Breaking through the Four-Corner Sealing Barrier is crucial, but if One-Tail Shukaku shows up this fast, everything's going to fall apart. It's not like Shukaku is unstoppable — plenty of ninja can go head-to-head with a tailed beast directly, Mizuki included. But none of them possess the kind of brute strength a tailed beast's massive body brings, the kind of power needed to break through the Four-Corner Sealing Barrier. Though the barrier was set unusually large due to the battlefield's scale, the tailed beast's sheer size already occupied most of it. Just having a bit of space for Shukaku to move around was already lucky.
Under Mizuki's stunned gaze, Shukaku swung its colossal fist straight into the wall of the Four-Corner Sealing Barrier. The intense flames that lined the barrier barely dealt any real damage to Shukaku's sand clone. But the sheer force of its punch sent violent tremors through the entire barrier.
"He hasn't gone on a rampage yet… So Gaara's still holding on? Guess the worst hasn't hit us yet..."
Seeing that the Four-Corner Sealing Barrier was still barely holding despite constant attacks, Shukaku took a few steps back, crouched slightly, gathered strength, then suddenly charged forward, slamming its massive frame into the barrier. The overpowered Four-Corner Sealing Barrier finally gave way and shattered. A piercing, ear-splitting crack echoed as waves of purplish-black flame burst outward from the walls before vanishing completely into thin air, leaving only destruction behind. At the same time, the four traitors maintaining the Four-Corner Sealing Barrier also collapsed, knocked out by the backlash as the seal broke.
With the barrier now fully destroyed, everyone was deeply shocked. This trap's main purpose had been containment, while techniques like the Mirrored Sudden Attacker Technique were just backup — basically there to support Kakuzu and Hidan's head-hunting strategy. But even this basic goal had been ruined in no time.
"Told ya — this fight ain't over yet!" Mizuki shouted, locked in battle with Red Sand of the Desert. He immediately launched the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique, forcing the aggressive puppet master backward. Then he dropped to one knee, bracing himself with his right hand as he quietly drew in natural energy. Sensing something wrong, Sasori hastily retreated using the Third Kazekage's Human Puppet, narrowly escaping danger. Barely in time, the ground where Red Sand of the Desert had stood moments ago cracked open as a giant hand made entirely of natural energy burst forth from below, nearly grabbing him.
"What a shame... A puppet master without flesh or blood, yet still so sharp..."
Mizuki gave up trying to ambush Red Sand of the Desert after failing to catch him off guard. As the earth flipped over, a long arm connecting the energy hand to Mizuki's real body became visible. Under Mizuki's control, the giant hand kept swinging wildly, pushing Red Sand of the Desert further away. After retracting the arm, Mizuki blocked the path of a shadowy figure attempting to approach him closely.
"I'm not really into people sneaking up on me like that, Jonin Yura. If you wanna pitch in, the enemies are over there…" Mizuki flicked his eyes toward Red Sand of the Desert. "And if you're feeling generous, go help your own people."
"Aww, didn't mean to sneak up on ya like that, *Jonin* Mizuki…" Yura said with fake humility, completely ignoring Mizuki's cold stare. "Just wanted to ask what we should do next. Ain't that why allies are for?"
Mizuki kept staring at this creep trying to play the noble guy – he had zero interest in wasting time on polite chit-chat.
"Originally, I wouldn't have the qualifications to command a senior officer from Sunagakure," Mizuki paused, then continued, "but since Jonin Yura is so courteous, I'll temporarily entrust you with holding off that puppet master over there."
"You're joking, right?" Yura asked incredulously, "I'm clearly outmatched. There's no way I could handle him alone, could I?"
"How could I possibly be joking? Isn't he a rogue ninja from your own village? You should be very familiar with him. Shouldn't he be an easy target for you?"
With that, Mizuki stopped paying attention to Yura. Just knowing Yura was hanging around made Mizuki uneasy — he couldn't focus properly on taking on Sasori. The real threat wasn't the enemy ahead of him — it was this so-called ally standing beside him, who might already be under Sasori's control. Mizuki had no desire to bear the blame for killing an ally prematurely, but until he found an opportunity to eliminate this puppet being manipulated by Red Sand of the Desert, fighting alongside him would simply be too dangerous.
