Chapter 883 : Choices!

Even though the situation was very tricky, Yugito had to make a decision quickly. Any delay would mean she would no longer have any control over the situation.

She glanced at Akuro and Matatabi and wondered, ‘Akuro said he wasn't interested in killing us… His actions prove his words. This is our fifth encounter and he could have killed each one of us a dozen times if he truly wanted to. So, my comrades’ lives won't be in danger even if I die due to losing Matatabi. However, can I make a plan based on what little I know of him?’

Immediately, a few words appeared in her mind. ‘To plan around your enemy's temperament is a smart move. However, to do so without a solid back up plan is nothing but folly…’

Those were the same words she heard Akuro say to C before he knocked C out. Fujin never imagined his casual words, which he only spoke to main the air of an ancient expert, would come to bite him in the ass so quickly.

Yugito decided, ‘Since there is no guarantee that he would spare Darui, C and Samui after killing me, I may as well put all my bets on Matatabi! In the worst case scenario, she would kill Akuro along with us. However, in the best case scenario, I could become the perfect Jinchuriki like Lord Bee…’

A seal appeared on her fingertips and she stabbed her own shoulder. Suddenly, her inner world underwent a change. The massive, invisible barrier between Matatabi and them suddenly vanished. The restrictions on Matatabi were released as well and she could finally exert her full strength.

Fujin exerted more strength as well, his main body continuously supplying chakra into Yugito's inner world to maintain his form there. Unaware that his own words had pushed Yugito to make this decision, he thought, ‘I didn't think Yugito would agree to such a request from Matatabi… Hmm, no, she doesn't trust so easily. Quite a gamble you have taken… Oh well…’

A grin appeared behind his mask as Fujin thought, ‘Time to see how well I match up against a fucking Tailed Beast!’

While trying to pull her chakra back, Matatabi also divided her attention to destroy the chains and the Lightning cage. However, their strength suddenly increased by a huge factor, inflicting more damage on Matatabi. At the same time, she also felt her opponent exerting increasingly more force to extract her chakra.

Even though the barrier restricted Matatabi, it didn't restrain her too much. It's function was to protect Yugito from Matatabi and not to restrain or torture her. Hence, even when Yugito removed the barrier, the only thing Matatabi managed to achieve was to stop Akuro from extracting more of her chakra. Under normal circumstances, she could have started a counterattack to distract her opponent, but the Lightning Cage made it impossible to do so.

Matatabi quickly analyzed, ‘This lightning cage isn't the problem. I can destroy it with ease. The problem is these chains. They are connected to the seal that keeps me locked inside here. I can't break them unless I concentrate entirely on it. Unfortunately, the moment I do it, I'll be doomed. Who is this guy? Why hasn't his chakra ran out yet? Ugh, I have no time to guess his identity! Yugito…’

Yugito looked at their impasse and analyzed, ‘Even without the barrier, Matatabi doesn't have the upper hand… This isn't bad though. If these two are evenly matched, they could exhaust each other and I might be spared… Huh?’

Yugito suddenly heard a voice inside her head. She quickly realized it was Matatabi.
Matatabi said, ‘Yugito, if this continues, we'll lose. He has taken control over the seal that imprisons me here. There's only one way to win…’
Yugito Immediately asked in her head, ‘What is that way?’
Matatabi replied, ‘You need to remove this seal entirely. Then, he won't be able to use it to retrain me and I can finally defeat him.’
Yugito was shocked, ‘Remove the seal? Won't that…’
Matatabi interrupted her, ‘Don't worry. This inner world will remain even if you remove the seal. So, you won't die.’
Yugito replied, ‘That's assuming you don't rip apart this world and break out…’
Matatabi went silent for a few seconds, before saying, ‘That's true. So, the question is whether you trust me or not?’

While Matatabi struggled, Fujin wasn't without problems either. He cursed, ‘My chakra is being consumed at a frightening speed! I have already emptied my entire reserves in just a few minutes. If not for my artificial reserves, this would have been a lost cause. Tsk, exactly how much aid did Kushina provide Naruto when he dealt with the Nine Tails?’

Fujin's eyes suddenly widened, ‘Eh? What the fuck?’

The chains restraining Matatabi suddenly crumbled. Fujin immediately realized, ‘The seal was removed…’
He turned his gaze to Yugito and wondered, ‘Did she lose her mind? To remove the seal is almost a death sentence… Ugh, crap!’

With the chains no longer suppressing Matatabi, she exerted her full force. Her blue flames destroyed the Lightning Cage, before launching an assault on Akuro. At the same time, she exerted an even greater force on her chakra.

Realizing the danger, Fujin immediately used the Lightning Chakra Mode to protect himself from the hot flames. The flames blasted his body, but failed to inflict any damage. Even so, Fujin wasn't pleased. He was losing the tug-of-war.

In merely 15 seconds, Matatabi took back 40% of the chakra that Fujin had extracted from her. The stalemate had broken! The chakra Fujin was pulling dropped from 25% to 15%. If nothing changed, it would continue dropping further.

Fujin clicked his tongue, ‘I miscalculated… I knew I'd be at a disadvantage, but I didn't think I'd be so overwhelmed in a direct confrontation of this manner. Of course, I could pull Matatabi out of here and seal her in my Myriad Tetragram Seal, but I don't want to risk putting a Tailed Beast there just yet. I have a feeling that the result would be far worse than this confrontation. Anyway, time to cut my losses short…’

The vajra-shaped hilt appeared in Akuro's hand once again. Yugito furrowed her brows and wondered, ‘Hmm, something moved inside his sleeve… What is it…’

She focused her attention on Akuro. To her surprise, an incredibly powerful white lightning exited his sleeve. It pierced through the blue flames surrounding him and reached Matatabi in the blink of an eye. Matatabi noticed it and cursed, ‘This will hurt. However, I'm not giving this bastard anymore advantages. A mere lightning can't kill me, even if you enhance it with Yin chakra!’

Matatabi braced herself for the lightning strike without easing on the pressure. To her surprise, the white lightning, which was clearly headed towards her, suddenly made a 90 degree turn! Before she could understand what was happening, it cut through her chakra which was being pulled by her and Fujin.

A seal activated on Fujin's palm which sucked all her severed chakra while Fujin thought, ‘There goes another percent… Oh well, 14% isn't bad. Any more and refining her chakra might take ages. Once I refine her chakra and make it mine, I can try to get bigger chunks.’

The last percent of Matatabi's chakra entered her body. However, there was no happiness on her face. Instead, she was completely enraged! A roar echoed in Yugito's inner world as Matatabi prepared a Tailed Beast Bomb!

The sight worried Yugito, but Fujin was unfazed. He said, “Tsk… You're lucky my powers haven't recovered yet. I'll let you be for now. The next time we meet, you better give me your best, little kitten.”

The words had barely escaped his lips when Akuro's figure disappeared from Yugito's inner world. She opened her eyes, just to see Akuro still holding her neck. Before she could do anything, a powerful current passed through her body, knocking her out.

He tossed her body to the ground and thought. ‘Even if she removed her seal, she can't borrow Matatabi's chakra due to my Five Elements Seal. Until a Grandmaster removes that seal, she's no different than an ordinary ninja. Of course, Matatabi could still break out of her body, killing her in the process. But, will she do so?’

Fujin wasn't entirely sure. On one hand, Tailed Beasts, despite seemingly hating humans, were actually quite soft. The amount of trust Yugito placed in Matatabi might be sufficient to gain Matatabi's trust in return. On the other hand, Fujin had completely infuriated Matatabi. So, there was a chance Matatabi's anger could triumph over her reasoning.