Almost Laughed Out Loud

The smoke from the explosion above had yet to fully disperse when a figure fell from the sky.

Utakata, his face covered in blood and twisted in a ferocious expression, landed on the ground just like that.

Then he casually sprang back to his feet.

His eyes were bloodshot now. No one knew where the blood on his face had come from, but he looked thoroughly enraged and violent.

Little Nine-Tails was equally shocked. No one had ever withstood its Tailed Beast Ball head-on; the grass on the graves of every Ninja who had faced one directly was already three feet high. That was where Little Nine-Tails's confidence came from.

Against its Tailed Beast Ball, one either dodged or altered its trajectory. No one who faced it head-on had survived.

But Utakata had done it today.

It was not that Utakata was too strong, but that Little Nine-Tails was too weak right now.

"You actually didn't die. That's enough for you to brag about for the rest of your life."

Little Nine-Tails still had no idea how serious the situation was and continued praising itself without restraint.

Utakata's appearance had changed ever so slightly. A huge tail had appeared behind him, taller than he was, covered in thick slime and looking rather disgusting.

There was also a fist-sized hole in it.

At the critical moment just now, that tail must have blocked Little Nine-Tails's Tailed Beast Ball. That was why Utakata was still standing there alive.

Otherwise, it really would have been goodbye.

Tailed Beasts understood how to deal with other Tailed Beasts. Slime itself could bolster defense, and if one wanted to stop a Tailed Beast Ball from exploding, the only option was to wrap and assimilate it with Tailed Beast Chakra. Normally, though, that was not recommended.

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