Uchiha Yoru gasped heavily.
Tearing the coral off his back by force had left him severely injured, and the intense pain further worsened the instability of his mind.
His lungs also seemed to have suffered serious damage. Every breath brought a tearing pain through his chest, accompanied by a strange echo.
Fortunately, his body's self-healing ability was working at full force. The intense pain was rapidly turning into an itchy sensation.
To be honest, that feeling seemed even harder to endure.
Amid the torment of body and mind, Uchiha Yoru did not lose his guard. Almost all his attention was focused on the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, guarding against his attack.
But after a long while, Yagura Karatachi still did not attack. Instead, he stood dozens of meters away, quietly watching Uchiha Yoru. He had even slung his enormous coral staff back over his shoulder.
Uchiha Yoru glanced at Yagura Karatachi strangely, unable to understand why this fellow did not take the opportunity to attack him.
Yagura Karatachi truly had no intention of attacking. He was fully focused on staring at Uchiha Yoru, carefully observing his every movement and listening to every breath he took.
Yagura Karatachi suddenly asked, "How were you able to break free from the coral? The moment it grew out, it should have completely destroyed your body."
Not only did the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, not attack Uchiha Yoru, he even strangely asked the enemy he had struck about the effect of his own ninjutsu.
This miraculous move truly shocked Uchiha Yoru.
But his current condition was extremely poor. Although his eyes could open now, his vision was still blurry, and bloody tears continued flowing from them.
The tear wound on his back was not only extremely large in area, but also extended deep into his bones and internal organs. Even with his self-healing ability, it was not something that could recover instantly.
Since the enemy was willing to talk at a time like this, he was naturally happy to buy more time.
Thus, after thinking carefully, Uchiha Yoru answered, "That move of yours is really sinister. It actually invaded my cells and part of my bones. Fortunately, it couldn't invade my meridians, leaving me enough strength to resist."
After hearing Uchiha Yoru's answer, Yagura Karatachi said thoughtfully, "So that's how it is. The coral staff's penetrating power is still insufficient."
"It seems trying to balance killing and control was the wrong choice. Because I tried to account for both sides, neither was pushed to the extreme, which gave the enemy room to struggle."
Yagura Karatachi nodded and muttered to himself, "Perhaps I should develop a new Coral Palm, focusing entirely on controlling the enemy and making him lose control over his body, rather than invading the body to cause damage."
Suddenly, Yagura Karatachi closed his mouth. His eyes stared tightly at Uchiha Yoru.
Naturally, Uchiha Yoru looked back at him strangely as well.
During this process, Uchiha Yoru was delighted to feel that the maddening itch on his back, which had changed from intense pain, was rapidly disappearing. This meant the wound on his back had already healed.
Most importantly, his vision was quickly becoming clear again. His eyes, which had been harmed by Mangekyō ocular power, had completely recovered. At the same time, his mind had stabilized enough to activate All-Knowing Mind's Eye.
Uchiha Yoru's judgment of the victory rate rapidly recovered from its lowest point of seventy-three percent back to the safe line of ninety-three percent. But because a certain shinobi was secretly approaching, that final two percent would no longer rise back.
Uchiha Yoru's heart was filled with gratitude toward the Fourth Mizukage.
If he had not inexplicably delayed time, things really would have been very difficult for him.
Now that his body had already recovered and his goal of stalling for time had been achieved, Uchiha Yoru could not be bothered to keep pretending.
He blinked lightly, and his three-tomoe Sharingan opened again.
Seeing Uchiha Yoru activate his Sharingan, even if Yagura Karatachi were stupid, he would still know something had gone wrong. His eyes were filled with confusion as he asked, "You… why are you still not dead?"
"When you pulled out the coral, I clearly saw you tear open your own lungs, along with many fatal arteries and blood vessels. Why are you still not dead?"
Uchiha Yoru froze for a moment, then laughed loudly.
"Haha, so the reason you kept prattling on here was to wait for me to die?"
The smile on Uchiha Yoru's face did not fade. He slowly turned his body, showing the Fourth Mizukage his back, where his clothes were torn but the skin had already returned to smooth perfection.
He asked mockingly, "Why should I die?"
Yagura Karatachi finally understood.
This Uchiha before him not only possessed abnormal defense, but also an inconceivable self-healing ability.
