This was a sudden, inspired strike from the Konoha ninja currently doing his best impression of an iron-shaping archer.
But as the established law dictates, archers since ancient times never actually use bows. Although Hagoromo had drawn a bow and nocked an arrow, striking a perfect archer's pose, he was actually just putting on a show for Shibi Aburame next to him.
Look at how he played with "Lightning Style." Any Lightning Style ninja other than Hagoromo probably wouldn't be able to learn this even if they had two lifetimes to try.
To put it bluntly, the principle behind this arrow shot was just electromagnetic propulsion, exactly the same as his Railgun—just a version with weakened power and extended range.
Hagoromo hadn't practiced this kind of long-distance shooting even once beforehand, yet he could guarantee a precise hit. That was because he was using ultra-advanced electromagnetic guidance. Through a series of high-speed electronic calculations, whether it was calculus, air resistance, or trajectory calculation and correction, it was all completed almost instantly. Without strong external interference, the iron arrow's trajectory would absolutely not deviate.
Hagoromo had already reached the legendary realm of hitting exactly what he pointed at.
Furthermore, although it was said to be a "slow" version, that was only compared to a Railgun with an initial velocity of Mach 3 and constant acceleration. In reality, that iron arrow flashing with lightning was so incredibly fast that it left people with absolutely no time to react.
The "swish" sound was the friction of the iron arrow piercing the air, and the "thwack" sound brought the satisfying sensation of a direct hit.
Leaving aside pretentious concepts like resolve and willpower, Hagoromo didn't think this was some high-level manifestation of will. Participating in the war, ending the war—these were merely his own thoughts. Because he had such thoughts, he took such actions.
And therefore, to the current Hagoromo, an enemy was an enemy. He didn't care if they were a young girl or a child; when it was time to strike, he wouldn't hesitate or show mercy.
Thus, Yugito Nii fell directly flat on her back...
Looking level from the ground, one could see the iron arrow embedded vertically in her body, still continuously sparking with arcs of electricity of varying lengths.
"Yugito!!"
The sudden turn of events first left Samui stunned for a fraction of a second, and then she cried out in alarm!
Not to mention Samui, even Minato and Choza Akimichi were stunned. It was probably their first time seeing a ninja perform long-range precision sniping. They had never even heard of such a thing before.
Samui couldn't believe that Yugito had died just like that. She was a Jinchuriki!
In fact, she guessed right. Instantly killing a Jinchuriki from this distance was probably even more difficult than instantly killing a Raikage.
The only regret was that none of the Konoha ninjas knew beforehand that this young female ninja named Yugito Nii was a Jinchuriki.
Even if Hagoromo knew what the Two-Tails Jinchuriki looked like as an adult, given her recognizability, he couldn't possibly know what she looked like as a child.
"Be careful, she's not dead yet!"
Minato warned, his voice raised. This was also to notify the two who were still hidden.
Aside from the fact that archers don't actually use bows, there was another ironclad truth: since ancient times, the luck of an archer was never much better than that of a lancer.
Just as Minato's voice fell, the voice of Yugito, who had fallen to the ground, rang out. However, compared to just a moment ago, it sounded incredibly weak and feeble.
"Samui, run away..."
It was actually a warning to her teammate.
Samui instantly halted. This wasn't because Yugito's words were that persuasive, but because the moment her voice fell, chakra bearing strange blue and black patterns frantically surged out from her body.
Then, Yugito's body was pulled directly upwards in a grotesque posture, like a marionette being yanked by its strings. She stood on her feet with her upper body leaning forward, her arms hanging limply.
The iron arrow from Hagoromo that should have pierced right through her brow was now merely embedded in her shoulder. However, the tremendous force behind the arrow still caused massive destruction and caving in over a large area of her chest. Judging by the wound, it was undeniably fatal. Even with the naked eye, it was clear that her internal organs and bones were severely damaged... If there hadn't been an external force at play, his aim couldn't have been this far off.
This external force was the Tailed Beast.
