Halfway through his charge, Manda sensed the enormous chakra. Although his open mouth prevented him from seeing ahead, he immediately knew something was wrong.
Manda closed his mouth and widened his snake eyes to look over.
He instantly saw a field of red Sharingan.
In that moment, Manda's entire snake body felt wrong.
Damn it.
Why were they Uchiha clan shinobi?
Why weren't they wearing the Uchiha clan crest?
With strength this powerful, why weren't they jonin?
Who disguises themselves like this?
Isn't this bullying an honest snake?
Regret and fear intertwined in Manda's heart. He twisted his body with all his might, trying to move away from these terrifying Uchiha shinobi. But his body was far too enormous, and there was simply no way to change the momentum of his charge. He could only watch helplessly as he rushed toward more than a hundred pairs of Sharingan.
The Uchiha of the Tiger Unit would not spare Manda just because he curled up. Besides, their ninjutsu was no longer a coordinated ninjutsu that could be stopped easily.
The Tiger Unit's two companies had a total of ten squads. Aside from two squads responsible for vigilance and defense, the other squads all used a coordinated ninjutsu specifically designed against giant ninja beasts.
Fire Release: Blue Flame Sword.
The squad leader and seventeen shinobi extracted chakra at the same time and formed seals together, gathering their chakra onto the captain.
The captain, who possessed two-tomoe Sharingan, carefully controlled the chakra, outlining the framework of the ninjutsu. Then his cheeks puffed up, and he spat a dark-red stream of fire from his mouth.
After the flame left the shinobi's mouth, it rapidly brightened, glowed, and heated up. Its color swiftly changed from red to orange, then continued turning yellow, gold, white, until it finally became a blue-white flame sword like a laser.
This was a coordinated ninjutsu the Uchiha had repeatedly practiced specifically against giant ninja beasts. Among the ten squads, six had even tested it on the giant octopus before.
At this moment, when they used it, those squads were especially smooth and swift. Almost in the blink of an eye, the Blue Flame Swords forced their way before Manda, leaving him very little room to react.
At this time, Manda was already terrified beyond measure.
Although he was skilled in ninjutsu such as shedding skin to escape death and avoid injury, those all belonged to the category of Earth Release ninjutsu and were most suitable for use on land or in caves.
On the vast sea, the skin-shedding technique could still be used, but its speed was nowhere near as fast as on land. When struck by a ninjutsu like the Blue Flame Sword, which pursued a one-hit kill, Manda discovered that he was actually going to die.
Originally, he had a chance to survive.
That was to voluntarily undo the summoning when the Uchiha activated their ninjutsu and quickly return to Ryuchi Cave.
But Manda's greed for flesh and blood, along with his confidence in the defensive power of his scales, made him unwilling to return just like that.
Even if he was wary of the Uchiha clan's power and could not eat Uchiha shinobi, there were still so many Kirigakure corpses he could eat until he was full. Why go back?
A single thought divided life and death.
Manda's body was cut open by the Blue Flame Sword without the slightest obstruction, as easily as a bone cleaver chopping through a large white radish.
At this moment, he was not dead yet. His severed head was still shouting for help.
"No—! Orochimaru, save me!"
"Orochimaru, hurry and undo the summoning! Send me back to Ryuchi Cave!"
"Bastard Orochimaru, what are you do—"
Manda's shout came to an abrupt end.
His body was dismembered by the Blue Flame Swords, and his head was besieged by several Blue Flame Swords at once. In the blink of an eye, it turned into fragments.
Just like that, Manda died.
His corpse vanished in a burst of white smoke and returned to Ryuchi Cave.
No one knew what the three sages of Ryuchi Cave would think when they saw Manda's corpse turned into pieces.
Perhaps they would dislike Orochimaru even more, and their attitude toward him would become even worse.
After killing Manda, the Tiger Unit, under Uchiha Shigenobu's command, swiftly reorganized its formation. They assumed a dense formation meant for attack and launched a second charge toward the previous battlefield.
On that battlefield, where corpses floated everywhere, many more Kirigakure shinobi had jumped out of the sea. They were looking around in confusion and panic, making them the best attack targets.
Uchiha Yoru was extremely satisfied with the Tiger Unit's swift and correct response, as well as how cleanly they had killed Manda.
