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***
"Who's hiding in there?"
More than one perceptive ninja, sensing something, shouted into the cave.
The Kirigakure jōnin, who were currently countering Mei Terumi's attack, paused and looked toward the cave.
Swish!
At this moment, a succession of people rushed toward the cave to investigate.
"Boom!"
The crimson tailed beast's chakra completely enveloped Yagura's body.
He shook, his powerful chakra causing ripples in the air.
"A bunch of rebels, die!"
Yagura's murderous intent surged, and the three tails formed behind him from the Three-Tails' chakra suddenly expanded.
The tails, now a meter thick, immediately began to dance, sweeping out, blocking all access to the cave.
Seeing this, Mei Terumi's pretty face froze, her hands forming seals, her mouth pursed, and her cheeks puffed out.
"Lava Release: Melting Apparition Technique!"
The next moment, she opened her mouth, and the lava she spewed out instantly formed a vast torrent.
The lava torrent surged, raging like a real river.
"Sizzle!"
Even the Three-Tails' chakra was gradually corroded upon contact with the lava.
Simultaneously, the Three-Tails' raging chakra also undermined the lava torrent.
However, the sheer scale of both sides resulted in a stalemate.
"The Fourth Mizukage actually wants to kill us all!"
A Kirigakure jōnin exclaimed in shock.
The gathering now comprised 90% of Kirigakure's elite.
Therefore, under these circumstances, some had lost their patience with the bloodthirsty Fourth Mizukage.
Taking advantage of the stalemate between Mei Terumi and Yagura, some circumvented and headed for the cave.
Soon, the barrier covering the cave was broken, and several more people began to enter.
The masked man was inside, unable to leave due to his need to control Yagura and the Three-Tails.
Many Kirigakure jōnin surrounded the masked man, and even at this distance, the perceptive ninja could tell his chakra was linked to that of the Fourth Mizukage.
"Who are you?"
Ao, previously restrained by the Kirigakure ninja, also appeared, glaring angrily at the masked man before him.
While his eyes could penetrate the man's chakra, they couldn't see the true face behind his mask.
"How dare you treat the Fourth Mizukage as a toy!"
The long-standing deception endured by Kirigakure was finally revealed.
Mei Terumi's roar, engaged in a fierce battle with Yagura, echoed into the cave.
Amidst the violent clash, she could sense Yagura's chaotic chakra fluctuations.
As the masked man's control over the Three-Tails grew, the power of his eyes, used to suppress Yagura's own, weakened.
As a perfect Jinchūriki, Yagura possessed a willpower beyond that of an average person.
Although he was still being suppressed by his eyes, he was already resisting.
The evidence was the gradual weakening of the Three-Tails' power within Yagura, who was currently clashing with Mei Terumi.
"Sizzle!"
Immediately afterwards, the lava corroded the tails, formed from the Three-Tails' chakra.
"Roar!"
Yagura, his body enveloped in the tailed beast's chakra, growled in frustration.
Mei Terumi gritted her teeth at the sight.
At that moment, Yagura's chakra suddenly weakened dramatically.
"Boom!"
Mei Terumi's lava torrent suddenly enveloped all three tails, instantly engulfing Yagura.
Having temporarily restrained Yagura, Mei Terumi did not pursue him, but instead darted into the cave.
Swish!
At that moment, the numerous Kirigakure jōnin in the cave surrounded the masked man, simultaneously hurling numerous ninja tools from all directions.
"Swish, swish, swish!"
Many shurikens and kunai shot at the masked man, but he seemed to turn a blind eye...
"Dangdang!"
All the ninja tools went straight through his body, colliding with each other, making crisp sounds.
He was now completely exposed, and the face under the mask was extremely gloomy.
The masked man couldn't figure it out.
Even though Mei Terumi and others had begun to doubt his identity, the first person to rush out was Ao.
Because Ao had the Byakugan, the masked man had been paying special attention to him.
Today's Ao seemed like a different person.
"What on earth…"
He suddenly thought of Uchiha Shisui and Hatake Kakashi, whom he had seen when they were surrounding Itachi a few days ago.
