Chapter 156: Talk-no-Jutsu · Whisper
A wave of blue Chakra heat rushed toward him; Haruko instinctively stopped, his mind racing with a million curses.
"Holy crap! Was it really necessary to send out a Jinchuriki?!"
But on the surface, Haruko remained as steady as a rock.
Nothing else, simply because this Two-Tails was too "small."
Visually estimated at about six meters tall, it appeared massive compared to a human, but compared to the nearly twenty-meter height of a full-body Tailed Beast, it was the difference between an adult and a child.
Coupled with that blue fire cloak—which looked intimidating but was actually a waste of energy—it all proved that Yugito was not yet proficient in using the power of the Tailed Beast.
Seeing the Two-Tails charging at him, Haruko turned and ran, heading straight toward the group of Cloud Hidden Ninja.
...
Shi had originally been debating whether to coordinate with the Two-Tails to take down Haruko or take a detour to chase the Shadow Clone.
Sensing the approaching Chakra, he looked up and saw Haruko actively closing in on them; his face instantly turned green.
"Scatter! Everyone, retreat immediately!" Shi didn't hesitate for a second and gave the order.
He knew very well that staying here would either mean hindering the Two-Tails' large-scale attacks or being used by Haruko as a meat shield before he died.
As the Cloud Hidden Ninja left, the previously crowded forest clearing was left with only Haruko facing that flaming demon cat.
"Tsk, they run pretty fast. At least no one will disturb us now."
Seeing that there were no more meat shields, Haruko finally stopped and turned to face this troublesome enemy.
"Don't think I'm actually afraid of you, little Matatabi!"
Being suddenly called by its name caused the Two-Tails to pause, but it immediately continued its charge.
"Hmm?"
The subtle hesitation did not escape Haruko's eyes.
"Maybe I can try this?"
Recalling the original story where Yugito fought the Immortal Duo from day to night without any support, as well as the Fourth Raikage's response after Killer Bee and Yugito were captured, Haruko came up with an idea.
While dodging the Two-Tails' attacks, Haruko continued his Talk-no-Jutsu: "What kind of Tailed Beast transformation is this? Shrunken size, leaking Chakra... Yugito, you're not exactly a qualified Jinchuriki."
The Two-Tails did not reply, responding only with claw strikes and fireballs.
"We're both Jinchuriki, so why is Killer Bee a 'Perfect Jinchuriki " and the AB Combo renowned throughout the Ninja World? Why are you so pathetic?"
Aided by the Byakugan, Haruko wove through the gaps in the attacks like a fish in water, even finding time to talk trash.
"Could it be that the Fourth Raikage is biased, pouring all the resources into his brother, and couldn't even be bothered to assign a teacher to teach you how to transform?"
"Shut up! My power was earned through my own hard work! I don't need anyone's charity!"
The Two-Tails roared, its two burning tails sweeping across like whips, snapping a large swath of trees.
"She's rattled?" The Two-Tails' response made Haruko internally ecstatic. "Looks like I hit the nail on the head."
"Hard work? What is hard work worth compared to connections? Why do you think you're so different from Killer Bee?"
Haruko nimbly stepped on a fallen tree trunk and vaulted into the air, avoiding the tail sweep.
"Is it that you have less talent than Killer Bee, or that Matatabi is weaker than the Eight-Tails? I'm sure they compare you like that in Hidden Cloud Village all the time, but they never mention the massive disparity in resources."
"Stop trying to sow discord!"
The Two-Tails, which had been about to breathe a fireball, paused abruptly after hearing this, letting out an angry low growl from its throat.
"Isn't what I'm saying the truth? Your teammates couldn't handle it, so they called you over while they ran faster than rabbits. Did any of them look back to warn you to 'be careful, " or did any of them relay information about fighting me?"
"What are you doing here? And what is Killer Bee doing? Is he at the Valley of Clouds and Lightning, rapping and eating well? How many times has this happened? You should ask Matatabi, has Hidden Cloud Village ever treated it with any respect all these years?"
