A patch of black shadow rapidly spread around Hii Kōri's small skiff clear proof that some enormous creature was approaching from beneath the sea's surface.
BOOM! Before the massive creature had even fully emerged, an explosion blasted across the sea, as if the entire stretch of ocean had been violently kicked upward from below by an invisible giant hand.
Having already sensed the great beast's ascent, Hii Kōri nimbly leaped backward a great distance from the skiff, raising his hand to form a hand seal and using Ice Release to freeze a large stretch of ice on the sea surface as a foothold. Rashōmon, meanwhile, promptly absorbed the skiff into its body and then sank into Hii Kōri's shadow.
The next moment, a gigantic turtle-like beast, its entire body covered in hard gray spiked armor even its head and chin no exception emerged from the exploding water spray. No, "emerged" wasn't quite right; it was more like it crashed upward into view.
That was the Three-Tails, Isobu.
It extended two somewhat humanoid arms and rested them on the ice surface Hii Kōri had frozen.
The seawater cascading from its massive body fell like a waterfall. The algae and water plants clinging to its shell glistened wetly in the sunlight.
Its murky yellow left eye opened amid the flying spray, fixing Hii Kōri on the ice sheet within its field of vision.
To be precise, it was focused on the pitch-black round sphere in his hand—the one emitting a foul, turbid aura.
That was the thing.
That foul, twisted curse as if it wanted to devour everything was emanating from that small sphere.
Concluding that Hii Kōri was the bastard who had been dumping filthy water right on his "doorstep," and having no desire for conversation, Isobu immediately expelled a large stream of water, blasting it toward Hii Kōri.
In his long life, he had learned one lesson: when facing an intruder who was clearly up to no good, the best response was "strike first, talk later"!
A low, rumbling gurgle the kind that deep-sea creatures should be wary of emanated from deep within his throat.
That was the precursor to a vortex: once caught in it, death was certain.
"PUFF!!!"
A massive water column shot from Isobu's mouth.
This compressed, ultra-high-pressure water cannon had a diameter exceeding five meters. It moved so fast that it even created rings of sonic booms in the air.
Wherever it passed, the air, the sea surface, and the ice sheet were carved with a deep trench—as if by some miracle of sea-parting.
At the same time, Isobu's three long tails, covered in thick armor, were also poised beneath the sea surface, ready to strike.
Isobu was the best of the nine tailed beasts at aquatic combat this was easy enough to discern from his form alone.
But he was also well aware that his advantage over his "siblings" wasn't actually that easy to exploit.
Chōmei could fly. Kokuō's physical strength and melee ability were similarly unmatched. For them, their advantages were the least easily diluted.
Son Gokū and Matatabi were empowered in hot, torrid zones. Shukaku, if in the desert, would even dare to go a few rounds with Kurama and not lose immediately.
But even away from those terrains, they could still fight just fine.
Not so for Isobu.
Although he was technically amphibious, once on land, his mobility was compromised to an incalculable degree.
If given a choice, no one would willingly fight him in the water.
That was also why Isobu chose to reside in distant sea regions. At sea, even if someone came looking for trouble, they'd have no choice but to get into the water to face him.
But this human could use Ice Release to create footholds. His "ascending" attack hadn't achieved its intended effect.
No matter—his attacks weren't limited to just that.
The three giant tails lurking beneath the sea rose simultaneously!
Isobu's Three-Tails chakra erupted violently, channeling through his tails and pouring into the surrounding waters.
The sea within a radius of several hundred meters instantly boiled. Isobu seized control of the ocean currents, causing them to twist and surge upward, creating a towering wave nearly a hundred meters high—like a tsunami crashing down toward Hii Kōri.
The ice sheet, dozens of centimeters thick, that Hii Kōri had created was meaningless before this cataclysmic wave. The crackling sounds of shattering ice were indistinguishable beneath the roar of the falling wave. The broken ice was swept into the maelstrom, colliding and grinding into ever finer ice crystals.
"Oh my—"
Looking up at the wall of water crashing down overhead, Hii Kōri could even see marine life crushed to pulp within it. He raised an eyebrow, genuinely not expecting Isobu to be so "enthusiastic" right from the start.
But... it wasn't too hard to deal with.
