The Mere Three-Tails? A Piece of Cake!

As Three-Tails Isobu kept drawing closer, the shinobi who had just tried to stop him with Water Release: Water Shockwave were scared witless.

But Mei Terumi and Gonbei's warnings snapped them out of their daze, and they hurried away.

Except-

Splash! Splash! Splash! Splash!

Three-Tails Isobu suddenly slammed the water's surface, sending countless towering waves surging back.

Whoosh!

Splash! Splash! Splash! Splash!

Wave after monstrous wave sent Kirigakure's shinobi flying in every direction.

It wasn't just the shinobi who were hurled about by the terrifying torrents.

Even the boulders on the shore and the trees in the surrounding forest were swept into the air.

"Those idiots!"

Mei Terumi was utterly exhausted. She had already made arrangements, but these idiots wouldn't listen. What was she supposed to do?

Specialized work should be left to specialists!

Uzumaki Shixia, Amegakure's mission-clearing machine, was undoubtedly the best specialist for the job.

Both Kakuzu and Kisame grew serious when they saw the Three-Tails.

Kakuzu turned to Sixia and asked, "What's the battle plan?"

Sixia replied casually, "Just watch from the sidelines. Leave him to me."

With his current abilities, handling the mere Three-Tails would be a piece of cake.

Elsewhere, Genji and the other Kirigakure leaders appeared nearby, along with the Blood Mist's leaders.

Mei Terumi, Gonbei, and the others quickly made their way to Genji.

Genji was already nearing the end of his life, yet he still cared deeply about the village. Whenever something went wrong, he rushed to the scene immediately.

Seeing Mei Terumi approach, Genji asked at once, "What happened here?"

Mei Terumi hid nothing and told him everything she knew.

"Lord Genji, those Blood Mist bastards did this."

"They used a secret technique to provoke the Three-Tails into a rampage. Now they've gone into hiding somewhere."

Once Mei Terumi finished, Genji and Kirigakure's other leaders looked grim.

Deeply worried, Genji asked, "Do you have any way to resolve this?"

Everyone else turned their eyes toward Mei Terumi.

Kirigakure's leaders were, in fact, already grooming her to become the Fifth Mizukage.

Mei Terumi answered truthfully, "I hired a powerful shinobi to handle this for ten million ryo."

Konoha, in the Land of Fire, had even sacrificed a Hokage to deal with the Nine-Tails' rampage!

Unless the shinobi Mei Terumi had hired was Kage Level-and one of the best at that-

There was no way he could deal with a tailed beast.

Kirigakure's leaders unanimously agreed that there was a good ninety percent chance-if not a hundred-that Mei Terumi had been scammed!

Genji could only ask further, "Do you have a backup plan? Or could we negotiate with the Blood Mist?"

He didn't believe the shinobi Mei Terumi had hired would show up.

Even if he did, Genji didn't think he would be capable of resolving the Three-Tails' rampage.

Kirigakure's other leaders shared that view.

On the Blood Mist's side, Karatachi Takiichi and Hozuki Mugetsu stared at the scene in surprise.

After seeing the rampaging Three-Tails, Hozuki Mugetsu couldn't help asking Kondo Takashi behind him.

"Who did this?"

Their Blood Mist faction had studied the Three-Tails more thoroughly than anyone else.

The moment Hozuki Mugetsu saw the Three-Tails rampaging, he realized one of their people was responsible.

They had only recently reached a verbal agreement with Mei Terumi.

But as long as Mei Terumi couldn't find any evidence against them-

Even Genji couldn't do anything to them.

Hozuki Mugetsu had already realized this was an excellent opportunity.

Genji and his group couldn't handle the Three-Tails.

In the end, only their Blood Mist faction could resolve this!

"I did!"

Kondo Yano's sinister voice rang out, and he appeared behind Kondo Takashi and the other two.

"You... did well!"

Hozuki Mugetsu glanced at Kondo Yano with approval in his eyes.

Karatachi Takiichi added, "Necessary sacrifices are unavoidable if we want a brighter future for the village."

"If these people can contribute to the village's development, at least their deaths will have meaning."

None of these four Blood Mist members were good people.

To them, a few dead or injured villagers were utterly insignificant.

If the village failed to develop properly, far more people would die once war broke out.

Unfortunately, the Blood Mist's plans were about to fall apart!

"What... is that?"

Kondo Takashi's pupils abruptly contracted as he looked toward the distant lake.

Hozuki Mugetsu, Karatachi Takiichi, and Kondo Yano also turned their eyes in that direction.

Whoosh-

Then they saw something that made their scalps prickle.

A blue flash appeared before Three-Tails Isobu in an instant.

Then that figure pressed a hand against Three-Tails Isobu's armor and pushed the hill-sized beast backward.

"What...?"

"What?"

"My God!"

Every shinobi watching from every direction was stunned.

Rumor had it that the Third Raikage could also fight tailed beasts hand to hand.

But no matter how they looked at him, Uzumaki Shixia didn't resemble Kumogakure's dark-skinned or brown-skinned musclemen.

Yet they watched in utter shock.

