As Kai’s cold voice rang out, a gigantic space-time distortion erupted from within the towering column of water.
The underground water vein that had been surging toward the heavens was suddenly drawn toward the center of the vortex, disappearing without a trace…
What emerged from within was the true form of Yatagarasu Susanoo!
But unlike the Yatagarasu Susanoo Kai had used earlier to intimidate Danzō, this time, it held a mysterious artifact resembling the legendary Yata Mirror.
Susanoo Divine Artifact: Kyūshi Divine Void Mirror!
It contained boundless Kamui power, capable of transferring any incoming attack—even the myriad phenomena of creation itself—into a separate space-time.
A mere underground water vein was nothing more than a drink for it!
In the original story, Kakashi received the chakra Obito left behind at the moment of his death and gained Dual Kamui.
With that temporary boost, Kakashi was powerful enough to manifest the Complete Body Susanoo, yet he never used any Susanoo divine artifacts.
Now, Kai had brought one into existence himself.
It made sense.
Kakashi’s Dual Kamui had essentially been a one-time “trial version.” With such a short window of time, how could he possibly uncover the deeper powers hidden within Kamui?
Kai was different.
His Dual Kamui was permanent.
He had all the time in the world to develop it.
“Impossible!!”
“This Natural Water Release Technique draws upon the underground water veins and possesses power far beyond my own!”
“It can even suppress a Tailed Beast!”
“How could he neutralize it?!”
“Impossible!! Absolutely impossible!!”
For the first time, the previously arrogant Mizukage Yagura showed genuine panic.
Inside Susanoo, Kai spoke in a deep voice.
“Yagura.”
“Never underestimate the dōjutsu of the Uchiha.”
Indeed.
The true power of Susanoo was already comparable to that of a Tailed Beast.
And this was Susanoo equipped with a divine artifact.
“Damn it!!”
Yagura’s face twisted viciously.
He dipped a finger into his own blood and formed the seals:
Pig, Dog, Rooster, Monkey, Ram!
Summoning Jutsu: Endless Leech!
Poof!
White smoke erupted.
A gigantic leech appeared.
“Let’s see me melt you into a pool of blood!”
Yagura roared.
Lava Release: Melting Apparition Technique!
The giant leech opened its enormous maw and spewed out a waterfall of highly corrosive acid, pouring it over Susanoo.
“It’s useless…”
Inside Susanoo, Kai clenched his hand.
Whoosh!
The Kyūshi Divine Void Mirror generated a Kamui vortex.
All the acid descending from above was sucked into it.
Kai suddenly raised his head.
His Mangekyō Sharingan swept across the enormous head of the leech.
At the same time, a pitch-black tomoe began forming in one of Susanoo’s hands.
He threw it.
Susanoo Divine Artifact: Kyūshi Kamui Tomoe!
Whoosh!
The tomoe shot toward the leech.
The slippery creature immediately fled at high speed.
Yet…
The black tomoe changed direction.
It continued pursuing its target.
The Kyūshi Kamui Tomoe automatically locked onto any target Kai marked with his eyes and would pursue it relentlessly.
“Damn it!”
Seeing that things were going badly, Yagura formed hand seals and forced himself to use the little chakra he had left.
Water Release: Water Dragon Bite!
Crash!
A dragon formed from water rose into the sky, opening its jaws and biting toward the black tomoe.
Yet…
The tomoe passed straight through the water dragon’s open jaws.
“What?!”
That was the truly terrifying aspect of the Kyūshi Kamui Tomoe.
It wasn’t merely its ability to pursue its target.
It could phase through anything that wasn’t its designated target.
That meant there was no way to intercept it.
From the moment Kai released it, the target’s fate was already sealed.
Before a divine artifact, all struggles were futile.
Boom!
The Kyūshi Kamui Tomoe struck the head of the giant leech.
A space-time distortion erupted—far more powerful than Kai’s Kamui Shuriken.
“AAARGH!!”
The leech let out a miserable scream.
Its head was torn from its body.
The headless body crashed to the ground and transformed into a pool of blood.
From a distance, Spiral Zetsu watched the battle and muttered,
“After all these battles…”
“Kai’s power has increased again.”
“Next…”
“It’s your turn, Yagura Karatachi.”
Inside Susanoo, Kai’s Mangekyō locked onto Yagura’s despair-filled face.
He prepared to launch a second Kyūshi Kamui Tomoe.
“Ugh!!”
Suddenly, an intense pain erupted.
Kai covered his eyes.
Boom!
Yatagarasu Susanoo suddenly collapsed.
His Mangekyō Sharingan reverted to the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
Two streams of blood flowed from the corners of his eyes.
Kai spoke weakly.
