204 Naruto: Snatching the Mangekyō

The Ten-Tails let out a feral roar as it faced the unscathed trio.

Boom! Boom!

The barren ground quaked violently as the enormous beast charged forward. Behind it, ten massive tails lashed through the air, each swing producing a piercing crack, as though the sky itself trembled under the force.

Facing the onslaught of the Ten-Tails, Akira showed no intention of retreating. Black chakra erupted around him, forming the humanoid figure of a Fourth-Stage Susanoo.

Unlike Akira, Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura moved with unparalleled speed, transforming into two streaks of white light that struck the Ten-Tails head-on.

Under their relentless assault, even the mighty Ten-Tails was forced to retreat repeatedly.

The Fourth-Stage Susanoo offered unparalleled mobility, far surpassing the Complete Body Susanoo. Akira's black Susanoo leapt hundreds of meters into the air, attaching itself to the Ten-Tails' abdomen.

Zzzz!

A cacophony of electrical static filled the air as Kamui Black Lightning coated the Susanoo's hundred-meter-long blade.

Slash!

A single arc of the blade cut deep into the Ten-Tails' abdomen, sending a massive chunk of flesh, dozens of meters wide, plummeting to the ground.

"ROAR!"

The Ten-Tails howled in agony, its body convulsing violently as grotesque lumps swelled across its form.

In a frenzy, monstrous clones began emerging from the beast, surging toward Akira. Yet, he paid them no heed. His eyes locked onto the fallen chunk of flesh amid the dust and rubble, and he thought grimly:

This isn't enough. Not even close. The Ryūmyaku sent me to this distant era, and I don't know how long I can stay here. I need to act quickly and gather more of the Ten-Tails' flesh!

Determined, Akira launched himself toward the Ten-Tails' back. His target: the tails.

The rest of the beast's body was simply too massive. Even the Complete Body Susanoo's chakra blade couldn't cut through it entirely. Aside from its two front legs, the tails were the most vulnerable point—and the most promising.

Compared to the front legs, the tails were thinner and more concentrated with chakra. Akira could sense that the chakra within them far surpassed that of the legs.

With Hagoromo and Hamura relentlessly pressuring the Ten-Tails, it had no means of stopping Akira's advance.

In moments, Akira and his Susanoo reached the Ten-Tails' back, charging toward its tails.

Boom!

Right then, a powerful strike—whether from Hagoromo or Hamura—landed on one of the beast's front legs, leaving it riddled with wounds. Its front half collapsed to the ground, while its hindquarters, including its tails, were raised high into the air.

"Perfect opportunity!" Akira murmured, activating his ocular power, Temporal Shadow.

Both his Past and Future Selves manifested beside him.

Boom! Boom!

Three Complete Body Susanoo emerged simultaneously, their black forms taking flight. Each wielded twin blades, crackling with black lightning.

From three directions, the Susanoo converged on the Ten-Tails' raised hindquarters, their swords slicing down.

Shhk!

Six blades cleaved through the air, striking the tails without resistance. In an instant, six of the beast's massive tails fell to the ground, kicking up a storm of dust.

Without pause, the Susanoo continued their attack, attempting to sever the remaining tails.

However, the Ten-Tails, now gravely wounded, let out an ear-piercing shriek. Its remaining four tails thrashed violently, their sheer force tearing through the air with explosive bursts.

The supposedly invincible defense of the Susanoo shattered under the assault, its black form crumbling like fragile glass.

Barely managing to evade, Akira activated Kamui's intangibility at the last possible moment. His Past and Future Selves, however, along with their Susanoo, were obliterated in the Ten-Tails' furious retaliation.

The Ten-Tails now looked oddly comical—its once dense forest of tails reduced to four, leaving an unbalanced, empty appearance.

Boom! Boom!

Two white streaks of light flashed through the battlefield as Hagoromo and Hamura struck once more. The enraged beast was launched into the air, tumbling backward like a giant soccer ball, crashing more than ten kilometers away.

Seizing the opportunity, the brothers unleashed their most ferocious attacks yet, relentless in their assault.

Amid the vast clouds of dust, the Ten-Tails' anguished and furious roars echoed endlessly.

Having lost six of its tails, the beast's chakra had visibly diminished. Even for a creature whose chakra rivaled nature itself, this was a devastating loss.

For now, it could only endure the overwhelming attacks from Hagoromo and Hamura.

Even without Akira's intervention, the Ten-Tails—lacking intelligence—was no match for the two.

Far off in the distance, the sounds of battle raged on. Yet Akira stayed focused. His priority remained the Ten-Tails' severed tails.

Landing atop the massive fallen appendages, he quickly activated a sealing technique. Black sealing symbols spread like chains, temporarily immobilizing the severed tails.

These weren't just six individual tails—they were connected to a chunk of the Ten-Tails' flesh that Akira had cleaved off. Each tail stretched over a thousand meters, writhing like colossal serpents, still brimming with vitality.

Boom! Boom!

The tails' violent thrashing shook the ground, causing near-cataclysmic tremors. Even with his vast chakra reserves, sealing such massive objects proved to be a herculean task for Akira.

Sweat dripped from his forehead as he finally completed the seal after nearly ten minutes of intense effort.

With the tails subdued, he activated Kamui. A spatial vortex swirled into existence, and the thousand-meter-long tails began dissolving into the dimensional space bit by bit.

"That wasn't easy," Akira muttered, exhaling deeply. Relief washed over his face. Despite some unexpected challenges, he had achieved his goal—perhaps even exceeded it.

With a flash, he appeared atop another massive chunk of flesh he had carved from the Ten-Tails, pulsating like a beating heart and oozing with chakra.

"There's still time," Akira murmured. "Might as well take all the spoils I can."

In Sage Mode, Akira could sense the overwhelming chakra within the flesh—a force that transcended dimensions.

This was the power of the Six Paths.