Kirigakure, in the surrounding seas.
Terumi i stood at the bow of the ship, peering as far as she could through the thick fog.
Beside her was Chūkichi, one of Kirigakure's elite sensory‑type shinobi. Eyes closed, he carefully felt for even the faintest fluctuations of chakra around them.
"Chūkichi, do you sense anything?"
Chūkichi shook his head.
"Although the Lord of the Ninja World told us the Three‑Tails will reincarnate sowhere in these waters, the exact location is completely uncertain.
If we just sit here and wait and the Akatsuki spot the beast first, it'll be a disaster…"
"Don't worry, I'll keep sensing with everything I've got."
"Mm. Thank you."
Besides Terumi i, the others—Ao, Gonbee, Hōzuki Mangetsu, and so on—were also searching independently. Naturally, that included the Konoha's reinforcents: an Anbu squad led by Hatake Kakashi.
With Chūkichi's powerful sensory talent, Ao's Byakugan, Kakashi's Sharingan, and his ninken's keen sense of sll, they at least had so assurance, though they knew it was still like looking for a needle in the ocean.
Their greatest assurance, of course, was the Lord of the Ninja World. He was now effectively the jinchūriki of all nine tailed beasts; even the deceased Three‑Tails could communicate with him. The mont the beast revived, it could imdiately inform him of its position—and he could pass that on to them.
Although the Lord of the Ninja World had unified the continent, each of the Five Great Villages still needed to manage their own affairs. At her young age Terumi i had beco Mizukage right in the middle of chaotic tis. Kirigakure had just suffered a calamity and was at its lowest ebb; the responsibility and pressure were enormous.
Fortunately, the Lord himself took action: pacifying the "Bloody Mist" in a single stroke and forcefully overhauling village policy so that Kirigakure finally showed signs of revival.
Other villages—Kumogakure, for example—still harbored resentnt toward him for the deaths of the Raikage and their jinchūriki. But to Kirigakure he was nothing less than a savior.
The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, had been manipulated all along by "Uchiha Madara," whose genjutsu plunged the village into a blood‑soaked nightmare and pushed it to the brink. The one who saved everything was precisely the Lord of the Ninja World—Uchiha Chiyu.
Even Yagura himself felt only gratitude toward Chiyu in his final monts. Whether the forr Mizukage or the village as a whole, none had any reason to defy him—only to give thanks.
Because of that, Terumi i worked all the harder, never daring to slack off. She absolutely could not—and did not want to—let the Lord down.
She knew the mont the Three‑Tails revived, the Akatsuki would appear. A fierce battle was inevitable.
While these thoughts crossed her mind—
"Mizukage‑sama! A report from the Lord: the Three‑Tails Isobu has been reborn on Shiraishi Island!"
"Shiraishi Island? That isn't far!"
"Move out!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
At once everyone set their ships racing toward Shiraishi Island. The Land of Water and Kirigakure are surrounded on all sides by sea and made up mainly of islands; their helmsn were second to none. Even in thick fog they quickly found their heading and pushed their speed to the limit.
Before they had even made landfall, the massive form of the Three‑Tails was already visible: a gigantic turtle‑like creature plated with scales, three iron‑hard tails rising from its shell.
"It really is the Three‑Tails!"
On Terumi i's command, shinobi behind her cast jutsu that blew away the mist, revealing the island's true face—nothing more than a desolate white‑stone crag pounded endlessly by waves.
"Three‑Tails Isobu! Co with us, quickly!" Terumi i shouted.
But in that instant vortex‑like swirls shimred in the cleared air, space twisting open in quiet spirals.
Out stepped three n in Akatsuki cloaks—black coats, red clouds, and a palpable aura of nace.
"That's… the Akatsuki!"
Chūkichi frowned. "The Sahada… and the Executioner's Blade! So it really is Hoshigaki Kisa and Biwa Jūzō!"
"Damn it. The Akatsuki deliberately sent these two Mist defectors after the Three‑Tails."
