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Time crawled forward.
The sun passed its zenith and began its slow descent toward the west.
At the center of the lake, the Kime Clan ANBU ninja tracking time squinted at the sun’s angle and shouted to a nearby operative: “Two o’clock. H1, time’s up! Fire the signal!”
The ANBU ninja designated H1 nodded, pulled the signal flare from his pack, and launched it.
BIU—
A flare shot skyward from the lake’s center.
BANG!
The signal.
Yagura felt the atmosphere shift.
The six Ninja Swordsmen beside him already had their blades drawn, entering full combat readiness.
Against a tailed beast, even Kage-level ninja couldn’t afford carelessness, much less elite jonin.
After the first flare detonated, spreading outward from the center, the sensor squads saw it and immediately fired their own flares according to plan.
The Three-Tails sealing operation had begun.
Tailed beast versus a thousand Mist ninja.
Not just the six swordsmen.
Every ninja present moved to combat readiness the moment they saw the signal.
“Kid, you’d better watch close. See what kind of monster’s about to get sealed inside you.”
The one offering this ‘gentle’ warning was Jinin Akebino.
“We Seven Ninja Swordsmen are heading to the front line. Won’t be able to protect you then.”
Yagura knew the so-called protection was just surveillance.
He smiled at his acquaintance.
“Then who’s going to protect me?” He emphasized the word heavily.
What a dull kid.
Not a trace of childhood innocence.
Jinin Akebino didn’t waste more words.
He turned.
“Z1! Take a squad and watch this brat!”
Behind them stood nearly a hundred ninja in formation.
Every single one masked ANBU.
Yagura was certain these ANBU assigned to watch him were elite among elite.
The called operative stepped forward.
“Hai!”
Jinin Akebino gave his orders without bothering to dress them up, shooting Yagura a threatening look.
“Don’t want us beating down the Three-Tails only to find the jinchuriki’s gone.”
Juzo Biwa turned his head and barked, “Jinin! You’re wasting time with that brat. The sealing corps is about to undo the barrier.”
“Don’t need you telling me!”
Yagura sat on the grass, right hand propped against his knee supporting his face, gazing toward the lake bottom with an unreadable expression.
“Isobu…”
On Mirror Water Lake’s surface, the entire sealing corps, hundreds of ninja, had long been in position.
Step one of the sealing plan: undo the barrier currently holding the Three-Tails.
Make it surface.
At the signal flare’s appearance, the sealing corps moved in perfect unison, forming hand seals.
“Seal, release!”
A massive blood-red sealing formula materialized on the lake’s surface, previously invisible, now rising rapidly into the air.
Starting from the central connection point, the sealing formula disintegrated and scattered.
Simultaneously, a dark shadow took shape beneath the central lake surface.
The shadow grew larger.
Every squad had at least one ninja carrying a radio.
The headquarters liaison’s voice came through in a hoarse scream: “Massive chakra detected! Grid G8-J19! All personnel at G8-J19, withdraw! The tailed beast is surfacing from your position!”
Seconds after the transmission ended, a terrifying roar tore through from the lake bottom.
ROAR!
A colossal water spout shot skyward with the roar.
A gigantic beast, massive as a mountain, burst onto the water’s surface.
Its enormous body alone sent towering waves surging outward.
Yagura didn’t know if the ninja in that area had managed to retreat in time.
Some had already lost their lives before this ‘war’ truly began.
As the waves subsided, the Three-Tails’ colossal form was exposed to the air and every ninja’s sight.
The Three-Tails resembled a turtle.
Its entire body was covered in grayish-blue spiked shell armor, with only its head and underbelly exposed.
Four massive legs stood steady and upright on the water.
Three tails, likewise covered in grayish-blue shell plating, lashed skyward.
This was the Three-Tails.
Seeing with his own eyes this beast he’d thought about day and night, Yagura’s palms had grown clammy with nervous sweat.
The Three-Tails’ eyes, the only part exposed, stared ahead at the enormous swarm of tiny ‘insects’ before it.
It had been sealed inside jinchuriki before.
The moment the barrier was undone, the Three-Tails understood.
These humans wanted to seal it again after just a few years.
That would never happen again.
ROAR!
The Three-Tails roared forward, venting its rage at these insects who didn’t know their place.
Countless streams of water converged before it, forming a sphere half its own height.
“Hiding in Mist Technique!”
The Three-Tails was out.
The Mist forces moved, executing the plan.
Thick mist blanketed the area, obscuring the Three-Tails’ vision.
Headquarters radio: “Ice Release Squad! Prepare for battle!”
Step two of the sealing plan: immobilize the Three-Tails.
The Ice Release Squad stood at the very front line.
The squad leader was Murasaki Suigetsu, current head of the Yuki Clan.
True to her name, she had striking deep purple short hair.
“Understood!”
Using Body Flicker to reposition directly facing the Three-Tails, Murasaki Suigetsu rose to her feet.
Her face showed not a trace of fear but a proud smile.
ROAR!
The Three-Tails fired a massive water cannon forward.
“Ice Release!”
The other Ice Release Squad ninja made no move.
Murasaki Suigetsu would handle this frontal assault alone.
Horse.
Her sharp brows furrowed.
The temperature around her plummeted below zero instantly.
She planted a foot on the lake’s surface.
From her as the starting point, the surrounding water flash-froze.
Countless ice crystals condensed from the water vapor around her.
“Ice Sky!”
The powerful sub-zero freezing wind collided with the Three-Tails’ water cannon.
The freezing wind met water and spread.
The entire water cannon froze solid from surface to core.
Every ninja watched without daring to blink, witnessing the Three-Tails’ water cannon freeze into an enormous ice ball, lose all momentum, and crash into the lake.
Murasaki Suigetsu’s successful strike massively boosted morale.
They saw with their own eyes.
This monster could be defeated.
“Ha…”
Even as the Yuki Clan head with outstanding strength, expending massive chakra in one go was extremely taxing.
But Murasaki Suigetsu showed no weakness before her clansmen.
She waved her hand and barked, “Ice Release Squad! Let this giant turtle taste what it means to be unable to move!”
No scattered replies or excited shouts.
The Mist ninja bearing the Yuki name moved in unified seals.
The Dragon seal formed before their chests.
Ice-blue low-temperature beams shot forth.
“Ice Release: Freezing Light Path!”
Hundreds upon thousands of ice-blue ultra-low-temperature beams fired at the Three-Tails from every direction.
Some beams struck the Three-Tails’ body directly, freezing patches of ice onto it and hindering movement.
More beams landed accurately on its four legs and tails.
Its legs planted on the lake’s surface were bound by rapidly freezing thick ice.
Even its three wildly thrashing tails couldn’t escape being frozen solid.
Beneath pale, cold ice mist, the vast majority of the Three-Tails’ body was covered in heavy ice layers.
ROAR!
Thick ice encased its shell.
Its feet were frozen solid to the lake.
Its massive body barely able to move, the Three-Tails roared with gaping fury.
Weak humans.
You only know these petty tricks.
HOOUUUUUU!
➤ Next: Sealing the Three-Tails (3) — Water Mirror Technique