This surging power, this wild rush—it nearly made Mizuki forget that free strength always comes with a bill due someday.
"This is the fighting style of a Jinchuriki? This power is far beyond just letting the beast's instincts control the body..."
This ultimate raging force was completely unlike anything Mizuki had ever experienced. Even during past life-or-death battles where he barely escaped with his life, he had never felt such total loss of control over his own body and strength. Within him, three forms of natural energy-powered abilities interacted to create this strange effect. Because these forces were linked through a Dimensional Linkage, Mizuki hadn't been torn apart by the immense power surge. However, similar to how a Jinchuriki leaks chakra, the Shukaku-infused natural energy granted Mizuki incredible strength while also placing tremendous pressure on him. Fortunately, Sage Chakra and Cursed Seal energy greatly reinforced his body, allowing Mizuki to unleash unimaginable power at the edge of life and death without dying—and even temporarily suppress Shukaku.
...
The intense battlefield situation became unpredictable due to Shukaku's unexpected actions. While most believed that Mizuki and Hidan, who had just endured a brutal ambush from Shukaku, would soon face dire consequences, an unexpected change occurred in Mizuki himself. A surge of power unlike anything before crushed Shukaku and even overpowered the tailed beast—a living war machine—using only raw strength. No one saw it coming.
Among all the fighters on the battlefield, none could see everything more clearly than Neji Hyuga thanks to his Byakugan. Watching every detail unfold through the haze of battle, Neji couldn't help but ask involuntarily, "Is that really Captain Mizuki? That Red Chakra radiating from his body... Wait, is that even real Chakra?"
"You're not mistaken, Neji. That truly is Mizuki," Aoba Yamashiro replied. "Never thought he'd be pushed this far. Things have truly gone south this time."
"Can ordinary ninja really reach such levels? Can they actually match up against such a monster directly?" Shino Aburame asked from beside them.
"Naturally there are people who can," Aoba Yamashiro pointed toward Mizuki and continued, "Isn't there one just over there? The Fifth Hokage—Lady Tsunade can do it too. Lord Jiraiya might manage as well..."
"Then does that mean Captain Mizuki already possesses the strength of a Hokage?" Discussions about the Hokage were always hot topics among any Konoha ninja.
"That's impossible!" Aoba shook his head. "The Hokage isn't nearly as simple as what you see with your own eyes. As for Mizuki, I understand him quite well. Although I know this guy who likes preparing for the worst definitely has several tricks up his sleeve, this situation definitely wasn't part of his plan..."
"Unexpected power then?"
Hearing Aoba Yamashiro's response, Neji Hyuga and Shino Aburame also realized the situation had become troublesome.
Secret techniques reserved as last resorts usually came with extremely severe side effects. A typical example was the three-colored pills of the Akimichi Clan. After consuming them to unleash a final deadly strike, the user would die—a consequence within expectations. However, if the gained power exceeded imagination, then the resulting side effects would undoubtedly be overwhelming and despair-inducing.
"So in the end, we still couldn't contribute anything meaningful?" This was their first S-ranked mission. Used to being praised as prodigies, both Shino and Neji had been eager about the challenge—only to realize they were completely powerless in a battle between jonin-level ninja. Worse yet, not only did they fail at their original supportive tasks, but one mishap followed another. Helplessly watching their seniors rush forward while achieving nothing themselves left these two genin feeling deeply discouraged.
"What are you thinking about?" Aoba patted the shoulders of the two young ninja, comforting them. "Can't you see I'm just as useless in this fight too? And mind you, I'm even a Special Jonin! Besides, who said you weren't helpful? You've definitely contributed a lot."
Indeed, those two had played significant roles. From early scouting to critical warnings, they coordinated well with Aoba in keeping Kakuzu occupied. Kakuzu's water-element heart had already been severely damaged by Mizuki's heavy punch, finally collapsing under pressure. Shino's bug-manipulation technique played a key role in bringing that down. Neji used his Gentle Fist and Byakugan to help Aoba repeatedly counter Kakuzu's tentacle fists and attacks from Earth Grudge Fear.
As a result, Kakuzu was forced to release several attribute monsters—his elemental hearts—to make up for being outnumbered.