With his subordinates on his mind, Mizuki joined forces with Neji Hyuga before heading toward the battlefield behind the shattered barrier.
"Don't you dare die out there… If we actually lose even one or two comrades here, we'll have hell to pay coming back home…"
...
Somewhat earlier, as Sunagakure struggled under the pressure of battling Hidan and Kakuzu, it merged forces with Konoha and Iwagakure. The joint force from the three villages, now larger in numbers, had long lost their previous sense of orderly unity. Though they'd been traveling together for days now, they were still more like strangers than allies — nowhere near the kind of trust needed for a mission like this. Under such circumstances, unexpected changes were bound to catch people off guard. As the shaken-up Suna ninjas arrived, the waiting traitor seized the moment when they were still getting settled and quickly triggered the [Four-Corner Sealing Barrier].
When the trap sprang, almost everyone got caught. The only one who wasn't there was Neji Hyuga — he'd slipped off earlier for long-range scouting. Besides him, only Kurotsuchi reacted fast enough, using her sharp intuition to flee just before the barrier fully sealed itself shut. Everyone else, having just endured a fatiguing battle and slightly let their guard down, ended up caught — including Baki, who was usually cautious. Only Yura, assigned to different duties, seemed to "naturally" escape capture.
As soon as everything went down, another jutsu — the [Mirrored Sudden Attacker Technique] — immediately followed. Naturally, battling opponents similar to oneself in attributes was extremely difficult. While careful handling could generally avoid life-threatening situations — as it was merely a minor technique meant to buy time.
"Kakuzu, who in the hell cooked up this stupid-ass plan?" Once the barrier and traps had taken full effect, Hidan finally showed his unreliable side.
"Like if we'd just let me worship Jashin-sama from the start, wouldn't that have been better?"
"Let you? How long do you think that would take?" Kakuzu replied coldly. "By the time you finished, all our enemies would've already escaped."
"It's not that different anyway," Hidan said, pointing his Triple-Bladed Scythe toward the people trapped and struggling. "Still just like shooting fish in a barrel. In the end, they'll all become sacrifices for Jashin-sama."
After finishing his words, apparently imagining the upcoming ritual, Hidan let out an incomprehensible strange cry to express his excitement.
"Don't waste time, Hidan. Get to work..."
"Fine, I'll get started." After sharing a short moment of unusual harmony, the two members of the Immortal Duo finally prepared to exert their strength fully. "But seriously, you still didn't answer me—who the hell came up with this damn plan?"
"It was Leader's order. You got a problem with that?" Kakuzu, who controlled the organization's financial power, knew far more than Hidan did.
"Leader? Yeah, I know who you mean. Isn't he claiming to be the one chosen by fate? Shouldn't he always win without failure? Yet after such a long time, we haven't even captured a single tailed beast, and he's pulling these damn tricks—it's such a waste of time. Plus, since joining the organization, I don't even know what our actual goal is. What are we going to do with capturing these tailed beasts—treat them as war weapons?"
Regarding Hidan's complaints, Kakuzu stared at him with his unusual eyes and said, "Your thoughts are dangerous. Without your Immortal Body, you'd already be dead."
"Come on, Uncle Kakuzu, I'm just curious about that rarely-seen Leader—that's all."
"Hmm... Hopefully that's all." Kakuzu shifted his gaze and glanced at the battle situation on the other side before changing the subject. "That Suna kunoichi over there won't last much longer. She's yours to handle."
"I know, but couldn't I savor some ultimate pain of death first?"
"Except for the Jinchuriki, you can do whatever you want with the others later."
"What? Kakuzu Aniki is unusually agreeable today—haha. Just don't go back on your word now..."
Fearing Kakuzu might change his mind, Hidan immediately rushed toward Maki.
Maki had nearly exhausted all her stamina after fighting fiercely and battling her own mirror image in a draining conflict. Now, facing Hidan's blood-stained Triple-Bladed Scythe flying toward her, she dodged attacks from her mirror while carefully observing the direction of Hidan's strike.
"Can't dodge completely anymore—just have to minimize the damage."
Realizing she could no longer maneuver freely against the enemy as her stamina neared its limit, Maki gritted her teeth and endured several shuriken strikes from her mirror that lightly grazed her shoulder. With effort, she twisted her body just enough to narrowly avoid the scythe blade aimed directly at her chest and abdomen.