The reason he had wasted words and delayed time was originally because he was wary of the enemy's abnormal defense and did not want to continue entangling with him. This dangerous enemy had already suffered fatal injuries. As long as he waited, the enemy would die on his own. Why continue risking his life?
He never imagined that the enemy not only had powerful defense, but that his body could also rapidly self-heal. The time he had delayed had instead helped the enemy recover.
In the end, it was still a lack of intelligence that caused him to make the wrong judgment in battle.
Yagura Karatachi took the coral staff from his back and held it in his hand, assuming a combat stance. The chakra on his body boiled even more intensely. Clearly, he was about to use a powerful ninjutsu.
Uchiha Yoru drew in a deep breath. His legs separated slightly, and his hands slowly rose, clasping before him. He opened his mouth.
Then he shouted loudly, "Lord Orochimaru, save me!!"
Yagura Karatachi: "..."
The next moment, Orochimaru's unique hoarse voice appeared.
"Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu."
As Orochimaru spoke, a cloud of white smoke fifteen meters tall suddenly exploded on the surface of the sea thirty meters away from Yagura Karatachi.
As the white smoke dispersed, the giant ninja beast Manda appeared on the sea surface, and Orochimaru stood atop Manda's head, looking down at the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, from above.
At this moment, he looked like a greedy venomous snake staring down at a fresh, plump rodent.
He smiled at the Fourth Mizukage and said, "The Kirigakure shinobi are finished. Yagura Karatachi, are you planning to surrender, or are you planning to fight with your life?"
Manda's appearance seemed to be an agreed-upon signal.
As Orochimaru toyed with his prey by questioning the Fourth Mizukage, the Kirigakure shinobi rapidly approaching in the distance were suddenly attacked by Konoha shinobi. Fierce battle immediately erupted between the two sides.
On the other side not far away, the Kirigakure shinobi who had come from beneath the sea had just rushed out of the water. Then they immediately discovered that all their surprise-attack targets were clones.
The Kirigakure shinobi instantly understood that this was a trap.
But no matter how fast their reactions were, they could not be faster than the Uchiha, who had prepared in advance.
In this trap, ten explosive tags were attached to every clone. A total of fifteen hundred explosive tags detonated at the same time. The Fire Release power released from the seals swept across the sea surface. All the Kirigakure shinobi who had rushed out of the water were blasted apart in showers of blood and flesh.
The violent explosion made the Fourth Mizukage turn his head.
These were the last elites of Kirigakure. If they suffered heavy losses, then Kirigakure's final backbone would be broken.
Yagura Karatachi turned around and prepared to rush over. But the moment he moved, Orochimaru suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his vision.
Orochimaru stood with his back to Yagura Karatachi, watching the battlefield ravaged by explosive tags with great interest. He smiled and said, "Uchiha Yoru, your Tiger Unit truly is rich and extravagant. I don't think I even approved this many explosive tags for you."
Uchiha Yoru quietly appeared on the other side of Yagura Karatachi, his eyes fixed firmly on the weakened jinchuriki. He answered casually, "Lord Orochimaru, you can see how excellent the effect is, right? Shouldn't you replenish the Tiger Unit with more explosive tags?"
"Don't even think about it. You are shinobi of the Uchiha clan. You're not short on money."
"You're wrong. The ones with money are the clan head's family and the elders' families. The members of our Tiger Unit are all from the bottom of the clan. We can barely get by with food and clothing. We're poor."
While the two were talking nonsense, the Tiger Unit hidden in ambush on one side of the battlefield suddenly released their genjutsu. In battle formation, they launched an attack on the chaotic Kirigakure shinobi, almost instantly piercing through their formation.
Fifteen hundred explosive tags detonating at once had a shocking visual effect, but fewer than a hundred Kirigakure shinobi actually died from it. However, when the Uchiha shinobi pierced through their formation, it was like cutting grass. They slaughtered the Kirigakure shinobi on the sea surface completely.
A huge number of deaths and injuries in an instant caused countless streams of blood to flow into the sea. For a time, the color of the seawater turned bright red, and even the scent of blood drifted over to Orochimaru and the others with the wind.
The smell of blood was so thick that the bloodthirsty Manda was provoked into savagery. Ignoring Orochimaru's attempts to stop him, he charged toward the battlefield without looking back.
Uchiha Yoru took two steps to the right and glared hard at Orochimaru with his Sharingan. Then, without saying a word, he took out his copper whistle and placed it in his mouth.
His stare carried power.