He glanced at Orochimaru curiously and discovered that Orochimaru was in a strange state of excitement. His entire expression was twisted, like a drug addict high on narcotics.
Uchiha Yoru could not help sucking in a cold breath.
Too terrifying.
Orochimaru's perversion exceeded imagination.
When dealing with him in the future, he would have to be careful—extremely careful. A pervert's way of thinking was always different from ordinary people's.
Suddenly, Uchiha Yoru sensed an abnormal gathering of chakra.
When he turned his head and focused all his attention on sensing it, he immediately confirmed that this was the prelude to the activation of a Water Release ninjutsu.
It was the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi.
Unfortunately, the gathering position of chakra was dozens of meters away beneath the sea. Uchiha Yoru knew it was already too late to stop the ninjutsu from activating.
Even though it was a Water Release ninjutsu with a staggering forty-four hand seals, an absurdly long startup, and an extremely poor cost-performance ratio.
Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu.
Seawater was bound by chakra, taking the form of a flood dragon as it rose proudly out of the sea to a height of forty meters. Then it turned downward and charged toward Uchiha Yoru.
Just as Uchiha Yoru was marveling at how this water dragon was far larger than normal, the second water dragon soared into the sky.
Then came the third.
The fourth.
Only after the ninth water dragon rose did the chakra fluctuations suddenly stabilize.
Uchiha Yoru immediately grinned.
"So it's the Great Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu. He can actually gather nine water dragons. Yagura Karatachi really is worthy of being Mizukage."
Orochimaru chuckled and said, "I underestimated Yagura Karatachi. This guy is a little like you, kid. Another bastard who hides things."
The nine water dragons did not concentrate their attack on Uchiha Yoru. Instead, they were divided into three portions.
Three charged at Uchiha Yoru.
Three attacked Orochimaru.
The final three rushed far toward the Tiger Unit's formation.
The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, even while being besieged by two powerful enemies, could still divide his attention to take care of his subordinates.
He truly was a qualified Mizukage.
Every Uchiha in the Tiger Unit had undergone Uchiha Yoru's brainwashing. Not a single shinobi among them was rigid-minded. While filled with offensive spirit, they also treated avoiding meaningless losses as the first principle of action.
When three enormous water dragons charged over, the Tiger Unit's attack stopped instantly. Their tightly packed assault formation instantly transformed into a loose formation meant to defend against aerial strikes.
Even when defending, the Tiger Unit would never simply take a beating without fighting back.
The instant the anti-air formation was completed, they used Great Fireball Jutsu in four-man teams.
Almost in the blink of an eye, more than a hundred Great Fireballs, each over two meters in diameter, rose into the sky, densely blocking the path of the water dragons.
Amid violent explosions, two water dragons were blasted apart in midair. Only the final water dragon remained, its entire body releasing thick white mist as it fell weakly into the Tiger Unit's formation.
At this point, the water dragon was already at the end of its strength. It had neither power nor speed. It merely knocked three unlucky Uchiha over and did not even cause direct injuries.
But Yagura Karatachi was in a good mood.
Because his goal was not to kill people, but to save his subordinates.
The Tiger Unit had been halfway through its charge when it was forced to stop and deal with the Water Dragon Bullet's assault. They had completely lost their speed advantage. Furthermore, their formation was loose, and they were very close to the Kirigakure shinobi, placing them in a very unfavorable state instead.
The Kirigakure shinobi were indeed elites of Kirigakure. They immediately reacted and, without hesitation, used ninjutsu and various other methods to attack.
The distance between the two sides was simply too close, and the Uchiha positions were too scattered. It was difficult for them to support one another. As a result, those shinobi who had to face several ninjutsu attacks alone suffered casualties.
Uchiha Shigenobu did not hesitate. He blew the copper whistle and led the Tiger Unit to quickly retreat. After the two company commanders led their teams in counterattacks and killed several Kirigakure shinobi who recklessly pursued, the two sides separated from contact.
The Tiger Unit had suffered a surprise ninjutsu attack from the Fourth Mizukage. With skilled tactical movements, they responded calmly and escaped a tremendous crisis at the cost of only two lives.
The Uchiha's tactical response had been magnificent. The entire process could be called flawless.
After watching the full process, Orochimaru's face was filled with wonder and delight. He could not help clapping his hands and praising them.
"Wonderful. Truly wonderful. The Tiger Unit is already unquestionably the number one elite force in the shinobi world."