Allowing the glacier beneath him to be shattered by the churning seawater, Hii Kōri didn't move his feet at all, riding the broken ice like a surfboard, gliding freely.
"Ice Release: Heavenly Dragon Snow Prison!"
At the same time, he formed a one-handed seal and then slapped his hand backward. Frigid chakra, starting from his palm, spread wildly through the seawater.
"Crack, crack—"
The teeth-aching sound of freezing echoed from all sides. Thicker ice spread through the sea at a speed defying physical common sense. In an instant, the sea beneath his feet transformed into a massive ice field, over ten meters thick and hard as steel.
Wherever it spread, even the enormous wave Isobu had raised was forcibly "frozen" mid-air, becoming a frozen vaulted ceiling, preserved in its turbulent, surging posture.
Sunlight filtered through the murky ice, scattering a hazy, iridescent glow.
"A kekkei genkai?"
His own three tails were also frozen within this ice field. Isobu could naturally tell what kind of technique this human was using.
But compared to the so-called "Yuki Clan" he had encountered in the Land of Water, this level of Ice Release was far, far stronger.
Regardless of its strength, Ice Release meant nothing to him.
With his attack thwarted, Isobu immediately burst forth with chakra, pulling his tails back from the ice. Then, his massive body contracted inward, his limbs and head withdrawing into his shell. His three tails pressed tightly against his sides, and the large, thick shell on his back enveloped his body, transforming him into a wheel covered in spikes.
Then—RUMBLE!!!
The wheel began to spin!
At a speed completely mismatched with Isobu's enormous size, the thick ice sheet was ground to pieces beneath him, as if trying to force Hii Kōri into the water.
This technique was none other than "Kage-nade"—developed by Isobu to overcome his slow movement speed once out of the water!
His strategy was simple: do everything possible to force the enemy into his domain of expertise: aquatic combat.
And what if the opponent refused to take the bait?
If they refused, Isobu would simply stop fighting.
He was a tailed beast. Was there something he absolutely had to fight for? Any need for aggressive competition?
The reason he had charged out this time with the intent to kill was purely because this human had been "throwing feces" on his head.
Ninjas these days had no sense of public decency!
Even though Isobu was good-natured, he was still a tailed beast.
"Hooh. Straightforward enough."
But as simple as Isobu's strategy was, for a being of a tailed beast's magnitude, this level of tactics was more than sufficient.
Only, Hii Kōri simply wasn't susceptible to this approach.
Because he could fly.
"But what will you do about this?"
Using the ice skates that had condensed beneath his feet, Hii Kōri nimbly retreated across the ice field, then came to an abrupt halt. With a casual wave of his left hand, an ice pillar rose from beneath his feet, carrying him high into the sky. The pillar shot upward with incredible speed, reaching a height of a hundred meters almost instantly.
Below, the wheel that was Isobu rumbled past, shattering the base of that ice pillar into fine icy fragments. The pillar, losing its support, began to collapse—but Hii Kōri no longer needed it.
Black iron sand poured from his sleeves, condensing beneath his feet into a wide cloud. He stood steadily on the cloud, looking down at the behemoth below, which was carving a deep trench across the ice field.
"..."
Isobu stopped rolling.
He unfurled from his spherical state, his single eye gazing up at Hii Kōri in the sky. He was silent for a few seconds.
"...Looks like you're not from the Land of Water."
Isobu's voice was very deep, but given his enormous size, this subwoofer-like voice was enough to shake the sea surface.
If the Land of Water could deal with those curses or put them to use he wouldn't have had to stay away from the land all this time.
"Mm-hmm. Something like that?"
Sitting cross-legged on his iron sand cloud, one hand propping up his chin, the other tossing Hyakki Kūbō up and down, Hii Kōri answered somewhat vaguely.
He wasn't from the Land of Water, but in a sense, the Land of Water was already his.
"I just came to deal with the Land of Water's curse problem, that's all."
He caught the Hyakki Kūbō in midair, infused it with a trace of cursed energy, and waved it at Isobu as proof. "Coming to find you was simply because I sensed your presence and wanted to see you for myself."
"See... for yourself?"
"Mm-hmm. After all, I can't get much good talk about the other tailed beasts from our 'Big Tail' at home. To be sure, I need to see for myself to make a proper judgment."
