The coral shattered instantly and scattered across the ground.
"It seems your coral isn't as powerful as you thought."
"You—!"
For his Coral Palm to be neutralized so easily—this was a real problem.
Gripping his staff-like weapon tightly, Yagura faced Aoyama Ryūun with growing caution.
"Speaking of which…"
Ignoring Yagura's tense posture, Ryūun placed one hand on Withered Tree and the other on the hilt of the Sakura Ju sword.
"You think you can defeat me with such a simple technique? Are you looking down on me?"
He'd only been struck once by Coral Palm, and Yagura was already speaking as if it were a guaranteed kill.
Ryūun felt almost insulted.
"A simple technique? Hmph!"
Coral Palm was an A-rank ninjutsu Yagura had crafted himself after meticulous refinement.
It was one of his proudest creations.
"Slash Wave!"
He hadn't shown an ounce of arrogance, yet Ryūun was already belittling him.
Infuriated, Yagura swung his weapon fiercely at the incoming attack.
"Ninja Art—Water Mirror Technique!"
Yagura slammed his staff onto the water, forming a reflective surface that rose into a perfect mirror facing Aoyama Ryūun.
As Ryūun unleashed his sword aura, the reflected clone in the mirror produced an identical strike.
"Clang!"
The two sword energies clashed—but the mirrored one shattered instantly.
"How is that possible?!"
Eyes wide, Yagura immediately dodged the remaining sword aura.
Both Coral Palm and the Water Mirror Technique were his most trusted, most reliable ninjutsu.
The Water Mirror Technique was supposed to replicate the opponent perfectly—attacks included.
Its power should match the real thing.
"Are you wondering why the sword energy you summoned isn't as strong as mine?"
"Are you actually willing to explain?"
Even though he wanted to dismiss it, curiosity tugged at him.
Shrugging casually, Ryūun spoke without hesitation.
"Your Water Mirror Technique isn't invincible. The power it produces depends on your chakra output."
Only when the user supplies enough chakra can the reflection match, or surpass, the opponent's attack.
If the chakra is lacking, the mirrored technique collapses.
If it were truly absolute, Yagura could reflect the Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb just by looking at it.
"Are you looking down on me?"
What he really wanted to say: Are you calling me weak?
Yagura's expression twisted.
"I didn't say it outright… although it's true."
"You bastard!"
Yagura charged forward with his staff, fury boiling over.
"Alright, let's end this boring war here."
Whether compared to Ōnoki or the Third Raikage, Yagura's strength was several tiers below.
Fighting him any longer was pointless.
"Get serious, you bastard!"
The calmer Ryūun acted, the angrier Yagura became.
There was a limit to being insulted.
He was the Mizukage—being treated as insignificant was unbearable.
"Lion's Might!"
Ryūun didn't respond verbally. Instead, he aimed his greatsword directly at Yagura.
"What—?!"
Just as he lunged in, Yagura's instincts screamed at him.
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
"Meteor Slash!"
A radiant sword aura exploded forward, engulfing the battlefield.
For a moment, Ryūun felt as though the whole world was consumed by this one strike.
"Whoosh!"
Yagura couldn't evade.
Under the overwhelming sword aura, one of his arms was severed and hit the ground with a wet thud.
It was so fast that Yagura didn't even feel the pain until moments later.
M–my arm…?!
How could this be?! He had been careful—extremely careful.
And yet the blade still found him.
For a shinobi, losing an arm was a crippling, often fatal price.
"You…!"
Fury and panic twisted his expression as red chakra surged violently around him.
The unmistakable chakra of the Three-Tails bubbled up.
Yagura Karatachi wasn't just Mizukage—he was the perfect Jinchūriki of the Sanbi.
He was clearly preparing to enter a tailed beast state to crush Aoyama Ryūun.
But before the cloak could fully form—
Ryūun's greatsword was already pressed against his neck.
"Go back."
With a single glare, Conqueror's Haki erupted.
The Three-Tails recoiled instantly.
The tailed beast chakra cloak around Yagura collapsed on the spot.
"H–how is this possible?!"
He was a perfect Jinchūriki. His tailed beast transformation wasn't supposed to fail.
Worse—no matter how he called out to the Three-Tails, there was no response at all.
"What did you do?!"
In reality, Ryūun's burst of Conqueror's Haki had targeted the Three-Tails directly, not Yagura.
It flashed for only a moment—too brief for Yagura to feel anything himself.
One glare, and the Three-Tails curled up silently.
Absurd. Impossible. Yet it happened.
"It's nothing. Just quieted that Three-Tails down a bit."
Conqueror's Haki was perfect for clearing enemies…
And it worked wonderfully on tailed beasts.
"You—"
Whatever Yagura wanted to say, Ryūun didn't care.
He tapped Yagura's cheek lightly with the sharp edge of his sword.
"Alright. This war is almost over."
Only then did Yagura realize the truth—
When Hiruzen Sarutobi had been commanding this front, Kirigakure had always been the one pressing Konoha.
But today was different.
With Might Guy, and with support from the Hyūga and Inuzuka clans—
Kirigakure had suffered defeat after defeat.
Especially Might Guy. At some point, he had opened the Seventh Gate—the Gate of Shock—without even Ryūun noticing.
On that point, Aoyama Ryūun had no doubts.
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