Looking at Hoshiyomi and Pakura walking towards them step by step, the crowd of Kirigakure shinobi surrounding the Mizukage Building couldn't help but swallow nervously.
They had all heard stories about Hoshiyomi before—but they had never imagined he'd be this powerful. To storm the Mizukage Building with just one subordinate… and then walk out completely unharmed?
And if he had come out alive… didn't that mean their Mizukage, Lord Yagura, had been defeated?
At that thought, the Kirigakure shinobi's hearts clenched, a wave of killing intent rising from their bodies.
If the other Hidden Villages heard that Gekko Hoshiyomi had broken into the Mizukage Building and walked away untouched, the Kirigakure would become a laughingstock.
Absolutely, we absolutely cannot allow Gekkō Hoshiyomi to return to Konoha alive. This was for the sake of avenging Lord Yagura and for the honor of Kirigakure.
Just as that thought spread through the crowd, Hoshiyomi—calm and composed amid the ring of enemies—spoke in a low, steady voice:
"You plan to attack us?
Then I hope you're ready to face the consequences."
As he spoke, the aura around Hoshiyomi's entire body erupted. The terrifying pressure of a Kage-level shinobi, mixed with an almost visible killing intent, rapidly swept across the area, causing those Kirigakure shinobi with originally ferocious expressions to tremble in unison.
The ferocious expressions on the Kirigakure shinobi's faces were quickly replaced by terror. A thought inexplicably arose in everyone's minds:
"I actually thought we could beat him just by having more people… I was such an idiot."
Just as the Kirigakure shinobi were gripped by fear and shock, a voice came through:
"It's only two people! What's there to be afraid of?
They dared to attack the Mizukage Building—they should've been ready to die here!"
As he spoke, a man emerged from the crowd. He didn't continue to rally the others but instead directly formed hand seals:
"Water Release: Bubble Technique!"
As he completed the seals, countless bubbles flew from his mouth.
The surrounding shinobi, seeing this, burst into cheers:
"It's Lord Numako! With him here, Hoshiyomi definitely won't escape alive!"
Hoshiyomi tilted his head slightly, puzzled.
Numako? Who the hell is that?
Isn't the Bubble Technique the specialty of Utakata—the Six-Tails Jinchūriki?
He shrugged. It didn't matter.
As that man himself said—if he was going to attack, then he should be prepared to die.
Without hesitation, Hoshiyomi drew his sword—Mikazuki Munechika.
Several arcs of sword energy sliced through the air, easily shattering the bubbles before they could reach him.
The collision of sword energy and bubbles triggered small explosions, but they were far too weak—the blast radius was tiny, unable to even graze Hoshiyomi.
The Kirigakure shinobi froze in disbelief.
Lord Numako's bubbles—destroyed that easily?
Even Numako himself was shocked.
He hurried to form another set of seals to attack again, but Hoshiyomi was already upon him.
With a single, devastating kick, Hoshiyomi sent Numako flying across the field.
He crashed violently into a large tree, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Before the smoke could clear, a furious roar echoed from within:
"You bastard! Unforgivable! Melt!"
As he spoke, a large amount of yellow-green liquid suddenly flew out from the smoke.
Even before the liquid got close, its pungent smell made Hoshiyomi frown. This liquid was undoubtedly highly corrosive strong acid!
Hoshiyomi grabbed Pakura's hand, activated Shunpo, and instantly put a great distance between them, thus avoiding the terrifying viscous acid.
Just as they avoided the acid, a crimson-red figure swiftly flew out from the smoke, charging straight at Hoshiyomi.
On instinct, Hoshiyomi raised Mikazuki Munechika to block—only to be slammed backward several steps by an immense, beastlike force.
Steadying himself, Hoshiyomi looked up at the red figure before him—
and murmured to himself, realization dawning in his eyes:
"So that's what this is…"
So this guy was a Jinchūriki—no wonder those Kirigakure shinobi suddenly started acting like they still had hope.
