The three people rapidly closing in on the Three-Tails were not especially surprised by the sudden Tailed Beast Ball it spat out.
Kirigakure had received the Three-Tails and Six-Tails from Hashirama Senju decades ago. Although they had never selected Jinchuriki capable of controlling them during that time, their attempts to capture the two Tailed Beasts had never stopped.
Because of that history, the Kirigakure jonin qualified to participate in subjugating Tailed Beasts had sufficient understanding of both the Three-Tails' and Six-Tails' abilities and habits.
Unlike the Six-Tails, which possessed highly corrosive gas and bodily fluids that heavily restrained shinobi who fought at close or mid range, the Three-Tails was a Tailed Beast that excelled in defense. Its long-range attack methods were not especially numerous.
When facing targets that could move at high speed, using a Tailed Beast Ball for area bombardment was a choice the Three-Tails would make without even needing to think.
And that habitual movement naturally became a flaw in the eyes of Kisame Hoshigaki and the other two.
"Water Release: Great Shark Bullet Technique!"
Kisame Hoshigaki formed hand seals. A massive transparent shark leaped up from beneath the lake surface, opening its huge mouth as it met the roaring Tailed Beast Ball head-on.
In just an instant, the Tailed Beast Ball fired by the Three-Tails had nearly half its volume absorbed by the Great Shark Bullet's chakra-devouring properties.
Although it ultimately broke through the Great Shark Bullet's interception, its power was already far weaker than before.
"My turn! Water Release: Tate Eboshi!"
Mangetsu Hozuki, who had already used the Hydrification Technique and Great Water Arm Technique to turn himself into a small giant, cheered as he jumped out of the water.
He activated the Hozuki clan's ninjutsu used to defend against large-scale attacks. A tremendous amount of lake water gathered toward Mangetsu Hozuki's body under the influence of chakra. In the blink of an eye, it expanded into a giant water monster nearly the same size as the Three-Tails, blocking directly in front of the shrunken Tailed Beast Ball.
Boom—
Towering flames and surging water pillars erupted at the same time.
The water monster Mangetsu Hozuki had transformed into was blasted apart by more than half under the Three-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball, but Mangetsu himself was unharmed. Borrowing the force of the explosion and the Hydrification Technique strengthened by the Cursed Seal of Heaven, he shot into the sky.
From above, he looked down at the Three-Tails, whose head was still spinning after being slammed by Kisame Hoshigaki's Great Shark Bullet.
"Hiramekarei, release!"
Mangetsu Hozuki took the twin blades Hiramekarei from his back and forcefully split them apart, turning them into two one-handed ninja blades.
Surging chakra coiled around his body and flowed into the blades, activating Hiramekarei's innate characteristics.
Then he aimed at the Three-Tails' head and swung Hiramekarei with all his might, causing a radiance of chakra nearly a hundred meters long to extend from the blade.
An ear-grating sound rang out.
The blade-light of Hiramekarei collided with the Three-Tails' shell as it instinctively twisted its head aside, producing a sharp and violent screech.
Shattered fragments of shell flew in every direction, then fell into the gradually rising mist and vanished without a trace.
Mist?
As if realizing something, the pained Three-Tails instinctively wanted to retract its body, using its hard shell to wrap itself up and prevent those three annoying Kirigakure shinobi from attacking the parts of its body that lacked shell protection.
But before it could make that response, Zabuza Momochi, who had not joined the attack until now, had already silently appeared beside it.
Unparalleled killing intent combined with a sudden burst of chakra made the Three-Tails' reaction slow for an instant.
Then Zabuza Momochi, who had released the second stage of his Cursed Seal of Heaven and transformed into a horned asura demon, let out a bloodthirsty, frenzied roar.
He swung the Decapitating Carving Knife in his hand and stabbed it viciously into the Three-Tails' neck.
After suddenly suffering a heavy injury, the Three-Tails let out a long cry of pain.
Its body rolled violently. Relying on its massive size and overwhelming strength, it flung Zabuza Momochi away, then abruptly dove into the great lake it inhabited.
It intended to delay for time, recover from its wounds, and then fight those three hateful Kirigakure shinobi again.
