Uchiha Nagi no longer paid any attention to Raikage A's battle. The Third Raikage, at only one-tenth of his original strength, plus the Gold and Silver Brothers, with their consciousness released and at maybe twenty or thirty percent of their power, should have no problem fighting A to a standstill.
It was A's own fault for having a glaring weakness: he didn't know any sealing jutsu. Against three immortal, unkillable Kage, a stalemate was the best he could hope for.
Right now, Nagi's focus was on Killer Bee, the man who, before Naruto came of age, was the most powerful perfect jinchuriki in the shinobi world.
The Eight-Tails' fists, horns, and tentacles hammered away relentlessly, but the defense of the Susanoo-clad turtle was simply too solid. It took no damage whatsoever. In fact, it was Nagi, controlling the Three-Tails, who managed to inflict several wounds on the Eight-Tails.
Yo, Bee, the situation's bad, we can't crack this turtle's pad!
In this case, only a Tailed Beast Bomb will do the deed. So, whaddya say we give it a speed?
Alright, let's try it.
Finally, Killer Bee saw his chance. As the Three-Tails opened its mouth to bite one of the Eight-Tails' tentacles, he seized the opportunity. Two massive hands clamped down on the Three-Tails' jaws, preventing it from closing, while his other tentacles restrained its three tails and body. Having more tentacles was a definite advantage.
Then, the Eight-Tails opened its own great mouth, gathered a small Tailed Beast Bomb, and fired it straight into the Three-Tails' unprotected maw.
BOOM!
A small mushroom cloud erupted between the two Tailed Beasts. The Three-Tails was in a sorry state, its entire mouth swollen like a sausage. The Eight-Tails was also caught in the blast, and the scent of grilled octopus filled the air.
The moment Nagi sensed something was wrong, he had already teleported away.
At that moment, Yugito's voice came from the distance. "Killer Bee!"
The Eight-Tails turned its head to see the heavily injured Yugito, once again in her Tailed Beast form, a fully charged Tailed Beast Bomb in her mouth. The Eight-Tails understood instantly. It flipped the Three-Tails onto its back and hurled it into the sky.
WHOOSH—
BOOM!
Another Tailed Beast Bomb—he'd lost count by now—appeared on the battlefield. This time, the Three-Tails took the full force of the blast. The Susanoo shell was gone, and a large patch of the turtle shell was charred black. Although its body was fine, its limbs, head, and tail were not covered by the shell and were all caught in the high-energy blast.
"As expected, turtles really are useless. Their defense seems good, but they lack agility," Nagi said, shaking his head. He had anticipated this result and wasn't surprised.
He had only tried the Three-Tails Armored Susanoo because he wanted to test out Madara's Nine-Tails Susanoo and see how it performed. The result was disappointing. The Three-Tails was too slow, had too few tails, and was constantly being overpowered by the Eight-Tails. Aside from being a good punching bag, it was useless.
With a puff of smoke, Nagi recalled the Three-Tails. He flew into the air on wings of iron sand, courtesy of his Magnet Release, and quietly observed the Eight-Tails and Yugito.
He had already ordered Nakime to move the Sky Fortress away from the battlefield, but he still had a trump card.
"Hehehe, Killer Bee, don't tell me you think you've already won?" Nagi covered his face and laughed wildly. "Hahahaha! Today, I'll show you what true art is!"
"Heavy Artillery: True Performance of a Hundred Machines!"
Performance of a Hundred Machines?
Two figures hiding in the distance exchanged a puzzled glance. Wasn't that Sasori's ultimate technique?
"Don't look at me, Hidan. I don't know either. Look at me again and I'll gouge your eyes out."
"My, my, Kakuzu-senpai, you've lived for over a hundred years and you don't know? How strange..."
It was, of course, Hidan and Kakuzu. When the war between the Land of Iron and the Land of Lightning began, they had followed closely behind to watch the battle. They hadn't seen much, but they had suffered plenty, getting caught in an artillery barrage and then hit by the shockwave of a Tailed Beast Bomb. If not for their semi-immortal bodies, they would have been long gone.
"Shut up and watch," Kakuzu grumbled.
"Performance of a Hundred Machines? What's that?"
Soon, Killer Bee and Yugito had their answer. Nagi threw out several storage scrolls. As the smoke cleared, thousands of cannons appeared in the sky, linked to ammo boxes.
This was the haul from his multi-day raids on the military bases of the Demon Slayer world. What he had given the samurai before was just light artillery.
