Chapter 69

He merely raised one hand slowly, aiming it at the Six-Tails before him.

Ice Style: Heavenly Phenomenon Descent, Third Stage—Eternal Sin Domain!

In an instant, the goose-feather snowflakes in the sky seemed to be activated, fluttering incessantly in the air.

Under the gusts of cold wind, a six-pointed star ice array, even larger than the Six-Tails itself, appeared beneath its massive body!

Endless cold light surged into the sky from the six-pointed star.

In a flash, the Six-Tails, which had been in a rage and releasing a Tailed Beast Bomb, was frozen solid into an ice sculpture right where it stood.

The gargantuan monster lost all movement in an instant; everything came to an abrupt halt.

It was also at this moment that the goose-feather snow falling from the sky finally ceased.

The clouds dispersed, revealing the sun in the sky.

Bathed in the sunlight, Mizunuki Ryosuke paid no mind to the Six-Tails frozen into an ice sculpture behind him.

Nor was he in the slightest bit worried that this move would kill the Six-Tails.

The original work mentioned that the essence of a Tailed Beast is the Ten-Tails' chakra, and chakra cannot be killed.

Therefore, Tailed Beasts can only be sealed.

The only way to "kill" a Tailed Beast is for it to return to the Ten-Tails.

The "frozen" state could also be considered a form of sealing.

Leaving the Six-Tails ice sculpture where it was, Mizunuki Ryosuke turned and walked toward the other side of the Mist Lake.

Meanwhile, under the intervention of Hozuki Mangetsu, the battle of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had also come to a complete end.

The wielder of the Great Sword Samehada, Suikazan Fuguki, and the wielder of the Long Sword Nuibari, Kurare Kushimaru, were killed in action.

The wielder of the Short Sword Kubikiribocho, Biwa Juzo, fled.

The wielder of the Twin Swords Hiramekarei and the wielder of the Lightning Blade Kiba, Kurosuki Raiga, were severely injured.

Although victory was achieved, the remaining two members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Kushimaru and Ameyuri Ringo, had also lost their combat capability.

Unable to attend to these matters, Hozuki Mangetsu and Mizunuki Ryosuke hurried toward the place where the Three-Tails and Mizunuki Taki were engaged in battle.

Mizunuki Taki gazed at the ferocious giant beast before him, his eyes devoid of fear or sorrow.

All that remained was a sense of inner peace.

He could no longer remember how long it had been since he had felt this calm.

One year? Five years? Or ten, twenty years?

At this moment, Mizunuki Taki even recalled the earnest teachings left to him by his predecessor—his father-in-law—when he succeeded as the head of the Mizunuki clan.

Many years had passed in a flash, and under his leadership, the Mizunuki family had reached new heights.

He first became a guard for the First Mizukage, then fully supported the Second Mizukage's reforms within the Hidden Mist during his era.

Finally, after enduring countless hardships, he had become the Third Mizukage.

In all honesty, as Mizukage, he had not done well enough.

Under his hand, the village not only failed to see significant development but even once reached the brink of division.

Even today, the ending he faced was, in a sense, of his own making.

But looking back on all of this, Mizunuki Taki did not regret it.

Because even if he had to do it all over again, he would still become the Mizukage.

Because his clansmen, his wife, and his children needed him to be the "Kage."

Perhaps he, Mizunuki Taki, was not a qualified Mizukage.

But he was absolutely a qualified clan head, a qualified husband, and a qualified father.

Today, let him take responsibility for this title as the "Kage."

At this moment, there was not a shred of chakra left in Mizunuki Taki's body, not even a tiny bit.

Yet he still had no intention of retreating.

Tremblingly, he pulled a red pill from his bosom.

The apothecary who made this secret medicine had repeatedly warned him never to take it unless it was the final moment.

Now, was this not the so-called "final moment"?

Even if he could return alive, with his current body, Mizunuki Taki probably wouldn't live for two more days.

Previously, it was precisely by using a secret technique that he had gained enough physical strength to fight Hozuki Mangetsu.

