Chapter 308 – The Curtain Falls (Part II)
"What… what is that!?"
Terumi Mei froze mid-step, her heart lurching as a deafening roar split the sky behind her.
She had been racing toward the main Mist forces ever since parting ways with Ao — the man who had stayed behind to buy her time.
For a moment, she had wondered why that cursed masked man hadn't pursued her. But then the truth struck her like a knife: Ao was still back there, fighting alone, staking his life to hold the monster off.
That thought burned through her chest like acid.
Her rage — and guilt — had only deepened when she found the Fourth Mizukage.
She'd barely managed to deliver the critical intel she'd gathered before hurrying onward to rejoin the army.
She hadn't even noticed that the Mizukage's demeanor… was off.
Now, standing at the edge of the battlefield, Mei watched as the last of the black flames — the wall of Amaterasu — was finally being sealed.
Just as she took a step forward, preparing to rally the remaining Mist shinobi for a final assault, the ground beneath her shook violently.
The air itself rumbled.
And from behind her came a roar so monstrous, so raw, that it made her blood run cold.
She turned.
And there it was.
A colossal, gray-black beast emerged from the chaos — its shell lined with jagged spikes, its body glistening like stone, and from its rear lashed three enormous tails that churned the sea into storms.
Its chakra — vast, suffocating, and malevolent — crashed across the battlefield like a tidal wave.
Every shinobi stopped in their tracks.
Even the sealing corps, who had been celebrating the dissipation of the black flames, stood frozen in terror.
They had been moments away from success — the flames had begun to fade, the barriers holding firm.
But then came that roar.
That chakra.
That presence.
And every Mist ninja's mind reached the same dreadful conclusion —
this was no ordinary beast.
"That's… the Three-Tails… Isobu…"
A hush fell over the ranks.
Even those who had never seen a tailed beast before could feel it in their bones — that overwhelming, ancient dread.
Because no matter where or when they appeared, Tailed Beasts had always meant one thing:
calamity.
And yet, they were also the pride of every great village — the living weapons that symbolized a nation's might.
Kirigakure possessed two such beasts.
The Six-Tails, sealed within a mere child, barely able to fight.
And the Three-Tails, sealed within none other than their own Mizukage.
But now… the Three-Tails stood loose upon the battlefield.
Which could only mean one thing—
The Fourth Mizukage had fallen.
---
Panic spread like wildfire.
"What kind of monster could defeat the Mizukage so quickly?"
"How did he even release the Three-Tails!?"
"What… what are we fighting against!?"
The questions came in trembling whispers, the fear thick in the air.
Every shinobi could feel it — that cold certainty crawling up their spines.
Whoever this enemy was… they weren't facing a man.
They were facing something far worse.
---
A few kilometers away, hidden among the ranks, Kaguya Shigemitsu — one of the bloodline clan heads whom Uchiha Kei had coerced into cooperation — watched in horrified awe.
His hands trembled uncontrollably.
"So this… this is the power of that Uchiha boy…"
He swallowed hard, unable to look away from the titanic form of the Three-Tails thrashing under Kei's control.
He finally understood.
Why Kei had dared to come to the Mist alone.
Why he had spoken to him with such cold confidence.
Why Konoha had elevated him to a position among their elites.
It wasn't arrogance.
It wasn't luck.
It was power — absolute, suffocating power.
The kind of strength that made alliances meaningless and defiance suicidal.
---
And Shigemitsu wasn't alone.
Across the battlefield, among the families who had once met Kei — who had been forced into submission by his Sharingan —
many of the bloodline clan leaders felt the same dread sinking deep into their chests.
They had thought the young Uchiha to be merely shrewd, a dangerous schemer backed by political protection.
Now they realized how wrong they were.
He didn't need politics.
He was the protection.
---
Above the chaos, atop the shell of the Three-Tails, Uchiha Kei stood with the calm of a conductor at the finale of his symphony.
The black clouds swirled.
The sea churned beneath him.
His Mangekyō eyes gleamed like molten red stars.
The world was his stage — and the curtain was about to fall.
They hated him.
They feared him.
Every clan leader who had once met Uchiha Kei now trembled at the very thought of his name.
His actions had turned Kirigakure into hell on earth — and his power had carved that hell into their memory.
But they all understood one truth:
No one must ever know we met him.
The devastation he'd wrought was beyond reason. No excuse, no justification would save them if the Mist discovered their connection to him.
Once that truth spread, every clan that had even spoken with him would be hunted down and torn apart by their own people.
So they kept their silence.
They buried it deep within their hearts.
Even knowing who the attacker truly was, they dared not speak his name aloud.
---
Meanwhile, Imai Kenta and Hyūga Ayaka raced across the mist-shrouded battlefield, their bodies disguised as Mist shinobi.
For safety, they had sealed Kimimaro inside a scroll and carried it on Kenta's back.
Both had speculated about how Kei planned to retreat — but neither had imagined this.
That he would unleash the Three-Tails, the very beast sealed inside the Fourth Mizukage himself.
Had he planned it all from the start?
It was the only explanation.
After all, he'd mentioned several times that he wanted to "seek out the strongest existence on the battlefield."
And now, that existence stood before them — a colossal beast roaring beneath storm clouds.
"That guy…"
Kenta's voice shook as he stared at the monstrous turtle thrashing in the distance. For a brief, chilling moment, it reminded him of the Nine-Tails months ago in Konoha.
