Damn it, these guys actually wanted to get their hands on the Three-Tails. Then it was a fight to the death.
Karatachi Yagura gave up on trying to communicate with Pain. Red, ominous chakra began to envelop his entire body.
Clearly realizing that his enemy was a powerful wielder of the Rinnegan, he went all out and entered the Tailed Beast Transformation.
Not far from there, Obito and Konan quietly watched Pain battle Karatachi Yagura. Opportunities to witness the power of the Rinnegan from such close range were few and far between.
As expected, the battle went just as predicted. Even as a perfect Jinchuriki, Karatachi Yagura was no match for the Six Paths of Pain. Before long, he was covered in Black Receivers like a hedgehog and collapsed to the ground, his life or death unknown.
Obito walked over and nudged Karatachi Yagura with his foot. "Now that the Fourth Mizukage has been dealt with, all that's left is the clan heads of the Yuki Clan and the Kaguya Clan, and this farce will be over. Have you made arrangements for those two?"
After the battle with Karatachi Yagura, Nagato seemed quite satisfied with Pain's power. He replied haughtily,
"Those two won't get away either. I've already sent Sasori and Kakuzu to deal with them. Since you're worried something might go wrong, you can go supervise them."
Tap, tap...
Two figures arrived at a large door covered in seals and stopped.
One of them, wearing a Mist Village Forehead Protector, respectfully stood to the side and addressed the mysterious figure behind him, who wore a mask and a black robe.
"My lord, this is where the Kirigakure's classified archives and secret techniques are stored. However, the door is covered in high-level seals, and ordinary methods can't open it.
"In the Mist Village, only the Mizukage and a few elders have permission to undo the seals and enter."
"Oh, so this is where it is. Good thing you showed me the way. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been easy to find."
The Mist Village ninja showed no reaction to the mysterious man's praise. He stood there woodenly, as if he'd lost his soul.
"As for getting inside, I have my own way. You don't need to worry about that. Deal with the people following behind us. Go."
After receiving his order, the Mist Village ninja stiffly turned around and walked back the way they had come.
Soon, he ran into a group of Mist Village ninjas dressed just like him. Their leader was a young woman with curly brown hair—the future Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi.
"Kaida, why are you here?"
Mei Terumi recognized the person approaching and immediately questioned him.
This was an important facility in the village. Ordinary people weren't allowed to come here without orders from the Mizukage or the elders.
She had only come to inspect the place with a team because the elders had ordered her to, in case it had been damaged.
She hadn't expected someone else to arrive before her.
But the Mist Village ninja called Kaida didn't answer Mei Terumi. Instead, he quickly formed Hand Seals.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
A column of water shot from Kaida's mouth, then became a huge wave that surged toward Mei Terumi and the others.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
Mei Terumi quickly reacted to Kaida's Water Release attack and countered with the same technique.
The two enormous waves collided. Although they were the same technique, the strength of their users was worlds apart.
Mei Terumi possessed two Kekkei Genkai, and her Water Release Ninjutsu was far more powerful than that of an ordinary Water Release ninja.
Soon, her technique overwhelmed her opponent, and the wave began surging toward Kaida.
Rumble...
Kaida was engulfed by the wave and slammed hard into the wall.
Watching Kaida struggle in the water, Mei Terumi hesitated.
The village had already lost too many people to the infighting today. More casualties would do no good. Perhaps she should give him a chance to explain before deciding how to deal with him.
Seeing that Kaida was nearing his limit, Mei Terumi decisively stopped her attack, giving him the chance to cling to life where he was.
"Kaida, you understand the difference in strength between us now, don't you?
"Resistance is pointless. Surrender."
Mei Terumi's words had no effect on Kaida. As soon as he got to his feet, he attacked her and the others again.
"Damn it, Kaida! Have you lost your mind?"
The ninjas who had come with Mei Terumi saw that Kaida was acting as if possessed and still attacking them despite her warnings. They all began to berate him.
"Something's wrong. It looks like someone's controlling him. These attacks aren't really his own doing.
"Never mind. We'll restrain him first."
Mei Terumi noticed something was off while fighting Kaida. She explained the situation to her companions, then stopped holding back and quickly knocked him to the ground with her full strength.
Kaida tried to get back up and continue fighting, but an Anbu member who had been waiting nearby trapped him with the Water Prison Technique.
"Leave a few people here to watch him. The rest of you, come with me and check ahead."
Mei Terumi finished speaking and led the way forward. When they reached the door at the very end and saw that the seals on it were still intact, she breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed the enemy hadn't succeeded. That made sense; this was an important location in the Mist Village, and the seals were far too powerful for an ordinary person to break in a short time.
There were no signs that the seals on the door had been activated. That meant the intruder had given up without even trying. They certainly knew when to be smart and decisive.
Since there were no signs of a fight, she didn't have enough information to figure out the intruder's identity.
So who was targeting this place?
And had this really been nothing more than a false alarm?
As Mei Terumi stared at the sealed door, an inexplicable unease welled up inside her.
Her instincts told her that things might not be so simple. After thinking for a moment, Mei Terumi decided to trust her gut and said to the Anbu,
"To be safe, we should ask a few of the elders to come here."
Mei Terumi kept watch there for a while. When she saw several elders hurrying over, she immediately went to meet them.
After briefly explaining what she knew, the elders nodded.
"You did the right thing. Although there's no sign that the seals were activated, it's still safer to go inside and take a look."
After speaking, several elders formed Hand Seals and activated the seals, opening the door.
Mei Terumi cautiously stepped inside with the elders. When they reached the place where the scrolls had been stored, their expressions changed dramatically.
The place that had once been filled to the brim now stood completely empty. The precious intelligence and scrolls of secret techniques had all vanished without a trace.
"Th-this is impossible!"
"How could this happen?!"
The elders wailed in despair. Some couldn't bear the shock; their vision went dark, and they fainted on the spot.
"Elder! Elder!"
"Quick, get someone from the Medical Division!"
Then Mei Terumi gave another order,
"Take Kaida to the Intelligence Division immediately and interrogate him at once. I want to know who's been attacking us from the shadows."