"You guys sure you haven't had a few too many drinks in the Mist? What is this mess?"
Night Namikaze, having already evacuated via Flying Raijin, only had time to leave behind this sarcasm-filled remark before reappearing in a safe zone miles away.
He was genuinely shocked by the Third Mizukage's "genius." Placing the Three-Tails Isobu directly underneath the Mizukage building?
How was that any different from sitting on a nuclear bomb while doing paperwork?
In reality, the Third Mizukage had his reasons, though he couldn't voice them. The political landscape of the Mist was complicated, with powerful bloodline clans entrenched and internal strife severe.
The recent bloodbath between the two major bloodline clans, while draining a significant portion of the Mist's manpower, had unexpectedly strengthened the Mizukage's control over the village to an unprecedented level.
Because of this instability, placing the Three-Tails within the territory of any specific faction could have triggered new suspicions and unrest. Thus, since the time of the Second Mizukage, they had taken the risk of placing the core seal beneath the Mizukage building.
However, after obtaining the sealing techniques from the Land of Whirlpools, the ambition to create a perfect Jinchuriki and fully control the Tailed Beast took root. They utilized the special constitutions of several Uzumaki clan members to construct a semi-sealed state for research purposes.
But then Night came along with his bandit-like behavior, indiscriminately packing up all the Uzumaki clan members and taking them away.
With the critical "consumables"—the Uzumaki members—swept clean, the balance of "energy" and "stabilizers" in the grand sealing formation was instantly broken.
The Three-Tails, suppressed and experimented on for so long, seized the opportunity to violently break the seal.
"ROAR!"
A deafening, muffled roar accompanied by terrifying chakra pressure erupted from the foundation of the Mizukage building.
The solid rock base and the building's structural integrity were torn apart like wet paper. Three massive, coral-covered tails bursting with immense power broke through the ground, dancing wildly and destroying everything in their path.
"Not good! The Three-Tails has gone berserk!"
"Evacuate immediately! Where is the Third? Quick..."
Although shocked, the ninjas around the building didn't panic, organizing themselves spontaneously. The Third Mizukage, who was rushing back, looked like his eyes were about to pop out of his skull.
He could no longer afford to think about chasing down the mastermind behind this. He had to pour all his energy into dealing with the immediate crisis of the Three-Tails.
"All ANBU and Jonin! At all costs, guide the Three-Tails and force it out of the village!"
The Mizukage's voice rang out, instantly spreading across the battlefield. The Mist elites, finding their backbone, began to coordinate seamlessly.
Countless ninjutsu lit up the night, constantly drawing the Three-Tails' attention.
However, the Three-Tails' thick turtle shell possessed incredible defense. Ninjutsu bombardments merely scratched the surface, like tickling an elephant.
Fortunately, the Three-Tails had a relatively mild temperament. After breaking the seal, it didn't specifically target the Mist ninjas for slaughter.
But a Tailed Beast was still a Tailed Beast. Its massive body and casually swinging tails leveled buildings wherever it went, leaving a trail of devastation.
The Third Mizukage stood at the forefront of the battle line, disregarding chakra consumption, doing everything in his power to guide and drive the berserk Isobu from the village center toward the wilderness outside.
Meanwhile, Night, the instigator of it all, watched the massive commotion in the Mist from a safe distance on the outskirts.
A system notification chimed at just the right moment, drawing his attention.
> [Ding! Detected current Pawn Points exceeded 10,000. System upgrade conditions met...]
> [System update complete. Please check the new features.]
Night focused his mind to view the interface.
> [Multiverse Rare Pawn Shop System]
> [Host: Night Namikaze (Platinum Card)]
> [Multiverse Credit (Upgraded): Current Overdraft Limit: 2000]
> [Redeem (Upgraded): Pawns can be redeemed. Fee: 0 Points/Transaction]
> [Targeted Tracing (New): When samples are insufficient, points can be spent to perform targeted tracing.]
The system upgraded again! Night was pleased. Although he didn't have time to study the new features in detail, it was definitely good news.
Retracting his thoughts and looking back at the chaos in the Mist, a bold idea began to grow in his mind.
"Redeem: Kaguya Sage Bone!"
With Night's command, his point total of 11,155 dropped sharply.
> [Current Pawn Points: 9155]
The moment the transaction was complete, he had no mind to care about his hard-earned points dropping back below ten thousand.
A power far more violent than the "High-Purity Kaguya Bloodline" he redeemed earlier exploded inside his body.
It felt like his bones were being crushed and reshaped. The extreme pain nearly made him black out, and cold sweat instantly soaked his clothes.
After the pain came a strange tingling sensation, as if countless ants were crawling all over him. Bone spikes instantly erupted from his body, forming an impenetrable, tough bone armor.
At the same time, his existing Uzumaki Sage Body seemed stimulated by the Kaguya Sage Bone and began to react spontaneously.
The bloodline powers of the Kaguya and the Uzumaki constantly nourished and stabilized his transforming skeletal structure.
In this moment, the two top-tier bloodlines created a miraculous complementary resonance.
Not long after, Night felt an unprecedented sense of solidity and power within him.
He could clearly sense that every bone in his body—including the bone armor encasing him—seemed to possess life and contained terrifying energy.
The instant the Uzumaki Sage Body and the Kaguya Sage Bone reached equilibrium, a memory from the depths of his bloodline awakened.
Several sturdy chains, glowing with golden light and formed from a fusion of chakra and bone, shot out from his back.
Unlike the Adamantine Sealing Chains formed purely of chakra, these new chains looked more like living, golden spinal dragons. They danced and coiled around him, radiating powerful binding and sealing energy.
Subconsciously manipulating them, these bone-chains moved according to his will, as natural as his own limbs.
A unique bloodline combination belonging solely to Night Namikaze—with the Dead Bone Pulse as the skeleton and the Uzumaki chakra as the flesh—was born. He named it:
"Yomotsu Hone" (Bones of the Underworld).
While he was familiarizing himself with his new power, the Third Mizukage had successfully led the Mist elites in driving the Three-Tails completely out of the village.
Isobu wasn't content to be herded. It curled its body into a ball, using its signature taijutsu—Shadow Stroke.
Its massive body became a giant wheel, instantly changing direction and crashing straight into a large lake outside the village that connected to the ocean.
The Third Mizukage's expression changed. A Three-Tails in the water was a completely different beast from one on land.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
He didn't hesitate, unleashing his full power. This same jutsu had breached Naoto Kaguya's formidable defense in one hit and killed him.
But the Three-Tails' shell could withstand even the Eight-Tails; the Mizukage's Water Release didn't stand a chance.
Seeing it was ineffective, the Mizukage continued the pursuit. But the Three-Tails was faster, its body fully submerging into the lake.
"ROAR!"
Entering the water, the Three-Tails let out a joyous roar, churning the lake into turbulent waves.
It didn't use the opportunity to flee. Instead, it turned around. Its wild eyes locked onto the Third Mizukage on the shore. Chakra began to surge violently around it. Clearly, it intended to use the terrain advantage to launch a counterattack!