Shisui was right. Just a second later, Yagura's large tail was suddenly covered in a fiery orange-red glow.
The people standing near him were instantly blown away.
Chakra was leaking out wildly, with chaotic streams of red-orange energy swirling around him, almost completely hiding his figure.
Yagura's back started to hunch lower and lower, like an animal getting ready to pounce.
It was one thing to fight among themselves, but if it turned into a fight with a tailed beast, they wouldn't even stand a chance!
The moment Yagura started to change, the people around him backed away in hesitation.
Even the Anbu, who were supposed to care about his safety, had to worry about saving themselves first.
They'd seen Yagura go full-tailed-beast mode before—but back then, he was still able to talk to them. This was totally different.
Behind that glowing orange-red chakra, his face was twisted with strain. He looked like he was trying hard to hold something back, but couldn't.
"He's trying to delay the full transformation."
Leaving the tailed beast to run loose wasn't an option—but they didn't have nearly enough people to seal it right now.
Genji frowned as he looked down at the chaos unfolding below. A bead of sweat slowly slid down his wrinkled cheek.
Karatachi Yagura was one of the rare perfect Jinchuriki, but the Tailed Beast inside him was now getting out of control way faster than Genji had expected.
Ao had been by Genji's side for quite a while, and he had never seen the old man—usually calm and calculating—look this shaken.
"Genji-sama, just standing here watching isn't going to help. Mizukage-sama's rampage probably won't hold off much longer."
"I want to go down and talk to Shisui of the Body Flicker about what to do."
"That Hozuki Mangetsu kid might be pretty useful too."
Just now, when Hozuki Mangetsu broke through Yagura's Tailed Beast Chakra shield, that jutsu was something none of them had seen before.
It might be some ability that works well against Tailed Beasts.
Ao used his Byakugan to scan the people below. Both Hozuki Mangetsu and Shisui had faint blue chakra flowing in their bodies.
Only Hatake Satoru, who stood in the middle with a carefree smile, didn't have any visible chakra moving in him—he looked even more like a regular civilian than most civilians.
So he really *was* just pretending to be tough earlier?
Hatake Satoru was known for being smooth with words, able to talk anyone into anything. If Mangetsu got tricked by him, it wouldn't be surprising.
"Go ahead."
With Genji's reply, Ao bowed his head slightly, dropped to one knee for a moment, then disappeared from sight.
Hatake Satoru tapped the edge of his eyepatch and looked toward Yagura, whose face was twisted and body was still changing.
With things turning out like this, Obito would definitely sense it and come—but who knew when.
"I'm totally fine with letting it out!"
As soon as Hatake Satoru's light tone finished, someone cut in immediately.
Ao had just arrived to talk to Shisui when he heard Hatake Satoru's carefree voice.
His brow furrowed as he looked over at him. He hadn't had a good impression of this guy from the start.
He was young, spoke in a flippant tone, and even though it wasn't obvious, Ao could always feel a bit of arrogance—like this kid didn't really respect anyone.
It was irritating.
"A Tailed Beast isn't something you can deal with just by running your mouth."
"I don't know how others came to trust you, but talking alone won't get you through a fight with a Tailed Beast."
Ao had never once seen Hatake Satoru actually fight—not even earlier. The guy just strolled in like he was watching a show.
That relaxed attitude was exactly what made people mad.
Did this guy even understand what a Tailed Beast *was*?
And yet he still spoke like it was no big deal.
"You haven't even fought a person, and now you want to deal with a Tailed Beast?"
Ao's frustration with Satoru was about to boil over. Even Shisui found this situation difficult, and they all knew that if something went wrong, it'd be a disaster.
Why was this guy still so relaxed, acting like everything was a joke?
Shisui and Hozuki Mangetsu both gave Ao a look like they were seeing a ghost. Shisui opened his mouth like he wanted to say something but then just shut it again.
The two of them fell into an awkward silence and looked away at the same time.
Before they had seen what Hatake Satoru could really do, they'd thought the same way.
But because of their age and positions, they had never dared to say it out loud.
"Pfft." Hatake Satoru let out an inappropriate chuckle.
Before he could say anything else, a low growl came from behind them.
"ROAR!!!"
With that deep, beastly growl, Karatachi Yagura's human face completely vanished.
His whole body was now covered in orange-red chakra, turning into a huge turtle-like creature with a shell. Three spiked tails waved behind him.
The burning chakra surrounding him twisted and flickered like flames.
Hearing the noise, Ao turned his head in shock.
He had let his guard down! In just the short time he'd been down here, Yagura had already been completely taken over?!
He thought it would take more time for the full transformation into a Tailed Beast to happen—but it was already done?!
...
It was too late. They couldn't escape anymore.
Yagura, now fully transformed into his Tailed Beast form, charged toward them at high speed, his two tails whipping beside him.
The Anbu and Kaguya clan members who hadn't had time to scatter were sent flying.
With just a quick swipe, the tails crushed them into pieces.
Blood sprayed everywhere in an instant—this thing was clearly nothing but a mindless killing machine now.
One of the giant, spiked tails was swinging straight down at their heads.
"——"
Ao's eyes went wide. His mind raced through options.
The safest move would be to have Shisui teleport them all out of here.
Otherwise, they were done for.
Ao had just turned to reach out to Shisui when he suddenly swallowed hard.
A sharp gust of wind sliced past his cheek, leaving bloody cuts behind.
Hatake Satoru stood in front of the tail, blocking it with one hand.
There was no noise, no impact.
The tail kept trying to slam down, but something was clearly holding it back. It could only move forward at a painfully slow pace, like it was pushing against a wall of steel.
Hatake Satoru looked down at Ao with a mocking, almost pitying smile.
With a light, amused tone, he spoke again.
"Didn't think you saw me that way, huh? Well, I don't really care what you think~"
"You guys are just way too weak. I'm not even interested in fighting you~"
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