Even with his back turned, Orochimaru knew that this boy was warning him.
If he could not control Manda, then put him away.
Otherwise, Uchiha Yoru would have the Tiger Unit kill him.
Orochimaru did indeed sense Uchiha Yoru's gaze and understand the meaning of his threat. But contrary to Uchiha Yoru's expectations, this pervert did not feel even the slightest nervousness, nor did he have any intention of withdrawing Manda.
At this moment, Orochimaru's heart was filled with an indescribable thrill. The trembling and stimulation rising from the bottom of his heart even made his heart shudder.
Ah, how will Manda die? Split in two, or burned into charcoal?
What jutsu will the Tiger Unit's Uchiha use to kill Manda?
If I can see a new ninjutsu today, then that would truly be perfect!
He even stretched out his tongue and licked his cheek, using this method to ease his own tension.
He was about to see Manda's death.
How nerve-racking.
A few seconds later, Uchiha Yoru keenly noticed Orochimaru's abnormality. Knowing deeply how perverted Orochimaru was, he was deeply shocked.
Damn it. How can someone be this perverted?
Thus, Uchiha Yoru no longer hesitated and blew the copper whistle in his mouth, issuing an order to the Tiger Unit:
If Manda poses a threat, eliminate him immediately!
The Tiger Unit's movements were too fast.
From activating the trap to completing the formation-piercing attack, the entire process took only ten seconds.
The Fourth Mizukage, who had felt a severe threat because of Orochimaru's appearance, had merely hesitated for a short moment, yet his subordinates had already been slaughtered into disarray.
Now, the Tiger Unit had completed its formation transition and was preparing to attack the panicked Kirigakure shinobi again. At the same time, Orochimaru's giant ninja beast had also charged toward his subordinates.
Yagura Karatachi finally could not endure it anymore. He swung the coral staff in his hand and activated a ninjutsu against Orochimaru.
Water Release: Water Mirror Jutsu.
Vast chakra created an enormous circular water mirror, and Orochimaru's image was reflected within the mirror's surface.
Yagura Karatachi hooked the edge of the water mirror with the hook at the end of his coral staff and suddenly flipped the mirror. The Orochimaru inside the mirror was copied into reality and charged toward the real Orochimaru.
Yagura Karatachi did not delay in the slightest. He used the Water Mirror to reflect Uchiha Yoru's appearance and created a copy as well.
Water Mirror Jutsu was Yagura Karatachi's trump-card ninjutsu. Whether ninjutsu or taijutsu, the copies it created could reflect the original perfectly. They were absolutely one of the most troublesome enemies in battle.
Of course, this jutsu was not invincible.
The stronger the target being copied, the more chakra Yagura Karatachi consumed during the copying, and the shorter the time the copy could be maintained.
What surprised Yagura Karatachi was that creating Uchiha Yoru's copy consumed far less chakra than Orochimaru's. He had no idea what the problem was.
But he had no time to think about it.
Instead, he manipulated the copies to entangle the originals, while he held his coral staff and rushed toward the nearest battlefield, wanting to rescue his subordinates.
The Tiger Unit there had already begun its charge, while the Kirigakure shinobi beneath the sea, although they knew something had gone wrong, still did not understand the specific situation and were constantly leaping out of the water, trying to counterattack.
But the Fourth Mizukage knew very clearly that this group of Kirigakure shinobi numbered only around five hundred. The Tiger Unit had already killed more than three hundred shinobi. If he could not stop the Tiger Unit, the Kirigakure shinobi were simply delivering themselves to death.
Yagura Karatachi anxiously rushed toward the Tiger Unit. His hands rapidly formed seals, chakra boiling at high speed. A powerful Water Release ninjutsu was already ready to be unleashed.
At that moment, a violent shout exploded like thunder from a clear sky.
The thunderous sound pierced straight into his mind, directly clearing all his thoughts and making his entire being go dizzy.
The one affected by Thunderclap was not only Yagura Karatachi. Orochimaru, who was relatively close, also experienced a blank moment in his mind.
After Orochimaru regained clarity, he discovered that the rather troublesome copy had completely stopped moving. It had also lost its copied appearance and had turned into a rippling sphere of water.
Although this water sphere emitted strong chakra, the chakra within it had already become completely disorderly and chaotic. It had no defensive power at all, let alone any combat power.
Orochimaru-Style: Hidden Shadow Snake Hands.
