**Chapter 172: The Tailed Beast Knows Martial Arts, and No Scoundrel Can Stop It! (1)**

Danzo was completely bewildered.

Clearly, the battle was in front of him, yet why was he feeling the impact from behind?

It's not like he was unprepared!

He had sensory ninjas right by his side, always aware of the surroundings.

As the commander, he was heavily guarded.

But still!

The force of the explosion was immense, and not only him— even the ninjas protecting him were sent flying together!

Their movements were perfectly synchronized!

It was like they all did a faceplant!

Wait, no!

According to Danzo, it should be more like a tiger pounce!

The moment the explosion hit, they all tried to land gracefully.

Unfortunately!

This explosion was way too powerful— it nearly broke Danzo's old back.

At that moment, his expression became utterly abstract.

Luckily, with experience, he instinctively protected his nether regions during the dive, ensuring he wouldn't hit that spot again.

He did NOT want to be crowing in pain again!

After getting hit in the face, he snapped out of it, struggling to get up, feeling dazed.

He turned his head slowly.

What met his eyes was a mushroom cloud!

A massive mushroom cloud!

"Uchiha Itsuki!"

Danzo let out a chilling scream.

No need to second-guess— it was him!

It had to be him!

It's absolutely him— Uchiha Itsuki!

Who else could it be?

That guy! How many explosive tags did he use this time?

Looking at the scale, there had to be at least a few hundred thousand of them!

Does your family get explosive tags for free or something?

From the time Uchiha defected from the Leaf Village until now, the number of explosive tags they've used couldn't be produced by the Leaf Village in five years.

Do these guys just pull explosive tags out of nowhere?

"Danzo, you've gotten smarter! You figured it out so quickly— impressive! Yes, it's me!"

"Famous all over!"

"Tall and mighty!"

"Handsome and dashing!"

"Uchiha Itsuki, that's me!"

Itsuki swaggered out, striking a pose.

"You, you… was that attack up front just a feint?" Danzo shouted in anger.

Smarter? Ha!

Aside from you, no one else has ever gotten the better of me!

In that sense, Danzo felt a little proud.

Whether he admitted it or not, Uchiha Itsuki had founded an entire ninja village and had caused other ninja villages major losses. His status in the ninja world was almost universally acknowledged now.

Even Hiruzen Sarutobi had lost something precious to him.

"Well, I wouldn't say it exactly like that."

Itsuki grinned. "I'd say both sides were main attacks. If I could bomb both sides, that would've been ideal. Blowing up just one side? Still a win for me."

"You, you…"

"What about 'you'?!" Itsuki taunted with a sway of his body, grinning wickedly. "You were so focused on the front, you didn't expect me to sneak around and— boom— blow up your rear, did you?"

Danzo stayed silent.

He honestly didn't know what to say.

"Charge!" Itsuki didn't bother wasting more words with him.

With a wave of his hand, he led his troops forward.

The explosive tag earlier? That was his shadow clone, which had sneaked into the Leaf forces and detonated itself in a fiery blaze.

Six hundred and sixty thousand explosive tags!

It took out at least a thousand Leaf ninjas!

It could have been more, but the Leaf knew about Fire Shadow Village's stockpile of explosive tags.

Otherwise, all 5,000 of them would've been wiped out in one go.

Still!

A thousand died!

And over a thousand were wounded!

The rest? Completely terrified.

"Boom!"

A massive boulder, which had been blocking Fire Shadow Village's gate, exploded.

Their original gate had been destroyed by a Tailed Beast Bomb.

They'd used a giant boulder to block the entrance!

For ninjas, it didn't really matter if there was a gate or not—they could just jump over it.

But!

In Fire Shadow Village, it was different.

They stood on the walls and threw explosive tags, making the gate quite necessary.

Now, the boulder blocking the gate was removed by Fire Shadow Village.

"Kill!"

Shisui charged at the front.

His eyes had already evolved into the Mangekyō Sharingan.

In critical moments, Shisui would never fail.

He was now the acting Kage of Fire Shadow Village, standing in for his older brother, the current Kage!

He knew his role and his responsibilities.

At this moment, Shisui understood that he absolutely couldn't mess up.

He was even prepared to use Susanoo.

"Meow!"

A sharp cat cry echoed.

Matatabi, the Two-Tails, appeared on the battlefield.

A Tailed Beast!

This wasn't just the straw that broke the camel's back!

This was pure gold!

Despite the situation, Danzo didn't panic. He shouted, "Stick to the plan!"

"Yes!"

A group of ninjas appeared.

To Itsuki's surprise, they also had explosive tags!

They rained down explosive tags on Fire Shadow Village's ninjas.

"Boom!"

After a round of bombing, the Fire Shadow Village charge was halted.

"Tailed Beast Bomb!"

Seeing this, Matatabi opened her mouth and fired a Tailed Beast Bomb.

"Clang!"

Several chains appeared, intercepting the bomb.

"Meow!"

Matatabi growled and charged.

"Again!"

Danzo shouted.

More chains appeared, entangling Matatabi.

"Everyone else, stop the Fire Shadow Village forces!"

Danzo roared, "This is it— the final battle!"

Leaf ninjas, driven by ferocity, charged forward, clashing with the Fire Shadow ninjas.

You throw explosive tags?

So do I!

Close combat?

Who's scared?!

They still had 5,000 ninjas, though more than half had already been lost. The remaining forces, facing the 1,000 or so Fire Shadow ninjas, were still enough to fight to the death.

Both sides engaged, neither willing to retreat.

Clang, clang!

Only the chains wrapped tighter!

Matatabi struggled, but the chains only tightened.

"Idiot!"

Itsuki sighed, glancing at Shisui with hesitation.

Should he use the Mangekyō?

Damn, every time he used it, the damage increased.

If he fought at full strength, his Mangekyō would probably be ruined after three to five uses.

If he used it sparingly, he could barely manage eight to ten times.

Shisui noticed Itsuki's gaze and smiled slightly, nodding in agreement.

When Itsuki was around, they followed his lead.

As soon as Itsuki gave the order, they'd follow without hesitation.

"Alright!"

Itsuki quickly made his decision.

He signaled Shisui to use the Mangekyō briefly to take out two Leaf sealing ninjas, then immediately deactivate Susanoo.

Itachi's Amaterasu wasn't an option yet; his body needed more time to recover.

But!

Just as Itsuki made up his mind, something unexpected happened.

Matatabi, who had been struggling intensely, suddenly stopped.

She stared at the Leaf ninjas and gave a mischievous grin.

Then, to everyone's shock, she reached out a paw, grabbed the chains, and yanked hard.

She swung the chains in a perfect arc from left to right.

"Wow!"

One of the chain-wielding ninjas, caught off guard, was flung away by Matatabi.

When bound by chains, the ninja could only move a little.

But with Matatabi's massive size, even a casual swipe of her paw covered dozens of meters.

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