Chapter 112: This Posturing Wasn't Smooth Enough
Uchiha Taiga's eyes widened, his expression extremely bizarre. He opened his mouth to say something but swallowed it back down.
He just looked at the massive Three-Tails Isobu, watching its three tails slowly swaying in the air, and those orange slitted pupils staring dead at him.
No matter how one looked at this scene, it seemed like an outsider invading Kirigakure, forcing the Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, to fully transform into his Tailed Beast to resist.
Uchiha Taiga glanced at the damaged merchant ship behind him, the sailors and merchants cowering and shivering in the corners of the deck, the Kirigakure ANBU injured by Yugito Nii, and the corpses of the rogue ninjas floating on the sea.
This scene... no matter how you looked at it, he seemed like the villain.
The only thing he was thankful for was that there weren't too many people present.
At least on Kirigakure's side, besides the ANBU, there were only the people on the merchant ship.
If there had been a crowd of onlookers, there would be absolutely no way to explain this mess.
Uchiha Taiga took a deep breath and raised a hand to his forehead.
He bore some responsibility for the situation escalating to this point. He had overdone his posturing this time; it wasn't smooth enough.
On the battlefield, seeing Yagura Karatachi fully transform into a Tailed Beast, Yugito Nii's heart sank.
She crouched slightly, the Tailed Beast chakra surging within her as she prepared to enter her own full Tailed Beast transformation.
Two-Tails versus Three-Tails would be an evenly matched fight.
"That is enough."
Uchiha Taiga's voice came from behind her—not loud, but very clear.
"Stand down for now. If this continues, things will get out of hand."
Yugito Nii paused. The Tailed Beast chakra around her gradually subsided. Without looking back, she gave a soft hum of acknowledgment, canceled her Tailed Beast Chakra Mode, and stepped aside to watch quietly.
Perhaps even she had not realized it, but when it came to having faith in Uchiha Taiga, she had more than anyone else.
On the surface of the sea, Uchiha Taiga walked toward the massive Three-Tails Isobu. His pace was neither fast nor slow, his hands tucked into his sleeves, and the hem of his clothes fluttering gently in the sea breeze. He did not look like he was approaching a giant beast; rather, it seemed as if he were taking a stroll in his own backyard.
The Three-Tails Isobu lowered its head, its orange slitted pupils locked onto the tiny figure on the water.
It could clearly sense the threat radiating from this tiny human, so it opened its mouth, revealing razor-sharp teeth, and unleashed a deafening roar.
*Roar!!!*
The soundwave blew the sea apart, churning the water and kicking up massive waves several meters high.
The seawater crashed against Uchiha Taiga, but his clothes remained dry. He did not stop walking; he simply looked at the Three-Tails Isobu and smiled.
"Be a good little turtle. I am not here to hurt you."
He continued forward.
Light began to gather deep within the Three-Tails Isobu's throat. Orange-red chakra converged and compressed in its mouth as a Tailed Beast Bomb began to form.
Purple-black ripples violently pulsed across the sphere's surface, filling the air with a scorching, oppressive aura.
Uchiha Taiga's cheek twitched, and his footsteps faltered.
"Hey, hey, hey, there's no need for that."
Before he could finish speaking, the Three-Tails Isobu opened its mouth to the absolute limit.
Uchiha Taiga sighed and shook his head before his figure vanished from the water's surface.
In the next second, he appeared hundreds of meters in the air, right above the Three-Tails Isobu's massive head. His feet landed lightly on the top of Isobu's skull. The texture was hard and cold, like stepping on a rough boulder.
His eyes changed.
The pure white of his Byakugan was dyed a deep crimson. Three tomoe surfaced, then connected and merged into a Mangekyo pattern. Six curved tomoe extended outward from the pupil like the shutter blades of a camera, exuding an eerie beauty.
"Be good, this will be over soon. I am just going to clear the chakra out of your brain."
His Mangekyo Sharingan began to spin.
The process of clearing the chakra was not violent; rather, it carried a soothing rhythm.
Visual prowess surged from his eyes, flowing down through the soles of his feet into the Three-Tails Isobu's head, spreading deep along its chakra pathway system.
The Three-Tails Isobu's movements gradually slowed. Its tails stopped swaying, its claws ceased thrashing, and its mouth slowly closed.
The still-forming Tailed Beast Bomb lost its stability. The purple-black sphere dissipated in its mouth, turning into fragmented chakra that scattered in the sea breeze.
Its slitted pupils rounded out. The brutality faded from its eyes, replaced by a sense of blank confusion.
Uchiha Taiga crouched down, pressing his palm against the carapace on Isobu's head. His chakra transformed into needles as thin as hair, piercing precisely into Isobu's skull. He located the cluster of cold, sinister chakra that did not belong to Yagura Karatachi, and bit by bit, he peeled it away and eradicated it.
