Chapter 281: The Tailed Beast Transformed
Amegakure (雨隠れの里, Village Hidden by Rain). Atop the towering, grim iron spire that overlooked the perpetually rain-soaked village.
Konan's figure, clad in her black Akatsuki cloak, quietly appeared beside Nagato, who was confined to his mechanical walker.
"Nagato, there's news." Konan's voice was low, filled with resignation.
"Sasori has fallen in battle. Completely destroyed."
"Deidara... has defected and joined Konoha."
Nagato's emaciated body, powered by the immense chakra of his Rinnegan, remained unnervingly motionless.
"Uchiha Akira?"
"Yes." Konan nodded, her paper flowers shifting with the movement. "According to intelligence, it was the Fifth Hokage Uchiha Akira who personally engaged Sasori and used a powerful Genjutsu on Deidara."
Nagato fell silent, his immense, scarred Rinnegan eyes closed in contemplation.
After a long while, he slowly spoke, his voice distorted and weak, carrying the cold weight of his philosophy.
"War only brings suffering. Conflict is the perpetual fuel of this world's misery."
"To end this endless conflict, this world must first feel true, absolute pain. Only under absolute fear will people truly yearn for peace, for salvation."
Nagato seemed to be speaking to Konan, yet also to the miserable world outside the spire.
"Uchiha Akira... he wants to unify the Ninja World in his own way. To establish a so-called order through tyranny."
"But he doesn't understand true pain. He only understands power. And force. He is merely an enforcer of the old world's system."
...Kirigakure (霧隠れの里, Village Hidden by Mist). The main plaza before the Mizukage Building.
Mei Terumī, having tentatively agreed to Akira's demands, continued to lead Uchiha Akira towards the summit of the Mizukage Building—Yagura's known location.
Suddenly.
A terrifying, violent surge of chakra erupted from the top floor of the Mizukage Building!
Boom—!
The chakra was immense, violent, ominous, and filled with the terrifying, primal rage of a Tailed Beast. It seemed to swallow the entire building in its destructive aura!
"This is...!"
Mei Terumī's expression changed drastically to horror. She recognized the feeling.
At the exact same time.
Within a distorted spatial rift that no one in Kirigakure could detect, Uchiha Obito—wearing the white Uzumaki mask (うずまき, a later mask used in canon)—coldly watched everything unfold through his singular, active Mangekyō Sharingan.
Just seconds ago, he had used Kamui's intangibility to silently infiltrate the Mizukage's office, overriding all defenses. With a brutal flash of his Mangekyō Sharingan's ocular power and precise chakra manipulation, he had completely, forcibly unleashed the Three-Tails (三尾, Sanbi) sealed within Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage!
"Uchiha Akira…" Obito murmured, his voice cold, filled with a dangerous, psychotic certainty.
"Let me see how much stronger you've truly become since you stole our family's honor!"
"Enjoy this grand gift—a chaotic, raging Tailed Beast—before you seize the village!"
Obito sneered in his heart, utterly satisfied with his sabotage.
He didn't expect the rampaging Three-Tails to actually kill Uchiha Akira. He merely wanted to use this chaos as a perfect opportunity to disrupt Akira's annexation plan, buy time for Akatsuki, and most importantly, observe Uchiha Akira's true, maximum strength once more.
Rumble rumble rumble—!!!!
The very next second after Obito vanished back into his Kamui dimension!
The entire Mizukage Building—a massive, solid stone structure—could no longer withstand the terrifying, concentrated Tailed Beast power erupting from within!
The massive structure was completely, violently blown apart in an instant!
Countless bricks, massive stone slabs, and shattered rubble scattered like cannonballs, tearing through the plaza!
Dust and debris soared high into the sky!
ROAR—!!!!
A terrifying, primordial roar echoed through the clouds, shaking the ground and the souls of every human who heard it!
A colossal monster, resembling a giant gray turtle with three enormous, spiked tails on its back, slowly, terrifyingly, rose from the smoking ruins!
The Three-Tails, Isobu (磯撫, Isobu)! Now fully manifested!
[Inorin's Note: Isobu (the Three-Tails) is a colossal turtle-like Tailed Beast. Its Jinchūriki was Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage, who was controlled by Obito's Genjutsu.]
"What... what is that?!"
"It's the Three-Tails! Lord Yagura has completely transformed into a Tailed Beast!"
"Run! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
The Ninja and civilians in the Village, seeing the terrifying giant beast radiating raw, concentrated destructive power, instantly fell into immense, paralyzing panic! The chaos Obito desired had begun.
At this moment, the Three-Tails, Isobu, had completely lost its sanity. Its mind was gone, leaving only pure, chaotic destructive desire!
It opened its massive mouth!
A highly compressed black sphere began to rapidly form! The chakra swirling around it was immense, unstable, and utterly lethal!
The Tailed Beast Ball! (尾獣玉, Bijūdama)
"Hokage-sama!"
Mei Terumī, standing beside Akira, looked at the Tailed Beast Ball, which contained terrifying, village-level energy. Her face instantly turned ashen white.
She shrieked, fear overriding everything else.
"Stop him quickly! Use your power!"
"If that Tailed Beast Ball explodes here, the entire Kirigakure... the entire Village... will be completely finished! It will be wiped out!"
"Please! Use that spatial ability you used before! That instantaneous travel!"
"Transfer the battlefield away! PLEASE!"
Mei Terumī no longer cared about any dignity, any position, any political maneuvering.
