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For Haori right now, the Three-Tails wasn't exactly a tough opponent. The White Fang at twenty, he was even more of a White Fang.
Furthermore, the nine Tailed Beasts, due to their chakra nature and overall size, actually had power differences between them.
Some Tailed Beasts were easy to deal with, while others weren't. Or, some ninjas' fighting styles were suitable for dealing with a certain Tailed Beast, but not others.
Maybe it was because the Sage of Six Paths accidentally cut off the Ten-Tails when he split it. Or maybe it was done intentionally, purposefully creating an imbalance of power between the different Tailed Beasts. Or was it simply favoritism?
Only Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki would know the answer to that.
In any case, the Three-Tails, with its clumsy movements, sturdy shell, short legs, and retractable head, was nothing more than a giant target for Haori.
Actually, Haori didn't even have a detailed plan to deal with the Three-Tails. He was completely handling various situations in real-time combat…
According to Haori's plan, beating the Three-Tails half to death would only consume a certain amount of his energy. Besides that… after fighting the Three-Tails, it wouldn't have a major impact on Haori's sustained combat strength. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to launch powerful attacks in enemy territory with Mirai.
Although the final "finishing move" attempt failed, the battle process was not unexpected.
The Three-Tails could be dealt with by Deidara's clay bombs. If you compared that technique to Haori's Railgun's single-target destructive power… taking down the Three-Tails was just a matter of course for him.
But no matter what, techniques that could fight Tailed Beasts and greatly damage them all had certain characteristics: they were loud and flashy.
It was impossible to expect Haori to silently defeat or control a Tailed Beast.
Plus, this lake was constantly under Kirigakure's close watch. So, unless they all went blind and deaf at the same time, they would definitely react.
After all, Kirigakure was one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. They weren't blind. On the contrary, it was completely normal. They reacted very quickly.
Surveilling the Tailed Beast was a very important mission. There was a special response mechanism between the two teams of Kirigakure ninjas and the village. After this contact was cut off, Kirigakure had already started to suspect that something was wrong with the Tailed Beast.
What made them even more concerned was the subsequent explosions, vibrations, the Three-Tails' roar, and the high-intensity chakra fluctuations. So, immediately, Kirigakure's action level and alert level reached the highest level.
"Haori, the enemy is very close."
Haori was thinking, while Mirai kept reminding him that the enemy was coming.
Even though they knew the enemy was approaching, Haori didn't seem to be in a hurry at all. Forget about escaping. Right now, the four of them were just strolling around the lake leisurely, as if they were taking a walk.
Without a passport or visa, and without proper authorization, Haori's actions this time were a typical case of illegal entry, smuggling, poaching, and child abduction. So, he was too calm in the face of the real owner's pursuit.
Actually, even if he had a proper application, it wouldn't be useful. After the Kumogakure incident, no country would welcome a ninja like Haori, even if he was just sightseeing.
Besides, he couldn't possibly be just sightseeing.
Kirigakure was in a panic, while Haori was so relaxed. With this contrast, being caught was inevitable.
"I didn't expect you to act personally. Fourth… Mizukage."
If you had to say what had changed about Mei Terumi from a few years ago, it would have to be her figure. This… cough, to maintain a certain level of purity, it can't be described in detail.
It has to be said that Haori had a "connection" with all the "Fourth"s, whether it was the Fourth Hokage or the Kazekage, Raikage, or Mizukage. He was related to them all.
Seeing the person in front of her confirmed that Mirai's perception was not wrong. When it came to Tailed Beasts, it wasn't impossible for the Fourth Mizukage, Mei Terumi, to act personally.
"But… is it really okay for you to leave Kirigakure at this time?"
Actually, it wasn't really a good idea, considering the possibility that the enemy had controlled the Three-Tails and was going to directly invade Kirigakure.
As the Mizukage, it would be most appropriate to stay in the village at this time.
But Mei Terumi was still the young Mizukage. Having initiative and being proactive was both her strength and her weakness. In terms of outcome, appearing directly in front of Haori wasn't a good choice.
Mei Terumi's threat level and combat strength were above the Three-Tails. However, this didn't mean that she would inevitably be able to take down Haori.
"Why are you in the Land of Water?" Whether leaving Kirigakure was appropriate or not was something Mei Terumi had to judge for herself. She didn't need anyone else's concern.
And she couldn't possibly forget this person's face. After all, they had a generally pleasant collaboration. Haori had even performed a song and dance for the locals here.
"Mizukage-sama, our people…"
Her usual team was still with Mei Terumi: the Byakugan user, Ao; the wielder of Samehada, Mangetsu Hōzuki; and the shark-faced Kisame Hoshigaki.
Hearing Ao's words, Mei Terumi's gaze towards Haori became much sharper.
"Relax. I just made your ninjas lose consciousness. Don't be so tense… Do I look like a murderer?"
Haori's response was still calm.
He wasn't a murderer, but he had killed more ninjas than the average murderer… many more.
"There's no particular reason. If I had to say… I'm currently on a world tour. The Land of Water is just one stop along the way."
If anyone believed Haori's lies, it would definitely be a ghostly thing.
"You… But, no matter what the reason, it's not easy to leave the Land of Water simply after arriving here." Mei Terumi said.
While she was speaking, the focus of the guards under the Mizukage's command was different.
The Mizukage was mainly worried about whether Haori's infiltration was under Konoha's orders. This was a matter of the overall situation. What if he wanted to launch an attack on Kirigakure similar to Kumogakure?
But for Mangetsu Hōzuki, the most important thing was… the last two ninja swords had been found.
It was impossible to attack rashly before the Mizukage made a decision, but that didn't mean he couldn't do anything else.
Mangetsu Hōzuki pulled out a scroll from behind him and unfolded it directly. You could see the seven characters "Dan, Dai, Chō, Don, Baku, Rai, Sō" written in a circle from right to left.
The summoning scroll of the Seven Ninja Swords. But it hadn't played its due role for a long time… The missing ninja swords before were all found manually. But the Sewing Needle and Hiramekarei weren't among them.
Mangetsu Hōzuki had tried "summoning" before, but there were no results. But… the ninja swords were right in front of him. Even if he didn't have to fight for them, there was no reason why he couldn't summon them.
After all, the ninja swords were now in the hands of two children. They weren't being held by the White Fang.
Haori could naturally see this obvious move, but he didn't stop him. Instead, he smiled at Mangetsu mockingly.
"You summon them. If you can summon them, I'll admit defeat."
As the saying goes, learn from your mistakes. Whether Haori said this out loud or not, that was what he meant.
However, when Mangetsu's summoning hand seal was complete, the swords… he still couldn't summon them. Not only that, the two characters "Chō" and "Sō," representing the Sewing Needle and Hiramekarei, disappeared from the scroll at the same time.
Not only that, blue chakra flames suddenly ignited on the scroll, and the summoning scroll burned up…
It was proven that when it came to professional techniques like sealing, summoning, and summoning, you shouldn't compare yourself to professionals. Otherwise, you would be tricked.
But that wasn't the point. Even the Mizukage didn't have time to pay attention to what Mangetsu was doing.
The point was Ao's one sentence after he finished his reconnaissance:
"Mizukage-sama, the Three-Tails… is gone."
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