Retracting his previous statement, Hagoromo's realm still remained at the level of "pointing at whatever he accidentally hit."
Then, without Yugito appearing to make any physical movement, the iron sand arrow was pulled out of her shoulder inch by inch. With a clatter, it fell to the ground, turning back into loose iron sand.
At this moment, Samui gritted her teeth, turned around, and retreated. The situation was already irreversible, but if she reported this in time, perhaps Yugito could still be saved.
Meanwhile, the attention of Minato and the others was entirely focused on Yugito, leaving them no time to worry about Samui.
Regardless of whether Yugito would one day become a perfect Jinchuriki who could completely control the power of her Tailed Beast, at her current age, she was merely in the process of learning control.
Therefore, right now, it was simply a Jinchuriki losing control and a Tailed Beast going berserk. When a Jinchuriki is near death, Tailed Beast Transformation is a highly probable event. So the current situation wasn't strange; on the contrary, it was completely logical.
"Tailed Beast Transformation... She's a Jinchuriki. Everyone, be careful," Minato warned again.
In reality, he didn't even need to warn them at this point. Anyone with functioning eyes could see what was happening.
And everyone also knew which Tailed Beast's Jinchuriki she was. They didn't know the specific name 'Matatabi', but they knew this was the Two-Tails.
Even setting aside the unique visual characteristics of the chakra, this was obvious. After all, the Hidden Cloud only possessed the Eight-Tails and the Two-Tails.
Yugito's hands had already touched the ground; she was entirely on all fours. Then, as chakra continued to pour out, her human silhouette vanished entirely. In its place, a National Class 1 Protected Feline with sharp fangs and claws, sporting black patterns on a spectral blue background, appeared before the Minato squad's eyes.
This was immediately followed by a massive, piercing roar.
The Two-Tails possessed a completely out-of-place ink-wash painting aesthetic... With this style, only a certain someone's Super Beast Imitating Drawing in the future could match it.
The giant monster cat violently flicked its two tails. Ignoring Minato and Choza right in front of it, it opened its massive jaws toward the direction the arrow had just come from—straight toward Hagoromo and Shibi.
It merely wanted to spit out a black sphere.
This showed that Tailed Beasts held serious grudges. It and its Jinchuriki had nearly been killed together just a moment ago, so the very first thing it wanted to do upon manifesting was to take revenge.
And it was a massive revenge—going straight for its ultimate move, a Tailed Beast Bomb.
However, even faster than its Tailed Beast Bomb was a rapid double-shot of the exact same lightning arrow from before!!
Considering that charging a Tailed Beast Bomb didn't seem to be a mobile skill, and coupled with the fact that its size was now incomparably larger than before, evading was completely impossible.
The two iron arrows sank completely into the Two-Tails' left eye!
The extreme agony caused the Two-Tails to let out a roar completely distinct from its previous angry bellow. Hagoromo's strike had achieved an unprecedented effect.
However, it wasn't enough, because he had failed to interrupt the skill.
The Tailed Beast Bomb hurtled straight toward Hagoromo and Shibi Aburame.
This was an absolutely unblockable attack, therefore... Evade! Evade! Evade!
Just as Hagoromo was about to apply an evasion speed buff to himself, he had already reached one hand toward Shibi Aburame next to him.
This meant he was about to electrocute a teammate again... Fortunately, this squad was called the Minato squad, not the Hagoromo squad, so Shibi Aburame successfully avoided a tragic fate.
Minato instantly appeared before Hagoromo and Shibi, placed a hand on each of them, and teleported them away in a flash.
Just as the three of them reappeared safely back at Choza Akimichi's side, Shibi Aburame raised a hand, and a massive cloud of pitch-black insects surged out, completely enveloping the Tailed Beast.
Knowing full well it was a drop in the bucket, he still acted. Anyway, absorbing some chakra first and asking questions later was the priority; whatever he could weaken it by was a win.
Only then did a massive explosion echo from the distance, accompanied by a blindingly bright flash of light.
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