However, just when the physical combat seemed about to escalate into a clash of ninjutsu, unexpected developments involving Shukaku and Mizuki shocked everyone on the battlefield.
Mizuki completely overwhelmed Shukaku and Hidan, forcing Kakuzu to seriously reconsider whether continuing the fight was worth the risk. Losing either the tailed beast or Hidan would bring him enormous trouble. Reluctantly, Kakuzu quickly broke free from Aoba and the two genin's harassment, hastily rushing toward where Hidan and Shukaku were fighting.
...
Mizuki expended a great deal of energy defeating Shukaku with sheer force, leaving him caught between pride in victory and growing anxiety. The ever-growing power had slowly become something Mizuki could barely control. As natural energy kept accumulating inside him, so did the chakra he needed to provide—draining him faster than he could keep up. At this rate, even the chakra collected through Breath-Sealing Art wouldn't last much longer. Once Mizuki ran out of his own chakra, no one could say what fate awaited him—he could be devoured by natural energy, corrupted into a raging monster by the cursed seal, or torn apart by tailed beast chakra overload. All of it was unacceptable to him.
Mizuki was in no mood to waste any chances. Shukaku, still crouched on the ground, hadn't even reacted when Mizuki clenched his right hand midair. A giant red energy hand quickly transformed into a claw shape. With razor-sharp talons like blades, it immediately slashed across Shukaku's head, sending a large amount of sand flying.
[Gaara isn't anywhere to be found. How could he possibly be hiding this deeply? Could it be because Shukaku's will is too active and too violent?]
Unlike last time when Naruto Uzumaki had dispelled Gaara's Feigning Sleep Technique with just one punch, this time Shukaku had passively taken over the body and hidden the original form so inconspicuously.
With no other option, Mizuki had no choice but to speed up his search for Gaara.
Unfortunately, at that very moment, Kakuzu arrived.
[Lightning Release—False Darkness.]
Without approaching first, Kakuzu's fastest Lightning Release jutsu struck immediately. From the mouth of the lightning monster, which looked like a demon, a sharp lightning spear carrying astonishing piercing power and extreme speed came straight at Mizuki in an instant.
Unable to dodge in time, Mizuki was directly hit. Fortunately, the energy shield surrounding him effectively blocked the direct damage from the Lightning Release, but the technique's power didn't simply vanish. A massive explosion occurred, accompanied by a powerful shockwave that instantly flipped Mizuki over, leaving a small circular crater in the nearby ground.
Moreover, while Mizuki was barely regaining stability and still unable to react, another powerful jutsu suddenly attacked again.
[Fire Release—Dragon Fire Technique.]
From the mouth of Kakuzu's round-faced fire-elemental masked monster, flames rapidly spread out and engulfed Mizuki inside them.
[This layer similar to the tailed beast coat has boosted my strength, but at a steep cost. Under Sage Mode's physical condition, my speed and mobility have clearly declined quite a bit. And with this overwhelming perception ability—if I don't handle things carefully, am I going to become an unintelligent forward-charging cannon platform?]
The natural energy only partially under Mizuki's control granted him overwhelming battlefield dominance but simultaneously restricted his former nimbleness, preventing him from handling things as smoothly as extensions of himself. Additionally, separated by a layer of natural energy mixed with tailed beast chakra, Mizuki's external perception and judgment capabilities both showed obvious inaccuracies. Everything he saw seemed smeared with a haze of blood.
However, even if visibility was poor, Mizuki wouldn't mistake the size of Kakuzu's elemental heart monsters.
Mizuki, who had just been roasted by Kakuzu's Fire Release, hadn't actually suffered any serious injuries. Natural energy effectively isolated the flame invasion.
Since he hadn't sustained significant damage, Mizuki didn't intend to waste any more time. Once again, the red energy hand grabbed Shukaku's tail and swung him around toward Kakuzu's several heart monsters.
Such powerful force forced Kakuzu to maneuver those creatures to evade, preventing him from continuing his next attack.
[This is what absolute power suppression looks like. No matter how skillful you are, just lift Shukaku and smash you dead—and you've got no choice but to admit defeat.]
