"I'd rather die than be a dog!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a roar from Isobu's Yagura escaped from his lips.
The sound didn't sound like a human voice; it sounded like a rusty iron door hinge spinning wildly.
The seawater below deck exploded.
A ten-meter-high column of water shattered the thick wooden deck. Planks broke, and splinters mixed with seawater sprayed outwards like shotgun pellets.
The two Uchiha Jōkan who were closest to each other had just raised their electric batons above their heads.
"Bang!"
The water jets slammed solidly into their chests.
The bulletproof vests caved in. The two men were sent flying backwards with screams, like paper kites with broken strings.
It traced a parabola through the air before crashing heavily into the icy sea a hundred meters away, creating two white waves.
There wasn't even a splashing sound.
Yagura crouched amidst the broken planks of wood.
The green sleeveless turtleneck sweater was torn; strips of fabric hung from its shoulders.
A dark red Chakra Cloak, like boiling magma, seeped from every pore of his body.
It instantly enveloped the entire body.
Three large bulges appeared on the skin of his lower back.
"Sizzle."
Three thick tails covered in sharp spikes pierced through flesh and lashed wildly in mid-air.
It brought with it a strong earthy smell and moisture.
Its tail swept against the mast beside it with a "crack." The thick, solid wooden mast snapped in two and crashed into the sea.
Yagura lay sprawled on the ground, his ten fingers transforming into sharp claws.
He dug deep into the wood, carving out ten deep cuts.
He raised his head. Veins were bulging on his baby face.
His chin was clenched at an exaggerated angle. Saliva dripped down the corners of his mouth, but before it even hit the ground, it was evaporated into white smoke by Chakra.
"I'll drag you down with me!"
A gurgling sound, like bubbles bursting, came from his throat.
Red and blue Chakra converged Chakra in front of his gaping mouth.
Compress and rotate proportionally.
A black Tailed Beast Bomb rapidly took shape. The surrounding air was severely distorted by the high pressure.
Five hundred meters away. The Chakra aircraft carrier.
Inside the fully enclosed command center on the top floor of the island superstructure.
There was no sea breeze, only the whooshing sound of air conditioning units blowing air.
Shu Shiraishi leaned back in a black leather high-backed chair.
Legs crossed. Military boots resting on the edge of the solid wood control panel.
The surface of the water in the rough porcelain teacup on the table was affected by the Chakra shockwave from outside, causing fine ripples to spread out.
A drop of water splashed out and landed on the documents on the desktop.
He turned his head and glanced at the glaringly bright red dot on the screen.
He didn't even lift his eyelids slightly.
Extend your left hand, bend your index finger, and grasp a transparent resin protective cover on the control panel.
Lift it upwards.
Underneath the lid is a red plastic button, about the size of a coin.
Shu Shiraishi pressed his thumb on it.
Without pausing, he pressed down hard.
Click.
The button is fully depressed; the mechanical latch is engaged.
The top of the radar mast, the highest point on the aircraft carrier.
A ten-meter-wide metal dome-shaped antenna with meshing gears.
"Gala gala."
The antenna slowly rotated, its gaze fixed intently on Yagura on the flagship's deck.
In the machine room next to the command center.
Orochimaru stood in front of a huge machine.
At the center of the instrument is a fiberglass cylinder filled with a pale green nutrient solution.
That Mangekyō Sharingan with the four-cornered windmill pattern is soaking inside.
A dozen or so thin, thread-like copper wires are connected to the back of the eyeball, leading all the way to the motherboard in the server rack.
Orochimaru stared at the parameters on the screen, his palms sweating.
He typed rapidly on the keyboard. His finger slipped, and he pressed the wrong key.
"Snap." He quickly pressed backspace and retyped.
" Kotoamatsukami wide-area projection. Maximum power." Orochimaru's voice was hoarse.
He abruptly pulled down the thick switch on his right.
The eyeball inside the fiberglass tube suddenly began to tremble violently.
The red windmill pattern is spinning wildly.
A string of bubbles appeared in the green nutrient solution.
A crimson light wave invisible to the naked eye.
It shot out with a roar, following the antenna at the top of the mast.
Silently.
There was no sound of air being torn apart. There were no flashes of light or shadow from clashing Chakra.
The beam of light struck directly into the Tailed Beast Bomb that was almost fully formed in front of Yagura.
The Tailed Beast Bomb's violent energy posed no obstacle to it.
The light wave pierced through the black sphere, penetrating the indestructible dark red Chakra Cloak covering Yagura's body.
It pierced straight into his brow.
It penetrates the cerebral cortex.
Forcibly rewriting brainwaves.
on deck.
The roar in Yagura's throat was instantly severed as if by an invisible knife.
The mouth was still open, but the sound was gone.
The black Tailed Beast Bomb in front of his mouth had lost its Chakra sustaining it.
It flickered twice.
"Puff."
Like a deflated balloon, it turned into a wisp of black smoke, which was then blown away completely by the sea breeze.
The three wildly flailing, spiky tails behind him suddenly froze.
The Isobu within the sealed space let out a shrill meow.
Like a wildcat whose tail has been stepped on.
This Genjutsu struck straight to the soul, even crushing the will of the Tailed Beast.
A dark red Chakra Cloak, like the receding tide.
It quickly retracted into Yagura's pores.
The wound, with its skin torn open, was exposed again.
Yagura stood stiffly on the wooden deck.
My neck, like a rusty machine, slowly straightens.
