Chapter 270: Fourth Kazekage vs. Fourth Mizukage
"They're here."
On the edge of a lush island, atop a large boulder, a Kirigakure ANBU holding binoculars gave a quiet alert.
Beside him stood a middle-aged man wearing a dark ninja vest. At those words, the tension in his brows finally eased for the first time in days.
Over the sea—
Seven figures ran across the water's surface, heading toward the island.
Leading the group was the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura.
Behind him were two ANBU escort squads.
Soon enough—
Yagura and his escort arrived on the island.
"Lord Mizukage!" the middle-aged man greeted respectfully.
"Mm." Yagura nodded slightly. "Take me to the command center."
"Yes, this way." The man turned. "Please follow me, Lord Mizukage."
The group leapt into the trees, moving swiftly through the island's interior, arriving shortly at a small hillside.
The man placed a hand on the side of the slope, and with a pulse of chakra, black seal patterns appeared.
The slope retracted inward, revealing a dark passage. Inside, a staircase descended so deep it faded into darkness.
Yagura frowned slightly. How could they command operations from this deep underground?
Sensing his doubts, the man explained, "The Fourth Kazekage's sensory ability is extremely strong. To avoid being discovered, we had no choice but to bury the command center deep underground."
Originally, the HQ was on the surface.
But after the Fourth Kazekage systematically eliminated every Kiri outpost along the coastline, they realized he possessed terrifying long-range sensory abilities.
To avoid detection, the command center was relocated underground. It was their only hope of escaping Li Yao's Wind Clone's wrath.
Yagura narrowed his eyes. He'd wanted to ask about the Kazekage's strength—but there was no need.
The fact that he had to come himself was already answer enough.
Soon—
They descended the long staircase into an underground base.
Inside a sealed room, all the Kiri strategists were gathered around a long table. Upon seeing Yagura, they stood and greeted him.
Yagura took the main seat, scanning the room. Every person he looked at lowered their head slightly.
Though the Fourth Kazekage had thrown their plans into chaos, these commanders still bore responsibility for the heavy losses.
Yagura shook his head. No time for blame. "Where is the Fourth Kazekage now?"
He had come to deal with him. At the very least, he had to stop him from slaughtering more of his comrades.
"I'm sorry."
The commander, a man named Akasui, bowed his head. "Lord Mizukage, the Fourth Kazekage can fly. We can't track his movements. All we know is that he's actively searching for our outposts."
Yagura frowned. "How many of us are left?"
"Fifty."
"What?!" Yagura was stunned. "Only fifty? What about the rest?"
Silence.
The entire room fell into a deep, heavy silence. No one dared answer.
But from their silence alone, Yagura understood the answer.
He knew the Kazekage had already killed many—but to think only fifty were left…
It was inconceivable.
Kirigakure had deployed 8,000 shinobi to the Land of Wind. Most were genin and chunin, but still...
Only fourteen days had passed since the Fourth Kazekage appeared.
And now only fifty remained.
How had he done it?
Was his sensory ability really that terrifying?
Yagura's heart grew heavy.
Even the six ANBU who had escorted him were shaken.
Now they understood why the command center had been buried so deep underground.
The Kazekage's sensory prowess was too terrifying—and his power, overwhelming. Only hiding underground could avoid his detection.
"Repeat all the intel you have on him."
Yagura's face turned grim. Though he hadn't yet faced the Fourth Kazekage in battle, he could already feel the oppressive pressure.
"I—"
I what?
Yagura waited, frowning. But before Akasui could finish his sentence, a thin red line appeared on his forehead.
"Akasui, you…"
Yagura's expression shifted. Just as he was about to ask what happened, Akasui's body suddenly slid apart—
sliced in half.
Everyone froze in horror.
Their minds went blank. No one understood how a perfectly healthy man had just split in two.
Until—
Crack!
Their eyes lifted instinctively. A hairline fracture spread across the ceiling.
"Enemy attack!"
Yagura reacted instantly, shouting the warning as he entered Partial Tailed Beast Mode.
CLANG!
A massive invisible blade fell from the sky, cleaving through the entire island—exposing the underground base and a pulsating mass of red-and-black chakra-infused flesh.
"You've arrived, Fourth Mizukage."
Above the island, Li Yao's Wind Clone and Pakura floated in a stream of Wind chakra, staring down at the exposed underground bunker.
The grotesque flesh was Yagura's Partial Transformation form—a defense-only chakra armor with immense adaptability and resilience.
He had used it to protect the Kiri ninja inside the base.
BOOM!
Torrents of seawater surged through the massive gash left by the Wind Slash, flooding the underground base and forming a gorge dozens of meters wide.
Pakura stared in awe from above.
Even though she had witnessed his Wind Slash many times over the past two weeks—
A single strike that cleaved an entire island into a canyon still stunned her.
She finally understood why Shukaku had submitted.
Her brother-in-law had long since surpassed the limits of what a ninja could be. Even the Tailed Beasts were beneath him.
Unimaginably powerful.
That was all Pakura could think.
BOOM!
Below—
Yagura, still in Partial Tailed Beast form, carried all the surviving Kiri ninja out of the flooding base.
Standing at the shoreline, they watched the seawater rush in and form a wide river behind them. No one spoke.
Yagura looked up—this was the first time he laid eyes on the man who had singlehandedly reduced 8,000 Kirigakure shinobi to fifty.
He looked so young. Much younger than him.
"Die!"
Yagura's Tailed Beast-enhanced eyes flashed. He didn't waste words. He opened his mouth and fired a mini Tailed Beast Bomb at Li Yao.
"Don't be so hasty."
Li Yao chuckled. With a thought, the basketball-sized sphere was sliced in two and zipped past him harmlessly.
BOOM BOOM!
Twin explosions erupted behind him, gusts of wind fluttering his hair. He remained untouched.
"This guy…" Yagura's eyes widened, his heart sinking. "He really can cut Tailed Beast Bombs with Wind Release?!"
"How is that possible?"
Unconvinced, Yagura fired two more—but they too were sliced effortlessly by Wind Slash.
The remaining Kiri shinobi stood frozen, drenched in cold sweat.
It was one thing to hear the stories. It was another to see it.
None of them had ever witnessed someone neutralize a Tailed Beast Bomb so casually.
Everyone present was completely overwhelmed by Li Yao's sheer dominance.
Even Yagura momentarily forgot to continue attacking.
(END CHAPTER)
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