Chapter 48

Chapter 48

In the dust and rubble, Utakata felt a surge of powerful chakra. He was unsure of what to do, afraid to face it because he knew he would have to use his tailed beast chakra. But a choice was taken from him as he felt Ringo's chakra get weaker all of a sudden. At that moment, he realized he had no time to doubt himself. He was putting an end to this now and here.

Just as Yagura's chakra exploded, so did Utakata's. Both of them attacked at the same time. While Utakata was a moment behind Yagura, he sensed the whereabouts of Yagura in the dust, while Yagura could only attack blindly. Yet, even as Utakata tried to stab him with his tails, Yagura's tails blocked his.

As their chakra exploded, the dust and rubble were blown away, revealing the extent of their transformations. Yagura, almost unrecognizable, had morphed into a red, turtle-like beast with three tails and a shell on his back. Utakata, on the other hand, had unleashed all six of his tails yet still maintained his humanoid form. The only difference was that he was now a figure of pure, burning red chakra.

Utakata didn't know if Yagura had yet lost control of himself, but he knew he couldn't risk dragging this fight into the village. There were too many innocent lives. He needed to get Yagura out of the village or finish this quickly. The first option didn't seem possible, as he still could sense numerous shinobi fighting each other around them; if he moved even a bit, they would get in the way.

Utakata extended his tails, trying to pierce through Yagura's defense, but his attempts were blocked. For a moment, Utakata felt nervous as he didn't know how this fight would go, but worries disappeared as a massive water dragon clashed at Yagura's side. Then lighting struck him from his underbelly, giving Utakata a gap to pierce two of his tails into Yagura's body.

Utakata wasn't finished. He spewed an acidic torrent of water at Yagura's eyes, temporarily blinding him. With Yagura temporarily blinded and weakened from the lightning strike, Utakata maneuvered quickly. From the looks of it, the weakest part of Yagura was his stomach, as the shell completely protected his back.

Yagura's tails lashed out blindly while Utakata evaded them and slid under Yagura. At this point, Utakata didn't know how he should proceed. He could only try to injure Yagura enough for him to waste his tailed beast chakra and undo the transformation. Utakata's tails pierced through the softer parts of Yagura's shell.

Even though he had little understanding of his corrosive abilities, Utakata still managed to turn the tips of his tails purple as they pierced Yagura's body, further injuring him. Despite the damage, though, Yagura's resilience as a jinchūriki was evident. He quickly rolled over, using his massive size and weight to crush Utakata. If he hadn't been fast enough to get out of the way, Utakata might have been crushed to death.

"You won't win like this," A voice in Utakata's head echoed.

"Six tails?" Utakata asked as he still focused on Yagura. "Is that you?"

"Listen to me. You need to devour him."

"What?" Utakata didn't have time or energy to listen to the nonsense.

"Capture him with the tails and spread my chakra surrounding him," The six tails continued. "Once my chakra has enveloped him whole, you can get inside his mindscape and stop him for once and all. Trust me this once and use my full power."

"I will lose control of your power, as I always did."

"You are no longer a kid, Utakata. You have grown, and you are strong enough now."

"Even if I can do it, is that even possible?" Utakata asked.

"I have never done it myself, but we tailed beasts are connected," the six-tails replied. "I believe that with your help, I can get you inside."

Well, Utakata didn't have much of a choice. A battle in Yagura's mental plane was better than a fight in the village. As much as Utakata didn't want to accept it, he still couldn't control the tailed beast's chakra for much longer, and Yagura didn't look any weaker, even with the injuries he received. Utakata had to gamble on that small chance of it succeeding.

Jumping over one tail, Utakata quickly slid over another. The shinobi on Yagura's side and Mei's side fled away from Yagura, as no one was safe from him. As Utakata neared Yagura, he quickly though of the plan of how to swallow Yagura. He would have to use all his tailed beast chakra he had to fully transform, even if that meant he could lose control of himself.

But he still had other options he could exhaust first. He used hidden mist jutsu to spread his chakra over Yagura. He already was risking a lot, so taking more risks didn't seem to be so bad at this moment. As the mist surrounded Yagura, Utakata concentrated on his chakra. Tsunade's lessons came in handy as he felt and controlled his spread chakra to swallow Yagura and trap him in the mist.

"What now?" Utakata asked through gritted teeth as he struggled to control his chakra.

"Yagura is too free. You need to restrain him and then connect to the tailed beast chakra."

Restrain him? It was easier said than done. But since he already took Yagura's sight, he might try to do just that. Summoning a water pool under Yagura, Utakata created a massive water prison. It took most of his strength to drown Yagura's body in his water, but he somehow succeeded. And now came the last part of this ridiculous plan.

He summoned every bit of his tailed beast chakra and felt his body transform, making him a giant slug that swallowed Yagura.

Then, the world turned dark. He could not see, hear, or feel anything. There was only darkness and nothingness. For a second, Utakata thought he had died or passed out, but he wasn't sure. He didn't even know if he was controlling his body or if the surroundings were controlling him.

"Are you lost?" Utakata heard Yagura's voice and became aware of his surroundings once again, realizing he was inside Yagura's mental plane. "You don't need to look any further. There is nothing. Only darkness."

"Darkness and you," Utakata felt Yagura standing before him as he started to get more used to the darkness and being aware of his body. "It suits you."

"You good," Yagura said with a cheer. "I have to praise your efforts. Not only did you escape my village, you even returned to save it from me. But isn't it too late? You knew of my condition from the very beginning, and yet you did nothing. And now, what, did you think you could be a hero? Save everyone?"

