And soon, the Tailed Beast Ball and Shanks' flying sword slash collided. For an instant, the world seemed to hold its breath—then Shanks' attack cleaved the Tailed Beast Ball cleanly in half.
A split second later, it detonated in a thunderous boom, a deafening explosion that shook the entire coastline.
The shockwave blasted outward, uprooting trees along the shore and ripping them from the earth. The ground itself rumbled as if struck by a sudden earthquake. All the Uzumaki siblings snapped their attention toward Shanks' location, tension flashing in their eyes. Even the Kirigakure forces charging toward the Uzumaki village turned back, staring wide-eyed at the massive mushroom cloud rising into the sky.
And the destruction didn't stop there. A towering wave surged outward from the blast point, rolling toward the land with immense force.
When the water finally calmed, Shanks stood atop the moving waves—steady, unharmed, completely unshaken. The Mizukage, however, had retreated even farther away, putting a significant distance between himself and Shanks as he eyed both Shanks and the Three-Tails.
Shanks desperately wanted to seize the Mizukage right now—to demand answers about why Isobu had a 3-tomoe pattern in its eyes. But before he could act, the Three-Tails began gathering chakra once more, forming another Tailed Beast Ball in its maw.
So Shanks understood he couldn't go after the Mizukage now. Not with Isobu preparing another attack. He had to focus entirely on the Three-Tails.
With Thunder Sword God Mode still active, Shanks moved like pure light. Red lightning crackled around him—Conqueror's Haki intertwining with his Lightning Release—and a streak of crimson shot straight toward Isobu.
The Three-Tails, still holding a half-formed Tailed Beast Ball in its maw, noticed Shanks closing in at terrifying speed. It knew this incomplete sphere wouldn't inflict meaningful damage on someone like Shanks. So instead, Isobu executed a different tactic—it swallowed the half-formed Tailed Beast Ball whole.
Its massive stomach bulged outward, swelling ominously with compressed chakra.
Shanks kept sprinting toward it, eyes narrowing. He immediately concentrated his Armament Haki and lightning chakra into his sword, the blade crackling sharply. At the same time, he coated his entire body in full Armament Haki, ensuring he wouldn't be torn apart by whatever counterattack Isobu was preparing.
Isobu, after swallowing the unstable Tailed Beast Ball, finally unleashed its attack—a concentrated red beam of light that tore across the water straight toward Shanks. Shanks charged in at full speed, lightning crackling violently around him, and let out a sharp shout, "YAAAAAAHHH!"
An instant later, everything vanished in a blinding flash. The entire battlefield was swallowed by brilliant light and a powerful shockwave that shook the land and sea alike.
…
When the radiance faded, Shanks stood behind Isobu, calmly sliding Gryphon back into its sheath. The Three-Tails remained motionless atop the water—until a thin, pure red line shimmered across its body, running from its head all the way to the tip of its tail.
A heartbeat later, Isobu split cleanly in half.
Its massive form dissolved into fading particles of light, dispersing into the air. And as the Tailed Beast's enormous frame vanished, what remained behind was an ordinary man—also cut in half—his body slipping lifelessly into the sea. He was the current host of Isobu.
Shanks had used Divine Departure with Armament Haki: Internal Destruction. His slash hadn't just cleaved Isobu externally; it had annihilated the beast from within. Thanks to Shanks' full-body Armament Haki, he emerged with minimal harm—only torn clothes and a few bruise marks lining his body.
Shanks looked toward the place where the Mizukage had been standing—only to find it empty. The Mizukage had vanished. Clearly, he had escaped. And the moment the remaining elites of Kirigakure saw Isobu fall and realized their leader had fled, they immediately used every escape method they knew, scattering in different directions.
But the Uzumaki siblings weren't about to let them go so easily. They prepared to pursue—until Shanks' voice cut sharply across the battlefield.
"No need to chase. Let them go."
The siblings froze, confused. Their expressions clearly showed they didn't understand why Shanks would stop them now, when victory was in their grasp. One by one, they turned toward him for an explanation.
Shanks met their eyes and said, "It's useless to chase them. In a few years, when you meet them again, you'll have far surpassed them." His tone grew more serious. "What worries me is something different. Maybe all of this was a trap—one aimed at you specifically. I won't allow any of you to get harmed."
His words settled heavily over the water as the siblings absorbed the warning.
This concerned tone from Shanks toward his siblings only confused them further. Shanks noticed their puzzled expressions and added, "I know you're all confused. We'll talk about it after we return to our clan land."
They nodded silently and began moving back toward their village.
As they drew closer, deep thunderous explosions echoed through the air. The ground trembled faintly beneath their feet. Hearing this, Mereoleona said, "It seems they triggered the trap… and were dealt with." The other Uzumaki siblings nodded in agreement.
When Shanks had rebuilt the Uzumaki Village, he understood something very clearly: even though he and his siblings did not fear any enemy, no matter their numbers. But those enemies were still shinobi even if weak by their standards, they could delay the siblings by a move or two. And even a short delay might allow the rest of the invading forces to reach the village… and destroy their home a second time.
So, to prevent that possibility, Shanks and the Uzumaki siblings created explosive tags on a massive scale and planted them in a wide circular formation around the entire Uzumaki Village. At any moment, they could be remotely detonated.
And today was that day—more than 3,000 Kirigakure forces had marched steadily toward the Uzumaki Village. The moment they believed they had successfully surrounded the village, the trap was sprung.
From a distance, the Uzumaki siblings had already sensed their approach; nearly all of them possessed exceptional sensory abilities. They knew precisely when the enemy crossed into the danger zone.
At that moment, Erza triggered the remote detonation.
A massive ring of explosions erupted around the entire village. Fire, smoke, and shockwaves tore through the Kirigakure ranks, annihilating the majority of their forces in an instant. Screams were swallowed by the roar of flames, and the land shook as though struck by a barrage of falling meteors.
Of the thousands who had surrounded the village, only a scattered few survived—and those remaining would be easily handled by the Uzumaki siblings themselves.
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