Ch.158 Three Battlefields!

Land of the Moon.

Boom, boom, boom!

A series of explosions erupted, sending shockwaves that rippled through the air, instantly toppling a vast stretch of forest.

At the center of the explosions, countless dark purple tentacles writhed in the air like a demonic entity descending from the heavens.

Clearly, the creature Moryō had unleashed its full form!

Not far away, the fully released form of the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, Killer Bee, had also transformed into a colossal figure, taking on the form of the Eight-Tails Gyūki. With his head raised, he gathered chakra in his mouth, seemingly preparing another Tailed Beast Bomb.

In a flash, the Eight-Tails launched the Tailed Beast Bomb from its mouth.

Whoosh!

With a piercing sound like a sonic boom, the dark-glowing Tailed Beast Bomb shot forward, instantly striking Moryō!

Following that, another explosion roared through the forest, causing the ground to tremble as if it might split open.

As these two colossal beings clashed, below them, two blurs, moving at unimaginable speeds, fought amidst the ruins.

One figure was wrapped in blue lightning, moving as fast as a flash, while the other carried a black whirlwind aura, like a vortex.

Without a doubt!

These two were the Fourth Raikage and Shinnō.

With the Lightning Release Chakra Mode activated, the Fourth Raikage's speed reached the limits of human potential, his entire body stimulated by lightning chakra, increasing his metabolism several times over.

Similarly, Shinnō had activated the Eight Gates, opening the Seventh Gate, the Gate of Wonder, pushing his speed to the human limit. The black aura surrounding him was a result of his sweat and blood vaporizing, mingling with the chakra he released.

Both had reached the peak of human speed, moving so fast it was nearly incomprehensible—not even the communication shinobi of the Hidden Cloud could follow their movements.

Two colossal beings and two blurs—one contest of power, the other a race of speed.

The combination of these opposite styles on one battlefield lent the entire conflict a sense of indescribable strangeness!

In terms of the battle dynamics:

The Eight-Tails Jinchūriki Killer Bee and Moryō were locked in an intense fight, with no clear victor yet.

The Fourth Raikage, however, had gained the upper hand over Shinnō, though Shinnō, having opened the Gate of Wonder, matched the Raikage's speed. Shinnō, knowing his limits, avoided direct confrontation with the Raikage's overwhelming strength, so the Raikage could only maintain the advantage but couldn't break free of the deadlock.

By the lakeside in the forest.

Listening to the distant roars and feeling the tremors beneath her feet, Yugito Nii, the Two-Tails Jinchūriki, smirked at Kakuzu and Hidan, saying, "Heh, looks like Killer Bee is mad now. Things are finally getting interesting!"

Kakuzu glanced toward the distant shadows of the two massive figures, his expression darkening.

Hidan, brandishing his blood-stained scythe, pointed at Yugito and sneered, "Hey, hey, hey, are you trying to scare us?"

Yugito's grin widened. "Scare you? Hmph, I don't have time for that! But since Raikage-sama and Killer Bee are serious, that battle should end soon. If I take too long, they'll make fun of me, so you better surrender! Otherwise, I can't promise I won't accidentally kill you!"

Hidan laughed loudly. "Kakuzu, looks like we're being underestimated, huh!"

Kakuzu replied coldly, "Enough talk. Let's finish this quickly!"

With that, Kakuzu moved swiftly, lunging at Yugito.

"Yoo-hoo!"

Seeing this, Hidan shouted excitedly and swung his blood-stained scythe at Yugito.

"I hope you two can put up a decent fight!"

Yugito grinned, pressing her hands to the ground and directly releasing the power of the Two-Tails, bypassing the Tailed Beast Cloak and going into full Tailed Beast form!

Boom!

Fully transformed, Yugito immediately unleashed a massive fireball, which roared toward Kakuzu and Hidan.

Elsewhere.

C, Karui, and Gasshō, the elite jonin of Yugito's team, watched as a blaze lit up half the sky, their expressions shifting.

