Chapter 87: Manda: I Am Not a Coward

A Tailed Beast is naturally not afraid of poison gas, but a jinchuriki is.

The Two-Tails uses Fire Release as its source; flames can incinerate the vast majority of toxins, but the poison Orochimaru specifically concocted would have a different effect even when burned by fire.

It would just take a little longer to take effect.

Orochimaru did not relax the tempo of his attack just because he was certain of victory.

Driven by him, Manda launched another attack.

Its massive body coiled upward, attempting to bind the Two-Tails, Matatabi.

Among the Tailed Beasts, the Two-Tails belongs to the small, agile, and nimble type, so it dodged the giant snake's coils with ease.

Moreover, it continuously released Fire Release Ninjutsu, attacking Manda's vital spot and head.

Manda was beaten quite wretchedly, but fortunately, it had the coordination of other Ryuchi Cave giant snakes, which forced the Two-Tails to be unable to fight with full strength, making it difficult for its attacks to land a fatal blow.

On the other side of the battlefield, Yamanaka Chujiu was still calmly commanding the Konoha Ninja.

He quietly climbed a mountain peak, taking the battlefield into his control from a high vantage point, and issued orders methodically through a Communication Snake.

"The enemy on the right flank has fallen into chaos. Captain Nara Luchuan, lead your squadron to join the battle, crush the Cloud Ninja, and remain vigilant against an enemy counterattack."

"There are thirty elite Cloud Ninja on the left flank; their desperate resistance is causing trouble for the battle situation. Senior Hyuga Minghe, eliminate them as quickly as possible."

"Well done!"

"Senior Hyuga Minghe has finished off the enemy; the path to attack Kumogakure has opened!"

"Attention everyone, I am going to mobilize everyone to concentrate on the left flank. We must go all out to pierce through the final line of defense of the Cloud and attack Kumogakure directly."

The cheers of the Konoha Ninja resounded across the battlefield.

While cheering, they executed Yamanaka Chujiu's orders even more strictly; their attacks became increasingly powerful and orderly, leaving the Cloud Ninja at a loss.

The resistance of the hastily assembled Cloud Ninja grew weaker and weaker.

The elderly ninja were exhausted; even if they avoided fatal wounds through experience, the accumulation of ordinary injuries left them unable to hold on.

Some had already fallen to the ground, with only their last breath remaining.

Some abandoned their honor and simply chose to surrender.

The young Cloud Ninja still had hot blood; they resisted most resolutely and paid the most tragic price.

Most of the young Cloud Ninja were already dead or gone, and the few lucky survivors were split up and surrounded by Konoha Ninja, completely losing any chance to resist.

The Konoha Ninja began to approach Kumogakure, and it is unknown who it was that used the Great Fireball Technique to burn the Cloud's lightning-pattern flag, causing a highly shocking psychological blow to the Cloud Ninja.

When the Cloud Ninja were routed, Nii Yugito could not help but fall into anxiety; she had unexpectedly failed to see through Manda's Snake Shedding Substitution Technique.

Manda burrowed underground to escape, seized the opening Yugito exposed, and successfully attacked her from behind.

The massive Manda, like a heavy-duty truck, paid the price of having its own scales scorched by dark blue flames to crush Yugito's Tailed Beast form, forcibly breaking her Tailed Beast transformation.

To be honest, neither Orochimaru nor Manda itself had expected to succeed so easily.

Manda was even stunned on the spot, to the point that its tail was scorched.

Orochimaru laughed out loud: "Incredible, Manda."

"You can proudly announce in the future that you defeated the Two-Tails!"

Then he slowly walked in front of Yugito, his golden slit pupils staring at her: "Give up, Nii Yugito."

"As a jinchuriki, your power is inherently the weakest, and being distracted by the defeat of the Cloud Ninja, you were unable to fully utilize your advantage of agility; it is only natural that you were crushed by a summoning snake from Ryuchi Cave."

"Although your defeat is somewhat unexpected, your body is already severely injured and you have no ability to transform into the Tailed Beast again."

"Look, the Konoha Ninja have already begun to break through the walls and are about to occupy Kumogakure."

"Continuing to resist now will only increase the casualties of the Cloud and lead to the depletion of Kumogakure's foundation."

"It would be better to surrender obediently. As long as you volunteer to become my experimental subject, I guarantee I will not slaughter the village or the prisoners, and you might even have a chance to keep your life."

Nii Yugito raised her head, staring coldly at Orochimaru, and said stubbornly: "Dream on! I am a ninja of the Cloud, the Two-Tails jinchuriki; even if I die, I will never surrender to Konoha!"

Before she finished speaking, she ignored the condition of her body and forcibly erupted her chakra to initiate a Tailed Beast transformation.

The complete form of the Two-Tails finally appeared; the massive cat-like body blotted out the sky, and its golden pupils were filled with a fierce light.

This time, the Two-Tails, Matatabi, did not cause trouble for Yugito as it usually did, but instead cooperated honestly with her to launch the strongest, fiercest, and final attack against Orochimaru.

【Two-Tails Matatabi · Tailed Beast Bomb】

This move was not a simple Tailed Beast Bomb; it was a Tailed Beast Bomb triggered under the Tailed Beast Chakra Mode unique to the Two-Tails, which it had developed together with two generations of jinchuriki by referencing the Lightning Release Chakra Mode of the successive Raikage.

Even though the Tailed Beast Chakra Mode was imperfect, it allowed the Two-Tails to break through its own capacity limit and condense a Tailed Beast Bomb.

(The One-Tail, Shukaku, cries itself to death in the desert)

The Two-Tails' Tailed Beast Chakra Mode possessed an ability that other Tailed Beasts did not have, which was a preparation period that was nearly a time-stop.

In the eyes of the Two-Tails and Yugito, they had spent several breaths of time compressing and condensing their massive chakra, then fusing it in a two-to-eight ratio of yin and yang, and finally kneading out the Tailed Beast Bomb.

But in the eyes of Orochimaru and the Konoha Ninja, the moment the Two-Tails jinchuriki erupted, she condensed a Tailed Beast Bomb capable of killing everyone.

Orochimaru was shocked, but then relaxed.

At the critical moment when the Tailed Beast Bomb was about to be fired, the poison Orochimaru had administered earlier finally took effect!

Yugito only felt everything go black before her eyes, while the Two-Tails felt a sudden emptiness in its body; under the violent fluctuation of chakra, its control over the Tailed Beast Bomb naturally went wrong.

What was originally aimed at the most densely packed position of the Konoha Ninja now traced a high trajectory and fell into the distant mountains.

Boom—!

The earth trembled, the mountains shattered, and a massive fireball rose slowly, eventually turning into a sky-high mushroom cloud.

Orochimaru's eyes were incomparably cold as he barked at Manda: "Go, strangle the Two-Tails, capture the jinchuriki!"

Manda: "..."

Orochimaru: "Hm?"

Manda flinched; it did not argue with Orochimaru, but turned its head and drove its massive body to pounce toward the Two-Tails.

In truth, it really wanted to bite Orochimaru.

But for some reason, Orochimaru's aura today was fierce and his majesty profound, making Manda feel fear from the depths of his instincts.

As if...

As if he would die if he did not listen to him.

【Could it be that I've encountered a fake Orochimaru today? Is he actually a monster wearing Orochimaru's skin?】

Manda could not figure it out, but he was, after all, only a snake with intelligence, and in the end, he decided to follow his instincts and obey Orochimaru's command, pouncing toward the Two-Tails, whose massive body was teetering.

"Go to hell, you bastard!"