Orochimaru had noticed the Tiger Unit very early on. Several months earlier, he had also gathered his direct subordinate shinobi and trained them by imitating the Tiger Unit's model. Now, they had already made considerable progress.
Before this, he had been quite satisfied with the training results of this small unit. Thus, he had named it the Snake Unit, and had even thought of choosing a suitable time to let Uchiha Yoru see it.
But today, after seeing the Tiger Unit's battlefield reactions, Orochimaru immediately threw away all thoughts of showing off.
His Snake Unit was far behind.
Far, far behind.
Although the members of the Snake Unit were all chunin and jonin, without a single genin among them, aside from individual strength, there were visible gaps in tactical literacy, discipline, obedience, communication, equipment… and every other aspect.
When all these gaps were combined, it was a difference like heaven and earth. The Snake Unit fundamentally had no qualification to be mentioned in the same breath as the Tiger Unit.
If these two units fought, the Snake Unit would inevitably be completely wiped out. It might even be shaved clean by the Tiger Unit without achieving a single result.
What amazed Orochimaru most was not the quality displayed by the Uchiha, but the Tiger Unit's complete and mature tactical system.
Their tactics were rich and varied. They could respond perfectly to all kinds of situations and had already formed a complete and rigorous system.
Systematic tactics were not something one could master by watching from the sidelines. They had to be properly taught.
Orochimaru sighed with complicated emotions.
It seemed he would have to pay a great price to purchase the Tiger Unit's complete training outline from Uchiha Yoru.
Orochimaru sighed over the Tiger Unit's elite nature and worried about how to train a second similar unit.
Meanwhile, Yagura Karatachi, who had also watched the entire process, felt pure bitterness.
His plan had been proper, and his timing had been flawless. In the end, he had only killed two Uchiha shinobi before the enemy broke contact.
And during the attempt to pursue them, the Kirigakure shinobi had instead paid five lives. Inside and out, they had lost completely.
The Tiger Unit was so powerful and flexible that the Kirigakure shinobi fundamentally had no ability to deal with them. Perhaps only if he personally fought without interference could he defeat them through powerful attacks.
But Yagura Karatachi believed that while he could definitely defeat them, annihilating the Tiger Unit was impossible.
Even if he went all out, it could not be done.
Their reaction speed was too fast.
And the Tiger Unit's leader was also an extremely troublesome fellow. As long as he was present, Yagura Karatachi could not fully devote himself to fighting.
Thinking of this, Yagura Karatachi could not help looking toward Uchiha Yoru.
Then he saw an iron-blue face filled with murderous intent.
Yagura Karatachi: He's actually angrier than me?
Uchiha Yoru was in an extremely foul mood. The killing intent in his heart was so intense it almost overflowed, so naturally, his face was terrifyingly livid.
First, he had lost two more younger brothers.
Second, this was because he had failed to stop Yagura Karatachi, allowing him the chance to launch an attack against the Tiger Unit.
Humiliating.
Far too humiliating.
Because of his own negligence, two younger brothers had died. This was Uchiha Yoru's most serious mistake since adulthood.
Speaking of which, Uchiha Yoru's strength was already very powerful. His physical toughness alone was enough to make Yagura Karatachi feel a sense of powerless defeat.
But because he was blindly exploring immortal cultivation on his own, Uchiha Yoru's strength lacked a system. He possessed a powerful body, massive chakra, even more powerful natural energy, and mysterious divine abilities. Yet he could not integrate these various powers to form Kage-level strength.
If the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, wanted to kill Uchiha Yoru, he could exhaust himself to death and still fail.
Conversely, if Uchiha Yoru wanted to kill Yagura Karatachi, he similarly could not do it.
But today's situation was different.
Because present at the scene was Orochimaru, the head of the Sannin.
Uchiha Yoru was the best tank. He could even serve as healer himself. Meanwhile, Orochimaru was fully capable of fulfilling the role of mage. By joining forces, the two of them could form an iron triangle of warrior, mage, and healer.
Killing Yagura Karatachi would absolutely not be a problem.
Although after the main plot began, Orochimaru gave the impression of having insufficient attack power while possessing overwhelming survivability as an unkillable snake, the Orochimaru of that time and today's Orochimaru could not be mentioned in the same breath.
