Yagura’s large-scale Hidden Mist Jutsu reduced visibility to almost zero, which was extremely disadvantageous for the Sharingan.
So the first priority was to dispel the mist.
From the scrolls Madara had left behind, Kai had learned a large number of powerful ninjutsu, including techniques from all five basic nature transformations.
He quickly formed a complex series of hand seals and stretched both arms forward.
Wind Release: Tornado Hurricane!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
A raging hurricane swept across the battlefield, scattering the dense fog.
Yagura’s hidden figure was revealed.
Green hair, purple eyes, and a scar beneath his left eye resembling a stitched wound.
In his hand was a staff-like weapon with a hooked tip decorated with a green flower.
Using the weapon to support himself against the ground, he stood firm within the hurricane.
His purple eyes were filled with anger.
It seemed that having his proud Hidden Mist Jutsu dispelled had wounded his pride.
Wind Release: Typhoon Overrun!
Yagura formed a one-handed seal, swung his staff, and unleashed another powerful Wind Release technique.
Boom!
Boom!
The two currents of air collided head-on, creating a tremendous storm of turbulent winds.
“Ugh…”
“Ah!”
Spiral Zetsu and Yūyū were both blown backward.
Yūyū pulled the ninja sword from her back and plunged it into the ground to stabilize herself.
Covering her face with one hand, she stared at the two combatants fighting within the storm.
They’re both monsters!
The storm finally subsided.
Lightning Release: Chidori!
Crackle!
Crackle!
Kai disappeared from his original position.
Lightning wrapped around his right hand as he charged toward Yagura.
Water Release: Water Mirror Technique!
A circular water mirror appeared in front of Yagura.
It reflected Kai’s charging figure.
Whoosh!
The surface of the mirror rippled.
The reflected Kai burst out of the mirror, the mirrored Chidori in his hand colliding with the real Chidori in Kai’s hand.
Crackle!!
The two techniques annihilated each other.
Their power was exactly the same.
The corner of Kai’s mouth lifted.
Just as I thought.
Yagura would use this technique.
In that case, I won’t be polite.
Kai’s true intention had been to use the Sharingan’s copying ability to copy Yagura’s ninjutsu.
Otherwise, getting the opportunity to fight an actual Kage-level opponent only to waste it would have been a shame.
“Before my Water Mirror Technique, even an S-rank ninjutsu can be perfectly copied.”
Yagura spoke with an arrogant confidence.
“Heh. Is that so…?”
Kai’s left Mangekyō Sharingan focused on the water mirror.
Kamui!
Crack!
The water mirror vanished.
“What?!”
“It can’t be copied?”
“His dōjutsu really does surpass my Water Mirror Technique?!”
Yagura exclaimed in shock.
“This time, it’s your head.”
Kai’s left eye locked onto Yagura’s head.
Kamui!
“Not good!”
Water Release: Rippling Light Technique!
Fourth Mizukage Yagura constantly maintained a special layer of Water Release chakra over his body.
Without needing hand seals, he could manipulate this chakra to refract light, causing his image to become distorted and blurred.
“Hm?!”
In Kai’s vision, Yagura’s figure rippled like a reflection on the surface of a lake.
“Hmph. Kamui!”
Kai activated his dōjutsu anyway.
“AAAH!”
A scream rang out.
The distorted image gradually stabilized.
Yagura was sent flying backward, dragging a long trail of blood behind him.
One hand still gripped his staff while the other covered his left ear.
Blood flowed freely between his fingers. This story is hosted at g.com.
Kamui had missed its original target.
It hadn’t twisted off Yagura’s head.
But it had taken his left ear instead.
At this moment, Yagura had been forced beyond the effective range of Kai’s long-range Kamui.
“As expected of the Fourth Mizukage.”
“It’s rare to see someone capable of surviving that technique of mine.”
Kai smiled.
“You bastard Uchiha!”
“I’ll kill you!”
Yagura’s childish face twisted with murderous fury.
The killing intent radiating from him became even stronger.
Water Release: Water Severing Wave!
He spat out an extremely high-pressure stream of water.
It transformed into a razor-sharp blade of water, instantly slicing through the ground as it shot toward Kai.
Of course—
It passed straight through him.
So this is his phasing ability?
“Hmph.”
Yagura changed his hand seal.
“Split!”
Whoosh!
The water blade split into two.
One continued overlapping with Kai’s body.
The other shot toward Yūyū in the distance.
Kai frowned.
“Not good.”
“In this state, I can’t intercept it!”
Clang!
Yūyū suddenly gripped the Lightning Blade: Kiba behind her with both hands.
The moment she drew the sword, lightning wrapped around the twin blades.
She crossed them in front of herself and blocked the Water Severing Wave.
Although she managed to stop it, the tremendous force of the water pushed her backward.
Still, that was far better than having it pierce a vital point.
Yagura stared at the Lightning Blade in Yūyū’s hands.
He tossed his staff aside and formed hand seals with both hands.
His killing intent was unmistakable.
“Lightning Blade: Kiba.”
“A treasure of our Hidden Mist Village…”
“And it has actually fallen into the hands of an outsider.”
