Granny Chiyo had only just begun to fully maneuver Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets, chakra threads tightening as she prepared to unleash a devastating coordinated assault,
when Mei Terumi moved first.
There was no hesitation.
Her chakra surged violently, pressure flooding the air as she revealed her second Kekkei Genkai, killing intent rolling outward like a tidal wave.
"Yōton: Yōkai no Jutsu (Lava Release: Corrosive Monster Technique)!!!"
In an instant, Mei expelled a colossal torrent of corrosive acid from her mouth. The seething flood expanded midair, spreading like a living storm, its volume so immense that it seemed to blot out the sky itself. The acid surged forward with terrifying momentum, cascading toward the exquisitely crafted bodies of Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets, intent on erasing them entirely.
Granny Chiyo's pupils shrank sharply.
"So fast,!"
"Karaku Tate: Fūin (Mechanism Shield: Seal)!!!"
Her reaction was instantaneous.
Chakra flared as she manipulated both her own body and the puppets in flawless unison. Mechanical components unfolded with metallic shrieks,fan-shaped shields snapping open from her arms and from the puppets' bodies. Gears screamed, plates interlocked, layers of reinforced mechanisms locking together to form a dense, overlapping defensive wall.
The corrosive wave crashed down.
HISSSSSS,!!!
A shrill, bone-grinding sound tore through the battlefield as acid met metal. Thick white steam erupted violently, flooding the air as the corrosive liquid devoured steel, droplets splashing and sizzling across decks and hulls.
And yet,
the pressure did not relent.
The acid poured down endlessly, clinging to the puppets like a living organism. It seeped into joints, crawled along seams, gnawed relentlessly at every weakness.
Chiyo's expression darkened.
Her defense was holding,
but only just.
This was no ordinary ninjutsu.
Yōton: Yōkai no Jutsu was a sustained torrent of extreme corrosion. No matter how refined the mechanisms were, no structure could endure such erosion indefinitely. The materials composing the Mechanism Shield rapidly reached their limit.
Then,
HISSSSSS!!!
A chilling screech echoed across the sea as metal began to melt visibly. Both the puppets and the mechanical arm attached to Chiyo's body corroded at alarming speed, steam rising as joints dissolved and components collapsed into slag.
Chiyo's eyes widened.
"Lava Release… a Kekkei Genkai?!"
"And earlier, inside the mist,that Futton (Boil Release) technique… that was you as well?!"
Her voice sharpened with disbelief.
"You… you possess two Kekkei Genkai?!"
Mei Terumi smiled faintly, her expression calm and composed amid the screaming acid and collapsing metal.
"That's right," she said evenly. "I command water, earth, and fire chakra natures. Because of that… I wield both Futton (Boil Release) and Yōton (Lava Release)."
Chiyo gazed at the ruined mechanisms, admiration flickering briefly in her eyes.
"What a terrifying shinobi…"
But even as she spoke, her hands never stopped.
With a sharp motion, she severed the corroded mechanical arm, letting it fall away into the sea. In one fluid movement, she unfurled a scroll,smoke burst forth, and a brand-new puppet arm snapped into place seamlessly.
At the same time,
her other hand lashed forward.
Chakra threads tightened.
Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets surged into motion.
A red-haired female puppet spun through the air, twin great blades flashing as it rotated like a living cyclone. It descended from above, slashing down viciously toward Mei!
Mei knew better than anyone,
taijutsu was not her strength.
She did not hesitate.
"Yōton: Yōkai no Jutsu (Lava Release: Corrosive Monster Technique)!!!"
Another tidal wave of acid roared forward. The air screamed as it advanced. Forced to protect her invaluable puppets, Chiyo yanked the attacker aside at the last second, narrowly avoiding catastrophic damage.
But,
at that very instant,
a bull-headed puppet burst forth from behind, charging in a brutal ambush, its momentum overwhelming.
Mei reacted instantly.
"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet)!!!"
Seawater surged violently, twisting and coiling as a massive water dragon formed midair. With a thunderous roar, it lunged forward, smashing head-on into the bull-headed puppet and blasting it backward across the deck in a spray of shattered wood and steel.
Chiyo snorted coldly.
Her hands flashed through seals.
