Chapter 303: Swallowed Whole

Chapter 303: Chapter 303: Swallowed Whole

Amid the devastated streets, Hyuga Kagami twisted and darted about, the long sword in his hand gleaming coldly as he slashed again and again!

At this point, Shinno had completely transformed into a tailed beast and no longer retained even the slightest semblance of a human being.

His entire body had become an enormous, monstrous creature with multiple dragon heads, while an intensely corrosive black chakra continuously seeped from his body.

That black chakra seemed almost alive, as though it could hunt prey of its own accord.

More than once, Kagami saw it engulf unsuspecting Konoha shinobi. Moments later, when they were spat back out, all that remained were mangled masses of flesh, so badly mutilated that they were nearly impossible to recognize.

"Everyone, fall back!"

Kagami shouted as he dodged another attack.

In a battle like this, chūnin and genin were practically useless. Even if they fearlessly charged Shinno without regard for their own lives, all they would accomplish was adding more casualties.

Hearing Kagami’s warning, the surrounding Konoha shinobi hesitated for a moment before retreating one after another.

They understood perfectly well that a battle of this level was already far beyond anything they could interfere with.

Fortunately, the civilians in the surrounding blocks had already been completely evacuated.

If all he had to do was keep Shinno occupied, Kagami had no fear whatsoever of this rampaging Mōryō jinchūriki!

Whoosh...

Once again using the Body Flicker Technique, Kagami evaded the lunging attack of one of Shinno’s dragon heads and landed atop a broken wall. Breathing lightly, he analyzed the situation before him.

Now that Shinno had completely transformed into a tailed beast, no matter what had held the Third Hokage up earlier, he would have no choice but to prioritize dealing with the situation here.

Kagami therefore knew that as long as he kept Shinno occupied for just a little longer, his job would be done and he could safely withdraw.

Just then, one of Shinno’s dragon heads moved right up in front of Kagami. Opening its enormous maw, it spoke in a deep, booming voice, "Uchiha En, do you see it now? This is my power!"

Kagami’s gaze sharpened as he thought, "Huh? Even after going this far, Shinno’s consciousness is still the one in control of the body? Just how the hell did this guy manage that?"

For a jinchūriki, completely transforming into their tailed beast often meant losing themselves in the process.

Aside from the extremely rare perfect jinchūriki who had reached an understanding with the tailed beast within them, other jinchūriki were extremely cautious about using their tailed beast’s power. Unless they had absolutely no other choice, they would never release it recklessly.

Because once they lost control, not only would their own consciousness be swallowed by the tailed beast, but the rampaging beast itself would become a monstrous weapon possessing a will of its own, capable of turning an entire village upside down.

"Oh, right. I’ve still got this move!"

Shinno suddenly chuckled.

In the next instant, the black chakra surrounding his body abruptly swelled!

Rumble...

Rumble...

As the black chakra around Shinno surged, the surrounding earth, rubble, and bricks seemed to come alive.

Before long, they began assembling themselves into one terracotta soldier after another.

Kagami’s expression sharpened, and his hands rapidly formed seals.

"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

Whoosh...!

In an instant, a raging sea of flames illuminated half the sky crimson as it surged ferociously toward Shinno.

But when the inferno engulfed Shinno’s body, the black chakra surrounding him greatly diminished the power of Kagami’s Fire Release. Within just a few breaths, the flames had completely vanished.

"Tch!"

Kagami clicked his tongue.

From what he had just witnessed, Kagami realized that the black chakra enveloping Shinno could not only hunt prey autonomously, but could even form a protective barrier around his body.

And without the Dragon Vein by his side, Kagami’s chakra reserves had immediately fallen back to their normal level. On top of that, the development of this Fire Release clone was still inferior to that of his Water Release clone, so its chakra reserves were slightly lower than both his Yin Release original body and his Water Release clone.

Besides, against a monster on the level of a tailed beast, ordinary ninjutsu was already of very limited effectiveness.

Unless you were someone like Uchiha Madara, who could casually unleash a B-rank techniques with the destructive power of an S-rank technique, it would take an entire squad of shinobi working in perfect coordination and performing a combination ninjutsu just to temporarily suppress a tailed-beast-level monster.

"Those terracotta soldier puppets... I’m afraid even the Third and the others won’t have much of a way to deal with them!"

Watching the terracotta soldier puppets scatter in every direction, Kagami’s expression darkened.

Kagami had already encountered these terracotta soldier puppets back in the Land of Demons. As long as Shinno, this Mōryō jinchūriki, continued supplying them with chakra, they were practically immortal and indestructible.

So the longer Shinno remained inside the village, the more dangerous things would become. With such an enormous number of terracotta soldier puppets spreading throughout Konoha, the civilians would inevitably suffer.

No—even ordinary shinobi would probably have a hard time escaping unscathed!

"Then I’ll end this quickly!"

Having made up his mind, Kagami sheathed his long sword at his waist and slowly walked toward Shinno.

Shinno seemed somewhat surprised before laughing. "Faced with absolute power, have you finally given up?!"

Kagami replied coldly, "No. I’ve decided to finish you off in one go!"

"You damned Uchiha!"

Shinno immediately flew into a rage.

All of his dragon heads began cursing simultaneously, their deep, booming voices carrying far into the distance.

The Konoha shinobi stationed around the perimeter exchanged bewildered looks. At the same time, they finally learned that the person who had been holding off this monster all by herself was a member of the Uchiha clan.

After roaring in fury, Shinno threw caution to the wind and sent his dragon heads lunging straight at Kagami.

Facing the enormous dragon maw hurtling toward him, the three-tomoe Sharingan in Kagami’s eyes instantly transformed into an intricate pattern of interwoven diamonds and triangles.

BOOM—!

In an instant, the thunderous sound of something massive smashing into the ground echoed across the battlefield.

Feeling that he had successfully swallowed Kagami whole, Shinno burst into wild laughter.

"So what if you come from one of the shinobi world’s great clans? So what if you possess a dōjutsu Kekkei Genkai? In the end, I still swallowed you whole!"

But the moment those words left his mouth, Shinno suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

It felt as though something was wreaking havoc inside his stomach. Unfortunately, he didn’t possess the Byakugan and couldn’t see inside his own body, so for the moment, he had no idea what exactly was happening in there.

Inside Shinno’s stomach, Kagami’s body was protected by a golden phantom consisting of only several ribs.

Without a doubt, at the exact instant Shinno swallowed him, Kagami had timed it perfectly and activated Susanoo—not a moment too early or too late.

However, due to his limited chakra reserves, he had only manifested an incomplete Susanoo.

Looking around at the flesh surrounding him inside Shinno’s body, the corner of Kagami’s mouth curled upward.

"I’m going to teach you that not everything can just be swallowed!"

Immediately afterward, he drove the golden flames of Susanoo outward and began burning Shinno’s body from the inside.

Although the golden flames of Kagami’s Susanoo couldn’t compare to the black flames of Itachi’s Amaterasu—which could easily subdue Yagura Karatachi, the Three-Tails’ jinchūriki who could practically be considered a perfect jinchūriki—his golden flames possessed a unique ability of their own:

They could burn chakra.

Even a tailed beast wouldn’t be able to endure having these golden flames suddenly ignite inside its stomach while completely unprepared...