“I didn’t expect using Susanoo’s divine artifacts to consume such an enormous amount of chakra and ocular power.”
“Even Hashirama’s cells are having trouble keeping up…”
“Hmm?!”
Yagura immediately seized the opportunity and charged forward.
But by now, he had so little chakra left that he couldn’t even use a proper long-range Water Release technique.
He could only use Water Release: Water Surface Riding Strike, a Water Release acceleration technique that allowed him to glide rapidly across the surface of the water.
After closing the distance, Yagura swung his staff toward Kai’s head.
“What?!”
Yagura suddenly realized something was wrong.
The attack passed straight through Kai’s body.
Kamui’s phasing ability was passive.
Regardless of Kai’s current condition or whether his Mangekyō Sharingan was active, any incoming attack would automatically trigger the phasing effect unless Kai deliberately deactivated it.
“Yagura.”
“I’m weakened.”
“That doesn’t mean you’ve become stronger.”
Kai’s cold voice rang out.
His left eye returned to the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Lightning wrapped around his right arm.
Combined with Kamui’s power, the lightning turned pitch black.
Kamui: Raikiri!
Yagura hurriedly raised his staff to block.
CLANG!
The moment they collided, space itself twisted around the staff.
Yagura sensed the danger and immediately released his grip.
But it was already too late.
Crack!
“AAARGH!!”
His left arm was torn away and dragged into the Kamui vortex.
Clutching his severed arm, Yagura staggered backward in a miserable state.
Kai’s left eye focused on Yagura’s head.
He prepared to use long-range Kamui to twist his head apart.
But at that moment—
Kunai wrapped in explosive tags came flying from every direction.
Kai had no choice but to abandon Kamui and switch back to phasing.
The kunai passed straight through his body and landed around his feet.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!!
Explosions erupted, filling the area with fire and smoke.
By then, Yagura had already been rescued by the Hidden Mist ANBU who had rushed to the battlefield.
“Fourth-sama! Are you all right?!”
Yagura didn’t answer.
His dim purple eyes stared unwillingly toward the site of the explosions.
“Return to the village!”
“What about the intruder?” an ANBU asked.
“Forget him!”
“Hurry…”
“Go!”
Yagura finished speaking before collapsing unconscious against the shoulder of a Hidden Mist ANBU.
“Quick!”
“Get Fourth-sama back to the village for treatment!”
The ANBU immediately retreated.
The flames from the explosions gradually dissipated.
“Trying to leave?”
“Not so fast…”
Kai was about to pursue them when he suddenly looked upward.
On the summit of a nearby mountain stood a young man wearing a sky-blue robe.
A translucent red chakra cloak enveloped his body.
Behind him, six tails had taken shape.
It seemed to be a warning.
“Oh.”
“A Six-Tails Jinchūriki?”
“Never mind.”
Kai withdrew his gaze.
Kamui activated through his right eye.
His body was swallowed by the vortex.
The Six-Tails Jinchūriki watching from the mountain saw this and likewise withdrew.
After all, the Hidden Mist Village was ultimately a shinobi village belonging to one of the great nations.
If Kai forcibly killed the Mizukage here, the entire Hidden Mist Village would likely swarm him.
With Kamui, Kai could certainly escape unharmed.
But his route to the Land of Lightning would be cut off.
Kai hadn’t forgotten the true purpose of this journey.
It wasn’t the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
It wasn’t Mizukage Yagura.
It wasn’t even the Six-Tails Jinchūriki.
His true target was waiting in the Hidden Cloud Village of the Land of Lightning— the Eight-Tails.
Whoosh!
A vortex appeared beside Spiral Zetsu and Yūyū.
Kai emerged from within it.
“That took a little more effort than expected,” Spiral Zetsu remarked.
“There’s nothing we could do about it.”
“Water Release is inherently a nature transformation heavily influenced by terrain.”
“Having water or not having water, having a little water or having an enormous amount of it…”
“The difference in effectiveness is like night and day.”
Indeed.
The moment Yagura borrowed the underground water veins to unleash a Water Release powerful enough to suppress a Tailed Beast, it had already been decided that this battle wouldn’t be easy.
Suddenly, Kai’s vision blurred.
He stopped walking.
Spiral Zetsu immediately moved forward to support him, but Kai raised a hand and stopped him.
“Are you all right?”
Spiral Zetsu asked with concern.
“I’m fine.”
“I just need to rest for a little while.”
“Once I’ve recovered, we’ll continue traveling.”
“We need to leave the Land of Water as quickly as possible.”
Kai spoke as though it were nothing.
Yūyū watched his back as he walked past her.
Her thoughts were complicated.
So…
He really is a living, breathing human being after all.