Unfortunately, Mitsuki couldn't read minds—otherwise, if he knew what Jinin was planning, his expression would have been something to see.
Just as Jinin didn't know the true strength of the barrier formed by the Four Red Yang Formation, Mitsuki himself wasn't entirely sure how powerful the so-called armor-breaking ability of the Kabutowari really was.
But one thing was certain — no matter how strong that ability was, there was no way it could break through the Four Red Yang Formation.
Without a moment of mourning for the fallen Fuguki, the remaining four members of the Seven Swordsmen now faced the second wave of assault from Mitsuki.
With a thought, the Rasengan Orb floating behind Mitsuki suddenly shot forward like it had a will of its own, tracing a blue arc through the air before smashing into the surface of the water.A splash erupted, followed by a surge of crackling blue lightning.
Instead of dispersing, the lightning rapidly split apart, forming four massive thunder hounds, arcs of electricity sparking through their fur as they charged across the water toward their prey.
At the same time, Mitsuki's own body became wreathed in arcs of Chidori, lightning enhancing his movement speed as he accelerated straight toward Mangetsu.
Raiga slammed Kiba together, releasing a massive surge of electricity that intercepted the thunder hounds a few meters ahead.
Seeing Mitsuki rushing toward him, Mangetsu knew that Hiramekarei's area-wide release attack would be useless—it would only harm himself.
So he activated the Hōzuki clan's secret technique, Great Water Arm Technique, shaping dense water muscles around his arms to boost his strength.
Using that strength, he gripped Hiramekarei tightly and swung with a thunderous slash toward Mitsuki.
At the same moment, Jūzō leapt in from behind, swinging his Kubikiribōchō down at Mitsuki's back.From Raiga's interception onward, the three had worked together seamlessly—despite their earlier bickering, their teamwork was frighteningly precise.
Without hesitation, Mitsuki instantly sent out two more Rasengan Orbs.
One of them ignited in dark-purple flames, morphing into a massive circular flame shield that blocked the incoming slash from behind him.
When Jūzō's sword struck the fiery barrier, its supposedly unbreakable edge melted on contact—reduced to slag within seconds!
Meanwhile, the second Rasengan Orb dove into the water and vanished beneath the surface.
Suddenly, a massive vortex formed under Mangetsu's feet, as if the sea itself was trying to swallow him whole.
Before he could react, high-pressure water cannons shot out from the whirlpool, blasting him violently into the air.
But the attack didn't stop there. A colossal water dragon's head erupted skyward, jaws wide open as it bit down mercilessly on Chinen, locking him in its crushing grip.
"Rasengan Orb: Water Release: Water Dragon Biting Explosion!"
Feeling a freezing chill flood through his body, Mangetsu immediately triggered the Hōzuki clan's Hydration Technique, turning his body into liquid to escape. But that was exactly what Mitsuki had been waiting for.
The moment the water dragon bit down on Mangetsu, Mitsuki drove Mistcutter deep into the body of the water dragon, where it connected with the water below.
"Chidori Current: Full Discharge!"
A surge of chakra exploded, transmuting into violent blue lightning that spread through the water like a living web. Within milliseconds, the electric arcs filled the entire dragon's body.
Mangetsu, who had just liquefied, suddenly felt himself seized by paralysis.He realized too late—he had fallen right into Shimizu Mitsuki's trap.In liquid form, lightning was the most lethal possible attack.
"Damn you, Shimizu Mitsu—"
He never finished his curse. Mitsuki clasped his hands together in a single seal. The massive water dragon clamped down with a devastating force — the same Water Dragon Biting Explosion once created by Tobirama. Said to possess a biting force in the tens of thousands of tons, capable of tearing through any defense — perhaps an exaggeration, but more than enough to shred a paralyzed Mangetsu.
Blood gushed from between the dragon's fangs, staining the water below. Moments later, the jutsu ended; the colossal water dragon collapsed into a cascading torrent, falling from the sky like a waterfall. Among the falling spray were two mangled halves of what was once Mangestu.
Elsewhere, Jūzō grimly stared at what remained of Kubikiribōchō — barely a third of it left intact. For the first time, the weapon's full name, Decapitating Blade, felt ironically fitting. It could repair itself by absorbing the iron from its victims' blood—but that required hitting an opponent first.
At this point, over half of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were dead, and not one of them had even managed to land a clean hit on Mitsuki. Truth be told, Jūzō was starting to despair. From the beginning, Mitsuki's intent was to wipe them all out—he'd even set up the Four Red Yang Formation in advance to cut off any chance of escape.
"So that's it… we're not the hunters—he is."
Jūzō couldn't help but think that bitter thought.
"Ahhh—!"
A sudden scream rang out from the edge of the barrier. A figure was thrown several dozen meters back by the barrier's searing chakra—Jinin.
While his comrades were busy fighting, he had tried to slip away, smashing Kabutowari's axe against the barrier.To boost his strength, he'd even struck it again with the hammer—but instead of breaking through, the backlash of pure chakra energy had blasted him like a rag doll.
Mitsuki had already noticed the chatterbox swordsman's attempt to flee, but he hadn't bothered to intervene—within the Four Red Yang Formation, there was nowhere to run anyway. Now that Mangetsu was dead, Mitsuki finally had a free hand. As Jinin struggled in midair, Mitsuki casually directed another Rasengan Orb toward him.
The orb swelled mid-flight, burning with dark-purple flames—it was a blaze arrow. The flaming projectile streaked across the water, leaving a trail of vaporized steam in its wake before piercing straight through Jinin's chest.
The extreme heat instantly liquefied his internal organs; he didn't even have time for a proper scream before his charred corpse crashed into the water below.