Becomes a Rebel Ninja After Annihilating the Hyuga Clan
Chapter 126

“Ice Release: Secret Technique – Ice Prison!”

As the woman extended her hand, the ice beneath Shinko’s feet began to rise rapidly.

Clan of the Snow…

Shinko realized the identity of her enemy almost instantly. She opened her mouth, trying to alert the other Mist ANBU around her. However, her throat felt as if it was pierced by a fishbone, and the pain was so intense that the words that escaped her mouth were barely a whisper:

“Enemy… attack…”

Her voice was so faint, only an ant could hear it.

Coldness was rapidly overtaking her body.

The ice spread far too quickly. Shinko had barely managed to clasp her hands together when the ice reached her chest. The enemy was clearly prepared.

In the final moment before she was completely frozen, she recalled the scene when the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, was taken away by Hashirama Senju—and how helpless she had been to stop it.

Now, the thought of another tragedy unfolding in front of her filled her with despair. Summoning the last of her chakra, she managed to launch a weak Water Snake jutsu at her attacker.

The attack was effortlessly dodged with a tilt of the woman’s head.

And then, Shinko was encased in ice, her eyes fixed in the direction behind the woman.

There was a brief silence. The woman seemed to notice something and followed Shinko’s frozen gaze.

The Water Snake hadn’t been an attack—it had been a signal…

“Trying to send a warning?”

“It doesn’t matter,” a calm voice whispered in the woman’s ear. “Now, proceed.”

“Yes, Lord Hashirama,” Haku nodded, tearing off the human mask from his face. He passed Shinko’s frozen form and walked directly toward the lab where Harusame and Utakata were.

There were no obstacles.

Haku easily opened the door and stood in front of Harusame.

“If you’re planning to throw Kirigakure into chaos, you should wait a little longer. The Tailed Beast extraction is almost complete,” Harusame said without even looking at Haku.

Although they had never communicated, it was as if Harusame had always anticipated someone would come.

“I need your method for separating a Tailed Beast,” Haku said calmly.

“The method is recorded on the scroll behind me,” Harusame gestured to a scroll without lifting his head.

Haku did not stop Harusame from continuing the extraction. Instead, he calmly checked the scroll. Satisfied, he slung it over his back and sat nearby to watch the process unfold.

The method for separating a Tailed Beast was simple: it involved two different jutsu—one to absorb chakra and another to store it. The essence of Tailed Beast separation was, in reality, the separation of its chakra. Given the vast amount of chakra the Tailed Beasts possess, the process required multiple sessions and took a significant amount of time.

The experiment had reached its final stage. In the air, the seal used to store the chakra of the Six-Tails, Saiken, had taken on a muddy, amorphous shape—the form of Saiken, a giant, slimy slug.

At this point, Saiken was violently struggling against the seal Harusame had set. Harusame, drenched in sweat, was nearing his limit. Safely separating a Tailed Beast from its host was no easy task, and the closer it came to completion, the more fiercely Saiken resisted.

It didn’t perceive Harusame’s actions as granting it freedom. Trapped within Utakata, Saiken only felt its chakra being depleted, leading it to thrash even more violently.

“It’s okay. We’re almost done,” Harusame adjusted his glasses, whether to reassure Saiken or himself, it was unclear.

Haku, watching Utakata’s twitching eyelids, had a different assessment.

Harusame, so focused on Saiken’s chakra, failed to notice the distress on Utakata’s face—the human battlefield caught between man and beast.

In Haku’s ear, Hashirama’s voice began counting down.

Haku quietly stepped back.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

As the final count echoed in his mind, Utakata’s eyes snapped open, filled with unbearable pain.

The first thing he saw was his teacher, Harusame, smiling wearily. In Harusame’s hand was a bright blue stream of chakra—drawn from his body.

“Sensei…” Utakata mumbled in confusion.

“Hmm?” Harusame didn’t realize Utakata had awakened until he felt his wrist being grabbed.

“What… are you doing?”

“I… I’m…” Harusame’s mouth hung open, desperation creeping into his expression. “Just hold on a bit longer, we’re almost finished. It’s almost over.”

