As the Three-Tails (Isobu) tinued drawing near, the many shinobi who had just tried stopping it with Water Release: Water Collision Wave were left utterly petrified. But after Terumi Mei and Gonbee’s reminders, they snapped out of their shod hurriedly retreated.

  However—

  Splooosh—!

  All of a sudden, Isobu spped the surface of the water, sending giant surging waves rolling back with tremendous force.

  Spaash!

  Whssh—Whssh—

  Huge breakers smmed into those Kiri shinobi, sending them flying in all dires.

  Not only did a number of shinobi get tossed around by the violent currents; even the huge rocks along the shore and some of the trees in the nearby forest were swept up by the waves.

  “These idiots…!”

  Terumi Mei felt utterly helpless. She had already given clear orders, but these fools hadn’t listened—what could she do?

  Professional matters ought to be handled by professionals! And no one was more professional than Uzumaki Senshi, the “job-harvester” from the Amegakure.

  Seeing the Three-Tails, Kakuzu and Kisame both adopted serious expressions. Kakuzu asked Senshi:

  “Do we have a pn of attack?”

  Senshi replied offhandedly:

  “You two just watch from the sidelines. Leave this to me.”

  Given his current abilities, “a mere Three-Tails” was no problem at all.

  Meanwhile, Elder Genji (元师) and the other seniures of the Kiri, as well as the Blood Mist leaders, arrived at a spot not too far away. Terumi Mei and Gonbee quickly moved over to Genji’s side.

  Although Genji was already quite advanced in years, he remained devoted to the vilge’s well-being. The moment somethi wrong, he rushed to the se as fast as he could. Seeing Terumi Mei, he instantly asked:

  “What is going on here?”

  Terumi Mei did not ceal anything and reted what she knew:

  “Lenji, this was caused by those Blood Mist sdrels. They used a secret art to force the Three-Tails into a rampage, and now they’ve hidden away somewhere.”

  When she finished, Genji and the other top brass of the vilge looked grim. Genji anxiously pressed:

  “Do you have a way to deal with this?”

  All eyes turo Terumi Mei. In truth, many of the senior Kiri shinobi had already beguing Terumi Mei as the future Fifth Mizukage-in-training. Hearing Genji’s question, she answered didly:

  “I’ve spent ten million ryō to hire a certain powerful ninja to hahis.”

  From the Kiri leaders’ viewpoint, short of an actual Kage-level ninja, perhaps an exceptionally strong o that, no one could hope to haailed Beast rampage. They naturally assumed Terumi Mei was being swindled. Genji could only ask:

  “Any backup pn? Or maybe we egotiate with the Blood Mist?”

  He did not believe any hired ninja would actually show up. And even if one did, Genji doubted they would have the strength to quell the Three-Tails. The rest of the Kiri high ahe same.

  On the Blood Mist side, Karatachi Tachii and Hōzuki Getsuki both watched in shock as Isobu rampaged. Hōzuki Getsuki turo Kondō Ryū behind him:

  “Who caused this?”

  Of all the people in the Blood Mist, they had the deepest knowledge of the Three-Tails. Seeing it go berserk, Hōzuki Getsuki immediately knew someone from their side must have triggered it. Although they had reached a verbal pact with Terumi Mei earlier, as long as no evideied them to this, Genji could do little to them. Hōzuki Getsuki reized that this situation posed a golden opportunity:

  The Genji fa had no means of dealing with the Three-Tails; in the end, surely only the Blood Mist shinobi could settle things, making them out as saviors once again.

  “I did.”

  Kondō No’s grim voice emerged as he appeared behind Kondō Ryū’s group.

  “You…did well.”

  Seeing Kondō No, Hōzuki Getsuki’s eyes gleamed with approval. Karatachi Tachii also spoke:

  “For a brighter future of the vilge, certain sacrifices are iable. If people die for the sake of the vilge’s adva, then that’s a worthy death.”

  Clearly, these four Blood Mist fellows were no good guys. To them, some vilgers’ deaths were insignifit if it would let the vilge “develop” better. However, their pn was about to fail spectacurly!

  “What…what is that?”

  Kondō Ryū’s pupils shrank as he stared out at the ke. Hōzuki Getsuki, Karatachi Tachii, and Kondō No simirly peered in that dire.

