Sasuke ran wildly through the forest.
Faster!
Even faster!
Kohaku can't hold on for long.
"Judging by the air humidity, I'm probably still in the Land of Water. Brother Shou left the Land of Hot Water three days ago. According to a normal route, he should have already entered the Land of Water."
"If I'm lucky..."
"I can make it!"
Sasuke came to the top of a mountain. He climbed the tallest tree and looked around—
His heart sank.
As far as he could see, there were no villages, let alone landmark buildings, only large patches of trees. A little further out, he could see the edge of the island.
This is an undeveloped, uninhabited island!
Across a stretch of sea, he could see a small island on the other side, with some small villages vaguely visible.
But it's too far. By the time Sasuke gets there, finds someone, and then finds a landmark, Kohaku will be dead, and the enemies will have caught up.
Sasuke clenched his fists tightly: "What should I do... I need to think of something!"
Wait.
An idea flashed in his mind.
If there's no landmark, why not create one?
Sasuke quickly made hand signs.
"Fire Release Great Fireball Jutsu!"
The huge fireball ignited the trees, and the fire spread, with thick smoke and flames rising into the sky.
Sasuke stood in front of the raging fire.
"Brother Shou! Can you see this?"
...
Kohaku was covered in wounds.
Ripple and Orochimaru-style Ninjutsu couldn't heal his injuries.
Disc could give Kohaku Orochimaru's Ninjutsu, but it couldn't give him Orochimaru's body, which had been modified through hundreds of experiments and surgeries.
But he didn't back down.
Kohaku still clenched his fists. The snake he summoned, surrounded by Ripple, had less of an evil aura and more of a heart-shaking sense of justice.
"It's amazing that a commoner could hold me back for ten minutes, but this is the end."
Yugito's arm was covered in Two-tails Chakra again.
The rest time is over, and she can enter the Tailed Beast state again.
Yugito quickly made hand signs and spat out a blue fireball, then tore it apart with both hands, turning it into dozens of fireballs.
"Ninja Art Mouse Tail Ball Jade"
Controlled by Yugito's ten-finger Chakra threads, dozens of fireballs bombarded Kohaku.
This attack was too numerous and too fast. Kohaku couldn't dodge at all, and didn't have time to make hand signs. He could only protect his head with his strong arms.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In a series of explosions, the raging flames burned every inch of Kohaku's skin. Almost instantly, he was burned into a charcoal color by the fireballs carrying Tailed Beast Chakra.
His eyes widened, his unfocused pupils staring at the sky, and he subconsciously opened his mouth. A wisp of scorching, black heat poured out of his throat.
Thud.
Kohaku fell to the ground.
"Overestimating yourself."
Yugito turned her head to look at the two Snake Princesses floating beside her: "I was held up by him. Can't you two take a few more steps and catch Uchiha Sasuke?"
"Miss Yugito, what are you saying?"
Ichikishimahime covered her mouth and smiled lightly: "The agreement between Ryuchi Cave and the Raikage clearly states that we are only providing 'assistance' from beginning to end. We won't take action ourselves."
"Heh"
Yugito chuckled.
What assistance? They're just afraid that Sasuke's Ninjutsu won't work, and that they might be killed with one strike, following in Tagorihime's footsteps.
These so-called Snake Sages have lived for hundreds of years, and they're getting more and more afraid of death.
Yugito ignored the two Snake Princesses and chased after the direction Sasuke had fled.
Just then, a hand grabbed her.
Yugito looked down.
A burnt, charred hand, with torn skin and muscle, that would bleed with the slightest movement, was tightly gripping Yugito's ankle.
"I said..."
"Before I die..."
"You're not getting past me!"
Kohaku took a deep breath, and air rushed into his chest, merging the last bit of Ripple into his palm. He wanted to injure Yugito's foot, so that her speed would be affected when she chased after Sasuke.
Yugito met his gray, empty eyes.
What terrifying willpower.
But...
"Willpower can't overcome reality!"
She pulled out a kunai and stabbed it towards Kohaku's heart.
Suddenly, the two Snake Princesses looked towards the horizon.
"What's that sound?"
They heard an extremely sharp, piercing explosion. The sound was very far away at first, but in an instant it arrived nearby, until now...
It appeared above their heads.
Yugito looked at the sky.
A cloud covered her vision. The next second, the cloud layer was forcefully torn apart, and a golden lightning bolt howled, piercing through the layers of clouds like a missile and falling straight down.
Yugito's pupils shrank.
"Linto!"
"How is it possible! How could he be back so fast!"
Kumogakure's plan was perfect.
They knew that Linto could fly, and Kumogakure calculated Linto's return time based on flight.
Linto was on the border of the Land of Water. Even if he got the news immediately, and flew with all his might, without considering any consumption.
Thinking in the most optimistic terms, it would still take at least 1-2 hours of flying.
Now, less than thirty minutes have passed since the operation began. Plus the fact that their teleportation failed, and they landed in an unknown jungle.