Then, he suddenly remembered the information Pain had provided him six months prior, after the failed attempt on Shisui and his companions.
Shisui's eye power could control the summoned beasts he summoned with his Rinnegan in Pain's presence.
Recalling this, the masked man suddenly came to a shocking conclusion.
Ao's sudden erratic behavior was due to Shisui's special eye technique.
Based on the masked man's past experience, even with his eye power, such a feat would be impossible.
Eye power manipulation is limited to a certain distance, and when it's applied to another person, that person's chakra changes accordingly.
However, Ao's behavior exhibited absolutely no such effects.
The masked man, however, knew better than to believe that this world harbored many powers beyond common sense.
Thinking this way, everything connected.
"Konohagakure… Uchiha, the Fourth Hokage!"
The masked man's eyes shone with fury.
Decades of "their" influence in Kirigakure had been destroyed in an instant.
"What's going on?"
The Kirigakure ninjas exclaimed in shock as their attacks passed through the masked man.
Meanwhile, Mei Terumi also rushed into the cave, her gaze filled with murderous intent fixed on the masked man.
Gradually, the masked man, lost in thought, regained his composure and, upon noticing the gazes around him, remained completely unmoved.
"This is the guy… who attacked Konohagakure five years ago!"
Mei Terumi exclaimed.
Shortly after the attack on Konohagakure, Minato had shared most of his intelligence with the entire ninja world.
However, few of the Kirigakure jōnin paid any attention to this information.
"Don't attack rashly!" she warned.
The masked man possessed such penetrating power that ordinary ninjutsu wouldn't be able to penetrate him, and in this confined space, it would be even easier for him to strike his own people.
Upon hearing this, the surrounding Kirigakure jōnin were on full alert, but none of them launched a rash attack.
Surrounded by the crowd, the masked man stood still, slowly turning his head to gaze out of the cave.
The eyelids beneath the mask drooped slightly, a hint of a smile.
"Ha… are you so eager to resist?"
In all the years he had controlled the Fourth Mizukage, he had never before used the Three-Tails' power to that degree.
At this moment, his pupil power was no longer enough to suppress Yagura and the Three-Tails.
"If that's the case, I'll let you go free."
...
"Chi!"
The magatama in the masked man's right eye trembled violently.
At this moment, the large amount of corrosive lava left by Mei Terumi outside the cave fell to the ground, creating numerous pits of varying sizes and depths due to varying concentrations.
Yagura, enveloped in the Three-Tails' chakra, also emerged.
Although his bright red chakra had been significantly corroded, it remained unharmed.
"Roar!"
Yagura roared again, and then, like bubbles, the Three-Tails' chakra, which had already corroded his body, began to continuously ooze out of his body.
The chakra overflowed in a ragged pattern, and gradually, Yagura's body seemed to swell.
Buzz!
The surging Three-Tails' chakra made the already icy air in the area even colder.
In the cave, a perceptive ninja noticed this and looked over, exclaiming in alarm, "Oh no! The Three-Tails' chakra is going berserk!"
Upon hearing this, all the ninjas, including Mei Terumi, turned to look at Yagura.
Indeed, the chakra gushing from Yagura's body seemed even more terrifying than before.
As this chakra gradually spread, the entrance to the cave where Yagura was located began to tremble.
Mei Terumi turned to look at the masked man, unable to contain her anger, and exclaimed, "It's you!"
"Haha, without me, the Fourth Mizukage, can Kirigakure still suppress the power of the Three-Tails?"
The masked man sneered.
As he released the Three-Tails' power within Yagura, he pondered something else.
'Didn't Kirigakure intend to use the same method against Konohagakure back then?'
'Since you don't value her life, then today, let's consider this as paying off a debt!'
With this thought, the masked man's eyes grew cold, and he met Mei Terumi's gaze.
Swish!
His form vanished, ignoring the numerous jōnin from Kirigakure as he lunged towards Mei Terumi.
Though nearly all of Kirigakure's elite ninja were present, only Mei Terumi possessed the ability to suppress the Three-Tails.
