"Water. Always water…"
Crocodile glared at the high-pressure jets and felt a murderous urge rising.
He'd eaten the Suna Suna no Mi and become a Sand-Sand man; he hated water most of all. Yet he'd marched into Amegakure—only to run into a shark-man who spat out a sea with one breath.
That was bad enough. Now even this puppet-handler was spewing water.
"Ninja really are troublesome…" Crocodile growled. He swept his right hand, hurling another avalanche of sand forward.
Sasori's figure skittered back.
Blue chakra threads from his index finger linked to the Third Kazekage.
While the palms of his hands blasted high-pressure water, he also directed the Kazekage puppet to unleash torrents of Satetsu (Iron Sand).
For a time, the two were evenly matched.
—
"Get lost already, you idiot! How many times do I have to say it—I'm human, not some damned fish-man!"
Amid the surging waters, Kisame snarled at the man opposite him.
Jinbe said in a steady voice, "Kisame, I know you've probably suffered because of being fish-folk, but it's alright. We're the same people. I'll protect you from now on—no one will call you fish-folk again—"
"Shut up!!!"
Kisame's face twisted. He flashed through seals and roared:
"Suiton: Goshokuzame (Water Release: Five Feeding Sharks)!"
Four sharks formed and darted toward Jinbe with serpentine agility.
Jinbe sighed. "If you can control water to this degree, how could you not be fish-folk?"
He struck once—one palm, and the living water shattered.
But the four destroyed sharks suddenly split into thousands of mini-sharks.
"Hmm!?"
Jinbe's eyes sharpened. "I did underestimate you. Among fish-folk, only a few could surpass this."
He blurred through the current—so fast he was nothing but a cerulean streak.
"What!?"
Kisame's pupils dilated.
"This guy's speed in water is like that…!"
Before he finished, his eyes snapped tight on a blue flash slicing in from his flank.
The speed was too great; he could only jerk Samehada across his chest in a desperate guard.
A heartbeat later—
BOOM!
A ruthless force screamed down the hilt into Kisame's arms. He bellowed, poured out all his strength—yet he still couldn't stop it. His body was launched, skipping through the torrent and then hammering into the ground.
"Gah!"
Kisame spat blood and stared at the trembling Samehada in disbelief. "One punch… almost shattered my blade!?"
Samehada might be a "sword," but it was also a living creature—a follower of the Three-Tails. Forged into a blade, its defense was monstrous; it could clash with any of the other Seven Swords and not lose ground.
Yet a single punch had wrecked it…
Samehada bared needle fangs and writhed in pain along Kisame's hands. (For violent, exhilarating novels, go to Faloo!)
"I get it…" Kisame rasped, stroking the blade. "I'll avenge you. I won't let that bastard go…"
He clenched his teeth and glared back into the waters at Jinbe.
"You knocked me out of my own water… half-man, half-fish monster indeed…"
Usually he was the one drowning foes with Suiton. But this bastard had beaten him inside his own ninjutsu…
"Samehada!!!"
At Kisame's roar, the blade merged into his body.
Seconds later, gills, fins, and a tail budded along Kisame's frame—more feral than a shark, downright terrifying.
His thick tail lashed the ground, smashing stone to gravel.
Feeling power flood his limbs, Kisame plunged back into the torrent without hesitation, charging Jinbe in this fused state.
Jinbe murmured, "You've gone that far… and you still won't admit you're fish-folk?"
—
"Itachi! I'll never forgive you!"
Elsewhere in Amegakure, Obito and Izumi flickered through alleys, finally cornering Itachi in a blind end.
Shisui's gaze went ice-cold. "Where are my eyes?"
Itachi said nothing. From beneath the black cloud robe, he drew a glass vial—inside, a single Mangekyō Sharingan floated in solution.
"Mm?" Shisui blinked at Itachi's unexpected cooperation—then grit his teeth.
"When the clan was going to revolt, why didn't you use Kotoamatsukami? Why choose something so extreme!?"
He'd never understood.
There was a way to stop war, yet Itachi annihilated the clan.
Izumi's Mangekyō spun hard as she glared at Itachi. If not for Shisui holding her back, she would have unleashed her dōjutsu already and cut down the butcher of their people.
Itachi said calmly, "Because back then, it wasn't only the clan preparing to revolt. Konoha's leadership was preparing to erase the clan as well."
Shisui and Izumi froze.
Itachi went on, "If Konoha had moved first, none of the clan would have survived. I made the choice I believed was most correct then."
"Impossible!" Shisui's voice rose, furious. "With my eye, and with you—how could Konoha possibly erase the clan?"
Izumi shouted, "Exactly! You're still spouting nonsense. The clan wasn't something to be butchered in one stroke!"
At the time, the clan had hundreds of jōnin—nearly a third of Konoha's top strength. Add Fugaku and Itachi, two elite jōnin, and they could match the village's battle power.
How could a one-sided massacre be possible?
Itachi didn't argue. He tossed the vial lightly to Shisui.
"Since you saved our people, then train them well. Don't stay with Menma."
"If his target is Konoha, he won't be the only one—you, and the resurrected clan with you, will be wiped out."
"Konoha is stronger than you think."
(End of Chapter)
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