Now, the backlash of the secret technique had appeared; blood was spilling from the corners of Mizunuki Taki's eyes, nostrils, and mouth.

Without the slightest hesitation, Mizunuki Taki swallowed the brownish-red pill.

Instantly, a large amount of blood erupted from Mizunuki Taki's pores, and a tragic aura burst forth from this Third Mizukage.

"Come!"

"Three-Tails!!!!"

For a moment, Mizunuki Taki, bleeding from his seven orifices, looked like a god of war fighting to the death.

He stared straight into the Three-Tails' massive beastly pupils, his eyes showing no retreat, only an indomitable determination.

"Kill!"

Mizunuki Taki once again condensed an ice blade dozens of meters long in his hand.

Only this time, the color of the ice blade was not a single pure white, but a shade of bloody crimson.

Mizunuki Taki raised the blood-colored ice blade and slashed toward the Three-Tails on the opposite side.

The Three-Tails, already plunged into madness, did not retreat either, spitting out a water cannon with immense power.

In the end, the water cannon, carrying intense water pressure, was actually split in two by the blood-colored ice blade.

The blood-colored ice blade, stretching for dozens of meters, finally landed solidly on the head of the Three-Tails.

The blood-colored ice exploded violently, and endless blood frost, along with the shattering scarlet ice crystals, pierced into the vulnerable parts of the Three-Tails not covered by its shell.

"ROAR!!!"

The pain made the Three-Tails roar at the sky.

Repeated battles had also left the Three-Tails somewhat exhausted.

What Uchiha Madara had restored for the Three-Tails was only chakra; in reality, the Three-Tails' body still carried the unremoved seal from the past.

Such a seal constantly placed a great burden on the Three-Tails.

This also caused the Three-Tails to grow more tired as it fought, and after suffering a heavy blow, it was now even too weak to continue fighting.

Biological instinct made the Three-Tails want to flee to the bottom of the lake.

Without hesitation, the Three-Tails crashed through the water surface and swam toward the lake bottom.

But how could Mizunuki Taki give it a chance to escape?

Few people knew that ever since succeeding as Mizukage, Mizunuki Taki had been painstakingly researching sealing techniques.

Years of research had given Mizunuki Taki a certain level of attainment in sealing arts.

Now was the best time to use this sealing technique.

A dagger condensed from blood-colored ice appeared in Mizunuki Taki's hand; without the slightest hesitation, he used this ice dagger to slash open the artery in his arm.

A large amount of blood gushed out from Mizunuki Taki's arm.

While bleeding himself, Mizunuki Taki was not idle; his hands moved rapidly, forming dozens of hand seals in a short time.

As Mizunuki Taki completed the hand seals, the blood that had fallen into the lake water seemed to come alive instantly.

A large amount of lake water, stained red by the blood, condensed into bright red ice chains.

On these blood-colored ice chains, strange runes of various sizes were densely packed.

As the blood from Mizunuki Taki's body continued to drip, the number of scarlet chains grew larger and larger.

Until reaching a peak, countless ice chains condensed from blood shot toward the Three-Tails, which was fleeing to the bottom of the lake, like arrows released from a bow.

In almost an instant, countless scarlet ice chains firmly trapped the Three-Tails and dragged it toward the surface.

No matter how the Three-Tails struggled, it could not break free from these blood-red ice chains condensed with life.

Before long, the Three-Tails' massive body was dragged back to the water's surface by the scarlet ice chains.

Then, as the scarlet ice chains wound tighter and tighter, a large amount of blood-colored frost covered the Three-Tails' body.

Soon, the Three-Tails' huge body was frozen into a blood-red ice sculpture.

After doing all this, Mizunuki Taki had completely exhausted his last bit of chakra, his last bit of physical strength, and his last bit of life force.

As his body fell heavily onto the water's surface, he knew that as a Mizukage, he had perfectly fulfilled his duties in the final moment of his life.

"Down below, when I meet the two previous Mizukage, I can consider my duty fulfilled."