“Little brat from the Hōzuki clan, you’ve really irritated me.”
“All of you will be buried here in the Bloody Mist.”
Water Release: Great Exploding Water Shockwave!
A tremendous volume of water erupted from Yagura’s mouth like a raging ocean wave.
In an instant, it formed a massive ellipsoidal body of water, flooding everything within a radius of dozens of meters.
Naturally…
That included everyone caught inside it.
Deep beneath the surface, Kai thought to himself:
Such powerful Water Release.
It’s enough to contend with Majestic Destroyer Flame.
He really is a man worthy of carrying the title of Mizukage.
Spiral Zetsu, leave Yūyū to you.
“Ugh!”
Elsewhere within the water prison, Yūyū’s entire body was pinned down by the crushing pressure.
She couldn’t breathe.
She couldn’t even move.
Crackle!
Fortunately, Spiral Zetsu’s body unfolded and wrapped itself around Yūyū.
“Mm! Mm!”
Yūyū struggled violently, clearly unwilling to let Spiral Zetsu cover her.
“If you want to live, stop struggling.”
“I’m only saving you because of Kai.”
Hearing this, Yūyū finally stopped resisting.
Gurgle…
Spiral Zetsu carried Yūyū toward the bottom of the flooded area and burrowed into the earth.
More than ten seconds later, nearly a kilometer away from the heart of the battlefield, Spiral Zetsu emerged from the ground.
He detached himself from Yūyū.
“Cough! Cough!”
Yūyū coughed violently, desperately gulping down air.
She looked toward the enormous ellipsoidal mass of water below.
She knew Kai was still inside.
“Don’t worry.”
Spiral Zetsu reassured her.
At the Heart of the Battlefield
Yagura thought:
Hm?
The woman’s chakra suddenly disappeared from within the water.
Forget it.
She can’t escape my grasp anyway.
Meanwhile, Kai thought:
Spiral Zetsu seems to have already taken Yūyū somewhere safe.
This water pressure is extremely troublesome.
I’ll use Susanoo to withstand it for now, then use Kamui to transfer myself out.
Crack!
The skeletal form of Susanoo manifested around Kai.
The enormous water pressure was blocked.
At the same time, Kai released a swirling Kamui vortex, preparing to transfer himself out of the flooded area.
“Don’t even think about it!”
Yagura’s expression turned cold.
He stood and formed another series of hand seals.
Water Release: Whirlpool Turbulence!
The entire body of water began spinning violently.
A gigantic whirlpool formed.
At its very center were Kai and his Susanoo.
Every rotating current was essentially a massive blade of water.
Hundreds—
Thousands— of such blades spun rapidly around them.
It was obvious just how tremendous the assault against Susanoo had become.
And this was only the first skeletal form of Susanoo.
It almost instantly began to collapse!
Kai genuinely hadn’t expected Yagura to unleash such terrifying Water Release.
His spatial transfer was forcibly interrupted.
He switched to his phasing mode instead.
“Heh heh.”
“Looks like your spatial transfer failed.”
“Uchiha Kai…”
“Although I’m confined to the Land of Water, I’ve long heard of your name.”
“You stand alongside that Salamander Hanzō after dealing Danzō of Konoha such a heavy blow.”
“I ordered the Hidden Mist’s ANBU to gather intelligence on you long ago.”
“When I heard that you were coming to this country, I became quite cautious.”
“Now all that information is finally coming in handy.”
Yagura’s expression gradually became more sinister.
“Your supposedly invincible phasing state seems to last only five minutes.”
“And while you’re in that state, the moment you use any other technique, you’ll have to deactivate it.”
“So I’ve prepared a little ‘gift’ for you.”
A devilish smile appeared on the face of the childlike Mizukage.
“The Land of Water is a country rich in water resources.”
“There are countless underground waterways.”
“The mountains beneath which the Hidden Mist Village is situated contain underground water veins so enormous that they’re considered massive even by the standards of the Land of Water.”
“When the Six-Tails runs wild within the Hidden Mist, successive Mizukage have borrowed the power of these underground water veins to perform an enormous Natural Water Release Technique, suppressing the Tailed Beast and buying time for the sealing technique.”
“But that technique has never been used to suppress a shinobi.”
“Uchiha Kai…”
“You’ve created a new precedent for the Bloody Mist.”
“I have to commend you for that.”
“Now, accept this baptism!”
Clap!
Yagura brought his hands together.
Water Release Secret Technique: Mizuho-no-Kami!
RUMBLE—!
The earth collapsed.
Deep beneath the ground, the natural underground water vein erupted upward as a colossal pillar of water more than a hundred meters in diameter, shooting straight into the sky.
Yagura laughed wildly.
“This underground water vein will continue erupting for six minutes!”
“The water pressure is so powerful that anything other than a Tailed Beast would be crushed in an instant!”
“Once your phasing state ends, that will be the moment you die!”
“And if you try to use spatial transfer, you’ll die even faster!”
“So?”
“Have you finally witnessed the terror of the Bloody Mist?!”
Kai smiled.
“Yagura, I’ll accept this gift of yours.”
“So I’ll return an even greater one.”
“What?!”