Hoshiyomi glanced over the tails behind him. They weren't the flat, fin-like ones of the Three-Tails.
So this guy's the previous Six-Tails Jinchūriki of Kirigakure… huh.
Tch, did they think a Jinchūriki could deal with me?
Rolling his shoulders, Hoshiyomi shook off the soreness in his arms. Before Numako (the Jinchūriki) could charge again, Hoshiyomi swung his blade twice—sending out two arcs of sword energy.
Whether you're a Jinchūriki or not, take my sword energy first.
The twin sword energy streaked straight toward Numako. Perhaps because he'd entered Partial Tailed-beast form, his intelligence had dropped—he didn't even try to dodge. Instead, he relied on his tailed-beast chakra cloak to take the hit head-on.
Predictably, it didn't end well.
The cloak couldn't withstand Hoshiyomi's sword energy; twin bursts of blood sprayed out, and Numako dropped to the ground, writhing in agony.
Hoshiyomi clicked his tongue in disappointment.
"That's it? Pathetic."
It was obvious the guy had no real control over his beast's power.
At this level, he's not even as good as Roshi, Hoshiyomi thought.
Sure enough, as Numako continued thrashing on the ground, the number of tails behind him increased—until finally, with a deafening roar, he completely transformed.
In a cloud of smoke, the Six-Tails, Saiken, was released.
The massive white, slug-like beast let out an earth-shaking roar the moment it appeared. Its slimy tails ran rampant everywhere, not only failing to injure Hoshiyomi but instead wounding many Kirigakure shinobi.
The screams and chaos that followed were deafening.
Kirigakure shinobi were sent flying, crying out in panic.
"This… this isn't how it was supposed to go!"
"We've… we've shot ourselves in the foot!"
Looking at the scene before him, Hoshiyomi clicked his tongue. He suddenly felt that if he left directly now, the Kirigakure shinobi would definitely be in for a tough time.
But looking at the roaring Six-Tails, he felt a bit more interest in testing his moves. After all, this was his first time facing a Tailed Beast since his fight with Rōshi.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, a heavy sigh echoed from the crowd, followed by an aged, trembling voice:
"Quickly release those three Hyūga clan shinobi."
The speaker was an old man standing among the Kirigakure shinobi. His face was covered in age spots, his back hunched, looking as though he could pass away at any moment.
This elder was Genji —the sole elder of the Kirigakure Village.
Unlike the other great ninja villages, Kirigakure had no council of elders—only one, the oldest and wisest, who held power equal to the Mizukage.
In fact, even many of the Mizukage's decisions required Genji's approval.
At his words, the Kirigakure shinobi hesitated.
Seeing their reluctance, Genji slammed his cane on the ground with a sharp crack:
"What, are you all ignoring me now?"
Hearing this, everyone finally gave up their resistance and released the three Hyūga shinobi.
Only then did the old man turn toward Hoshiyomi and say solemnly:
"It was our fault for sending the Seven Ninja Swordsmen to attack Konoha.
And your assault on the Mizukage's Building as retaliation is understandable.
I'm old and weak now… I failed to stop them in time. That failure has led to this disaster."
"It shames me to admit it, but I must ask—no, beg—for your aid.
Please, help us subdue our Six-Tails.
If you help us seal the beast and end this chaos, I swear—on my life—that Kirigakure will never seek vengeance for today's events.
And as long as I still draw breath, Kirigakure will never again raise its hand against Konoha."
Hoshiyomi rubbed his chin, eyeing the elder with a faint grin.
Hmm, this old man is clearly much more level-headed than the rest of the Kirigakure shinobi!
(Author's Note)
Readers might find the ending a bit off—yes, that's because I, Coconut Juice, changed direction midway.
Originally, I planned for Hoshiyomi to kill Yagura and let the Six-Tails rampage through the Kirigakure Village.
But after thinking about it, that would've made it far too easy for Madara to take control of the Kirigakure later on—and I'd probably get roasted for "handing victory to the enemy."
So, I decided to tone down the destruction a bit.