Ch. 401Slapping the Nine-Tails Away
Key plot points and events
- Xia Yue prepares to tell Kurama about future events, including the Ten-Tails and the coming Ninja World War.
- A bolt of lightning strikes nearby. Xia Yue treats it as strange weather rather than a warning.
- Manji, watching from the void, decides Xia Yue’s continued revelations are too risky and appears before him.
- Xia Yue recognizes that Manji is unknown to the original story and, frightened, asks Kurama to protect him.
- Kurama attacks Manji, but Manji effortlessly restrains both Kurama and Xia Yue with an invisible force.
- When Manji begins to take Xia Yue away, Kurama breaks free and launches a Tailed Beast Bomb.
- Manji responds with a casual slap that sends Kurama flying into distant mountains, flattening several of them. He then vanishes with Xia Yue.
- Injured and stunned, Kurama wonders how someone so powerful could exist and why the Sage of Six Paths never told him.
Character developments
- Xia Yue shifts from eager confidence to panic as he realizes Manji is an unknown and overwhelmingly powerful threat.
- Kurama acts protectively toward Xia Yue, calling him his “brother,” but his confidence in his own strength is shattered by Manji’s effortless victory.
- Manji is revealed as a ruthless, immensely powerful figure who will remove Xia Yue to prevent him from revealing future knowledge.
Significant themes
- The danger of foreknowledge: Xia Yue’s attempt to reveal the future draws Manji’s intervention.
- Power and helplessness: Kurama’s immense strength proves useless against Manji.
- Hidden forces and incomplete knowledge: Kurama’s shock underscores that the world contains powers even he—and apparently the Sage—did not explain.
Character interactions
- Xia Yue seeks Kurama’s protection, and Kurama responds as a loyal ally.
- Kurama challenges Manji to defend Xia Yue; Manji dismisses him and defeats him with minimal effort.
- Manji takes Xia Yue away, leaving Kurama injured, bewildered, and questioning what he knows.