Seeing that Isobu's attention had shifted away from the curse, Hii Kōri put away the Hyakki Kūbō.
"'Big Tail'... Shukaku? You know that guy?"
Hearing the nickname "Big Tail," Isobu was first taken aback, then perked up with interest.
Judging from Hii Kōri's tone, his relationship with Shukaku wasn't bad—at least, they could casually chat.
"How's he doing now?"
The relationships among tailed beasts were quite complex. In terms of origin, they were like brothers. In terms of ecology and form, they were like completely independent individuals.
But regardless, the tailed beasts had known each other for nearly a thousand years. Even if they occasionally fought, it didn't stop them from caring about each other's well-being.
At least, that was how it was for Isobu, the good-natured giant sea turtle.
"Ah... Big Tail, huh? He's still sealed up right now, but he's doing fairly well."
"Fairly well"? What's that supposed to mean?
Isobu blew bubbles into the water, rumbling his complaint: "Being sealed up is 'fairly well'?"
"Shukaku gets along really well with my teacher. His spirit form can even move freely outside using the mechanical puppets I make."
Hii Kōri shrugged and answered frankly: "He's lost most of his freedom, sure, but it's still better than Kurama's situation getting whipped like a top by two monsters as strong as ghosts, then sealed up tight as a drum."
Isobu didn't answer. He just blew an even denser stream of bubbles and sank a bit deeper into the sea.
After a long moment, he finally spoke, his voice muffled: "So... you've come to capture me?"
"Currently, I have no need for that. Like I said before, I just came to see you for myself."
To make his words more convincing, Hii Kōri raised his right hand and clenched his five fingers in the air.
Tens of thousands of ink-black talismans materialized out of thin air, weaving together into a net, forming a powerful sealing formation capable of encompassing even Isobu.
"See? I can cast this level of seal with a wave of my hand. While it would be a bit difficult to control you with just this, a few more uses would do the trick. If I really wanted to capture you, I'd have done it already."
"..."
Feeling the chakra rising from Hii Kōri and witnessing his exquisite sealing technique, Isobu had to admit the human was telling the truth.
Having lived for over a thousand years as a tailed beast, he had seen countless human attitudes toward him. But Hii Kōri's approach was something entirely new.
"You've seen me. You've tested me." Isobu slowly sank into the sea, leaving only that murky yellow eye above the surface. "If there's nothing else, I'm going back to sleep."
"Oh, wait. Actually, there is one more thing I'd like to ask of you." Hii Kōri called him back.
"Hmm... what is it?"
Heh. "Ask"? That was a novel way of putting it.
Isobu thought, rising a bit higher in the water.
"I want to see how your Tailed Beast Ball differs from Shukaku's."
Hii Kōri lowered his iron sand cloud, meeting Isobu's gaze at a distance. "Though you're both tailed beasts, your chakra natures differ. So the Tailed Beast Ball probably has some differences too, right?"
"...You're serious?"
Isobu instinctively tilted his head, somewhat hesitantly looking at the tiny human before him.
"Mm-hmm. Serious. I've borrowed Shukaku's chakra before to enter a semi-tailed beast transformation, and I tried using a Tailed Beast Ball then too."
Hii Kōri nodded, brought his hands up as if holding something in front of his chest, and released Yin Release and Yang Release chakra in each palm, slowly moving his hands as if shaping clay.
"See? Like this, right?"
Under Isobu's astonished gaze, he clapped his hands together with a smack, dispersing the gathered chakra ball, and continued, "Just shoot it at me. You can also let off some steam consider it my apology for polluting your waters earlier."
"...You're a strange human..."
Blowing a stream of bubbles, Isobu thought it over and didn't refuse.
Whether it was an apology or not, he didn't really care. But he was rather pleased that this human could speak with him so calmly and amiably.
And since the other party understood Tailed Beast Balls so well and possessed such mastery of sealing techniques, he probably knew what he was doing.
Sure, the name "Tailed Beast Ball" was fearsome in the ninja world, but for a tailed beast, it wasn't anything particularly special—about as remarkable as that "Getsuga Tenshō" from the guy with Schrift D next door.
"Human. You catch it."