"Don't tell me," he muttered, "Kei's trying to stage another Tailed Beast Attack — but this time on the Mist?"
Ayaka shook her head, her pale eyes narrowing.
"Remember, the Nine-Tails was also controlled — and he has the Mangekyō Sharingan. Controlling the Three-Tails might be nothing to him."
Her gaze fixed on the raging creature. "Speed up. Stay alert. If he loses control, we'll be the first casualties."
Kenta groaned. "You're saying even we might get blasted by him? Great…"
"Just keep some distance from the Mist ranks," she warned. "If we're spotted or hit, drop the transformation immediately. He probably can't sense us through the disguise — but if he does…"
"…he'll kill us without hesitation."
Kenta nodded grimly, then felt the scroll on his back shift slightly.
"Relax. I'm not stupid. Besides, if the kid gets hurt, the Captain can always take him to Orochimaru, right?"
Ayaka frowned. "That's a last resort. If it comes to that… the Captain will make the call."
---
High above them, standing on the shell of the Three-Tails, Uchiha Kei looked down upon the chaos he had created.
"So this… is what it feels like to control a tailed beast," he murmured, feeling the deep, resonant pulse of the creature's chakra.
Through his Sharingan, he could sense Yagura's will — struggling, fighting — and beneath that, the beast's raw consciousness, a tide of primal fury.
And interwoven between them was another chakra…
Obito's.
But Kei ignored it. He had no interest in that pathetic leash of control.
His goal now was simple — to end the performance with a spectacle the world would never forget.
He didn't know exactly how Obito would respond to his "little improvisation,"
but he trusted that the man was smart enough to play along.
If not… well, then he'd simply survive without him.
---
He looked down at the burning remnants of the Mist army — at the shattered clans who once plotted in secret.
They'll keep quiet now, he thought.
The greater the destruction, the greater their fear.
Whether they feared being torn apart by the Mist…
or by him…
it didn't matter.
Fear was the best silencer.
And fear, in time, became obedience.
If those clans ever found themselves in an impossible situation later — backed into a corner with no one else to turn to — they'd remember his words.
And perhaps then, they'd make the "correct" choice.
Of course, there was also the chance they'd never dare approach Konoha again, terrified by his overwhelming might.
Either way, Kei would win.
---
He exhaled slowly and brought his hands together in a single seal.
"Now then," he murmured, his Sharingan gleaming, "let's begin. The final act."
A faint smirk crossed his lips.
"I wonder if Minato's arrived yet."
---
A violent surge of chakra erupted within the Three-Tails' maw.
In seconds, a black sphere began to form — small at first, then swelling rapidly until it blotted out the light.
A Tailed Beast Bomb.
Every shinobi within sight felt it in their bones — that crushing, apocalyptic pressure.
Even the sealing corps, who moments ago were rallying, now stood rooted in terror.
The sheer concentration of chakra was staggering — suffocating.
It was power on a scale no human could withstand.
The Mist ranks began to break.
Their despair deepened into hopeless silence.
---
But retreat was not an option.
Letting this monster escape after slaughtering hundreds of their comrades would destroy Kirigakure's pride forever.
They had already suffered humiliation beyond measure —
their Mizukage defeated, their tailed beast stolen and turned against them.
They couldn't allow it to end here.
They had to fight back.
They had to restore their honor.
---
"Scatter! Scatter, now!"
At the command post, Elder Genji, clutching his serpent-headed staff, roared orders at the troops.
"Don't take the blast head-on! Spread out and encircle the Three-Tails!"
His presence alone steadied the chaos — one of the most powerful and influential elders in Kirigakure, a man second only to the Mizukage himself.
Even he could hardly believe what he was seeing.
A tailed beast — their own weapon — unleashed against them.
Their Mizukage subdued and controlled.
The memory of Konoha's disaster flashed through his mind — the Nine-Tails Incident.
Back then, the Uchiha clan and the Fourth Hokage had contained it.
But here… they had no such savior.
"Damn it," he hissed under his breath. "So Konoha wasn't the only one…"
Could it be that someone — or something — was orchestrating all of this?
"We must retrieve the Fourth Mizukage," he ordered, his voice low but firm.
"Only then will we learn the truth behind this madness!"
---
Before anyone could answer, the Tailed Beast Bomb launched.
The black sphere shot forward like a cannonball, splitting the air with a deafening shriek.
The shockwave alone ripped trees from the ground and shattered stone into dust.
The blast gouged a canyon into the earth, carving a trail of obliteration hundreds of meters long.
Even though Elder Genji had warned them, there were simply too many shinobi — too little time.
Dozens were caught in the explosion.
The world turned white, then red, then black.
When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left — only a crater where life had once stood.
The shockwave swept across the field, toppling more shinobi in its path, hurling them like ragdolls through the air.
And even as the dying screams echoed through the mist, Kei raised his hand once more.
The Three-Tails obeyed.
Another surge of chakra swelled within its maw —
but this time, instead of a sphere, it unleashed a torrential wall of water.
The tide swept across the battlefield, crashing into the remnants of the Mist army.
Cries and chaos filled the air as their formations shattered completely.
The sea itself seemed to turn against them.
Kirigakure's army — once proud, once fierce — was now drowning in the very power they sought to control.
---
High above the carnage, Kei's voice drifted through the storm.
"Let the sea wash this stage clean."
The curtain had fallen.