With one hand pressed against the armor of the Three-Tails, who had nearly reached the shore, Uzumaki Shixia forcibly pushed him farther and farther back.

Just moments ago, Genji and the others had been convinced Mei Terumi had been scammed!

But Genji and Kirigakure's other leaders realized they were wrong.

He had pushed the Three-Tails back through sheer physical strength alone!

How astonishing was that strength? How terrifying?

Mei Terumi, Gonbei, Ao, and Chojuro had seen Uzumaki Shixia fight before.

They knew Uzumaki Shixia was strong, but they hadn't imagined he was even stronger than they had thought!

Sixia's feat of pushing the Three-Tails from the shore back to the center of the lake stunned everyone-and thoroughly enraged the beast.

The Three-Tails roared and launched an even more terrifying attack at Sixia!

Boom!

Crackle! Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!

The Three-Tails raised an enormous claw and brought it crashing down on Sixia.

Lightning release chakra erupted around Sixia.

The Strongest Shield, Lightning Release Armor, instantly covered his entire body.

Boom!

The Three-Tails' claw slammed into Sixia, but he didn't budge.

After taking that vicious blow, Sixia lifted his head, looked at the Three-Tails, and grinned.

"Know what a fortress wall is?"

"The Strongest Shield, with Ten-Tails-level durability, kid!"

The Three-Tails couldn't understand his words.

But he knew the human before him was taunting him, and that was unforgivable!

The spectators all around were stunned yet again!

He pushed the Three-Tails backward with one hand, then stood motionless and let the beast hit him as much as he liked.

What kind of monster was this?

Was a new God of Shinobi about to emerge in the shinobi world?

On Mei Terumi's side, everyone-including Mei Terumi herself-was dumbstruck.

Gasp-

Having witnessed that scene, Genji and Kirigakure's leaders all sucked in cold breaths of shock.

Chojuro was a little slow to react. By the time he felt the full impact of his astonishment, everyone else had already sucked up all the cold air around him.

So he could only gape, staring dumbfounded at Uzumaki Shixia in the distance.

Elsewhere, Karin's anxious heart finally settled.

Ever since Uzumaki Shixia rescued her, she had stayed by his side.

By now, she had grown deeply dependent on this special person.

Back in Kusagakure, she could never fall asleep. Even when exhausted, she slept lightly, living in fear all day long.

Now she could even drool in her sleep on Uzumaki Shixia's back.

But this time, Sixia had gone alone to face the shinobi world's most terrifying creatures, the tailed beasts, and she hadn't known what to expect.

Watching Sixia fight the Three-Tails, Kakuzu was equally astonished.

This guy has definitely gotten stronger again!

What kind of terrifying growth rate is this?

While Kakuzu pondered these things, Kisame watched Sixia's battle with the Three-Tails intently.

Shock was written all over Kisame's face as well.

So far, Sixia had treated fighting the Three-Tails like child's play.

First, he had pushed the Three-Tails backward with one hand. Then he had stood still, using the Strongest Shield: Lightning Release Armor to withstand the beast's attacks.

And that wasn't all. Now Sixia was fighting a tailed beast hand to hand, just like the Third Raikage.

Moreover, Kisame was certain that, if the rumors were accurate, Sixia was far more formidable than the Third Raikage.

Sixia's battle with the Three-Tails wasn't an evenly matched fight. It was a one-sided beating.

Roar-

The Three-Tails roared repeatedly as he fought Sixia at close quarters.

When he slammed a claw down, Sixia simply caught it.

Hey, I'm a tailed beast!

A tailed beast born with immense strength, terrifying destructive power, and vast reserves of chakra!

What was wrong with this human?

Why did it feel like he was the tailed beast instead? This was completely backward!

Boom!

Enraged, the Three-Tails opened his enormous, blood-red maw and lunged at Sixia to bite him!

The sight startled the many shinobi watching from every direction.

"Watch out!"

"Careful! The tailed beast is attacking you!"

"Oh no! He didn't react in time!"

Everyone cried out as they saw the Three-Tails suddenly lunge to bite Sixia.

But their worries were entirely unnecessary.

What Sixia did next showed them the terrifying strength of a Humanoid Ten-Tails.

"Up!"

Gripping the Three-Tails' enormous claw with both hands, Sixia swung the beast into the air before countless shocked eyes.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Boom-

Holding the Three-Tails by his claw, Sixia spun him around several times, then hurled him into the distance.

Boom!

Rumble!

The hill-sized Three-Tails fell from the sky, sending countless pillars of water shooting upward.

Towering waves also surged wildly in every direction.

The Kirigakure shinobi watching nearby were all too shocked to speak.

They had thought an extremely dangerous battle awaited them today.

But they had been wrong. Today's battle wasn't dangerous in the slightest.

From the start of the fight until now, Sixia had completely dominated the Three-Tails.

Hum-

Of course, the Three-Tails was no pushover. When his enormous head emerged from the water again-

A ball of water radiating terrifying chakra fluctuations had already formed in his mouth.

For the Three-Tails, this attack was second only to the Tailed Beast Bomb.

Water Release: Iron Cannonball!