She only knew that the man before her, the Uchiha god, was the only hope left to save the lives of her people and the physical structure of her Village!
Uchiha Akira glanced at Mei Terumī's pleading, desperate face. He nodded slowly.
Transferring the battlefield... was naturally necessary.
He didn't want the Village, which was about to fall easily into his hands, to be reduced to ruins. His goal was annexation, integration, not destruction.
However... a clear, cold thought flashed through Uchiha Akira's mind.
[Yagura must die.]
A living Yagura did not align with Uchiha Akira's interests. He needed a cooperative, compliant leader. He preferred to support Mei Terumī's ascension.
Gaara was spared because he had no strong, deep sense of belonging to Sunagakure, and his personality was malleable.
But the Three-Tails Jinchūriki, Yagura, controlled by an external Genjutsu from Obito, was highly unlikely to ever truly surrender. It was strategically better to eliminate him directly and replace him with a different, utterly loyal Three-Tails Jinchūriki.
[Who should inherit this Jinchūriki? Where should the power go?]
Should Kirigakure find another host themselves?
No. Uchiha Akira instantly rejected this idea.
Tailed Beasts are strategic weapons of mass destruction. This power must be firmly, absolutely, in his control.
He wouldn't be foolish enough to leave such a powerful weapon to a Village that had just surrendered and whose long-term loyalty was yet to be tested.
So, who should it be given to?
A figure appeared clearly in Uchiha Akira's mind. His own woman. His loyal, strong, devoted subordinate.
Kurenai Yūhi.
"Although Yūhi's strength is already that of an Elite Jōnin, it's still somewhat insufficient for the massive scale of future conflicts and command roles."
"If she were to become the Three-Tails Jinchūriki..."
Uchiha Akira's eyes lit up slightly with the cold, brilliant calculation of a chess master.
The Three-Tails possesses an enormous amount of Chakra, regenerative properties, and can use unique water-based techniques like Coral Palm, which restrains enemies.
Once Kurenai Yūhi could perfectly control the Three-Tails' power, her strength would instantly soar to Kage-level, or even higher!
As for the supposed difficulty of controlling a Tailed Beast?
For others, it might be an enormous, life-consuming challenge.
But for him, Uchiha Akira, it was no problem at all.
Let alone a mere Three-Tails; even the Nine-Tails, he could easily suppress and control.
With him present, he could completely, seamlessly help Kurenai Yūhi perfectly control the Three-Tails' power, without worrying about the risk of being consumed by the Beast's rage.
[It's decided.]
This would greatly enhance Kurenai Yūhi's personal strength, giving her the power to protect herself and execute his commands with greater authority.
It would also bring the powerful combat force of the Three-Tails completely under his absolute, personal control!
Killing two birds with one stone.
Thinking of this, Uchiha Akira no longer hesitated. The Tailed Beast Ball was almost fully formed.
"As you wish, Mei."
As his voice fell.
Uchiha Akira's figure instantly blurred, appearing directly beside the head of the Three-Tails!
"Who... who is that?"
"What does he want to do?! Is he crazy?"
"How dare he face a Tailed Beast alone!"
Below, countless Hidden Mist Ninja noticed the lone figure in the sky and let out a chorus of incredulous, terrified exclamations.
Uchiha Akira ignored the frantic ants below. He focused his ocular power.
Amenominaka! (天之御中, Heavenly Governing Inside)
[Inorin's Note: Amenominaka is a space-time jutsu. Akira uses it here to instantaneously shift himself and the colossal Tailed Beast to another dimension or a distant location to prevent the village's destruction.]
Buzz—!!!!
Space twisted violently in an instant!
Mei Terumī only felt a profound, painful blur before her eyes.
The terrifying Three-Tails, which had been standing in the center of the Village just a microsecond ago, radiating destructive power, along with Uchiha Akira's figure, simply vanished into thin air! Gone from their reality!
"Van... vanished?"
"Where did it go?"
"What just happened? The Beast... it's gone!"
Below, all the Hidden Mist Ninja who had been bracing for the apocalypse stood frozen in place, their faces filled with utter confusion.
Where was the Tailed Beast Ball capable of destroying the entire Village?
Where was the rampaging Tailed Beast?
And where was the man who dared to face the Tailed Beast directly?
Everything vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye...
At the same time.
Deep in the vast, uninhabited desert of the Land of Wind, hundreds of kilometers away from any civilization.
Buzz—!
Space rippled violently like water disturbed by a stone.
Uchiha Akira and the colossal body of the Three-Tails Isobu abruptly, explosively, appeared above this desolate, uninhabited area!
ROAR!!!!
Having just been ripped from one location and forced into another, the completely deranged Three-Tails, its mind consumed by rage and following only its raw instinct, violently fired the Tailed Beast Ball, which had already condensed to its maximum, from its mouth!
The black energy sphere, trailing a long, dangerous afterglow, streaked across the empty sky!
The next second.
BOOM!!!!
A terrifying, earth-shattering roar, enough to tear eardrums even at this distance, exploded violently in the desert!
Sand instantly evaporated and melted under the extreme heat of the detonation!
The hard desert earth was forcibly gouged out, leaving a terrifying, bottomless, colossal giant pit!
When the black light dissipated, only an enormous, perfectly circular crater with crystallized, glazed, molten edges remained!
The power of a single, uncontained Tailed Beast strike was terrifying beyond measure! A power that Kirigakure had just narrowly escaped.
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