The entire process went extremely smoothly.
The Three-Tails Isobu's body began to tremble. Its eyes gradually cleared, its pupils reflecting the sky, the sea, and the young man crouching on its head.
A moment later, Uchiha Taiga withdrew his hand.
That cluster of genjutsu chakra had been completely purged, so clean it was as if it had never existed. He stood up and gently patted the top of Isobu's head.
"All done."
The Three-Tails Isobu's body jolted violently.
The next moment, its body erupted with a loud *poof*, transforming into a massive cloud of white smoke and kicking up a fierce gust of wind.
The colossal Three-Tails Isobu vanished completely, replaced by a figure plummeting from hundreds of meters in the air.
Yagura Karatachi.
His eyes were tightly shut, his face pale, looking completely drained.
And that was indeed the case. He had been controlled by the genjutsu for far too long—years, perhaps even longer.
During those years, he had barely slept a wink. His consciousness had been suppressed deep within his body, like a bird locked in a cage.
And forcefully entering the full Tailed Beast transformation just now had drained even more of his energy.
Uchiha Taiga descended from the sky, reaching out to grab Yagura Karatachi by the back of his collar. The two landed steadily on the surface of the sea.
Yagura Karatachi's eyelids twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes.
It took several seconds for his gaze to focus. When it did, he saw the face of a young man—black hair, white clothes, bright white eyes, and a faint smile playing on his lips.
"Who are you?"
Yagura Karatachi's voice was very soft.
Uchiha Taiga looked at him and chuckled softly.
"When you were controlled by the genjutsu, did you really have absolutely no perception of the outside world?"
Yagura Karatachi's expression shifted slightly.
He fell silent. His lips moved, but ultimately, he said nothing.
He knew who this young man was. He had known from the very beginning.
Even though he was controlled by the genjutsu and his consciousness was suppressed, he could still see everything in the outside world through his own eyes.
He knew this young man had come from the direction of Kumogakure, and he knew he was accompanied by a woman who was a Jinchuriki. This intelligence was not difficult to gather.
"Since you recognize me, why pretend you don't?"
Uchiha Taiga's tone was casual, as if chatting with an old friend.
Yagura Karatachi's expression turned serious. Even though he was weak, he still asked what was on his mind.
"What is your purpose in coming to Kirigakure?"
Uchiha Taiga did not answer immediately. Carrying Yagura Karatachi, he walked over to a wooden plank floating on the sea and set him down.
The plank was not large, just big enough for one person to lie on.
Uchiha Taiga crouched down in front of him, reached out, and pressed a hand against his lower abdomen.
"I came to take a little bit of the Three-Tails Isobu's chakra. Don't worry, it won't be much. It won't have any lasting effect on you."
His tone was casual, as if he were talking about some trivial matter.
Immediately after, a surge of chakra flowed from his palm, transforming into an extremely fine needle that pierced into Yagura Karatachi's lower abdomen. Finding the core of the Three-Tails Isobu's chakra, he began the process of extracting the Tailed Beast chakra.
This process was naturally far from pleasant, at least for a Jinchuriki.
Yagura Karatachi felt a wave of pain and weakness. The pain was manageable, but the weakness was not because his chakra was being drawn out; it was because his body and mind had long been overdrawn.
With things having reached this point, Uchiha Taiga felt it was best to accomplish his goal quickly. After all, Yagura Karatachi did not look like he was going to welcome him.
Therefore, his hand movements inevitably became a bit rough. As a result, Yagura Karatachi let out a muffled groan, a look of pain crossing his face.
Just then, from the thick fog in the distance, figures shot out one after another.
Leading them was an old man, small and thin, wearing a dark kimono and leaning on a cane.
Beside him was a young woman, tall and wearing a long green dress. Her long brown hair cascaded down to her waist, and she had a beautiful face with a beauty mark near her mouth.
Behind them was a group of Kirigakure ninjas, all wearing uniform attire with ninja swords hanging at their waists. Everyone's eyes were cold and vigilant.
They rushed out of the thick fog and immediately saw their village's Mizukage.
Yagura Karatachi was lying on a wooden plank, pale and drenched. Standing beside him was a young man with his hand placed on Yagura's lower abdomen, extracting pale red chakra.
That chakra... some of them were all too familiar with it.
Uchiha Taiga turned his head, glancing at the Kirigakure ninjas, and then looked down at his own hand resting on Yagura Karatachi's lower abdomen. His expression suddenly became very awkward.
"I really am not good at posturing."
He looked at the old man and the young woman leading the group, mocking himself.