Though these brute-force tactics clashed with Mizuki's usual style, they actually felt oddly satisfying to use now and then.
After retaliating against Kakuzu's earlier assault, Mizuki extended his left hand once again. Another massive energy hand emerged, manipulated by Mizuki, and began wildly tearing through everything surrounding Kakuzu, preventing him from using his numerical advantage of summoned monsters to target Mizuki as a stationary opponent.
This kind of frenzied attack wasn't just powerful—it was devastating in scale. However, for Mizuki, this was a desperate move born out of necessity. He could already sense that Shukaku's chakra was nearing another critical eruption. Its power was growing stronger by the moment, but it also carried immense risk. Just observing Mizuki's current combat approach made it clear that he was actively avoiding close-range direct contact with Shukaku, fearing any sudden mishap. If another tailed beast chakra loss of control occurred, causing Sage Mode to collapse, Mizuki might unwillingly become a jinchuriki himself, even facing the possibility of Shukaku resurrecting within his body and completely breaking the seal.
Thus, quickly depleting natural energy and Shukaku's chakra was crucial to preventing its accumulation to a level capable of generating a separate Shukaku Chakra Clone. Mizuki, who preferred to maintain absolute control, certainly had no intention of allowing a tailed beast clone to remain inside him.
However, whether this self-destructive strategy could completely turn the battlefield around before Sage Mode collapsed would ultimately determine life or death.
A stalemate like this tested one's endurance the most, especially since time was precisely what Mizuki lacked.
The biggest threat on the battlefield, the One-Tail Shukaku, after repeatedly suffering the humiliation of being tossed around like a sandbag, finally recovered. It now both feared and loathed Mizuki's tactics. Unlike the Nine-Tails, Shukaku had an eccentric and mischievous nature rather than an insane one. Among the nine tailed beasts, it was slightly weaker and actually considered one of the gentler ones, usually hiding away in some sandy desert amusing itself, except when recently freed from long confinement. This outbreak of rage mainly stemmed from Mizuki's meddling with it.
If it weren't specifically about this provocation, Shukaku might have simply run off—but Mizuki's actions had been too despicable, unforgivable even for someone as usually laid-back as Shukaku. Despite acknowledging Mizuki as a rare human expert, it had no choice but to fight.
Unable to move freely under Mizuki's continuous crushing pressure, Shukaku eventually lost its patience and struggled violently, putting immense pressure on Mizuki and posing a real threat.
Taking advantage of this moment, Kakuzu managed to catch his breath and turned the tide slightly in his favor.
However, Mizuki would no longer have to face the situation of fighting multiple enemies at once—at least not for now. Without the troublesome Red Sand Sasori and with Hidan, who possessed eerie cursed techniques, seemed unlikely to recover his battle power anytime soon, only Kakuzu remained. Though undeniably powerful, possessing strong vitality and immortality, compared to Hidan's near-indestructible form, Kakuzu, with his visible heart-monsters, was still relatively easier to deal with.
Indeed, with Mizuki keeping Shukaku occupied and unable to cause chaos, when only Kakuzu was left, others were certainly not fools to let a victory opportunity slip by.
"Finally decided to gang up on me, huh?"
Looking at Baki, Akatsuchi, Kurotsuchi, Aoba Yamashiro, and Mizuki closing in, Kakuzu could only realize the situation had gone beyond control. Even he wasn't stupid enough to let himself get cornered like this with no way out. Plus, one of his five hearts had already been lost. If he kept fighting here like a fool, he might end up dead for good—and that wouldn't be worth it. Having lived this many years, Kakuzu absolutely refused to risk everything at a moment like this.
Before being fully surrounded, Kakuzu quickly withdrew his heart monsters, skillfully dodged incoming attacks with his agile body, then rushed to where Hidan had been crushed flat.
"Master Kakuzu, you finally showed up," came clear words from Hidan's battered head, despite his ruined body. "Quickly come over and stitch me back together using [Earth Grudge Fear]. Later, I'll curse that bastard who hit me with a tailed beast until he dies."
"Shut up." Kakuzu released [Earth Grudge Fear], roughly wrapping it around Hidan's mangled body. "We're retreating now."
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