They knew that such a commotion could only come from Yugito's full Tailed Beast transformation.

Even for a perfect Jinchūriki, going into full Tailed Beast form was rare unless absolutely necessary, and this realization filled them with a sense of dread.

"Hmph, do you still have time to worry about others?"

Sasori, appearing in his Hiruko puppet form, sneered.

His sudden appearance had cut off Yugito from the rest of her team, separating her from the remaining three elite jonin.

Sensing the situation on the distant battlefields, C's expression turned serious as he thought, "It's a trap after all?"

According to their intel, the only Akatsuki members active in the Land of the Moon were Kakuzu and Hidan.

But now, with Sasori blocking them and Moryō and Shinnō having drawn away the Fourth Raikage and Killer Bee, a total of five Akatsuki members had revealed themselves.

And in the shadows, there could be even more Akatsuki lurking. Anyone with a bit of sense could see that this entire operation was a well-planned trap by Akatsuki!

"I hope Raikage-sama doesn't let his anger cloud his judgment."

Cee grew more anxious.

Under normal circumstances, realizing they'd fallen into an enemy's trap meant retreating first and finding a new approach.

But the Fourth Raikage and the two Jinchūriki clearly had no intention of backing down.

Cee had always believed in the strength of the Raikage and the two Jinchūriki, but a nagging feeling of unease gnawed at him now.

Karui, the Storm Release user, said, "Let's take care of this guy first, then regroup with Yugito!"

"Right!"

Cee refocused, nodding alongside Gasshō, the Magnet Release user.

"Take care of me!?"

Sasori let out a disdainful laugh and swung the mechanical tail of his Hiruko puppet, sending it sweeping through the air.

Cee, Karui, and Gasshō leapt high into the air to evade the tail strike.

But as they ascended, Hiruko's mouth opened, releasing a volley of glowing senbon with a swish, swish, swish sound!

"Watch out, they're poisoned!"

Cee, who had read Sasori's profile and knew him to be a master of poisons, shouted in warning.

Gasshō, having no leverage in mid-air, quickly unsealed a scroll and flicked it open. Under his Magnet Release control, several giant shuriken shot out, intercepting the incoming senbon.

Clang, clang, clang.

In a flurry of metallic clashes, the giant shuriken deflected all the senbon, allowing C, Karui, and Gasshō to land safely.

Gasshō then raised his hand, causing the shuriken to return to his grasp under the control of Magnet Release.

"Magnet Release?"

Sasori smirked, a hint of disdain in his voice.

Gasshō was irritated and glanced at Karui beside him.

Karui nodded knowingly.

Having reached an understanding, the two coordinated their attack.

Gasshō hurled the giant shuriken into the air again, manipulating them with his Magnet Release. The shuriken moved unpredictably, weaving in and out of formation.

Karui swiftly formed hand seals: "Storm Release: Lightning Wave!"

Several arcs of lightning shot from Karui's fingertips, hitting the airborne shuriken under Gasshō's control.

With the combined power of Magnet Release and Storm Release, the shuriken crackled with electricity, hurtling toward Hiruko from all directions.

Swish, swish, swish!

In an instant, the electrified shuriken pierced through Hiruko's defenses, slicing the puppet into pieces.

As the Hidden Cloud shinobi believed they had won, a shadow emerged from Hiruko's shattered remains.

When the shadow landed, it revealed a red-haired Sasori, his face still holding a hint of youthfulness.

Cee shouted, "Be careful, that's his real body!"

Gasshō sneered, "Real body or not, he'll die all the same!"

Cee remained silent, furrowing his brow.

According to their intel, Sasori should have been about twenty-seven years old, in his prime, but this Sasori seemed much younger, like a teenager.

It felt off.

Sasori glanced at the shattered pieces of Hiruko nearby, his expression darkening.

Hiruko's defenses were strong, normally impervious to weapons. Even giant shuriken would usually only leave minor scratches.

