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Yagura had thought that the clone he copied from Konan would be a useful asset.
Konan used the Paper Release Secret Technique. As long as it wasn't a Kekkei Genkai, his Water Mirror Technique could replicate anything—even a fellow Jinchuriki like himself.
But… it couldn't copy explosive tags!
A perfectly good Paper Release technique, and she had to go and mix in explosive tags!
Konan and the clone were locked in a flurry of paper projectiles. Then came the explosion. The clone had no tags. It shattered. Again.
And now Pein, who'd been observing from a tree branch, dropped to the ground beside Konan. It looked like both of them were joining the fight.
Yagura's expression turned grim. To take down these three, he'd have to get serious.
He triggered his partial transformation.
His form shifted. A humanoid silhouette, now wreathed in the violent, crimson chakra of the Three-Tails. Three chakra tails lashed behind him.
BAM!
His feet cratered the earth. He launched.
A palm strike aimed straight for Obito Uchiha's face.
Fast. But Obito's intangibility was faster. The attack passed through empty air.
Yagura had expected that.
It was a feint.
His real targets were Pein and Konan behind Obito.
He didn't slow down. He shot past Obito, claws aimed at Pein.
Pein raised a hand, expression blank.
"Shinra Tensei!"
An invisible wave of repulsive force smashed into Yagura.
He flew back like a ragdoll, snapping three thick tree trunks before skidding to a halt.
"Iron Shell Bomb!"
A massive sphere of chakra-infused water erupted from his mouth, roaring toward the trio.
Since Pein and Konan were engaged, Obito decided to step back. Just a little.
He wanted to see them fight.
He knew it well—Nagato and Konan didn't trust him.
To guard against any future betrayal, he needed to assess their strength. Find their weaknesses.
So he phased through the incoming water bomb.
Pein just used Shinra Tensei again. A single-handed gesture. The water sphere detonated harmlessly against the repulsive wall.
In the spray and chaos, Yagura appeared in front of Konan.
Another claw strike.
Konan's paper formed a shield in an instant. It blocked the blow.
But where Yagura's hand hit, coral erupted across the paper surface.
The weighted shield plummeted to the ground.
Seeing Konan attacked, Pein's arm snapped toward Yagura.
"Bansho Ten'in!"
A powerful gravitational pull yanked Yagura off his feet, dragging him helplessly toward Pein.
Just before impact—
"Shinra Tensei!"
The repulsive blast hammered Yagura into the earth, cratering the ground.
Pein's hand formed a black rod. He thrust it down.
"Water Style: Great Exploding Current!"
Three-Tails chakra exploded from Yagura's form. A crushing tidal wave surged outward in all directions.
Pein leapt back, evading the deluge.
High above, Konan formed seals, her hand pointed down at Yagura.
"Dance of the Shikigami!"
Countless paper sheets swirling in the air coalesced. Sharpened. Became a rain of spears.
Yagura roared.
The shockwave of sound and chakra scattered the paper lances.
"Oi, Pein," Obito called out. "We need to force the full transformation. I can't take control otherwise. So maybe hold off on the rods."
Pein's gaze snapped to Obito, sharpening.
So. Obito knew what the black rods did. They disrupted chakra. Impaled in the right points, they could seal a target's ability to mold it—to fully transform.
Obito knew too many of his secrets.
Meanwhile, Yagura was gathering energy. A swirling, dark sphere of compressed chakra formed before his mouth—a Tailed Beast Ball.
He swallowed the condensed orb, then spat it out in a straight, obliterating line.
The projectile screamed toward them.
Pein raised both hands this time.
"SHINRA TENSEI!"
The repulsive force that answered was an order of magnitude greater. The Tailed Beast Ball was swatted aside like a fly, soaring into the distant sky.
A moment later—a flash of light on the horizon. Then, the ground shook. The deafening boom followed, along with a howling wind.
While Yagura launched his attack, Konan hadn't been idle.
She'd used the Paper Person of God Technique. The ground around Yagura wasn't earth. It was a sea of explosive tags, perfectly disguised.
The moment Pein deflected the Beast Ball, the disguise fell away.
Hundreds of tags clung to Yagura's body.
They ignited.
The consecutive explosions carved a deep pit into the forest floor.
Obito's eye twitched.
Don't kill it!
But…
That technique of Konan's. He'd seen her lay the tags, disguise them as ground. But even with his Sharingan active, he hadn't been able to perceive the deception. Interesting.
Yagura wasn't dead.
His body was changing again. Bones protruded. His frame swelled, distorting, losing all human shape.
Obito, Pein, and Konan held their attacks.
This was it. The full transformation. They waited.
A massive, hulking form emerged from the smoke. A gargantuan turtle-like beast covered in a thick, spiked shell. The Three-Tails, in full.
Pein looked at Obito. "It's out. Your turn."
Obito nodded. "Right. But listen—once my genjutsu takes hold, before Yagura can break it from within, you jam your rods into it. Combine that chakra disruption with my illusion. Force the transformation to collapse."
Obito's form swirled into Kamui, vanishing. He reappeared directly in front of the Three-Tails' massive head.
Their eyes met.
"Genjutsu: Sharingan!"
The beast's will crumbled. Its pupils morphed, etching with the tomoe pattern of the Sharingan.
Pein was already there. Dozens of black rods shot from his sleeves, piercing deep into the Three-Tails' flesh.
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