Chapter 162: Two-Tails' Chakra Acquired

As soon as Uchiha Yuan finished speaking, his entire body transformed into a streak of lightning. The Cloud shinobi barely saw a flash before they all collapsed.

Yugito Nii hadn't expected Uchiha Yuan to be this fast—cold sweat trickled from her forehead.

To be honest, she hadn't been nervous before. Even if the two before her were at Kage level, so what?

She was a perfect jinchūriki. Together with the Two-Tails, even if she couldn't win, she was confident she could escape.

But Uchiha Yuan's speed made it clear—she had no chance of escape. She would have to fight head-on.

Chakra surged from her body, and a dark red hue overtook her entire form.

"Yuan, want me to help?" Hyuga Asana asked upon seeing the Two-Tails' chakra cloak.

"No need. It's just the Two-Tails—not a big deal."

As he spoke, Uchiha Yuan activated his Mangekyō Sharingan. Magatsuhi amplified his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, and he concentrated the raging lightning chakra to his fingertips.

In truth, the Hell Stab was something Yamanaka Kagetsu had only partially extracted from the Third Raikage's mind. What Uchiha Yuan used was more of a visual imitation—its real power came from Chidori.

Still, Yugito was startled when she saw his move. "That's Hell Stab! Are you from the Hidden Cloud?"

Uchiha Yuan said nothing and launched his attack.

"Yugito, get out of the way! That guy's Hell Stab is too powerful—on par with the Third Raikage! We can't take it!" the Two-Tails warned from within.

Yugito's face changed dramatically. She turned to flee, but it was too late—Uchiha Yuan's Hell Stab was already upon her.

As she panicked, she sensed a terrifying lightning chakra closing in from behind.

The Two-Tails, also startled, shouted, "Yugito, fully transform!"

Yugito responded by unleashing the Two-Tails' chakra completely. A massive flaming blue-and-black cat appeared.

The Two-Tails launched a Tailed Beast Ball in Uchiha Yuan's direction.

Uchiha Yuan responded by summoning a glowing blue skeletal arm over his body and charged straight at it.

Boom! The Tailed Beast Ball and Hell Stab collided, triggering a massive explosion.

The shockwave flattened a huge portion of the surrounding forest.

Amid the swirling smoke, the Two-Tails was struck by the residual blast from the Hell Stab and was sent flying, crashing into a distant cliff.

As for Uchiha Yuan—because his Lightning Chakra Mode had been amplified by Magatsuhi, and the armor's defense significantly increased, and with Susanoo's protection on top—he suffered no major injuries, though his lightning armor was destroyed.

Rather than repair the armor, he activated another Mangekyō ability—Inari.

The lightning chakra mode amplified by Magatsuhi had already hit the Two-Tails, so with Inari active, he could continuously absorb its chakra.

Yugito sensed the Two-Tails' chakra surging toward the masked man and turned pale.

She tried to command the Two-Tails to rise and flee in desperation.

But soon, she realized that no matter how hard she tried, the chakra kept slipping away.

Half an hour later, the Two-Tails couldn't even maintain full transformation.

Uchiha Yuan had by then absorbed enough of the Two-Tails' chakra. He deactivated the dojutsu and sealed the collected chakra into a scroll.

"All done?" Hyuga Asana asked.

Uchiha Yuan nodded.

"Then let's hurry back to the village. That commotion wasn't small—and with the Two-Tails escaping, someone will definitely come looking soon," said Hyuga Asana.

Uchiha Yuan nodded again, summoned Lightning, and left the scene.

Two hours later, the two of them arrived near the Hidden Leaf.

They jumped down from Lightning's back but didn't immediately return. Instead, they spent two days playing nearby.

Since they'd traveled on Lightning's back, time-wise it would've been suspicious to return too quickly.

Two days later, they returned to the village together.

At the Hokage's office, they found Minato Namikaze—and surprisingly, Jiraiya was also there.

"Lord Jiraiya, hello," Hyuga Asana greeted respectfully.

"Asana! Long time no see. Looks like you've gotten a lot stronger! Where's Orochimaru? That guy lately has been—"

"Jiraiya-sensei, please take this seriously! Aren't you being too much? You got back to the village just yesterday and already you were caught peeping—and reported by so many people. How am I supposed to handle that as Hokage?" Minato interrupted sternly.

"Minato, that wasn't peeping—it was research, research! Writers gathering material—how can that be called peeping?" Jiraiya protested passionately.

"Sensei! You keep saying you're a writer, but I haven't seen any of your books. How about this—if you can show me just one book you wrote, I'll settle this matter for you!"

"You said it!" Jiraiya grinned. "I was planning to gift you this one anyway—here!" He pulled a book from his ninja pouch.

Minato was stunned and instinctively took the book. He hadn't expected Jiraiya to actually have written something.

"Tale of the Gutsy Ninja?"

"Yup. I wrote that one ages ago when I was bored. I've only ever given it to one person before—you're the second. Alright, alright, you've got it now—I'm off!" With that, Jiraiya dashed out of the office as if fleeing.

Minato sighed in resignation and turned toward Hyuga Asana. "Asana, did you bring back the intel?"

"Yes." She handed over the information.

Minato quickly scanned it and murmured, "The Land of Lightning is facing a budget shortfall… No wonder the Hidden Cloud is aggressively taking on missions."

"Hokage-sama, I've got another piece of intel to report," Uchiha Yuan spoke up.

"What is it?"

"Well, when Asana and I arrived in the Land of Lightning to gather the intel, we happened to witness the Two-Tails' jinchūriki, badly wounded. Looks like someone attacked them."

Considering the recent end of the Third Great Ninja War, an attack on a jinchūriki was a major event. Uchiha Yuan reporting it now served as preemptive distancing.

Minato didn't know they had flown in on Lightning. Based on timing, they couldn't have had the opportunity to act, so Yuan was just being cautious.

Hearing about the attack, Minato furrowed his brows.

"Just a few months after the war ends, and someone's already stirring up trouble again?"

He sighed deeply. "When will this world ever see true peace?"

(To Be Continued...)