Combining Magnet Release with his puppet jutsu, he made the heavy cannons float in the air as if they were light as feathers. Some of them were even heavy naval cannons he had taken from ships.
"Hahahaha! Artillery is art! EXPLODE!" Nagi threw his head back and laughed, then glanced at Yugito. A thousand cannons aimed at her and fired three volleys in unison. In her giant Tailed Beast form, she was a sitting duck.
Nagi had always wondered: if a Tailed Beast appeared in World War I, could it win? Against modern heavy artillery, a single cannonball was like a large Rasengan. With hundreds or thousands of them hitting their bodies, they would be crippled, if not dead.
Of course, the Tailed Beasts' signature move, the Tailed Beast Bomb, was not to be trifled with either. Its explosive power was immense.
But against the floating cannons, Killer Bee was helpless. If they were on the ground, a single Tailed Beast Bomb's shockwave could wipe them out. But hitting the scattered cannons in the air was like trying to shoot mosquitoes with a cannon.
After three volleys from the heavy artillery, Yugito fell, lying half-dead in a vast crater.
"Your turn, Killer Bee," Nagi said, turning his attention to him. If only he had Kisame's Samehada, dealing with a Tailed Beast would be a breeze. He could just absorb all its chakra.
But his current method wasn't bad either. One artillery version of the Performance of a Hundred Machines had just taken out the Two-Tails. Now it was the Eight-Tails' turn.
BOOM!
In the first volley, the Eight-Tails used several of its tentacles to shield itself. Bits of Tailed Beast flesh and shredded tentacles flew everywhere.
To Nagi's surprise, the Eight-Tails spat out a cloud of black octopus ink, creating a dense black fog, and then quickly dispelled its Tailed Beast form.
Before Nagi could even guess what Killer Bee was up to, he had shrunk down, grabbed his brother A, and was making a run for it.
Nagi was speechless.
Well, shinobi weren't samurai. A strategic retreat was nothing to be ashamed of. But Nagi was flying in the air while they were running on the ground. Did they really think they could escape?
"A! Don't run, you coward!"
BOOM!
One after another, fireballs exploded around A and Killer Bee, leaving them in a sorry state.
"Bee, let me go! I'll fight him to the death!"
"Oh, big bro, don't you get it, yo? A shinobi plays to his strengths, avoids his shorts! He's clearly not fighting us on the ground, and we can't fly, it's profound! Strategic retreat's the only way, what else can we say?"
"A Tailed Beast Bomb can't be aimed to blow in mid-air's way! And his cannons in the sky are too spread out, no doubt! Hitting them's like swatting a fly, that's what I'm talkin' about! If we don't retreat now, we'll die without a shout!"
His brother's logic left A speechless.
In reality, Nagi was also playing to his strengths. On the ground, in close combat, with his Mark-enhanced Sage Mode, fighting two-on-one wasn't a problem, but killing them would be difficult. But by bombarding them from the sky with his "Artillery Performance of a Hundred Machines," he could win with ease. Why would he bother with close combat?
If not for the threat of the Tailed Beast Bomb, he would have brought the Sky Fortress over as well. With two types of long-range attacks—one gunpowder-based, one chakra-based—he could have made the Land of Lightning wish for a swift death.
"You think you can run, Raikage?"
Nagi flicked his wrist, and several kunai flew out, multiplying into a storm with the Shadow Shuriken Jutsu and scattering throughout the forest.
With the Flying Thunder God coordinates in place, things became much easier. Nagi threw out several more scrolls, producing large crates of TNT.
He detonated them directly in A and Killer Bee's path, and the cannons in the sky opened fire with another three volleys, blanketing the intercepted duo in a dense barrage.
"Die here, Fourth Raikage A!"
Again and again, the "Heavy Artillery Performance of a Hundred Machines" rained down on the area where the Fourth Raikage and Killer Bee were trapped.
Nagi only stopped when the cannons had completely exhausted their ammunition. Through his Sharingan, he could still see a chakra signature on the ground.
As he slowly descended, he saw the Fourth Raikage, grievously wounded, struggling to his feet, glaring at him with pure hatred.
"Uchiha Nagi..."
"A, there's no one to disturb us now. It's time to pay your debts," Nagi said calmly. "Mifune and I... we weren't the closest of friends, but he died because of me. So, I must avenge him."
With that, he closed his eyes and opened them again. [The Mark: Sage Mode] activated.
"You stole our Turtle Island first, then killed the shinobi of my village. You know full well who is right and who is wrong. I was careless to be defeated today." A had calmed down. He knew that in his current state, unable to fly and with no space-time ninjutsu, there was no escape.
