?noki is revealed to be a sand clone shocking the Second Mizukage as the sand rose up to seal him. However, before the tags can be completely applied, Gaara's Desert Layered Imperial Funeral explodes and the Mizukage's ominous face appears in the sky above them. As hail begins to fall, ?noki explains that this was not genjutsu again, but the Second's Steaming Danger Tyranny technique. As a chibi-like clone forms before them and begins to attack the Fourth Division, Gaara sets out to find the real Mizukage who, as the Tsuchikage noted, had been left severely weakened after using this technique. Finding him, Gaara moves to immediately seal the Mizukage, but once again before the seals can be applied, the clones intervenes this time, ripping them off the sand pyramid. Popping his head out from atop the pyramid, the Second greets his opponents serenely before ducking back in to avoid a volley of shuriken launched at him. Commenting that this was a good spot to hide, the Mizukage tells the Kazekage and Tsuchikage that he would no longer divulge the mechanisms behind his techniques, because if they were unable to defeat him, they had no hope of taking on the opposition's leader. Narrowly protecting his division from another explosion, Gaara then directly takes on the clone and is successfully able to stop the clone after using a mixture of his sand drenched in hail and his father's gold dust to both halt the clones movements and stop it from exploding by keeping it cool. Greatly impressed by this feat, the Second beams at Gaara stating that he and Naruto who had made his way to the battlefield eventually made a good combination. Before being sealed, the Second declares that he had found the golden egg amongst the current Kage after all. Elsewhere on the battlefield, it is revealed that before being sealed away, M? had split himself in half. Unable to free his other half, Kabuto contemplates his next move which would buy him enough time to summon his trump card. On the Alliance's side, everything has come to a standstill in the face of the threat of the White Zetsu Army clones infiltrating their ranks, especially at the Logistical Support and Medical Division.