But Gasshō's shuriken, enhanced by Magnet Release and Storm Release, had sliced through Hiruko effortlessly.

"Storm Release..." Sasori tilted his head, smiling. "It looks like I'm in luck! I can handle the task Beluhu gave me along the way!"

With that, he retrieved a scroll from his pouch, revealing a symbol marked "Three."

Boom.

White smoke billowed out, revealing a figure that floated beside Sasori.

The Hidden Cloud shinobi stared at the figure, and then their expressions turned to shock: "Is that... the Third Kazekage!?"

"This is one of my prized collections. Let me show you real Magnet Release!" Sasori smirked as his gaze fixed on Gasshō.

On the distant cliff.

Konan stood at the edge, watching the three battlefields unfold in the forest.

Deidara, standing beside her, eyed the battlefield with interest, muttering, "If it wasn't for the need to capture them alive, my C4 could take them all out, yeah."

Konan replied, "They must be alive. Dead Jinchūriki are useless to us."

Deidara frowned. "The Hidden Cloud shinobi are tough. I heard that back when we tried to take down the Third Raikage, Iwagakure had to send tens of thousands of shinobi."

Konan fell silent.

The current situation was more challenging than she had anticipated.

She had thought that with a careful plan, they could swiftly defeat and capture the two Hidden Cloud Jinchūriki. Yet the battle was still in a stalemate.

Especially the strength displayed by the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki Killer Bee, which exceeded her expectations.

Moryō's immortality meant he wasn't afraid of the Eight-Tails, but Shinnō clearly couldn't hold the Raikage for long. Once the Raikage was free, Moryō might struggle to handle the combined power of the Raikage and Killer Bee.

"Why hasn't that guy made a move yet?"

Konan's thoughts turned to doubting Obito's intentions.

From her perspective, Obito had stronger Mangekyō Uchiha under his command, yet he had only sent Moryō and Shinnō into the battle, suggesting ulterior motives.

...

Elsewhere, atop a towering tree.

Obito stood with arms crossed, watching the distant battles.

Zetsu emerged halfway from the tree, saying, "With the Fourth Raikage around, Moryō and Shinnō might not be able to take down the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki."

Obito's expression darkened. "This battle is crucial for reviving the Ten-Tails. Why did Nagato send so few?"

Zetsu added, "True, as the leader, even if he didn't want to come, he should have sent those Mangekyō Uchiha under his command! With them, this would have been much easier!"

Obito glanced at the other battlefields. "Never mind. Once they finish with the Two-Tails Jinchūriki, they should come to help."

Zetsu commented, "Who knows how long Moryō and Shinnō can hold out."

Obito wasn't concerned about their survival; he scanned the forest's edge and asked, "Is Itachi in position?"

"Don't worry, Itachi and Jūzō have already gone ahead," Zetsu replied. "By dawn, Hidden Cloud's reinforcements won't reach them."

"Let's go check the battlefield," Obito said.

With the situation assessed, Obito vanished into a twisting vortex.

Contrary to everyone's expectations, the first to change the course of the battle wasn't the Fourth Raikage's group, nor the Hidden Cloud shinobi held back by Sasori, but the overconfident Two-Tails Jinchūriki, Yugito.

Information on the Akatsuki members had been gathered by the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

Thus, the abilities of notable members like Sasori, Deidara, Itachi, Jūzō, and Kakuzu were somewhat known.

But Hidan was different.

Though he was a rogue shinobi from the Hidden Hot Springs Village, his abilities were granted by a mysterious cult and the blessings of the Jashin deity, making his techniques unknown even to his former village.

As a result, Yugito suffered greatly during their first encounter. Hidan's curse, Death Controlling Possessed Blood, slashed through her vital organs. If it weren't for the resilience of a Jinchūriki, anyone else would have died instantly.

Kicking the blood-soaked Yugito lying by the lakeside, Hidan scoffed, "Hmph, so she was all talk, huh?"

Kakuzu, who had lost two hearts in the fight, said sternly, "Take her, let's go!"