  Swish—

  They all witnessed something that made their scalps tingle: a bolt of blue lightning fshed to Isobu’s face. Then that human figure…actually held the Three-Tails’ protective shell as though shoving the giant turtle—like pushing a small hill backward.

  “Wha—?!”

  “What oh…?!”

  “Oh my god!”

  Everywhere around them, people who withis se were utterly stuhey had assumed there would be a dreadful battle here. But as it turned out, it seemed there would be no da all—for from the start, Uzumaki Senshi was pletely overp the Three-Tails.

  “Huh…? Using only one hand to push the Three-Tails back…?”

  Even Elder Genji and the senior Kiri shinobi who’d arrived wore expressions of disbelief. Only moments ago, they doubted Terumi Mei’s cim about hiring a powerful “outside ninja.” Yet this man, apparently using raw strength alone, was f the Three-Tails backward!

  Terumi Mei, Gonbee, Ao, and Chōjūrō had previously seen Senshi fight, but now they realized he was far strohan they had imagined!

  At that point, Senshi was tinually pressing the Three-Tails from the shoreline back toward the ter of the ke. Such a dispy shocked everyo also thhly enraged Isobu. The beast gave a furious roar, ung a more savage atta Senshi.

  Boom!

  Zzt, zzt, zzt, zzt…

  Isobu raised one massive d smmed down at Senshi. Instantly, lightning-chakra armor fred all around Senshi. With his stro shield, he simply ehe Three-Tails’ strike.

  Boom!

  Yet Senshi didn’t even budge. Taking the force of that blow, he raised his head at the beast and grinned:

  “You ever heard of a stone wall before?

  This is a Ten-Tails-level stro shield, buddy!”

  Of course, the beast didn’t uand his words, merely sensed provocation from this human—unfivable! Meanwhile, the watg crowd was floored once more:

  Just one hand pushing the Three-Tails backward and tanking its direct hits without moving an inch? What kind of monster was this?

  Terumi Mei’s group was likewise speechless.

  “Hsss—!”

  Even the elderly Genji and h-ranking Kiri officials gasped in shock. Long after they’d gasped all the cold air they could, Chōjūrō still stood sck-jawed, no more cold air to inhale.

  Not far away, Kari her own tensio away. Ever since Uzumaki Senshi had rescued her, she’d been following him, gradually relying on him—whereas in Kusa, she could hardly ever sleep from fear. Now she could nap on his bad drool freely, though she still grew a bit uneasy when he faced a Tailed Beast alone. Fortunately, it seemed he was handling the Three-Tails just fine.

  Kakuzu too was staggered by what he saw:

  “He’s definitely gotten strain. How anyone improve so fast?”

  While Kakuzu pohat, Kisame was ily watg Senshi’s fight with the Three-Tails—shocked as well.

  At present, the fight wasn’t an even match but a one-sided beatdown. Senshi was basically toying with Isobu.

  “Rooooar—!”

  As the beast scuffled in close quarters, it kept howliually, it lifted its cw for another furious swipe, which Senshi directly caught.

  “I’m a Tailed Beast,” it might have been thinking. “Innately powerful, terrifyingly destructive, with massive chakra reserves. Yet this human…? It feels like he is the Tailed Beast, pletely reversing the script!”

  Boom!

  Seething, Isobu opes enormous jaws wide, lunging to bite down on him. This frightened all the onlookers:

  “Careful!”

  “Look out, the beast’s about to attack you!”

  “Oh no! He didn’t dodge!”

  But their fears were groundless. , Senshi demonstrated the terror of a “humaails.”

  “Up you go!”

  Seizing Isobu’s giant forepaw, he abruptly flung the Tailed Beast’s mountain-like body aside, swinging it around several times:

  Swish, swish, swish, swish!

  Boom—

  After swinging it in a circle, he tossed the Three-Tails far away. It hurtled downward, smashing into the ke and sending ns of water into the sky—waves exploded outward in all dires. Everyone who saw it was dumbfounded, never having expected su extreme mismatch. They’d thought this would be a precarious battle, yet from start to finish, Senshi had it well in hand.

  “Rumble…”

  Of course, Isobu wasn’t so easy to tame. Rising from beh the ing water, the creature lifted its massive head again. This time, an intense flow of chakra built up at its mouth.

  It was gathering water chakra into a high-pressure bullet—nearly on par with a Tailed Beast Bomb—

  Water Release: Great Water Mass Bullet

  Bleam