The tailed beast interception had officially begun.
On the shattered lake, a few tiny human figures charged toward the towering mass of the Three-Tails.
Shaken awake and furious, Isobu answered with a wall of water.
A colossal wave surged up, ready to swallow everyone whole.
"Raiga! That one's yours!"
Jūzō Biwa lowered his center of gravity, the Decapitating Blade dragging a gouge through the water behind him as he sprinted forward. He skimmed across the churning surface like a hunting cat, boots hammering through the racing swells.
The blade carved a deep trough in the lake as he went, murderous intent compressed into a single line—like a grim, howling ghost tearing straight for the monster ahead.
"Your opponent is right here!"
He slammed a foot into the water. Chakra detonated beneath his sole, triggering a blast like a buried charge. Sheets of water exploded upward.
Boom!
The air itself cracked with the impact.
Jūzō launched skyward. Chakra scraped against the atmosphere, dragging steam in long trails around him. For one flash, his reflection burned in the rising mist—scarlet eyes glaring down.
A thunderclap of wind built behind him as he drew the heavy blade back for a single, brutal swing.
Headsman Art: Execution Slash.
The Decapitating Blade tore through the air, shrieking, pressure peeling away from its edge.
In an instant it ripped through the sound barrier. The resulting shockwave howled across the lake, loud enough to make ANBU ears ring even tens of meters away.
With every drop of his chakra poured into it, Jūzō's strike came down on Isobu's skull with mountain-cracking force.
CLAAANG!!!
Sparks burst in the mist. Steel met shell in a shriek of metal on stone.
The blade bit into the armor plating on Isobu's head—
—and left only a shallow white mark.
The recoil ripped through Jūzō's arms. The skin of his palms split; his grip almost failed. He tasted iron at the back of his throat as shock slammed through his chest.
He wrestled his chakra into order and forced the surging blood back down.
Isobu, meanwhile, reacted as if someone had flicked its forehead.
It blinked once. Twice.
Something… hit me?
The realization that a human had actually cut it sank in.
Rage followed.
The Three-Tails opened its jaws and roared. The compressed wind in front of its mouth condensed to a visible shock front and slammed straight into Jūzō midair.
BOOM!
The blast hit him like a cannon.
Jūzō's body snapped backwards, a spray of blood flying from his lips. He spun like a cut kite, tracing a perfect arc before crashing down and vanishing into the black water.
…That's insane.
Watching from a safer stretch of ice, Uchiha Sogetsu couldn't help raising a thumb.
Anyone who calls Danzō an idiot… I'm going to have to disagree a little.
A kunai against Susanoo sounded ridiculous—until you watched a man swing a sword at a tailed beast's face.
Compared to Jūzō charging Isobu head-on, Danzō poking at the Nine-Tails with a blade didn't sound that outrageous at all.
Would he actually dare?
Probably not. Across the whole shinobi world, Sogetsu could count on one hand the people reckless—or loyal—enough to do what Jūzō had just tried.
Lightning flashed from the flank.
Kurosuki Raiga shot in from the side, twin blades wrapped in crackling arcs. He cleaved down toward Sogetsu's neck.
"Uchiha Sogetsu—your opponent is me!"
CRACK-BOOM!
He was fast—lightning-fast.
The streak of thunder barely existed for an instant before it was already in Sogetsu's space, blade-edge biting through the air.
But just as the Kiba blades were about to connect, Sogetsu shifted his weight, one small step taking him out of the arc.
His eyes stayed flat and bored as they met Raiga's.
He reached out, ignored the lightning crawling along the steel, and closed his hand calmly around one blade.
Then he kicked.
Thud.
Raiga folded around the blow. Pain ripped through his gut as if all five organs had been knotted together and yanked.
Black crept into the edge of his vision. Something in his ribs cracked loud enough for him to hear it. His fingers spasmed; one of the Kiba blades flew free.
He sailed across the ice like a stone, bouncing and rolling for dozens of meters before he managed to stab the remaining sword down into the surface to arrest his slide.
"Kh… cough… urk—!"
He ended up on one knee, one arm wrapped around his midsection, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.
Idiot.
He knew at once where he'd gone wrong.
"I… shouldn't have gone in close…"
Forced upright, Raiga gripped his remaining blade, breath hissing between his teeth as his broken ribs protested.
He'd underestimated Sogetsu. Let his temper override his training. Lost one of his swords because of it. For a man whose strength lay almost entirely in his blades, that was… bad.
"Here."
Sogetsu flicked his wrist and sent the stolen Kiba blade spinning back.
Thunk.
The sword spun through the air, turned several times, then buried itself upright in the ice not far from Raiga's boots.
Raiga stared at it for a long moment, stunned, then slowly raised his head to glare at Sogetsu.
"Why?"
He couldn't make sense of it. Why take his weapon only to hand it back just as easily?
Is there a trap?
Suspicion jolted through him. The prickling at the back of his neck screamed no.
Even with the blade within arm's reach, he didn't dare grab it.
"Instead of wasting time on me," Sogetsu said, tilting his head toward the raging lake, "maybe go help your friend."
His gaze lingered on the distant spray where Isobu was rampaging after tiny figures. His tone turned almost playful.
"If you don't hurry, you'll only be in time to collect the body."
Raiga didn't move.
He didn't even look.
His eyes were locked on Sogetsu like a man trying to hold a snake's attention.
"Forget it. You won't shake me off that easily," he said hoarsely. "I trust Jūzō."
"Your mission isn't to stall me?" Sogetsu asked mildly. "Isn't it to stop Isobu?"
He cocked his head, voice light but words edged.
"And even if you do hold me here… can Jūzō Biwa alone stop a tailed beast?"
"Save it."
A vein throbbed at Raiga's temple. He tore his gaze away from the chaos at the lake only with effort.
"Unless you kill me, you're not taking a single step past this point."
Of course he knew Jūzō and a handful of ANBU couldn't truly stop Isobu.
But Uchiha Sogetsu, in his mind, was at least as dangerous as the beast behind them. In some ways, more.
If someone like that slipped past them and got into the village…
No.
He had to keep this man here.
"In that case," Sogetsu said calmly, "let's call it a truce."
He folded his legs under him and sat down right there on the ice, hands resting lightly on his knees, a small smile playing at his lips.
"Relax. For the moment, I have no intention of fighting you. My goal happens to be the same as yours."
"The… same as ours?"
Raiga's brows knotted. The realization hit him a beat later; his face went rigid.
"Your goal… is the Mizukage?!"
"Correct."
Sogetsu propped his cheek on one hand, smiling.
"Unfortunately, there's no prize for getting it right."
"You really are insane. Insane!"
Even Raiga, who'd seen his share of blood, couldn't stop the shock. His eyes went round.
"You're planning to assassinate the Mizukage? To start a full-blown war?!"
"Correction," Sogetsu said, wagging a finger lazily. "I'm not 'starting' a war."
He leaned back slightly, eyes half-lidded.
"The moment you teamed up with Iwagakure to attack Konoha," he said, "the war had already begun."
Raiga's grip tightened on the Kiba blades.
Out over the torn lake, Isobu roared again, its fury making the ice shudder.
And on the shore, Uchiha Sogetsu smiled faintly, waiting for the Mizukage to move.
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