The battlefield in the Dense Fog Sea became tangled in an instant. The intervention of Konoha's Purifying Karma unit had shattered the Akatsuki's seemingly foolproof capture plan.
Ling's gaze was icy as he faced the dark purple tentacles thrashing and multiplying across the sea, with Kisame poised to strike. His hands rapidly formed hand seals as senjutsu chakra surged through him.
"Sage Art: Pure Water Release: Purifying Erosion: Thousand Needles-Modified!"
Instead of scattering over a wide area, countless azure senbon of pure water curved through the air as though alive, precisely evading Kisame's interception to concentrate on the tentacles' root junctions and the mouthparts constantly opening and closing along their surfaces! Guided by Neji's Byakugan, Ling had identified the nodes where their energy was most active-and where they might also be relatively vulnerable.
Hiss, hiss, hiss-!
A dense chorus of purification hissed through the air. The tentacle roots that were struck rapidly blackened and shriveled, while their mouthparts snapped shut and disintegrated under the impact of the pure energy. The tentacles' proliferation visibly faltered, temporarily halting their spread.
"Bastard! Don't ignore me!" Kisame roared, swinging Samehada as he charged again. The massive blade slashed toward Ling with enough force to tear through everything in its path. He had realized Ling was the key to purifying the contamination and had to be eliminated first.
"Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!" Yamato acted in time, raising a sturdy wooden barrier in front of Ling.
Bang! Wood splintered everywhere. Samehada cleaved through most of the Wood Locking Wall, but it still successfully blocked the crushing blow.
"Lightning Blade!" Kakashi appeared at Kisame's flank like a bolt of lightning, thrusting straight at a vital point and forcing him to defend.
Ling paid Kisame no attention. Most of his concentration went into controlling the Purifying Senbon,