Terumi i, however, did not lose her temper; it was only natural. The more terrifying enemy was the masked man who still stood behind them—the one who styled himself "Uchiha Madara." His ability to warp space, to go intangible in an instant, was the most troubleso of all.
"Careful!"
Sensing danger, the Three‑Tails let out a roar. A column of ferocious bijū chakra shot skyward; the sea behind him surged like a tidal wave, crashing down to engulf the enemy.
Boom—!
A tailed beast's might is beyond imagining. Isobu excelled at Water Release, and on this sea‑ringed island he held every advantage. Waves ca in endless, sky‑darkening walls.
Uchiha Obito evaded effortlessly, ghosting through them with Kamui's intangibility.
Biwa Jūzō scowled, but Hoshigaki Kisa rely gave a chilling laugh.
"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
His own chakra, rivaling a bijū's, produced a Water Release just as vast. Sea and jutsu clashed in a thunderous uproar; the entire island trembled as torrents of seawater poured down like a cataclysmic storm.
Isobu was taken aback. "What's with that chakra?! Comparable to a tailed beast?!"
By then Terumi i and her forces had reached the shore.
"So it's you… Hoshigaki Kisa, the tailless tailed beast."
Kisa smirked. "Terumi i—who'd have thought you'd beco Mizukage. How delightful. But a so‑called Mizukage now is nothing more than Uchiha Chiyu's puppet…"
Terumi sneered. "You once served the Fourth Mizukage—who was in fact controlled by that masked man behind you. By comparison you're just a puppet of a puppet. Now you've joined Akatsuki; aren't you still taking orders?"
Kisa shrugged, unconcerned.
Jūzō added, "i, a rotten village like Kirigakure—what's the point of being Mizukage? Better to be missing‑nin, free and easy."
Chūkichi snorted. "Free and easy, ordered to hunt tailed beasts for soone else, you an?"
Jūzō laughed. "Chūkichi, I'll slice that mouth of yours first, then torture you to death."
At that mont Obito reappeared.
"Catching up ends here. I'd like to take the Three‑Tails directly, but while it's flailing around in that huge body, it's a bit troubleso. The rest of them are yours. Leave the beast to ."
Kisa drew Sahada and pointed it at Terumi i with a sinister grin. "Then Mizukage‑sama is mine. I'll leave the others to you."
Jūzō nodded. "Works for ."
In a flash Jūzō lunged first, cleaving at Chūkichi with the Executioner's Blade. Chūkichi t him with a kunai but was overpowered and hurled away. Jūzō cackled and began mowing down other Mist shinobi like weeds.
Simultaneously, Kisa swung Sahada at Terumi i. i was not a close‑quarters type; she flickered back, but Sahada pursued, chopping down—
Thud!—only for i to lt into a puddle of water.
"Water clone, eh? Boring…" Kisa grunted.
From the rear i activated her kekkei genkai. "Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique!"
Borrowing the faint sea fog, her corrosive acid mist spread instantly, turning the battlefield into her domain. Kisa's arm sizzled as the mist touched him, corroding flesh; he hastily retreated, slicing away nearby chakra with Sahada—yet he could not fully nullify the jutsu. In the end he plunged straight into the sea with a splash.
i frowned. "Hiding in the water to avoid my acid? It will be diluted completely in seawater…"
Kisa laughed darkly from below. "My turn, Mizukage‑sama. Water Release: Four Sharks Rain!"
He ford seals and slamd his palms onto the water. Four enormous water sharks erupted, streaking toward i like living bombs.
i countered—"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!" A massive torrent twisted into a dragon, colliding head‑on with the sharks. The two techniques exploded, drenching the island in a deluge.
Kisa's chakra was monstrous, but i, often underestimated, was no less formidable. Her Water Dragon Bullet had once torn through even Uchiha Madara's Great Fire Annihilation and his Susanoo alike. Kisa could only praise her.
"No wonder they made you Mizukage—impressive. Looks like I'll have to go all out…"
…
While the two forr Mist swordsn clashed bitterly with Terumi i and her shinobi, Uchiha Obito had set his sights on his quarry: the Three‑Tails Isobu.