But Utakata’s grip tightened. No matter how hard Harusame struggled, he couldn’t free himself.

“Let go, Utakata… You’re being controlled by the Tailed Beast…”

The sound of bones cracking echoed through the room as Utakata squeezed harder. Harusame gritted his teeth in pain.

“You said you were treating my sleep… So why does it hurt so much…?” Utakata stared blankly at Harusame’s face, bewildered.

Behind him, tails slick with mucus began to emerge one by one.

“Sensei?”

“Sensei!”

“Answer me!”

“What are you doing?!”

“Why does it hurt so much, Sensei?!”

“Calm down, Utakata, calm down!!” Harusame tried to soothe him, extending his free hand toward Utakata’s chest. “Just… a little… more…”

But the hand he stretched out was suddenly wrapped by one of Utakata’s tails.

Highly corrosive acid seeped from the tail, dissolving Harusame’s hand to bare bone in an instant.

“Aaaahhhh!!”

A scream of agony echoed through the lab.

“Even you, Sensei… Even you want my Tailed Beast… How am I supposed to stay calm?!”

Utakata grabbed Harusame’s other arm and snapped it as if it were a twig.

Watching the horrific scene unfold, Haku pursed his lips and asked, “Should I save him?”

“You are not a tool for anyone, Haku,” Hashirama’s voice remained calm. “In such matters, you may follow your heart.”

Haku’s choice was clear. The Mist ANBU outside, though frozen, were not dead.

“Water Release: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death!”

Countless water droplets turned into deadly needles, slicing through the tail that held Harusame. Haku then used a Body Flicker technique to rescue the heavily injured Harusame, whose skin had been dissolved by the acid.

“You…” Utakata turned toward Haku, his six tails whipping violently. “—Die!!!”

Haku swiftly dodged.

The lab was soon reduced to rubble by the ferocious strikes of Utakata’s tails. Debris buried him momentarily, but soon, covered in a deep red chakra cloak, he emerged again, his body bending and stretching like rubber as he lunged at Haku.

Despite carrying Harusame, Haku moved with remarkable speed, though he narrowly avoided being caught by Utakata’s crazed assault.

Utakata had completely lost control, and the chaos they were causing soon drew the attention of nearby Mist shinobi.

They attempted to seal the half-transformed Jinchuriki while simultaneously trying to capture the intruding Haku.

“We’re ready. Direct his eyes toward me, and I’ll handle the rest,” Hashirama’s voice rang out, as Haku found himself in a perilous situation.

They weren’t far from the village’s center, but pushing Utakata further toward the heart of Kirigakure would be nearly impossible. The Mist shinobi were no slouches—they wouldn’t let Haku succeed. Now was the perfect moment.

Haku didn’t hesitate. Nodding in agreement, he reached into his cloak and pulled out a small, ghostly white eyeball.

Placing his fingers to his lips, Haku whispered, “Release.”

The white eyeball slowly opened, revealing its pupil for the first time, and the moment it did, it locked onto Utakata, who was still hurtling toward Haku like a snake.

The jutsu sealed within the eye activated.

Genjutsu: Rising Malice!

In the next instant, Utakata’s body was slammed into the ground as if struck by an invisible force, burying him deep into the earth.

The dust settled, covering his form.

The immediate threat was neutralized, and the eye in Haku’s hand crumbled into dust, its purpose fulfilled.

Haku marveled at the strange object. He had seen storage jutsu before, but never one so efficient and bizarre. He couldn’t help but wonder what material that eye had been crafted from.

Beneath the earth, a terrifying force was building. Haku paused, sensing the rapidly unfolding effects of the technique. He knew it was time to leave. Carrying the unconscious Harusame, he quickly retreated.

As Hashirama had said, from the moment the eye had been activated, Haku’s mission was complete.

Some of the Mist shinobi tried to pursue him, but after a few steps, they stopped in their tracks, their eyes widening in shock.

Where Utakata had once stood, a massive blue slug was writhing and hissing, spewing mucus into the air.

