The lightning from the coordinated jutsu unleashed by the four rogue shinobi gradually faded, revealing Utakata collapsed on the ground, his entire body scorched and blackened.
Clinging to his last shred of consciousness, he forced himself to endure the agony coursing through him and directed the soap bubble enclosing Hotaru to fly further away.
"Hahaha! You think it's gonna be that easy to let her escape?" the bandit leader sneered, hurling a kunai that popped the soap bubble with a sharp snap.
"Ah!"
Hotaru's vision went black as the bubble vanished. Unprotected, she plummeted straight to the ground, slamming into it with a sickening thud.
Utakata, still conscious, watched in horror, his heart aching as though it were being ripped apart.
He desperately wanted to run to her, to protect her—but he had expended all his strength in the earlier battle. Now, even standing felt impossible. Saving her was a distant dream.
"You had your chance to run, and now it's too late." The bandit leader looked down coldly at Utakata, paralyzed and helpless, a cruel smile playing across his lips.
Cracking his knuckles, he slowly drew a sharp kunai from his belt and started walking toward Utakata, clearly intending to deliver the final blow.
Hotaru's eyes widened in terror. She watched, powerless, as the scene unfolded before her. Despair and helplessness surged within her. She struggled to rise, to do something—anything—but her body refused to respond.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she screamed, her voice trembling,
"I'll go with you! Just don't hurt him! If you lay a hand on him, I swear I'll use my secret technique and take all of us down with me! You know what kind of destruction it can cause!"
The bandit leader licked his lips slowly, unfazed by her threat.
Still, something in her tone must have given him pause, because he didn't take another step toward Utakata.
Then his eyes lit up as if something suddenly clicked.
"Ohhh... I get it now. You two are a couple, aren't you? No wonder you're so loyal to each other."
He burst out laughing.
"Now this is getting fun. This kind of drama really gets my blood pumping! I love playing twisted little games like this!"
"Take her away. I'm gonna have my fun with this little beauty first. Once I've had enough... it's your turn!" he leered as he turned to his subordinates and waved them forward.
"Heh heh heh! Thanks, boss!" Two bandits lunged forward like wolves, each grabbing one of Hotaru's arms and dragging her away with ease.
She fought with everything she had, tears flowing freely down her face. She kept looking back at Utakata, eyes filled with heartbreak and despair.
Utakata's eyes were wide with fury and anguish as he watched the person he loved being pulled away. It felt like his soul was being shredded.
Rage surged inside him, wild and uncontainable—but his broken body refused to obey. He clenched his teeth and tried to move, even just a little, but it was as if his limbs no longer belonged to him.
"Let... her... go..." he growled, each word laced with pain and fury.
The only response was cruel laughter from the bandits.
"I said... LET HER GO!" Utakata roared.
He released part of the seal restraining him—and the Tailed Beast's power burst forth.
In an instant, his body began to change. A fearsome aura exploded from within him.
"Tailed Beast Cloak!" Hyuga Gakuya's eyes lit up in the sky above. The moment he'd been waiting for had arrived.
Utakata's skin was soon wrapped in blood-red chakra. Four tails of chakra sprouted from his back.
The bandit leader was momentarily stunned—then his expression twisted into greedy delight. "Well, well... this guy just got even more interesting. Capture him! We'll deliver him straight to Lord Obito!"
But they had vastly underestimated the power Utakata now wielded.
With a furious roar, he lashed out with his tails, sending the four bandits flying like ragdolls.
His body moved with lightning speed. In a flash, he was at Hotaru's side, shielding her with his own body. At the same moment, the four tails behind him morphed into piercing blades of chakra and shot toward the bandits like bolts of crimson lightning.
In the blink of an eye, three of the rogues were impaled through the gut, blood spraying through the air. Only the leader barely dodged the deadly strike.
But before he could catch his breath, one of Utakata's tails snaked around him like a vengeful spirit, lifting him high into the air.
Now, the Yin-Yang chakra within Utakata surged violently, gathering into a single terrifying mass of energy—he was preparing to unleash a Tailed Beast Bomb.
Realizing death was moments away, the bandit leader screamed in terror,
"No! Please! Don't kill me! I'm begging you!!"
Utakata didn't flinch. His blood-red eyes, now feral and filled with righteous fury, locked onto the man who had brought so much pain.
Without hesitation, he fired the completed Tailed Beast Bomb straight at him.
The blast engulfed the bandit leader completely. There wasn't even time for a final scream—he was reduced to ash in an instant.
As the dust settled, the red chakra cloak faded from Utakata's body. Drained and broken, he collapsed into unconsciousness—the strain of the Tailed Beast Cloak had pushed his body beyond its limit.
"Sensei!" Hotaru cried out, forcing herself to her feet despite the pain.
She rushed to his side, unsure what to do. He lay motionless, his breathing shallow.
Nearby, the old retainer Tonbei had recovered slightly. He limped over.
"Miss, let's get Utakata inside. I'll fetch the medicine."
"Right!"
Both of them were wounded, barely able to move—but they managed to drag Utakata into the house, laying him gently on a bed and applying salve to his injuries.
Tonbei then pulled out a message scroll and sent a carrier bird flying toward Konohagakure.
Someone was targeting the power of the Tailed Beasts. This couldn't be ignored. As allies of the Tsuchigumo clan, Konoha would send help.
Hotaru stayed at Utakata's side, tears flowing without end. She gripped his hand tightly and whispered,
"Please... get better soon..."
...
High above, Hyuga Gakuya stretched lazily. "It's done. With all that commotion, Team Dusk and the Akatsuki must've noticed by now."
Everything that happened had been part of the plan—to force Utakata to use the Tailed Beast's power and draw the actors to the stage.
"Tch tch... playing the villain who tears lovers apart really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe next time I'll try something a little less cruel."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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