The two thousand shinobi he had brought with him were all but wiped out. The one thing he hadn't anticipated in this great war was the mushroom clouds. He never would have imagined that the Three-Tails was in Uchiha Nagi's hands, or that he possessed a Sky Fortress that could fire chakra cannons with the power of a Tailed Beast Bomb.
Even more ridiculous were those cannons. Chakra cannons had been researched in the shinobi world before, but they were considered impractical compared to the convenience of ninjutsu. But this was the first time anyone had seen cannons that used gunpowder, and they had inflicted enormous casualties.
"Come. A Raikage of the Hidden Cloud dies in battle, he does not flee in fear." The heavily injured A stared coldly at Nagi.
"There's nothing more to say. You locked me in the Kohaku no Johei. The grudge between us is set. Let's end this."
Hooo...
Sun Breathing, Thirteenth Form, + The Mark: Sage Mode, + Raikiri.
Nagi drew his blade and charged. Raikage A also used his signature technique, the Hell Stab.
At the last moment, A had made his decision. He didn't use his remaining chakra to activate his Lightning Release Armor. Instead, he focused every last ounce of his strength into a single, decisive strike.
SWISH—
The two figures blurred past each other. A smiled.
His throat, his heart, his entire body had been struck by dozens of cuts. He had completely abandoned his defense. And, just as he had wished, his Hell Stab had successfully pierced Uchiha Nagi's heart.
Thud.
A fell with a smile on his face. To have eliminated this great enemy of the Hidden Cloud before his death, he had no regrets.
"Cough, cough... This A... he's really ruthless. To think he'd choose to take me with him," Nagi coughed, spitting out a large mouthful of blood.
If any other Kage had their heart pierced, they would be dead for sure. But not Uchiha Nagi.
"Yin Seal, release!"
The moment he released a small portion of the seal on his forehead, a strange energy flowed into his body, instantly repairing his heart.
Nagi frowned and took out a syringe, plunging it into his own body. Inside was a purified essence he had extracted from some Blue Spider Lilies that bloomed during the day. After injecting it, the extent of his demonization noticeably lessened.
He didn't like the feeling of being neither human nor demon, so for now, he couldn't release the full power of the Demon King from the seal at once. He had to slowly drink the Blue Spider Lily nutrient solution to regulate his body.
After tending to his wounds, Nagi slowly walked over to the Eight-Tails jinchuriki, Killer Bee. He had a feeling that Bee wasn't so easily killed. A jinchuriki had their Tailed Beast supplying them with chakra. As long as they weren't killed instantly, they were almost impossible to put down.
Hm?!
Nagi looked at Killer Bee's "corpse" and suddenly realized something was wrong. He touched it, then frowned and punched it hard.
Poof!
With a puff of smoke, the force of his punch reverted the corpse to its true form: a single tentacle. If he hadn't hit it hard enough, it wouldn't have even changed back.
"Hmph. One of them got away. It doesn't matter. As long as A is dead."
Nagi sneered, collecting the octopus tentacle and A's body. It seemed A knew they couldn't escape and had let Killer Bee go first.
After cleaning up, Nagi returned to where Yugito had died but didn't find her body. The remaining Cloud shinobi must have taken it. It didn't matter. With the jinchuriki dead, the Tailed Beast would no longer be in their body. In a few years, it would revive somewhere in the shinobi world. But the person was dead, and the bloodstains on the ground were enough. Not wanting to be wasteful, Nagi collected some of her blood, planning to create another nuclear battery for the Sky Fortress later.
Ten days later, in the Land of Iron—
Uchiha Nagi had chosen a cliff just like the one in Konoha to build his village. He planned to carve Kage faces into the cliff face in the future.
Attending the village's founding ceremony were the original envoys, as well as the Daimyo of the Land of Iron. The previously reluctant Daimyo, after seeing Nagi's divine might in his complete victory over the Land of Lightning, had changed his tune and become much more cooperative.
"Sword Kage!" "Lord Sword Kage—" "Your Excellency, Sword Kage—"
Countless samurai, children, and new citizens of the Land of Iron who had just joined cheered for Uchiha Nagi, who stood on the main building.
Nagi raised his Nichirin Blade, Raikiri, to the sky and shouted, "I declare that from this day forward, the Swordsmith Village of the Land of Iron is officially founded!"
"HURRAH—" "LONG LIVE THE SWORDSMITH VILLAGE—" "LONG LIVE HIS EXCELLENCY, THE SWORD KAGE—"