The Fierce Man Who Dared to Block a Tailed Beast Ball Biwa Jūzō!
Land of Water.
Dense mist curled endlessly around the outskirts of Kirigakure.
Two figures wearing black cloaks embroidered with red clouds stood quietly among the damp forest shadows.
One carried an enormous blade wrapped in bandages the Kubikiribōchō.
The other's expression was calm, unreadable.
Biwa Jūzō glanced sideways at his new partner.
"Hey, newcomer. You're from the Uchiha clan, right? Good at infiltration?"
Uchiha Itachi replied indifferently, "Adequate."
"Hmph. Let me see what you can do."
Jūzō stepped forward first.
He wasn't provoking Itachi for no reason. As a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and now an S-rank missing-nin of Kirigakure, he knew exactly how dangerous this land was for him. If this rookie exposed them, they wouldn't even make it to their target.
Their mission this time was simple in theory: make contact with Hoshigaki Kisame and assess the situation within Kirigakure under the rule of the Fourth Mizukage.
But "simple" rarely meant easy.
The two moved swiftly through the dense forest.
Suddenly
Jūzō's instincts screamed.
He immediately formed hand seals.
"Kirigakure no Jutsu!"
Thick mist erupted outward, swallowing the surrounding forest in seconds.
However
"Fūton: Gale Wind Palm!"
A violent gust tore through the fog, shredding it apart almost instantly.
Multiple shinobi figures landed on nearby branches, surrounding the two Akatsuki members.
Jūzō's expression hardened the moment he recognized the chakra signature at the center.
"The Fourth Mizukage…"
Standing ahead was Yagura Karatachi, the Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure and the jinchūriki of the Three-Tails, Isobu.
A perfect jinchūriki.
Jūzō immediately distanced himself, refusing to expose his back.
He muttered lowly, "If you're thinking of using Sharingan genjutsu to end this quickly, forget it. Perfect jinchūriki can disrupt illusions through their tailed beast."
Itachi said nothing.
Jūzō continued grimly, "Looks like we fight."
"What's the plan?" Itachi asked calmly.
"The usual diversion. You draw attention. I strike."
This "plan" was mostly Jūzō's unilateral decision. Itachi neither agreed nor disagreed.
"Understood," Itachi replied coldly.
In the next instant
Itachi moved.
With a kunai in hand, he lunged not at Yagura, but at Jūzō.
The surrounding Kirigakure shinobi were stunned.
Teammates attacking each other?
But Yagura's eyes narrowed.
As a perfect jinchūriki, his perception was sharpened by Isobu's presence.
"Genjutsu," he warned sharply.
In reality, Itachi had cast a subtle illusion to disrupt the battlefield's perception, using the moment of confusion to create an opening.
Jūzō vanished in a blur.
The real attack came from the side.
The massive Kubikiribōchō descended toward Yagura's head.
Clang!
Yagura raised his coral staff, blocking the strike with surprising strength for someone of his stature. Sparks burst outward.
Simultaneously
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
A blazing sphere of flame roared toward Yagura.
But the Jūzō in front of him dissolved into water.
A Water Clone.
The true Jūzō had already repositioned.
Flames engulfed Yagura's location, forcing the surrounding Mist shinobi to scatter.
But both Itachi and Jūzō knew
That wouldn't be enough.
Suddenly
A violent surge of chakra exploded outward, extinguishing the flames.
Dark red chakra erupted from Yagura's body, bubbling like boiling blood.
He entered Version 1 tailed beast cloak.
The oppressive presence was suffocating.
Jūzō gritted his teeth but still charged.
He refused to retreat without testing the gap.
The Kubikiribōchō swung again.
This time
Yagura didn't block.
A single punch coated in tailed beast chakra slammed into Jūzō's chest.
Boom!
Jūzō was blasted backward, crashing into a tree trunk. Blood sprayed from his mouth. His breathing grew ragged.
Meanwhile, Itachi hurled shuriken to suppress the Mist ninjas, but Yagura's chakra tail swatted them aside effortlessly.
Then
Yagura vanished.
A dark red blur.
He reappeared in front of Itachi and struck.
Itachi reacted in time, but his sleeve was grazed.
Immediately, coral began spreading from the point of contact the Coral Palm technique unique to Yagura. The mineral growth expanded rapidly, attempting to immobilize him.
Yagura advanced to finish him.
At that critical moment
Jūzō forced himself upright.
With a burst of speed, he intercepted Yagura, slashing horizontally and knocking him slightly off balance.
"Go!" Jūzō barked.
Both understood the reality now.
Facing a perfect jinchūriki in his own homeland was suicide.
Even for Itachi, using the Mangekyō Sharingan carried severe physical consequences. And this mission did not justify that cost.
They fled.
Behind them
The tailed beast cloak flared violently as Yagura pursued.
Jūzō cursed under his breath.
"Damn it… of all times to run into him."
He remembered another time he had felt such helplessness.
During the Third Shinobi War, when the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were nearly wiped out by one man
Might Duy.
The "Eternal Genin."
The father of Might Guy.
Opening the Eight Gates, Duy had annihilated most of the Swordsmen. Jūzō survived barely.
That failure marked him forever.
Now again
Overwhelming power.
He glanced at Itachi.
"If I get captured by the Mist… kill me."
Silence.
"And if I die here… bury me under a cherry blossom tree in the Land of Water."
Itachi's expression did not change.
But something in his eyes flickered.
Suddenly
A suffocating chakra gathered behind them.
Jūzō turned.
A dark, condensed sphere of chakra was forming.
Tailed Beast Ball.
Without hesitation
Jūzō shoved Itachi aside.
He turned, gripping the Kubikiribōchō with both hands.
The blade met the incoming Tailed Beast Ball.
For a brief, impossible moment
Steel resisted annihilation.
Then
The sphere detonated.
The Kubikiribōchō shattered.
The explosion consumed Jūzō's body.
When the smoke cleared, half his torso was gone. Even the sword's regenerative property could not restore a broken master.
He collapsed.
"…Not a bad end," he muttered faintly.
Then he fell still.
Uchiha Itachi stood silently before his fallen partner.
Perhaps this was the fate of shinobi.
No glory.
Only purpose.
Yagura continued advancing.
Itachi slowly raised his head.
The tomoe in his Sharingan spun
Transforming into the Mangekyō pattern.
"Amaterasu."
Black flames ignited instantly upon Yagura's chakra cloak.
The inextinguishable fire of the Mangekyō consumed the tailed beast chakra, burning relentlessly.
Yagura struggled as the black flames spread, unable to extinguish them through conventional means.
After sustaining severe damage, he was forced out of his tailed beast state.
The chakra cloak dissipated.
The Fourth Mizukage collapsed unconscious.
The forest fell silent once more.
Itachi closed his eyes briefly.
The mission had failed.
A comrade had fallen.
And the cost of using the Mangekyō would echo within his body long after this battle ended.
Without another glance, Itachi turned and disappeared into the mist.