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Blood waters (Chapter 27)
🕑 Added 2023-10-31 14:45:16 +0000 UTCChapter 27
Utakata stopped his training as he sensed his master coming to him. He put down his sword and cleaned up the mess he made of the dummies. Five straw dummies were sewed together; three had dozens of finger-sized holes, and the rest were cut into pieces. It was quite the mess, but he got used to cleaning it up.
“Very impressive,” Harusame commented as he looked over Utakata’s work. “You have improved a lot.”
“Is it another mission?” Utakata asked, as ever since the peace treaty, he went on one mission after another. “It hasn’t been even a week since the last one.”
“And you have done excellent work protecting Nagi Island from the pirates. Because of you, the village earned quite a profitable trade deal.”
“Pirates?” Utakata asked in disgust. “That what you call a bunch of fishermen who were trying to survive the rule of tyrannical Daimyo?”
“It is what the report says,” Harusame replied, but didn’t want to get deeper into the topic. “Anyway, we got a mission.”
“We?”
“Yes, the Three-tails have emerged,” Harusame said. “We will help Mizukage in sealing it.”
Utakata stopped cleaning up his training area. He didn’t particularly like to help Yagura, especially when he knew that Yagura didn’t need any help, but orders were orders. It was better to get this over with, as Utakata didn’t want to get involved with Yagura for much longer. He couldn’t get involved with Obito. It was better to stay clear of anything that he touched.
…
Utakata found himself outside the village, near the borders of the Land of Water. Harusame and Yagura were with as well as a dozen elite shinobi. Sensing the powerful chakra that put them on Jonin's level, Utakata knew he wasn’t needed here. The only explanation would be that Yagura wanted to see his strength, and what better way to see it than fighting a tailed beast?
“We are here,” Yagura said, gazing at the sea before them.
Utakata sensed the power that was hiding under the water. It was immense chakra that could only belong to a tailed beast. But it was hiding under the water, and they would need to fish it out. The way Yagura looked at Utakata, it only meant one thing. Utakata would be the one who would go into the water and make the tailed beast reveal himself.
“How can you be sure that the Three-tail is here?” Utakata asked as he didn’t want to reveal that he could sense the chakra.
“I can sense it,” One of the elite shinobi that came with them said. “It is here.”
Utakata wanted to roll his eyes at that presumptuous bastard. He sounded so proud of himself like he was special. Well, in the end, it didn’t matter to Utakata. He had his job to do. Not disappointing Yagura, Utakata used the six-tails chakra to coat himself. Three chakra tails emerged as the red chakra surrounded Utakata.
Then he took bubble-ninjutsu utilizing a pipe and created a bubble he walked into. Now, he could safely jump into the water and still have air to breathe. Finding the tailed beast at the bottom of the sea wasn't too difficult. Maybe it sensed him, too, as it started to move and faced Utakata. Since Utakata got the giant turtle-looking-tailed beast’s attention, he had no reason to delay it anymore.
Weaving his hands into hand signs, Utakata poured as much chakra as possible to make a powerful, giant water vortex. The water around them got sucked in and gathered beneath the Three-tails. Exhausting his tailed cloak chakra, Utakata controlled the vortex to push the Three-tail beast to the surface.
Before the beast could do anything, the water was pushed up. With a massive water pillar, the beast and Utakata surfaced above the sea. The rest of the shinobi quickly used water jutsu to detain the beast. But with a swing of his tail, he pushed everyone back. In the water, he moved faster than the rest of them.
Utakata let them have their fun for a bit. But once he saw that the Three-tails wanted to escape, Utakata used the wire inside his sword hilt to restrain the beast's tails. He could not hold Three-tails for longer than a few seconds. But it was enough for the shinobi to regain their footing and use water prison to restrain the beast.
Then Yagura jumped over the Three-tail beast and smacked its head with his hook weapon. It was such a powerful strike that it fell the beast’s head to the war. The Three-tail flipped around itself, revealing its stomach. Harusame jumped on the beast’s belly and slammed his arms onto it as ink spread around it.
The beast didn’t seem to like it as it flipped back, knocking Harusame himself into the sea and creating massive waves pushing the shinobi away from itself. Utakata wasn’t too concerned with any of them as he could sense their chakra was still strong. But he did look at Harusame to see if he had any wounds when he emerged from the water. Although disheveled and drenched, he appeared unharmed.
The Three-Tails, with its massive form partially submerged, roared with fury. Its chakra surged like a turbulent storm. But Utakata didn’t feel any pressure and was ready to act again. The Three-Tails, though a potent adversary, could be controlled and sealed. They had the skills and the team to get the job done. And they had Yagura.
Emerging from the sea, Yagura again used his hooked weapon to hit the beast’s head. The beast took it with only his head rearing back this time, but it wasn’t the end. Yagura hooked the beast's mouth and pulled him up as he stood on its head. Then, the elite shinobi that Yagura brought shot dozens of water spears and hit the beast.
