"A special person? What do you mean?"
Uchiha Ren immediately became interested when he heard Hyūga Hizashi's words.
Anyone Hizashi described as special certainly wouldn't be an ordinary opponent.
Hizashi hesitated before answering uncertainly.
"It should be a jinchuriki. But the Eight-Tails jinchuriki hasn't been unsealed yet… so it might be Kumogakure's Two-Tails jinchuriki."
"The Two-Tails… Matatabi?"
Ren 's eyes lit up.
He rather liked cats.
Especially big cats.
Killer B was already a Perfect jinchuriki, making him extremely difficult to deal with.
But at this point in time, Yugito Nii likely wasn't a Perfect jinchuriki yet.
Which meant—
It might actually be possible to "recruit" her over.
After all, the Uchiha clan had plenty of experience raising cats.
"Ren , they're only about one hundred meters away now."
With his Byakugan, Hizashi could clearly track every movement of the Kumogakure shinobi in the darkness.
Ren nodded calmly.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield—
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
A powerful stream of water burst forward, slamming into the massive wall of flames blocking the Kumogakure shinobi.
Moments earlier, Ren had raised his fist and slammed it forward.
In an instant, a towering wall of blazing fire dozens of meters long erupted across the battlefield, completely blocking the Kumogakure forces.
Several shinobi who couldn't stop in time ran straight into the flames, screaming in agony.
Although Dodai's Water Release blasted a large gap in the fire wall, the flames quickly filled the opening again moments later.
"Damn it! What kind of fire is this?!"
Dodai's face twisted with frustration.
Even worse—
The arrow rain never stopped.
Even as they tried to break through the fire wall, arrows continued raining down relentlessly.
Dodai realized something terrifying.
How were those archers still able to accurately track their positions through the flames and darkness?
Were they all sensory-type shinobi?
He immediately rejected that thought.
sensory-type shinobi were even harder to train than medical ninja.
Konoha couldn't possibly have hundreds of sensory-type shinobi acting as archers.
So how were they doing it?
Just then, a Kumogakure sensory-type shinobi shouted urgently.
"Lord Dodai! Samui's unit has been attacked! The enemy are all elites—she won't hold out for long!"
Before Dodai could respond—
An arrow pierced straight through the sensory-type shinobi's chest.
A fist-sized hole appeared in his body as he collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
Dodai's heart tightened.
The Eight-Tails jinchuriki was too important.
His instinct told him to immediately turn back and reinforce Samui.
But another thought appeared.
What if this was exactly what the enemy wanted?
What if they were deliberately luring them back—
Turning them into easy targets for the archers?
Meanwhile, arrows continued striking his comrades.
If they didn't eliminate those archers first, they would lose more than half their forces just trying to retreat.
Dodai's mind was under immense pressure.
Sweat poured down his face.
For a moment, he couldn't even decide what to do.
At that moment—
Yugito stepped forward.
Her body began to ignite with blue flames.
"Lord Dodai," she said firmly, "you go reinforce Sister Samui."
"I'll break their formation."
Dodai froze.
He immediately understood what she meant.
Yugito was planning to hand control of her body over to the Two-Tails.
This was one of the weaknesses of non-perfect jinchuriki.
If the host fell unconscious, the Tailed Beast could temporarily take control.
But it was extremely dangerous.
Because the Tailed Beast might attack friend and foe alike.
Yet at this moment, there was no other choice.
Dodai clenched his teeth.
"Please… Yugito!"
He took a deep breath and made his decision.
"All units—change direction!"
"Reinforce Samui!"
With that command, the surviving Kumogakure shinobi immediately turned around and charged back toward the temporary camp.
Yugito inhaled deeply.
Then she leapt straight into the wall of flames.
Her body transformed within the blazing inferno.
"ROOOAAARRRR!!!"
A thunderous roar shook the forest.
A massive cat-shaped beast composed of ghostly blue flames burst out of the fire wall.
The Two-Tails Matatabi had appeared.
After finally emerging, Matatabi seemed ready to release its pent-up fury—
But then—
Its eyes suddenly met a pair of crimson eyes.
A pair of Mangekyō Sharingan.
Matatabi froze.
The next moment—
The pupils of the beast reflected those crimson eyes.
Its roar abruptly stopped.
The gigantic body suddenly lost strength.
The enormous Tailed Beast stumbled forward—
And collapsed to the ground with a heavy sliding crash.
The earth trembled.
Like a feather falling into the sea—
The Two-Tails had been suppressed instantly.
Not far away, Dodai suddenly heard the roar of the Two-Tails.
But the roar stopped abruptly.
Then—
Silence.
No more movement.
Dodai's body trembled.
His mind went completely blank.
Fear and confusion appeared in his eyes.
Meanwhile, on Ren 's side—
Hizashi observed the battlefield with his Byakugan.
"The fight on Fugaku's side is already over," he reported.
"The Eight-Tails jinchuriki was never released."
"Only two Kumogakure shinobi survived with severe injuries. They've been captured."
"All the others are dead."
Ren nodded calmly.
He waved his hand.
"Archers—continue eliminating the remaining Kumogakure shinobi."
"The rest of you move around and clean up the survivors."
He paused briefly before adding:
"And that one—Dodai."
"I want him alive."
Ren looked toward the battlefield and spoke coldly.
"Let them experience…"
"What true despair feels like."
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