Chapter 393: The Pillar of Support

Chapter 393: Chapter 393: The Pillar of Support

That cold, clear voice echoed throughout the valley, instantly drawing the attention of both sides.

Led by Mei Terumi, the Kirigakure shinobi turned toward the source of the voice and discovered that the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, was standing quietly at the edge of a towering cliff overlooking the valley, his arms folded across his chest.

His chin was slightly raised, his gaze angled downward as he indifferently surveyed the valley below.

Although his expression was calm, with barely a trace of emotion on his face, the mere sight of him standing there inexplicably filled the Kirigakure shinobi with confidence.

It was as though they had suddenly found their pillar of support.

"Lord Mizukage!"

The Kirigakure shinobi, who had grown accustomed to simply referring to Yagura Karatachi as the ’Fourth,’ unconsciously called out ’Lord Mizukage’ instead—an address filled with unmistakable respect!

Beneath his Susanoo, Hyuga Kagami secretly breathed a sigh of relief as well.

If Yagura Karatachi had arrived even half a step later, the invincible image Kagami had painstakingly built up earlier might have completely fallen apart.

With his current ocular power, it was simply too difficult for him to maintain the level of offense he had displayed before. The moment he actually fought Mei Terumi, his bluff would immediately be exposed.

Although protecting himself wouldn’t be a problem, Mei Terumi would realize that he was nowhere near as powerful as he had made himself appear.

Everything before had merely been a bluff!

And once that happened, Mei Terumi would inevitably begin questioning Kagami’s motives for putting on such a performance.

After all, no normal shinobi would waste their own chakra for absolutely no reason other than to create a spectacular scene.

At that moment, Yagura Karatachi looked down from above at Hyuga Kagami standing in the valley and said calmly,

"I’ll be your opponent."

"The Fourth Mizukage, huh..."

Playing along, Hyuga Kagami gave a faint snort before saying,

"Not a bad opponent. I hope you can entertain me!"

Yagura Karatachi leapt down from the cliff.

He landed steadily on the ground, then slowly began walking toward Hyuga Kagami.

His movements were calm and composed, seemingly completely unaffected by Hyuga Kagami’s enormous golden Susanoo. Beneath his indifferent expression was an inexplicable air of confidence!

Seeing this, Hyuga Kagami chuckled inwardly.

"Heh, he’s actually pretty convincing. Looks like all that rehearsing beforehand wasn’t a waste of time."

Influenced by Yagura Karatachi’s composure, the Kirigakure shinobi, who had been panicked and at a loss just moments ago, gradually settled down as well.

Mei Terumi immediately went forward to meet him.

"Lord Mizukage, why are you here?"

Yagura Karatachi replied calmly, "Capturing Utakata concerns the safety of all Kirigakure. Although I assigned this mission to you as a test, it was never merely a test."

At those words, Mei Terumi’s expression dimmed.

Yagura Karatachi’s meaning was obvious.

If Mei Terumi failed and was unable to complete this test, then as the Fourth Mizukage, he would have no choice but to personally intervene.

And the fact that he had now appeared of his own accord undoubtedly meant that Mei Terumi had already failed her test.

He was here to personally clean up the mess before him.

Mei Terumi quickly put her personal honor and disgrace aside and reported to Yagura Karatachi, "Lord Mizukage, Kamigami’s target is the Six-Tails. We have to stop them!"

"I understand."

Yagura Karatachi waved a hand and ordered, "Fall back. A battle at this level isn’t something you can casually interfere in!"

"Yes."

Mei Terumi bit her lip and reluctantly nodded.

She understood perfectly well that if the Fourth Mizukage wanted to defeat the Kamigami’s Homura before them, who had already activated Susanoo, he would inevitably have to enter his Tailed Beast Transformation.

When that happened, it would become a battle between two monsters!

If they didn’t retreat far enough, even jōnin could easily be caught in the aftermath, suffering inexplicable injuries—or even dying without knowing what hit them.