“T-This is…?”

“The Six-Tails—has appeared!!!”

Panic quickly spread among the shinobi.

The reason Jinchuriki were treated poorly in all

the Great Shinobi Villages, except for Kumogakure, was now painfully clear.

The villagers remembered too well the devastation caused by the Tailed Beasts during times of war. Though they were seen as heroes for containing the beasts, the Jinchuriki were still feared and resented by the civilians. After all, no one wanted to live near a ticking time bomb that could explode at any moment.

“Hurry! Evacuate the civilians!!”

“Get the sealing team here!!!”

“What are Elder Genji’s orders?!”

“We need to lure it outside the village! We’re way too close to the center!!”

Though lacking leadership, Kirigakure, like Konoha, had established emergency protocols for Tailed Beast outbreaks. The shinobi quickly made decisions to minimize losses and damage to the village.

But they underestimated the severity of this particular crisis.

Radiating a deep, festering malice, Saiken’s red eyes gleamed with hatred. From the moment it appeared, the air around it filled with a corrosive white mist. Any object, whether plants, buildings, or streets, that touched the mist immediately began to dissolve. Its destructive power was absolute.

“Something’s wrong here…” Fuguki Suikazan muttered, staring at the furious Saiken with a troubled expression. He turned to the Mist shinobi around him and shouted, “That mist is dangerous! Use Water Release to dilute it!!”

Then, grabbing a nearby ANBU, he demanded, “What’s going on? How did the Six-Tails go berserk so suddenly?!”

“It was an attack by a rogue shinobi from the Yuki Clan,” came a voice from the shadows. Aoki Shinko, still trembling under a cloak, stepped forward. “He ambushed us and infiltrated the lab.”

“You again!” Fuguki recognized her as Yagura’s former bodyguard, and frowned deeply. “You were present both times disaster struck. What excuse do you have this time?”

“…This person could be a spy from another village. Capture her immediately!”

With Fuguki’s command, Shinko was restrained without resistance. She wanted to explain, to help, but in the end, she sighed, letting them bind her hands.

The Six-Tails’ rampage endangered the entire village, and with rogue shinobi already infiltrating Kirigakure, the authorities weren’t taking any chances. The village was rife with spies and traitors, and Fuguki wasn’t interested in identifying their true loyalties just yet—anyone suspicious was detained.

At the same time, many shinobi tried to draw Saiken away from the village, but their efforts were futile. Saiken, consumed by rage, unleashed torrents of acid and its growing tentacles, destroying everything in its path.

Screams and cries echoed through the streets, as desperate attempts were made to reach Utakata’s consciousness, but it was no use. Hearing his name only incited Saiken further, prompting it to charge up a Tailed Beast Bomb.

As chaos engulfed the village, in a secluded corner of Kirigakure, a clandestine meeting was taking place in the shadows.

Mangetsu Hozuki’s voice cut through the tension:

“What do you make of all this?”

“Was this Hashirama’s doing? Is this his plan?” someone asked.

CoughCough “It was reported that it was the work of a Yuki Clan shinobi,” Mangetsu replied, shaking his head.

“The Yuki Clan, nearly wiped out by Yagura’s tyranny? They’ve come back for revenge…”

“A single Yuki Clan shinobi couldn’t cause this much chaos… But even if this isn’t Hashirama’s plan, he surely won’t miss such an opportunity.”

“They must be making their move soon. This strike goes straight for Kirigakure’s weak spot. Given the circumstances… I don’t plan to resist.”

“It’s too early to make such a decision, Byakuya. You carry the fate of your entire clan on your shoulders—proceed with caution.”

“I disagree. I’m not surrendering to an outsider like Hashirama. I’m aligning with Mei Terumi. I’ve always believed she has what it takes to become the Fifth Mizukage…”

“Mei Terumi? Isn’t she just Hashirama’s puppet…” someone muttered under their breath.

“Let’s see how Elder Genji handles this situation. Dealing with the Six-Tails shouldn’t be impossible, but I fear this is only the beginning…”