Yugito thought that it would take Linto at least 2 hours to find them.
But... what's going on?!
If Linto flew normally, it would indeed take two hours. And he did indeed spend two hours.
However, it was in a time-stopped space.
With Linto's physical strength, as long as he took a "slight" rest – similar to an ordinary office worker taking a breath after climbing six flights of stairs – he could activate time stop once.
Repeated time stops, uninterrupted attacks, plus the fact that Hermit Purple could roughly point to the target after leveling up to level 2, and the ten minutes that Kohaku bought for Sasuke to set the forest on fire.
Linto arrived in this sea area.
"I saw it."
Linto seemed to be responding to Sasuke's question, and also seemed to be acknowledging Kohaku's will.
He clenched his fists, stared at Yugito below, and anger erupted like a volcano within his chest:
"I saw everything!"
Yugito looked up at the falling Linto, fearfully pushed back, and took half a step back.
Instinct made her run, to escape as far as possible.
But reason told her that she absolutely could not retreat.
If she retreats, she will die!
"Matatabi!"
Yugito gave up killing Kohaku, and activated the complete Tailed Beast form again. A huge blue cat demon appeared.
Not enough!
"Snake Princesses!"
The two Snake Princesses exchanged glances, and their bodies transformed, changing from human form into two venomous snakes.
One was deep blue, and the other was scarlet red.
The two snakes drilled into Matatabi's ears, opened their fangs, and bit down hard!
Natural energy flowed into Matatabi's body along the venomous fangs, and under their arrangement, it barely fused with Matatabi's Chakra.
"Pseudo Snake Sage Mode!"
Matatabi raised her head, opened her mouth wide, and used Tailed Beast Chakra plus natural energy to condense a purple-green Tailed Beast Ball.
"Linto! Others may be afraid of you! I'm not afraid of you—"
Yugito roared, spitting the Tailed Beast Ball towards the sky.
But…
Linto disappeared?!
At the same time, a roar appeared in Yugito's ears—
"Ora!"
The fist, which was not large compared to the Tailed Beast's size, carried terrifying power.
Matatabi's body, which was burning with blue flames, was actually sent flying high.
She wanted to adjust her body in mid-air, wanting to attack again, but when she reached the highest point, she saw Linto again.
His fist shone with golden lightning that illuminated the sky in the night.
Boom!
Another punch.
Matatabi's face caved in, and she spun as she fell into the jungle, breaking countless trees before finally landing on the edge of the island, with most of her body submerged in the seawater.
"Cough... Cough..."
A mouthful of blood mixed with blue flames was spat out.
Yugito has suffered too many injuries today. Morning Peacock, combined Ninjutsu, Heavenly Transfer Technique, all the pain they brought her was not as painful as Linto's punch.
The power of Ripple was like a bomb exploding inside her body, with strands of subtle Ripple deeply piercing every cell, destroying Matatabi's body from the root.
"Hey! Get it together!"
Ichikishimahime, hiding in her ear, said:
"You're a Jinchuriki, how could you be knocked down by a human with a punch – Ah!"
Before she could finish her sentence, she let out a scream.
"So you were hiding here."
Star Platinum grabbed Ichikishimahime's snake body and forcefully pulled her out of Matatabi's ear.
Matatabi roared, trying to stand up and fight back.
A foot stepped on its head, pushing Matatabi back down.
Green Ripple flowed, and the water, manipulated by Linto, trapped Matatabi like a cage.
Linto looked down at Matatabi, looked into its eyes, met the eyes of Yugito hidden within, and said:
"You said, you're not afraid of me?"
He raised his finger.
Star Platinum appeared.
Also appearing were the seawater rising into the air under the manipulation of green Ripple.
The seawater condensed into swords, and the light of the fire on the distant mountains reflected on them, making them look like scarlet blades.
A tremor finally appeared in Yugito's eyes.
She struggled, roared, and blue flames burned all over her body.
But it was all useless.
As Linto waved his hand, a sky full of blades and Star Platinum's fists fell together.
He didn't use time stop.
Because that would be too "easy".
Linto wanted to give Yugito enough time to think about the mistakes she had made.
All the blades fell.
Matatabi was riddled with holes, covered in wounds, and her angry roars had long turned into wails.
She stared at Linto, wanting to say something, but Linto didn't want to talk to her.
Green Ripple flashed again, and blades reappeared, and Star Platinum clenched its fists again.
The blades and fists fell endlessly.
Matatabi's body faded away, and Yugito fell to the beach, with the cold seawater washing over her face.
Emotions such as pain, humiliation, and anger, gradually turned into despair and another emotion... as Linto walked towards her step by step.
An emotion that she was unwilling to admit.
"Fear"
"Are you scared now?" Linto asked.
"I..."
Yugito opened her mouth, but in the end, she didn't say anything. Her head tilted, and she fell onto the beach.
She died.
"Slain the Two-tails Jinchuriki Yugito, gained 1100 Soul Fragments."
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