Orochimaru extended his right hand, which suddenly transformed into a python, stirring the water sphere apart and eliminating this troublesome copy.
Then he looked toward Yagura Karatachi, just in time to see Uchiha Yoru smash a heavy punch onto the coral staff, directly knocking the Fourth Mizukage into the sea.
Orochimaru clapped his hands and laughed loudly.
"Good, good, good. Uchiha Yoru, you really are impressive. This soundwave ninjutsu has truly opened my eyes. What a promising direction for development."
Yagura Karatachi, who had fallen into the seawater, disappeared somehow.
Uchiha Yoru was nervously staring at the sea beneath his feet, searching for traces of the enemy.
Hearing Orochimaru mistakenly interpret the Thunderclap divine ability as ninjutsu, he naturally thought of the later Otogakure. The distracted Uchiha Yoru subconsciously answered, "Lord Orochimaru, are you planning to develop Sound Release ninjutsu?"
Orochimaru answered in surprise and delight, "Ah, Uchiha Yoru, you really do understand me. That's right. I happen to have received some good inspiration, and I plan to develop a series of soundwave ninjutsu."
"Right, if I use ninja tools similar to musical instruments, they should be able to replace hand seals and develop into a set of seal-less ninjutsu."
Uchiha Yoru absentmindedly humored him, "Lord Orochimaru's idea is truly excellent."
At this moment, on the battlefield not far away, Manda had already charged into the field strewn with corpses. He opened his bloody maw and, without the slightest politeness, swallowed more than a dozen corpses in one bite.
These Kirigakure shinobi corpses were rich in chakra, giving Manda absolute satisfaction and stirring even greater greed in him.
Thus, this blue-purple giant snake recklessly disrupted the battlefield.
Manda's existence seriously obstructed the Tiger Unit's attack. Although the Uchiha behaved obediently under Uchiha Yoru, their essence was still that of proud Uchiha.
Furthermore, Uchiha Yoru had already issued the order that they were permitted to kill if necessary. Thus, dozens of Uchiha immediately took action, releasing E-rank and D-rank Fire Release such as fire arrows and fire bullets.
The small fire arrows and lightly exploding fire bullets struck Manda's body and exploded like fireworks, completely unable to damage the giant snake's scales.
The Uchiha did not actually want to kill Manda. After all, he was Orochimaru's ninja beast and a fighting force of Konoha Village.
But Manda, after being attacked, flew into a rage.
He turned his head and angrily looked at the Uchiha, roaring, "Damn shinobi! You dare attack Lord Manda and disturb Lord Manda's meal!"
"Then use your bodies to make up for this lord's losses!"
After speaking, Manda charged toward the Tiger Unit.
Manda was arrogant, violent, and looked down on all shinobi. He even looked down on Orochimaru. But all of that was an act.
In reality, Manda was a cowardly and cautious snake. His mouth was fierce beyond measure, but his actions were extremely careful. He would only bite down on weak shinobi with no backing.
He had seen very clearly that these shinobi were indeed formidable, but that was only against tiny and fragile shinobi. Their explosive tags, ninjutsu, ninja swords, and kunai could easily reap shinobi lives, but they could not possibly harm his scales. There was no need to care.
Moreover, among these shinobi, there were no clan shinobi wearing clan crests, no jonin wearing special forehead protectors, and they did not even wear Konoha forehead protectors.
That was a ready-made excuse.
Manda thought to himself that even if he ate dozens of them, nothing would happen. If someone questioned him, he would simply claim he did not know they were Konoha shinobi.
Manda understood Konoha Village very well.
As long as he did not eat any important shinobi, Orochimaru and the Third Hokage would not turn against Ryuchi Cave, one of the Three Great Sage Regions, over a few dozen ordinary shinobi.
So this opportunity was rare.
He had to seize it and properly experience what it felt like to swallow living shinobi, to feel them struggling in his throat.
It would definitely be fascinating to a snake, extremely satisfying to a snake.
The more Manda thought about it, the more excited he became. He opened his bloody maw and charged toward the Tiger Unit's shinobi.
Uchiha Shigenobu's gaze turned sharp.
He blew the most piercing whistle.
As the attack order was passed down, the Uchiha who had been conserving strength became serious. One after another, they opened their Sharingan, and their chakra began boiling with them.
The aura of the Tiger Unit abruptly changed.
It was no longer the plain, unremarkable presence from before.
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