Then it saw the shark-faced shinobi's skin suddenly turn black.
He fused with the great blade on his back, transforming into a terrifying half-human, half-shark creature. With astonishing speed, he dove into the water and charged toward it fiercely like a shark that had smelled the blood of its prey.
Thud—
The high-speed Kisame struck the Three-Tails squarely in the abdomen. The enormous force even made its body, dozens of meters large, curl inward.
After landing his first blow, Kisame immediately accelerated and circled away from the Three-Tails.
Before it could counterattack, he struck heavily at its back shell from behind.
The thick, solid carapace was split open in a huge crack by a single strike from Kisame after fusing with Samehada. At the same time, he stole an amount of chakra from the Three-Tails that could only be described as massive.
Having tasted the benefit, Kisame sped up again.
It was as if he had suddenly gone from a lone hunting shark into an entire pack of sharks drawn over by the smell of blood, launching savage and bloodthirsty attacks at the Three-Tails from every direction at once.
"Tch. Idiot. If it had realized sooner and run onto land, it wouldn't have lost this quickly. Now look at it. It ran into the deep-water zone by itself. Did it think Big Brother Kisame's attacks weren't fast enough, ruthless enough, or all-directional enough?"
Mangetsu Hozuki, who had submerged into the water using the Hydrification Technique, watched the Three-Tails getting mauled beyond recognition by Kisame alone and complained speechlessly to Zabuza Momochi beside him.
"Go down there and have Kisame knock the Three-Tails back up to the surface."
Zabuza Momochi, who had also dived underwater, had a dark expression.
"This mission is a hunt for the three of us. If we leave him alone, it'll turn into Kisame's solo performance."
"Damn, looks like we're too late!"
The moment Mangetsu Hozuki finished speaking, he saw Kisame Hoshigaki pushing against the Three-Tails' cracked and damaged back shell, forcing the already powerless Three-Tails to float toward the surface.
Seeing this, Zabuza Momochi quickly used Water Release to approach the Three-Tails, intending to land a few more cuts before it surfaced so he would not be judged as someone who had been slacking off on the side.
Splash—
The half-human, half-shark Kisame Hoshigaki swung the arm that had fused with Samehada and used terrifying brute force to smash the wounded Three-Tails out of the water.
Zabuza Momochi, transformed into a demon asura, stepped on the splashing water created when the Three-Tails broke through the surface and chased after it all the way, delivering the final damage meant to lower its health before capture as it flew helplessly through the air.
As for Mangetsu Hozuki, he could only swing Hiramekarei helplessly from the lake surface, sending out two light blades to show off his final sense of presence.
Isobu, the Three-Tails, who had once forced Kirigakure to sacrifice many people before it could be sealed, was beaten into a miserable state suitable for capture so simply and easily.
It had lost to three young shinobi whose average age was not even fifteen.
Watching Isobu, the Three-Tails, fly high out of the water and then crash heavily back down onto the lake surface in such a pathetic state, Rei Kaguya gently nodded and silently gave Kisame Hoshigaki, Zabuza Momochi, and Mangetsu Hozuki a passing evaluation in his heart.
"Although there are still quite a few issues with their teamwork, their individual strength has basically reached, or even surpassed, their peak in the original timeline…"
"Mm. Looking at it this way, as long as they can fully unleash the second stage of the Cursed Seal of Heaven and max out the chakra boost from the special cookies, they can basically reach ordinary Kage level. Once Mangetsu and the others grow a few more years and accumulate enough combat experience, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen can be renamed the Seven Shadow Bladesmen…"
"Mm. But the other four swords are a little too weak. I need to think of a way to replace them with stronger ninja blades more suitable for inheritance."
As he thought this, Rei Kaguya turned around and clapped lightly at the Kirigakure jonin, who had been shocked speechless by the one-sided battle.
He spoke lazily.
"All right, everyone. The Three-Tails' defeat is already set in stone. It's time to begin preparing the sealing ritual for the Three-Tails…"
The conservative jonin withdrew their gazes from the Three-Tails' massive body as it flew across the sky.
With complicated feelings, they looked toward Yagura Karatachi, who stood beside Rei Kaguya and had silently clenched the fist hidden behind his back.
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