To Isobu, Obito was the sworn enemy who had manipulated him for years. Yagura had once reached a perfect understanding with the beast and set Kirigakure on the road to reform—until this man destroyed everything. Isobu hated him to the core.
Obito sneered. "Such anger in your eyes… But you're only a beast. Don't play at bonds and feelings like shinobi. You're rely a fragnt of the Ten‑Tails—a construct of chakra. Your fate is sealed: beco fodder for the Eye of the Moon Plan, die so the world can be reborn."
Isobu roared, unleashing bijū chakra. "Water Release: Large Projectile!" Vast seawater condensed into colossal shells that hamred down on Obito—yet the masked man made no move to dodge. His body turned intangible, and the torrent passed harmlessly through.
Furious, Isobu curled his enormous, armored body into a rolling boulder, thundering across the beach to crush him—enough force to flatten a mountain. Again Obito simply phased, the attack useless.
Against most shinobi—even a tailed beast—if they cannot counter Kamui's intangibility, every assault is aningless. Obito slipped to Isobu's flank, Mangekyō Sharingan already locking onto the beast's eye.
"Not good!" Isobu realized and tensed—but it was too late.
"Go to sleep… beast."
Mangekyō light flashed; Isobu fell under genjutsu, his massive fra freezing. Not every Sharingan can control a tailed beast, but Obito—trained by Uchiha Madara—was well versed. As he reached to drag the entranced beast into Kamui space, the capture seed certain.
Terumi i's forces cried out in alarm. "No!"
Obito smirked. "It's over." He activated Kamui—the air twisted, huge chunks of Isobu's body starting to blur and vanish—
Just then—"Kamui!"
Obito's heart lurched. That voice… so familiar, so distant—Hatake Kakashi! Arriving in the nick of ti, Kakashi saw the masked man try to warp the Three‑Tails away and imdiately unleashed his own left‑eye Kamui.
Boom—! Twin spatial distortions collided; the swirling vortex around Isobu abruptly reversed and snapped closed with a thunderous crack.
Obito's expression darkened. Kakashi, however, showed no surprise. He had noticed since the Uchiha Massacre's night that their space‑ti jutsu were linked—each the key to the other.
Terumi i's shinobi breathed in relief. "Captain Kakashi…"
Obito growled, "You again, Hatake Kakashi."
Kakashi's tone was calm. "Yes— again. The Lord of the Ninja World sent to reinforce Kirigakure for a reason. It seems he predicted you'd appear here, and that only my Kamui could counter yours."
Obito scoffed. "Uchiha Chiyu? Do you think he's omniscient, omnipotent? What makes you think he could foresee my presence?!"
Kakashi sighed, sorrow clouding his single eye. "Perhaps because the Three‑Tails is here… what do you think?"
Behind the mask Obito blanched. The Three‑Tails… Rin Nohara… those gentlest mories—
But how could Uchiha Chiyu know any of that?!
Kakashi had decided it was finally ti to stop running. The Lord of the Ninja World had arranged this to let Kakashi cut the chain of fate himself.
He understood—and it was indeed ti.
Facing the masked man, Kakashi spoke evenly:
"More precisely, because of a forr Three‑Tails jinchūriki— not Yagura, but the one nad… Rin Nohara."
The masked man's body shook ever so slightly—barely perceptible yet caught by Kakashi's eye.
With a heavy sigh, Kakashi continued, "You call yourself Uchiha Madara, but the real Madara has already shown himself. Those false identities are finished.
"The space‑ti jutsu of your eye is linked to my Kamui. Your inexplicable hatred and resentnt toward , the tangled karma between us, and the Lord's repeated arrangents… Strip away my denial and disbelief, and only one conclusion remains.
"I'm not wrong, you're… Uchiha… Obito."
In that instant, the twin Mangekyō Sharingan spiraled; the space beside the two n seed to rge and twist together—destiny, karma, grudges, bonds—laid bare at last.
~~~
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