Utakata moved too and used the wire to restrain the beast as much as he could. Harusame jumped behind Yagura and touched his back as the opportunity presented itself. And just as Utakata thought the beast would be sealed inside Yagura, he felt enormous chakra concentrating inside the beast’s mouth. Utakata wasn’t the only one noticing it as the sensor Yagura brought with him yelled out his warning.
Not risking it, Utakata again entered the tail chakra cloak and took out his pipe. Infusing chakra into it, he created a massive bubble that flew into the beast’s mouth just in time to catch the tailed beast’ ball. The ball entered the bubble without detonating and flew into the air. It took Utakata a lot of effort to keep the bubble from bursting.
Once the bubble with the ball inside flew high enough and everyone retreated, it exploded, sending shockwaves that knocked everyone back. His cloak protected Utakata, so he didn’t receive any injuries, but the rest of the shinobi were rattled, and some of them were knocked down for good as they tanked the shockwave.
“Good work, Utakata,” Master Harusame said as the water shield protecting him fell. “If not for you, the damage would be much worse.”
“Weaklings,” Yagura looked dissatisfied with the knocked-down shinobi. He tanked the shockwave without any protection and didn’t look fazed even a bit. “It is a tailed beast, so it wouldn’t be that easy. Still, being unable to endure this much is embarrassing to the Mist.”
“Should we retreat, lord Mizukage?” Harusame asked as he helped the knocked-down shinobi to the land.
“No, once the other villages find out about the Three-tails, they will do anything to interfere,” Yagura replied, readying his weapon. “Let’s finish this.”
“Utakata, I need two minutes to seal it into lord Mizukage,” Harusame said, looking at Utakata for his response.
“Four tails is hard to control,” Utakata replied. “I have one minute before the power consumes me, and I go feral. But I guess even at that state, I will attack the Three-tails. But after that, I will go after everything that moves.”
“I will not hold it against you if you attack me, this time, that is,” Yagura’s smile felt more feral than whatever Utakata would become using his tailed beast chakra.
“Then I won’t hold back,” Utakata replied, jumping in front of Yagura and Harusame and facing the Three-tails.
Utakata closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he was in his mindscape. Before him was a massive waterfall, and he was surrounded by knee-high water. Utakata didn’t say anything to the Six-tails. It already knew what Utakata wanted. Bubbles emerged from the water and flew at Utakata. He took it all and even forced more to come to him.
“Ahhh!” Utakata screamed as his chakra cloak merged with his boy. His skin started to peel off as chakra came from inside him. Four tails stood tall behind Utakata, and ignoring the pain he felt, Utakata rushed the Three-tail. With his jump, Utakata left a tall water pillar behind. High in the air, above the Three-tail, his four tails shot out, piercing the massive turtle’s shell.
The three-tail roared in pain and fury, but Yagura was already upon it. Using massive water prison jutsu, he trapped the tailed beast, letting him and Harusame stand on its back. While they worked to seal the tailed beast inside Yagura, Utakata went on a rampage in front of the Three-tail. He still could control himself, but he felt his consciousness fading.
With the last of his will, Utakata spat acidic water into the Three-tail’s face. It blinded the tailed beast, and it couldn’t hit Utakata with his tail. Yet, it didn’t matter, as Utakata was already falling, the pain was consuming him, and darkness was engulfing him. One minute passed, and he couldn’t control himself anymore.
…
Harusame concentrated all his efforts on sucking the chakra from the three-tails and sealing it into Yagura. He was halfway done when he heard a loud and shrill scream from the front of the Three-tail. He knew that one minute had passed, and even though he was worried about Utakata, he had to concentrate on the sealing.
He felt the tremors coming through the tailed beast shell, and he saw the massive water pillars rising around them. Harusame refused even to take a look at his student, as he knew that he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the seal if he saw Utakata now. So, he shut off his senses and only focused on the chakra flowing through the seal he had put on the beast into Yagura.
The minute that followed was frustratingly long for Harusame. The seconds felt like hours as he put all his effort into sealing the Three-tail beast into Yagura. But finally, he could do it, and with one final push, he put the physical form of the Three-tails into the seal on Yagura’s body. When they fell into the water, it took everything he had to stand up on the water.
The old age caught up to Harusame as the sealing process drained him of all energy. Yet, Yagura didn’t look any different. It should be exhausting for him to receive that much chakra, yet while any other shinobi would have passed out, he stood tall, looking at his next opponent. Harusame turned to his student, too.
There was nothing left recognizable to Utakata. Before them, on all fours, stood a red-like blood beast. The beast was baring his teeth at them, and Utakata felt his heart clench in quilt as he saw his student in such a state. Yet, he could do nothing. He was too tired and weak to face Utakata now. He had to leave it to Yagura.
“Don’t hurt him too much,” Harusame said, even though he wanted to plead with Yagura to save Utakata.
“Don’t worry, I won’t kill him,” Harusame knew that Yagura wouldn’t listen to him no matter what he said. “The six-tailed chakra will heal him anyway. No matter how much I break him.”