"I came to save myself," Utakata replied. "I felt guilty. The past was haunting me, killing me, so I had no choice but to confront it. To confront you. Even if you weren't controlled, I would still have come to end this bullshit you call the Bloody Mist. It didn't work out. It is time to let it go. It is what my master would have wanted, and it is what I want."

"Hahaha," Yagura laughed, and it echoed around Utkata. "You were the best of us, the most talented. And even then, you hid your abilities. I wasn't wrong to try to make you into my weapon. You would be a weapon the world would have feared, a weapon that would have carved the path for the glory of my village."

"I would break in your hands; I did break," Utakata said as he focused on Yagura. "Harusame reforged me. He ironed out the cracks. And made me whole. Then he set me free."

"He made you dull!" Yagura replied. "He let you go. You became nothing but a useless blade—a blade that couldn't cut anyone or anything—a worthless weapon."

"I might be a dull weapon, but getting hit by me still hurts," Utakata was done talking.

He rushed at Yagura, throwing a punch straight to his face. But Yagura barely moved, so Utakata continued to punch him with all he had. After a dozen or so punches, Yagura just sneered at Utakata. His eyes were glowing red in the dark.

"Wake up to reality," Yagura's voice was distorted, making Utakata flinch.

"You are the one who is still dreaming," Utakata didn't let it affect him. "You are still clinging to the past like there was something worth in it. It has only pain and suffering. You wanted to make the village strong. But you could only accept strength you could control. That is why this village has lost—because of people like you, who can't let anyone undermine you. You coward."

"It was proven time and time again that only the strong survive," Yagura said, catching Utakata's fist and twisting it as he looked at Utakata with his red glowing eyes. "For the village to thrive in this accursed world, only the strong must live. The weak are to be sacrificed. Their fate is to become a stepping stone for the strong to reach even higher places."

"And who are you to tell who is weak and strong?" Utakata bashed his head into Yagura's face. "You don't know what it means to be weak, so how can you tell what true strength is? Look around you! This is the world you envisioned—a dark place where only you exist. There is no village or anyone in your world. So, wake the hell up and face the reality!"

Utakata continued to bash his head into Yagura's face. He felt the pain but ignored it until, finally, Yagura was forced to let go of his wrist and step back. Bright cracks started to appear in the darkness as Yagura's red eyes started to dim. Finally, Utakata was reaching Yagura. But he couldn't stop here. He needed to continue to wake that fool up.

"It is futile," Yagura's voice distorted again, making Utakata stop in his tracks and filling him with dread. You know that only pain and suffering exist in this world. Your efforts are futile. Your selfish intentions have already brought numerous lives to an end. Why are you continuing this pointless fight?"

"Because I found something more than pain and suffering," Utakata replied, taking a step closer, ignoring the fear as he realized that he wasn't speaking with Yagura. "Hope, even for someone like me, still exists. I, who didn't deserve it, was forgiven. And if I can be forgiven, then even you can be forgiven, too. So, wake the fuck up and face your village. Fix the shit you caused and make the village stronger as you so wanted. Wake up!"

Finally, Utakata felt his punch impacting Yagura as his fist reached his face. The darkness started to break. And Yagura's eyes were changing to his pink ones. As Utakata thought he had finished his work and woke Yagura up, he felt immense fear as red eyes looked down upon him from the persisting darkness.

"This world, created by the shinobi, isn't a place for the guilty or the weak. It is a hell for those who were left behind by the cruel shinobi system. And you, Utakata of Blood Waters, will understand it soon enough."

And with those words, the world of darkness shattered. Now, Utakata stood in a world of storms in the middle of the sea. Yagura's head was down as behind him, three tails in all its glory, looked at Utakata. Turning back, Utakata saw the six tails standing behind him.

"It is your chance to finish me off," Yagura said, finally sounding like Utakata remembered him. "Since you freed me, I will give you this chance. Finish me. Kill me for once and all."

"And why would I do that?" Utakata asked. "It won't solve anything. If you want to die so much, do it yourself."

"You fool," Yagura looked up at Utakata. "Did you think the genjutsu on me would have lasted so long if I didn't let it? It made it easier to achieve my goals. Removing the hesitation, I would have otherwise. All I had done in this genjutsu I would have done anyway. So, you have to realize that it won't change anything."

"It already has changed," Utakata replied. "You can continue to cling to your desperate plans, which make no sense, or you can accept that you have lost. Bring this infighting to an end and help rebuild your village. The village will get stronger with or without you. And I think that you must have realized it, too. Otherwise, you wouldn't have had any hesitation to begin with."

Utakata looked at six tails, asking it to get him out of there, as he didn't know how to do it himself. The three tails rumbled as it moved towards Utakata and stopped right before him. His and three-tailed eyes met, but Utakata couldn't understand what it wanted to portray. Three tails just looked down on Utakata before he was brought out of Yagura's mental plane.

Utakata felt numb as he got up. Yagura was already standing before him, with Mei's kunai at his neck. The destruction didn't reach deeper into the village, but most shinobi around this place were either killed or severely injured. Still, Utakata felt relieved that it was finally over and Ringo was safe next to Kimimaro.

…

In the Land of Rain, a masked man looked in the distance. He felt it; the genjutsu he used on the Fourth Mizukage was broken. His lone eye looked in that direction as it narrowed. It was undone sooner than he planned, but nothing of value was lost. What concerned him was who had broken the genjutsu.

"Utakata of Blood Waters, six tails jinchuriki," The man muttered making sure he would remember that name.