The Two-Tails' attacks slowed down another beat.
"Look at yourselves now. As a Tailed Beast, Matatabi's power should be far above that of a Ninja, and your talent is one in ten thousand. But in the eyes of Hidden Cloud Village's higher-ups, you're just a weapon that they use because it's there, and they won't even care if you break."
"I truly feel it's not worth it for you."
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"
The Two-Tails' attacks became more and more fierce but increasingly chaotic, and the fluctuations of its Chakra cloak became more and more violent.
Tailed Beast transformation consumes a lot of stamina; with such reckless attacks, combined with Spiritual instability, the Two-Tails' size visibly shrank, and its movements slowed down significantly.
"Almost there."
Haruko hid his hand in the dust, and by the time the Two-Tails discovered him, he was already directly above its head, holding a massive sphere of light almost as big as the Two-Tails itself.
"Sage Mode Chakra: Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan!"
The silver and blue intertwined sphere of light crashed down with the force of a thunderbolt!
"?!"
But Haruko's vision suddenly went black.
BOOM!!!
The brief loss of vision caused the attack to miss the Two-Tails' back and strike the ground instead.
A small-scale Chakra storm exploded in the center of the forest, and the silver-blue light spread out, swallowing everything around it.
Soil and debris scattered like shrapnel, leaving a circular crater in the ground.
Haruko's figure was blown away by the recoil, and the silver light on his body had completely dimmed and vanished.
That last move had drained his Sage Mode Chakra; he leaned on his knees, gasping for breath, sweat beading on his forehead as he looked up toward the center of the smoke and dust.
The Two-Tails' massive body had disappeared, and Yugito's original form was revealed.
She was charred black all over, her clothes tattered, lying on the ground. Even without a direct hit, she had clearly suffered heavy injuries.
"Was that just now... due to overexertion? But I don't feel like I've reached my limit yet."
The momentary blackout still left Haruko feeling lingering fear.
Adjusting his breathing, Haruko prepared to deliver the finishing blow to Yugito, but he saw Yugito swaying as she stood up, blue flames reigniting on her body.
"Hey, hey, hey, are all Jinchuriki this tough?!" Haruko leaned against a tree, holding his forehead and sighing.
"That was your last move, wasn't it?" Yugito stepped forward. "I have won this battle."
"That's not necessarily true."
Snap!
Haruko raised his hand and snapped his fingers, and silver light lit up once again—the Shadow Clone he had set up before engaging Shi was dispelled.
"So..." Haruko beckoned to the stunned Yugito, "Round two?"
"Haruko—!"
A shout from the distance interrupted their standoff.
The first to arrive at Haruko's side was Anko, followed closely by several Chunin, Jonin, and Anbu.
"Is that... a Jinchuriki?!"
"If I'm not mistaken, it should be the Two-Tails Jinchuriki of Hidden Cloud Village."
"She looks injured; the battle must have been fierce."
Everyone shielded Haruko behind them, standing in a standoff against Yugito, but no one intended to attack.
"Haruko, are you okay?" Anko maintained her guard, glancing at Haruko from the corner of her eye. "The Third Hokage sent us to support you."
"We also saw your Shadow Clone; it should be almost at the Village with that girl now. Shall we go back? Or... should we take down the Jinchuriki in front of us first?"
Haruko looked at Yugito, who had sweat beading on her forehead.
"Forget it, let's go back." Haruko shook his head and slowly retreated.
Yugito watched Haruko being shielded by the others, revealing a self-deprecating smile. "Not coming? If you take me down, Konoha would stand to gain a lot."
"Indeed. But I am here to rescue the junior disciple you kidnapped; there's no need to risk the lives of my comrades just to hunt down another nation's Jinchuriki."
"Let's go." Haruko led the group back. "Remember to go back and complain to your big golden-haired boss; you almost lost your life in Konoha."
Not until the group from Konoha disappeared from sight did Yugito, left alone, collapse to the ground.
She lowered her head, her shoulders trembling, as teardrops rolled down her cheeks and hit the ground.
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