"Sanshō Kyūin Kuzushi (Three Treasures Suction Crush)!!!"
Three puppets stacked together with perfect synchronization, forming seals of their own. In the next heartbeat, a terrifying Fūton (Wind Release) erupted,an overwhelming suction force that twisted the air itself into a devouring vortex.
Mei felt her body dragged forward violently, as if the atmosphere had transformed into a bottomless maw.
At the brink of disaster,
she smiled.
Instead of resisting, she leaned into the pull.
"Yōton: Yōkai no Jutsu (Lava Release: Corrosive Monster Technique)!!!"
BOOM,!!!
A massive flood of corrosive acid was swallowed whole by the three puppets. Inside their bodies, gears, joints, and internal mechanisms were instantly eaten away. Steam erupted violently as their movements stiffened, then faltered.
"Hm?!" Chiyo's expression changed sharply.
She immediately retracted the three puppets, frustration flashing across her face as she felt the damage through her chakra threads.
But in that fleeting instant,
"Kugutsu no Jutsu: Ayatsuri Yaiba (Puppet Technique: Manipulated Blade)!!!"
BANG,!!!
Seven or eight kunai shot forward from behind, hurled with razor precision by chakra threads.
They struck Mei Terumi squarely in the back,
only for her body to collapse into a splash of water.
"A water clone?!" Chiyo exclaimed.
At the same time, thick mist surged outward once more, swallowing the space between the two ships.
It was,
"Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden Mist Technique)."
The dense fog erased all visibility, severing Chiyo's precise control over the battlefield.
"Don't underestimate me!!!" Chiyo roared.
Relying purely on experience and instinct, she forcibly manipulated the Ten Puppets.
BOOM,!!!
ROAR,!!!
A violent barrage erupted, and the ship where Mei had stood was obliterated, shattered into wreckage that scattered across the sea.
Even Mei, watching from within the mist, felt a flicker of genuine admiration.
As the two legendary kunoichi clashed in a deadly stalemate,
a cold, ruthless voice echoed from the Sand Village fleet.
"Suiton: Dai Bakusui Shōha (Water Release: Great Exploding Water Shockwave)!!!"
It was Kisame Hoshigaki.
His chakra erupted without restraint.
The sea itself answered.
Colossal waves surged skyward, the horizon twisting as if the world had flipped upside down. A catastrophic flood swallowed Kisame,and the entire Sand Village fleet,in a single, overwhelming surge.
In a land without water, Kisame could create lakes large enough to imprison even the Eight-Tails' Jinchūriki.
And now,
they were fighting on the open sea.
This was his absolute domain.
"AAAAAAAH,!!!"
Screams echoed endlessly as Sand Village ships capsized, shattered, and vanished beneath the waves. Countless shinobi were dragged into the ocean, struggling in vain.
Granny Chiyo's face drained of color.
Her concentration shattered.
Abandoning her duel, she turned desperately to save her troops.
But Mei Terumi would not allow it.
With Futton (Boil Release) and Suiton (Water Release), she sealed off Chiyo's escape routes, forcing her to remain engaged.
Elsewhere, Ao and Bi held back multiple Sunagakure jōnin, while Mangetsu Hōzuki unleashed the full might of Hiramekarei, combining it with the Hōzuki clan's Hydrification Technique and Suiton: Tetsudan (Water Iron Cannon), slaughtering the Sand forces without mercy.
Watching the overturned fleet and drowning shinobi, Chiyo's heart sank.
This was no longer a battle.
It was a rout.
"Retreat!!!" she screamed.
"Full retreat,NOW!!!"
Already broken, the Sand Village forces fled in utter chaos.
But Kirigakure showed no mercy.
At Mei Terumi's command, Kisame, Mangetsu, and the Mist shinobi surged forward with roaring morale, relentlessly pursuing the retreating enemy.
The sea had become a battlefield of pure carnage,
entirely one-sided.
The first clash between Sunagakure and Kirigakure…
The confrontation between Granny Chiyo and Mei Terumi…
Ended in a decisive, overwhelming victory for Mei Terumi and the Mist Village.
And elsewhere,
the leaders of two great villages finally came face to face.
Rasa.
Chiba.