Moreover, if the Kirigakure shinobi remained in the valley, they would only distract the Fourth Mizukage, preventing him from going all out against Kamigami’s Homura.

Mei Terumi didn’t dare hesitate. She immediately ordered the subordinates around her,

"Quick, withdraw from the valley!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

After using sealing techniques to treat the several comrades who had been burned by Hyuga Kagami’s golden flames, the members of Kirigakure’s pursuit force swiftly activated the Body Flicker Technique and evacuated the valley amid a series of sharp, rushing sounds.

Seeing that all the Kirigakure shinobi had withdrawn from the valley, the corner of Hyuga Kagami’s mouth curled upward.

"Let’s begin."

Yagura Karatachi nodded.

......

Outside the Valley

The Kirigakure shinobi who had hurriedly withdrawn from the valley stopped just beyond its entrance.

One of the Kirigakure ANBU panted as he asked, "We should be safe this far away, right?"

"Maybe!"

Even Mei Terumi wasn’t certain just how intense the clash between the Fourth Mizukage and Homura would become.

Beside her, Ao gradually calmed his turbulent emotions before using his Byakugan to observe what was happening inside the valley.

However, the instant he focused his gaze on the valley, his face became filled with shock!

At this very moment, within his Byakugan’s field of vision, an overwhelmingly violent chakra reaction had engulfed the entire valley.

Ever since transplanting the Byakugan, this was the first time Ao had ever witnessed such a ferocious eruption of chakra!

BOOM—!

Suddenly, a blinding flash erupted from within the valley, followed immediately by a deafening explosion!

BOOM—!

In the next instant, violent shockwaves surged outward from the valley, causing the Kirigakure shinobi standing at the entrance to stagger, nearly knocking them all to the ground.

A young ANBU from the pursuit force exclaimed in alarm,

"W-What happened?!"

The captain of the sealing team, who had experience sealing Tailed Beasts, wiped the beads of cold sweat from his forehead.

"That seemed to be Lord Mizukage’s Tailed Beast Ball!"

Just then, another Kirigakure ANBU pointed toward the sky.

"Look!"

Everyone followed his finger and looked up, only to see a massive mushroom-shaped cloud of dust and smoke billowing above the valley!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The explosions continued without pause, and the earth trembled along with them!

The cliffs on both sides of the valley continuously collapsed under wave after wave of violent tremors. Many places had already become completely unrecognizable, with sheer cliffs crumbling into gentle slopes covered in tumbling rubble.

"This...!?"

Mei Terumi was utterly shaken.

Judging from the commotion alone, she could hardly imagine just how fierce the battle inside the valley had become!

Swallowing hard, she turned her head with difficulty and asked Ao beside her,

"How’s the situation?"

Ao muttered absentmindedly,

"The... the situation..."

At that moment, within his Byakugan’s field of vision, two enormous masses of chakra completely filled the valley!

They were so dense that they seemed almost tangible, utterly obscuring the chakra flowing through the meridian systems of both the Fourth Mizukage and Homura.

As a result, even with his Byakugan, Ao could only see two colossal masses of chakra intertwined with one another.

He couldn’t make out the actual battle at all.

Mei Terumi urged anxiously,

"What exactly is happening? Hurry up and tell me!"

Ao seemed unable to find the right words to describe what he was seeing. All he could do was repeat,

"Monsters... They’re simply monsters!"

Mei Terumi grew even more anxious.

"Who has the upper hand?!"

Ao shook his head.

"There’s no way to tell right now!"

Mei Terumi hurriedly turned toward the captain of the sealing team on the other side.

This sealing team captain was not only proficient in various sealing techniques, but had also extensively studied sensory ninjutsu, allowing him to lock onto a target’s chakra signature from an extremely great distance.

Seeing Mei Terumi turn toward him, the sealing team captain gave a bitter expression.

"Something like this... I-I’ve never seen anything like it either!"