Today's Orochimaru was at the peak of his life. His strength firmly suppressed Jiraiya, even though Jiraiya had already learned sage arts.
Thus, Uchiha Yoru said loudly, "Lord Orochimaru, are you interested in making Kirigakure change Mizukage again?"
Orochimaru immediately smiled and said, "Of course I am. I am the leader of Konoha's shinobi, after all."
"But I have to be honest. Yagura Karatachi's strength has exceeded my expectations. Killing him will be very difficult."
"Unless…"
Orochimaru's snake pupils looked meaningfully toward Uchiha Yoru, and he continued, "Unless you can give me a surprise, kid, and hold this Mizukage down tightly."
Uchiha Yoru chuckled and said, "Just tell me how many hours you need. I'll say something arrogant here: as long as you can kill him, I can guarantee that this Mizukage won't be able to escape."
Orochimaru's eyes brightened, and he said excitedly, "It won't take that long. Hold him down for forty minutes, and I'll definitely poison him to death here."
At this moment, the fighting on both battlefields had already ended.
The Kirigakure shinobi had recognized the situation and dived into the seabed one after another, scattering in every direction.
The Konoha shinobi were working hard to pursue and kill them, but the Kirigakure shinobi retreating from the seabed were extremely slippery. Pursuing them was too difficult, and there likely would not be much harvest afterward.
Yagura Karatachi watched his subordinates retreat and had just relaxed when he heard the conversation between Uchiha Yoru and Orochimaru. Instantly, he felt a chill run down his spine.
When he thought of Uchiha Yoru's powerful body and terrifying self-healing ability, then thought of Orochimaru's famous identity as an expert in deadly poison, his intuition told him that his life was truly in danger.
What should he do?
He still had a severely injured jinchuriki whose seal had loosened holding him back.
Was he really going to die here today?
Suddenly, the jinchuriki Onishi Kyohei grabbed Yagura Karatachi's ankle and whispered, "Lord Fourth Mizukage, I have a method…"
He had also heard the conversation between Orochimaru and Uchiha Yoru and knew that his Fourth Mizukage was in danger.
But he had thought of a solution.
"You can lift me up, then threaten them by releasing the Three-Tails' seal and force them to back away."
Onishi Kyohei swallowed and continued, "If they don't believe it, then directly undo the Three-Tails' seal and retreat amid the chaos."
"As long as you can return, Kirigakure won't face too much danger. Although the Three-Tails will temporarily escape, we can definitely find a way to capture and seal it again."
Yagura Karatachi looked at Onishi Kyohei with a complicated expression. Several times, he opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Onishi Kyohei smiled in relief.
"Don't feel sad for me. The seal on my body is becoming more and more damaged. It's already impossible for me to return to Kirigakure alive. Being able to help Lord Mizukage before I die makes me very happy."
"Please tell Lord Genji that the seal cannot completely seal the Three-Tails. After it loses consciousness, its chakra becomes poison. Incurable poison."
"Before the battle started, I was actually already controlled by the Three-Tails' chakra. Instead, it was the enemy damaging the seal that awakened the Three-Tails' consciousness and allowed me to regain clarity."
As Onishi Kyohei was speaking, several enormous bulges suddenly appeared on his stomach. Each was the size of a human head, forcing his eyes to roll back.
The Three-Tails' power struggling against the seal was growing stronger and stronger. This blow clearly inflicted intense pain on Onishi Kyohei, instantly rendering him speechless. He could only clench his teeth and fight not to lose consciousness.
Only after finally enduring until the seal stabilized again was Onishi Kyohei covered in cold sweat, his entire body suffering uncontrollable muscle spasms.
Then the most shocking thing happened.
Onishi Kyohei's body visibly withered. In only a few seconds, his entire figure completely collapsed out of shape, becoming like a skeleton covered in skin.
But his belly swelled abnormally, as though three or four watermelons had been stuffed inside. Just looking at it made one's hair stand on end.
Clearly, Onishi Kyohei's body had completely collapsed. It was impossible for him to survive the Three-Tails' next struggle.
Onishi Kyohei opened his mouth with a bitter smile. His strength had almost completely vanished, and his voice was so faint it was nearly inaudible.
"Lord Mizukage, I can't hold on. The first plan won't work anymore. Please help me undo the seal."
Finally, using the last of his strength, he said again, "Please remember… the Three-Tails' seal cannot be completely closed."
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