Chapter 391: Interception

Chapter 391: Chapter 391: Interception

Amid the evening mist, a group of dark figures sped silently through the night.

They moved with astonishing speed, traversing the rugged mountain paths without making the slightest sound. Crossing mountains and ridges along the way, they were like a band of ghosts roaming beneath the cover of darkness.

They were none other than Mei Terumi and her group, dispatched under the orders of the Fourth Mizukage to pursue and capture the Six-Tails Jinchūriki.

As they raced onward, Mei glanced back at the subordinates following behind her.

For this operation to capture the Six-Tails Jinchūriki, she had received the full support of the village elders. Aside from the squad of trusted subordinates under her direct command, accompanying her were an elite Kirigakure ANBU squad provided by the elders, as well as an elite Kirigakure sealing team experienced in sealing Tailed Beasts.

The entire pursuit force consisted of three squads, totaling twelve shinobi.

Among them, only three members of the sealing team were Chūnin. Everyone else—including the sealing team’s captain—was an elite shinobi of Jōnin or Special Jōnin rank.

Ao moved closer to Mei and said, "Don’t worry. We have more than enough manpower to complete the mission this time!"

Mei nodded lightly.

Although her expression had remained somewhat solemn throughout the journey, there wasn’t much worry in her eyes.

Utakata might be powerful, but in the end, he wasn’t a perfect Jinchūriki like the Fourth Mizukage. Unless he was driven into a truly desperate life-or-death situation, he wouldn’t easily enter his Tailed Beast Transformation.

After all, entering a Tailed Beast Transformation was itself an enormous danger to Utakata.

The slightest mistake could cause his will to be overwhelmed by the Six-Tails’ will, sending him completely out of control. At that point, he would either become a walking corpse—an empty shell without a soul—or die outright during the rampage, allowing the Six-Tails to break free in the process.

Therefore, as long as Mei seized that brief moment of hesitation and defeated Utakata before he could enter the troublesome state of Tailed Beast Transformation, completing the mission should be relatively easy.

"I hope we won’t have to fight!"

Mei gazed ahead, silently praying in her mind.

Hoping to resolve the matter peacefully wasn’t mere wishful thinking on Mei’s part. She was a well-known moderate within Kirigakure, and the fact that she had been chosen to lead this pursuit already showed that the village had no intention of seriously pursuing Utakata’s crime of desertion.

Once she met Utakata, all she had to do was explain that the Fourth Mizukage had been under Akatsuki’s control and pardon him for deserting the village. The chances of Utakata desperately resisting them would then be very low.

Before long, the pursuit force crossed island after island and arrived in the Land of Hot Water, which lay across the sea from the Land of Water.

According to their intelligence, Utakata had been wandering from place to place ever since his defection and was currently most likely somewhere within the Land of Hot Water. Thus, the Land of Hot Water was the first destination of Mei’s pursuit force.

But just as the pursuit force entered a mountainous region, Ao, who possessed the Byakugan, suddenly stopped.

Mei immediately stopped as well and asked, "What’s wrong?"

Ao stared solemnly ahead and shouted, "I’ve already spotted you. Come out!"

Ao’s voice echoed continuously through the tranquil night.

Everyone in the pursuit force was an elite shinobi with extensive combat experience. In an instant, they formed a defensive formation.

At that moment, a figure slowly descended from a large tree in the distance.

It was none other than Hyuga Kagami, currently controlling his Fire Release clone.

He wore Kamigami’s black cloak with gold trim, while a mask bearing a flame pattern covered his face. With an utterly composed demeanor, he began walking toward Kirigakure’s pursuit force.

Mei’s expression darkened.

"Kamigami... Homura!?"

The corners of Hyuga Kagami’s lips curled upward as he smiled. "I heard your Mizukage has been under Akatsuki’s control this whole time. Is that true?"

Mei replied coldly, "No comment!"

Behind her, all of the Kirigakure shinobi—including Ao—wore wary expressions.

In the shinobi world, Kamigami’s fearsome reputation was in no way inferior to Akatsuki’s.

Kagami didn’t care. He casually mocked them, "Kirigakure really has fallen."

Mei demanded, "Just what exactly do you want by blocking our path?"

"Judging by how hurriedly you’re traveling, you’re probably going after the Six-Tails Jinchūriki, aren’t you?" Kagami paused before continuing, "Turn back. Kamigami will be taking the Six-Tails."

Ao immediately flew into a rage. "What kind of joke is that?! The Six-Tails belongs to Kirigakure!"

Kagami curled his lips disdainfully. "Even your Mizukage might not necessarily belong to Kirigakure, and you’re still talking about who a Tailed Beast belongs to? Get lost. Don’t force me to start killing people!"

Mei stopped Ao before he could argue further and said, "It seems what happened with the Fourth has caused everyone to look down on Kirigakure. Since you’ve set your sights on the Six-Tails, there’s nothing left for us to discuss!"

With that, Mei rapidly formed a series of hand seals and shouted,

"Lava Style: Lava Missile!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In an instant, Mei spat out several fist-sized spheres of molten liquid.

The spheres flew with astonishing speed, shooting toward Kagami like cannonballs accompanied by piercing whistles.

Kagami merely tilted his body and turned his head slightly, seemingly avoiding Mei’s Lava Release by the narrowest of margins.

Although Kagami’s words had been flippant, beneath his mask, his eyes had long since transformed into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, its pattern formed from interwoven diamonds and triangles.

Thus, the instant Mei unleashed her Lava Release ninjutsu, his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan immediately captured the trajectory of the attack. His dodge might have appeared perilously close, but in reality, he had avoided it with ease.

Sizzle...

The Lava Missile Kagami had dodged soon grazed a large tree not far behind him.

Hissss...

The massive tree was so thick that it would have taken two or three people with their arms outstretched just to encircle its trunk. Yet after merely being grazed by the Lava Missile, an intense sizzling sound of corrosion erupted from it.

The point of impact was rapidly burned and corroded at a speed visible to the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, a massive hole had been eaten straight through the trunk, causing the entire tree to topple to the ground.

Kagami’s heart tightened at the sight.

"Damn... I definitely can’t let that stuff touch me!"

At that moment, Ao completed his hand seals as well.

"Hiding in the Mist Technique!"

Whoosh...

As Ao breathed out a thin mist, it took only a few breaths for the valley, already shrouded in the faint evening fog, to become engulfed in a dense mist so thick that one couldn’t even see their own hand in front of their face.

At the same time, the Kirigakure shinobi proficient in the Kirigakure’s Assassination Techniques dispersed throughout the fog, each searching for an opportunity to strike.

Kagami didn’t dare underestimate them.

He immediately shouted softly,

"Susanoo!"

In an instant, a brilliant golden light erupted within the dense mist.

Engaging in close-quarters combat inside this fog against Kirigakure shinobi who had extensively trained in the Kirigakure’s Assassination Techniques would be difficult even with the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. Not only would Kagami gain little advantage from doing so, it would also be both time-consuming and exhausting.

After activating Susanoo, Kagami didn’t hesitate.

His left eye widened as he shouted in a low voice,

"Mikoto!"

Under the power of his left eye, layer after layer of armor formed from golden flames wrapped around the golden giant.

At the same time, the golden giant transformed from its previous two-armed form into a four-armed one—

and from its back, an enormous pair of wings unfurled...