As long as Mei Terumi wasn't able to free herself, even if Kirigakure could suppress the unleashed tailed beast again, it would come at a heavy price.
Back in Konohagakure, with a far more powerful Fourth Hokage and Uchiha Itachi, who somehow possessed the power of the Mangekyō, his plans would fail.
Compared to Konohagakure back then, Kirigakure simply didn't have the means!
"Quickly break the illusion, Mizukage-sama!"
Mei Terumi shouted.
She understood the masked man's intentions, but just as Minato had thought, the man before them would be even more formidable than the Three-Tails if left unchecked.
She spoke because during their clash with Yagura, Mei Terumi sensed his relentless will.
Of all those present, Yagura was the only one capable of suppressing the Three-Tails!
"It's too late."
However, just as Ao and the others heard Mei Terumi's words and prepared to charge at Yagura, the masked man sneered.
The three magatama in his eye spun, transforming into a completely new shape.
Then, as the pattern on his eye vibrated, the Three-Tails' chakra suddenly intensified.
"Boom!"
The Three-Tails' chakra surged uncontrollably from Yagura, forming a blurry, gigantic figure behind him.
As the figure emerged, a powerful force swept through, causing the entire cave to violently tremble.
Even the lake behind him rippled under the powerful force.
The masked man's control of Yagura couldn't simply rely on his eye power to suppress it.
While suppressing it, he also cast a powerful illusion.
When this illusion lifted, Yagura's life was over.
With the tailed beast's chakra leaking out, how could a Jinchūriki, who was about to die, have the energy to suppress it?
"Damn it!"
Mei Terumi cursed softly.
She had no idea how the masked man controlled Yagura, so she hadn't expected things to turn out this way.
Watching the Three-Tails about to burst from Yagura's body, even the jōnin of Kirigakure were filled with horror.
Human strength paled in comparison to the powerful chakra of the tailed beasts.
However, as the Three-Tails' chakra erupted with near-uncontrollable force, Yagura, at the forefront of all the chakra, slowly raised his head.
The tailed beast's chakra was surging wildly from his body, leaving Yagura covered in wounds.
But his eyes had regained clarity and shimmered, not at all like he was about to die.
Yagura looked at the masked man and spoke slowly, chuckling softly.
"Don't underestimate the Fourth Mizukage, and our power!"
"Roar!"
Behind him, the Three-Tails, sealed for so long, finally roared in its true voice.
Its voice, along with Yagura's, reached the masked man.
The masked man's eyes suddenly changed.
"What!?"
He looked at Yagura, who looked like a dying candle in the wind.
He was supposed to be dead, yet he still stood there.
Then, understanding dawned on him, and he looked at the Three-Tails behind Yagura in shock.
"It's actually trying to return to the Jinchūriki's body!"
This was something he hadn't expected.
The Three-Tails, sealed and controlled by Kirigakure as a weapon for decades, was now willing to return to his body to save the Jinchūriki's life.
The only reason Yagura hadn't collapsed was because of this!
The masked man hadn't used much of his eye power to control the Three-Tails in order to fight Mei Terumi.
He reasoned that the Three-Tails, suppressed by Kirigakure for so many years, would likely launch a frenzied, indiscriminate attack once it left the Jinchūriki's body, even if he controlled it.
The current situation was simply beyond the masked man's comprehension.
At this moment, in front of many Kirigakure ninjas, Yagura, whose body was shaky, smiled faintly.
He turned his head with difficulty and glanced at the Three-Tails behind him.
"It is no longer the monster that the world knows, but a companion who protects Kirigakure side by side with me."
"Am I right?"
"Isobu!"
Yagura's voice fell, and the Three-Tails behind him seemed to be responding to his will.
The chakra that had originally poured out of the former's body gradually merged into the former's body.
"You are not afraid of death!"
The masked man said angrily, because with Yagura's current physical condition, even if the Three-Tails returned to his body immediately, it would not be able to change Yagura's inevitable death.
And if the tailed beast died in the body of the Jinchūriki, the tailed beast would also die.
In other words, the Three-Tails was actually the same as Yagura.
It was using its own life to protect the Kirigakure that had sealed it for many years!
....
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