The crazed, death-defying expression on his face was frozen solid within his muscles.
A strange twitch lingered at the corner of his mouth.
His eyes were bloodshot.
The color started to fade.
The red veins gradually disappeared, and the violent, menacing light faded away.
The pupils are dilated; the focus is lost.
The light disappeared completely from his eyes.
It turned into a stagnant pool devoid of life.
Turbid. Numb.
"Thump."
Yagura's knees buckled, and he crashed heavily onto the cracked wooden floor.
A splinter pierced his knee. He didn't feel it.
Place your hands flat on the deck and bend over.
Heading towards the aircraft carrier's island superstructure.
He slammed his head down hard.
Thump.
He slammed his forehead against the wooden board, leaving a small bruise.
He didn't raise his head; he just lay there, motionless.
A puppet without its own will.
All the wires were torn off. He knelt at the manipulator's feet.
beside.
The Third Mizukage lay sprawled on the deck.
He watched this scene, forgetting even the pain of his severed arm.
His chin was agape, and drool was dripping onto his collar.
This is Kirigakure's last trump card: the Perfect Jinchuriki.
They didn't even unleash a single move.
I didn't even see how they made their move.
He just knelt down and kowtowed.
Mizukage felt a churning in her stomach.
A heat rose in my crotch.
A stream of yellowish liquid flowed down his trouser leg and dripped onto the deck.
He really peed this time. He was terrified.
The last shred of dignity he held as the Mizukage was completely washed away with that pee.
Inside the aircraft carrier's command center.
Shu Shiraishi removed his thumb from the red button.
The button pops up with a "click".
He picked up the rough porcelain teacup on the table.
The water had cooled down. He took a big gulp.
Adam's apple bobbed. He swallowed.
My gaze swept across the large screen.
The screen was filled with trembling Kirigakure Village prisoners of war kneeling on the deck.
Yagura lay prone at the very front, like a dead dog.
Shu Shiraishi tugged at the corner of his mouth, forming a cold, emotionless smile.
He reached out and pressed the communication microphone on the table.
"Take him back to Konoha."
Shu Shiraishi's voice boomed through the loudspeaker, echoing across the sea, cold and hard as iron.
"Drain the Three-Tails. Use them as backup batteries for Base Two."
He released the button.
I switched channels.
Orochimaru.
Orochimaru's suppressed, excited breathing came through the loudspeaker.
"Yes, Lord Shu."
"Strip the remaining Kirigakure prisoners of war naked."
Shu Shiraishi's gaze fell on the ashen face of Mizukage on the screen.
"Put them in shackles."
"They'll all be escorted to the east coast to reclaim land and build a port."
Shu Shiraishi picked up the documents on the table, turned a page, and the paper rustled.
"I heard that the group of laborers from Sunagakure are there too."
He didn't even look up.
"Let them be together."
East Coast. Coolie Camp.
The sea breeze, carrying the stench of dead fish and cement dust, stung people's faces.
On the massive land reclamation site, the mud was ankle-deep.
Thousands of ragged figures slowly crawled in knee-deep, gray-black mud.
Wheelbarrows loaded with stones and sand left deep ruts on the planks.
The wooden wheels made a piercing "squeak" sound.
The sounds blended together, like the mournful cries of a herd of dying wild beasts.
"Hurry up! Didn't you eat lunch?!"
A Uchiha Jōkan wearing a black vest stood on a high slope.
He was clutching an electrified leather whip in his hand.
A flick of the wrist.
"Smack!"
The whip tip snapped open in mid-air with a loud crack. Blue arcs of electricity exploded in the air.
In the mud and water.
A hunched figure is pushing a cart.
Chiyo.
Her once elegant consultant's robe had long been replaced with rough, scratchy Mabui.
The clothes were covered in yellow mud and ash, obscuring their original color.
His gray hair looked like a clump of rotten grass, casually tied back with a straw rope.
His face was covered in dirt, and black mud was stuck in his wrinkles.
She gripped the wooden handlebars of the wheelbarrow tightly with both hands.
His fingernails were full of dirt. Blue veins bulged on the back of his hands.
The truck bed was filled with large chunks of rock. It was incredibly heavy.
"Thump."
The wooden wheel got stuck in a muddy ditch.
The wheelbarrow suddenly veered to the left.
Chiyo swayed and slipped in the mud.
They nearly overturned into the mud and water along with their vehicle.
She clenched her teeth tightly.
His sunken chest heaved violently. He inhaled a breath of cold air, the smell of cement making his throat itch.
She didn't dare to cough.
He strained his thin arms upwards with all his might, using his waist to generate power.
"Well."
A muffled groan escaped his throat.
The wheel rolled out of the mud pit and pushed forward one step.
Mud splashed up and splattered on her mud-covered cheek.
It dripped down his chin.
Chiyo didn't wipe her face.
She pushed the car onto a slightly harder dirt road and stopped.
His chest heaved like a burst bellows.
She slowly raised her head.
The cloudy old eyes peered through the crowd, through the swirling cement dust.
He stared intently at a high slope in the distance.
On a high slope.
Several high-ranking officers from Konoha were standing there.
The one in the very middle.
She wore a long black trench coat, the hem fluttering in the sea breeze.
The man had his hands in his pockets, looking down at the vast labor camp.
Chiyo's withered lips trembled slightly.
Two eerie green will-o'-the-wisps seemed to flicker in his cloudy eyes.
With the most vicious resentment.
She stared intently at the black figure's retreating back.