"T-that is… a Tailed Beast Bomb?"
"Lady Yugito is finally getting serious!"
The experienced Kumogakure jōnin immediately cried out in warning when they saw the scene unfold.
"Everyone, retreat at once to avoid being caught in the blast!"
Konoha's shinobi reacted just as quickly.
"Danger ahead—fall back!"
Both sides withdrew at top speed, and the vacuum zone around Yugito and Uchiha Yusuke expanded even further.
With no one else nearby, neither of them had to worry about collateral damage anymore.
In her tailed-beast form, Yugito's eyes were filled with killing intent.
"'Flame Demon' Yusuke… goodbye."
"It all ends here!"
Yusuke's expression remained calm, completely unmoved.
"Heh. Ignoring me, are you?"
A cold smile tugged at Yugito's lips.
Although she had been at a disadvantage earlier, the truth was that Yusuke's attacks hadn't caused her truly severe damage.
After all, tailed-beast chakra came with a degree of regenerative ability.
Minor wounds would heal quickly.
As red and blue chakra finished condensing, a sharp glint flashed through Yugito's eyes.
Underestimating an opponent always came at a price.
Let me give you a proper lesson, you brat of the Uchiha.
The Matatabi, shrouded in blue-black flames, snapped its head forward.
In the next instant, a pale-blue beam of destructive energy roared outward.
"Tailed Beast Bomb!"
The annihilating blast rushed forward.
Uchiha Yusuke did not change expression. He slowly closed his eyes.
At that moment—
He looked as though he had fused completely with nature itself.
Just like Naruto at Mount Myōboku after mastering perfect Sage Mode.
A true swordsman could sense the "breath" of all things in heaven and earth. In a way, it was not so different from senjutsu practiced at the Three Great Sage Lands.
He stilled his breathing, gathered his spirit, focused his will.
Sword intent and nature merged.
Man and blade became one.
Yusuke slowly drew his weapon and swung a single, unadorned strike.
"One-Sword Style: Wave Slash."
A dark-red sword wave tore across the ground!
It looked like Mihawk's world-splitting slash cutting through a battlefield, or Ichigo Kurosaki's Getsuga Tenshō tearing through the heavens.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—
The two overwhelming attacks collided—
and instantly triggered violent spatial tremors.
Yusuke's sword wave surged forward without slowing, actually cleaving the incoming Tailed Beast Bomb apart.
On the battlefield—
Kumogakure's shinobi were completely dumbfounded.
"Lady Yugito's Tailed Beast Bomb… was cut open by a sword?"
"I-I've got to be hallucinating, right?!"
Konoha's side was just as stunned.
"He cut a tailed beast's attack with a sword?"
"Is that even something a human can do?!"
Before anyone could recover, Yusuke's attack had already reached Matatabi.
Yugito had no time to dodge and was sent flying by the slash.
BOOM!
The massive tailed-beast body smashed into the ground, blasting out an enormous crater.
If most of its power hadn't already been consumed by the Tailed Beast Bomb, that strike might well have split the Two-Tails in half.
Akatsuki's senior member Jūzō Biwa had once cut a Tailed Beast Bomb with a blade—
but his ending had not been pretty.
Now, Uchiha Yusuke had split a Tailed Beast Bomb in two and remained completely unharmed.
That alone was enough to rewrite the records of the shinobi world.
"Hiss—"
The ninjas on the battlefield inhaled sharply yet again.
One sword strike nearly killed a tailed beast?
Uchiha Yusuke was absurdly monstrous.
Yugito, who had experienced it firsthand, was even more shaken.
The power of a Tailed Beast Bomb.
The defensive toughness of a tailed beast's body.
Even with both combined, she was still seriously injured.
That meant only one thing—
Uchiha Yusuke's strength was unfathomable.
Yugito struggled to her feet, eyes blazing as she stared at Yusuke.
"That attack just now wasn't chakra-based at all. What was it?"
Tailed beasts were made of chakra and naturally sensitive to it.
She could clearly sense that Yusuke's previous strike contained no chakra whatsoever.
Chakra was universally recognized as the source of power for shinobi.
Techniques that didn't consume chakra were, in conventional understanding, limited to taijutsu.
But Yusuke's attack clearly wasn't taijutsu.
This was an entirely new kind of power—one not present in any intelligence Yugito had received about him.
More importantly, she had felt an intense sense of danger from that strike.
If the battle continued, she might truly be defeated.
"No… I refuse to believe you're this strong!"
"I am Yugito—Kumogakure's perfect jinchūriki!"
Even with her Tailed Beast Bomb failing, she still refused to admit defeat.
Her fighting spirit flared up violently once more.
"That kind of move must consume a huge amount of stamina, doesn't it?"
"I want to see if you can use it again. And again."
Yusuke's gaze sharpened slightly.
As expected of one of Kumogakure's top fighters—she had instantly deduced the weakness of his technique.
A slash like that… Yusuke could currently unleash it at most three times in succession.
Once was peak.
Twice diminished.
Three times exhausted.
If he forced it further, even he would fall into a weakened state.
Of course, given Yugito's current condition, whether she could survive another one of those strikes was equally uncertain.
She had deliberately pointed out the weakness because she feared Yusuke would do it again.
Yusuke's consumption was heavy—but Yugito herself was in danger as well.
Yusuke sheathed his sword again and smiled faintly.
"Tailed Beast Bombs really are powerful."
"But how many can you still fire right now?"
That casual smile provoked Yugito instantly.
You dare look down on me?
You're asking for death!
With a furious shout, Yugito reverted to her half-tailed-beast form.
"Then try my rapid-fire miniature Tailed Beast Bombs!"
Yusuke remained completely unhurried and drew his blade once more.
"One-Sword Style: Blazing Light Barrage."
His sword moved at incredible speed.
Every swing sent one of the incoming Tailed Beast Bombs flying away.
Facing Yugito's barrage like a storm of artillery fire, Yusuke advanced straight through it, cutting his way closer and closer.
Yugito gradually realized what she was seeing.
"This… is pure swordsmanship?"
Yusuke nodded with a smile.
"You're right."
As his words fell—
Yusuke vanished from where he stood.
In the next instant—
He appeared behind Yugito, his blade resting against her throat.
A calm voice sounded softly at her ear.
"Two-Tails' jinchūriki…"
"You've lost."
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