rank technique.

It could greatly increase the Ninja Blade's sharpness and extend a blade of lightning formed entirely from Lightning Release Chakra.

It was incredibly sharp. Since arriving on the battlefield, nothing had managed to stop this strike.

Shing!

Uchiha Akira immediately sensed something was wrong. The lightning blade had pierced less than two centimeters into the Six-Tails Jinchuriki's chest. It had clearly failed to break through the Tailed Beast Cloak.

The next moment, the six tails behind Haori whistled through the air and crashed down toward him.

Sizzle—

Uchiha Akira turned into a streak of lightning and vanished, reappearing dozens of meters away.

Looking at the Jinchuriki roaring at the sky, Uchiha Akira thought, It seems ordinary ninjutsu can't do anything to a Jinchuriki who's partially transformed to this extent. I'll have to create a terrain advantage and draw on nature!