Before Maki could catch her breath, Baki's shout came from nearby.
"Maki, watch your back!"
"Watch out..."
The warning came just in time, and Maki managed to dodge the first strike—but before she could react further, the scythe looped back and hit her.
[So much reach and precise control? They weren't even going all out earlier. We've definitely walked straight into a trap.]
At the last moment, Maki showed the awareness and skill expected of a jonin, at least minimizing the damage from becoming fatal.
"How are you? Maki? Can you still fight?"
If their second strongest fighter went down here and now, it would turn into a real disaster.
"Still okay for now, Captain Baki, but my left arm is injured, so I won't be able to perform at full strength anymore."
"Good. As long as it's not critical." Hearing that the injury wasn't life-threatening, Baki felt slightly relieved. Since Mizuki, who was skilled in medical ninjutsu, was present, there was still a chance to recover as long as she wasn't killed outright.
Then, Baki turned to Gaara from Sunagakure: "Gaara, you've got it easy over there. Support Maki immediately."
"Understood." Although the [Mirrored Sudden Attacker Technique] was impressive, it had its limits—it couldn't replicate Kekkei Genkai or tailed beasts after all. If someone could quickly deal with those mirror clones, it had to be Gaara. Against copies with only basic attributes, a fully-powered Gaara found it extremely simple.
On the other side, Hidan retrieved his bloodstained [Triple-Bladed Scythe] and laughed maniacally: "Hey Kakuzu, look—I'm starting already."
"No more 'Lord Kakuzu' these days? Whatever. Hurry up, Hidan. I don't have all day for your stupid ritual."
"Almost ready." While speaking, Hidan took out his beloved pitch-black spear, pierced his own palm, let the blood flow, and drew a strange symbol with his foot. Then he stepped into the center of the circle.
[Is this immortal monster about to do something again?]
Everyone could not make sense of Hidan's sudden self-mutilation—just moments ago, he had gained an advantage by injuring Maki, a jonin from Sunagakure. Even with immortality, surely nobody used their body like this? The wound on his palm, with so much blood loss, clearly exceeded what an ordinary person could endure.
Hidan didn't leave them wondering for long. Soon, he swallowed some blood splattered on the [Triple-Bladed Scythe], stood within the bloody pattern he had drawn, and activated [Death under Pledge]. His entire face and body began warping in horrifying ways.
Seeing what was happening, everyone felt a chill run down their spines. Though they didn't know exactly what was occurring, their instincts screamed of impending death—they all knew something terrible was about to happen.
Realizing the danger, Baki immediately dropped his mirror image and charged toward Hidan. Though he wasn't as clever as Shikamaru, Baki still had the instincts of a tactician—he knew they couldn't let Hidan complete whatever he was doing.
Unfortunately, another member of the Immortal Duo blocked his path forward.
"This isn't good..."
Baki was desperate to push past Kakuzu, but breaking through now looked impossible.
Hidan let out his usual wild battle cry, practically bouncing with excitement. This time, though, everyone caught his final words clearly.
"Jashin-sama (Evil God), the ritual offering begins now. Accept this sacrifice and let me fully experience the agony of death!"
"Jashin? Sacrifice? Death?" No one fully understood what he meant, but those familiar with these words knew this wasn't going to end well. Despite realizing how serious the situation was, they could only watch helplessly as Hidan drove his black spear into his own vital abdominal area.
After a long, heavy silence, Maki suddenly clutched her stomach and dropped to the ground, groaning in pain. Blood began seeping through the gaps between her fingers.
"Maki?" Baki finally figured out Hidan's trick as he saw his comrade collapse. "Using his Immortal Body to share damage through some special method? What a truly horrifying cursed death technique."
"Now that you understand," Hidan mocked, "will you just obediently accept your fate?"
"How could we?" Baki firmly refused. "Although there's a huge gap between Sunagakure and Konoha, we're still one of the Five Great Ninja Villages! Our pride won't allow us to die here without meaning."
Turning toward Gaara, Baki continued decisively, "Don't hesitate anymore. Use Shukaku's power."
Baki wasn't just a planner—he was a fighter too, always leading from the front when things got rough. When it came to bravery and quick decisions, he didn't hesitate to pull out his last trump card.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>