"You're..."
"It's me." Naruto interrupted, quickly ducking his head forward and slamming into Kataro's face. He swiftly formed a Rasengan and sent the opponent flying backward.
Kataro crashed violently against the ship's mast with a massive noise, snapping it in half.
Suigetsu transformed into a water spout and rushed straight toward Naruto. Swinging Hiramekarei, he launched three consecutive attacks. Naruto nimbly dodged each strike.
"Ever since your lackeys stole the Cleaver Sword from me, I've been waiting for this moment!"
While attacking, Suigetsu shouted loudly, "Even though I couldn't find them myself, Karin can sense your chakra from far away!"
Suigetsu had been part of Sasuke's team back when he was hunting Itachi—which meant there were others too.
And if Suigetsu's words were true, then that meant… one of them could sense Naruto's chakra…
"Watch out!"
Naruto startled, but before he could react, [Nine-Tails] lunged fiercely from behind him, hurling a massive fist straight toward Suigetsu's head.
Just as Suigetsu seemed about to be struck, at the split second before impact, he swung Hiramekarei and severed Nine-Tails' arm.
"So fast!" Suigetsu exclaimed in surprise, gaining newfound respect for Naruto's power. "Still, if you really did kill Sasuke, then your speed should be even greater than this…"
Suigetsu's gaze fell upon Naruto's eyes, and his own widened instantly. "You… your eyes… Sharingan?! Where did you get that?!"
"I already had it before your boss and I fought," Naruto replied calmly.
He wasn't about to reveal much about the Sharingan, especially not let the enemy know he'd obtained it from Sasuke. The less people knew about it, the better—it would only cause unnecessary trouble otherwise.
"Now it's your turn. Where did you get your Hiramekarei?" Naruto added, remembering, "I remember taking the one you used before."
"I got this one from the previous user. He still has Cleaver Sword."
Suigetsu recalled the scene back then; he'd gotten both blades at once, which thrilled him greatly.
"But that guy didn't know how to use either of them worth a damn. What a complete waste! That's Kiri for you—hoarding these treasures without even knowing their worth… If they'd picked real swordsmen, things might've turned out different."
"Like you?" Naruto retorted.
"What's the point of talking about this now?" Suigetsu shrugged.
"Grrr!"
Jugo let out an impatient roar, charging toward Naruto again. This time, the entire ship shook violently. Weaker pirates—and even Jugo himself, who hadn't channeled chakra to his feet—were thrown off the deck by the shockwave and tumbled into the sea.
"Hey kid, let's have a one-on-one match!"
From a distance, Killer B's voice rang out. Apparently, by choosing to fight Suigets alone, he was giving Naruto a shot at facing the Nine-Tails alone.
Of course, there was also the possibility that watching from the sidelines had simply become too boring for him. He probably preferred to get inspired in the heat of battle and spit out rhymes as he fights.
For Bee, dealing with Suigetsu shouldn't be too tough.
Though Suigetsu wasn't weak, compared to the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, he was still no match.
As for the Nine-Tails... While it possessed immense power, it was all power and no control.
******
"Your sword... has become stronger... Guess all that trouble we went through to get the Cleaver Sword back was for nothing... But none of that matters now. You want to kill me, right?" Suigetsu asked.
Naruto frowned slightly. He didn't remember ever hurting Suigetsu personally, and they'd never even fought face-to-face.
"That's right! It's because of him!"
Before Suigetsu could reply, Karin shouted out first from the bow of the ship.
"Because he killed Sasuke!" she glared at Naruto, her red eyes burning with hatred. "Do you think you can just get away with killing Sasuke?!"
Karin's hatred toward Naruto seemed even more intense than Suigetsu's.
Suigetsu's hatred stemmed mostly from jealousy and a strong desire to defeat his opponent.
But as for Karin… If she wasn't well aware of her own limitations, she'd have already charged at Naruto headfirst.
Even when facing a powerful enemy, Karin showed no fear. In her gaze, Naruto saw something he hadn't seen in years…
Bare, raw hatred—the kind born from losing someone you love, a close friend—and the desperate urge to release that pain through vengeance.
Her hate ran deeper than the fear the Konoha villagers once had for him.
After all, Naruto hadn't intentionally hurt them, but Sasuke—he had been killed by Naruto's very hands.
"This is why she wants you dead," Suigetsu explained, giving Karin a thumbs-up. "She wants you gone because she couldn't think of a better way to test all my sword training than by defeating someone who made Sasuke disappear."
He needed to battle strong opponents.
Zabuza was already dead, and the current Mist Swordsmen don't even deserve their titles.
Suigetsu not only wanted to collect all seven Legendary Swords of the Mist, he also longed to become the strongest swordsman in the world.
Defeating powerful enemies was the best way to prove his strength.
He was at least twice as strong as when he lost the Cleaver Sword. He needed something to confirm that fact. And Karin's hatred for Naruto provided the perfect reason.
"Don't waste any more words—attack already, Suigetsu!"
The reason Karin could make such a cruel demand wasn't simply due to her desire to see Naruto fall.
Among everyone in the world, she was the most sensitive at sensing chakra. And Naruto was so close to her...
It was like sticking an industrial fan right in front of a wall of speakers cranked up to max volume.
There was something about his chakra that felt… eerily familiar.
Suigetsu gave an exaggerated eye-roll, raised Hiramekarei, and prepared to attack once again.
"Look, she's great at sensing things, but she can't fight. Sure, she heals well, but with me and the Nine-Tails around, it's kinda pointless."
"If she knew how to fight, she'd have come to gouge your eyes out herself by now."
"Let's see if you can make that happen for her."
Naruto quickly sheathed his sword and raced through hand seals. Lightning nature chakra surrounded his hand as he snapped his fingers, launching a powerful electric surge at his water-natured opponent.
[Lightning Release: Wild Wave Flash!]
Seeing Naruto trying to use his kekkei genkai to gain an elemental advantage, Suigetsu manipulated Hiramekarei into transforming into a square wall, releasing pure chakra to neutralize the powerful electric surge from Naruto.
Looking through a carefully placed peephole in the wall, he saw Naruto moving to his side.
"Die."
Just as Naruto passed the transformed Hiramekarei, the awareness granted by the Sharingan allowed him to dive just in time beneath the towering wave summoned by Suigetsu's arm.
Suigetsu used his other hand to amplify his strength, enabling him to control Hiramekarei with one hand even though it had already reverted back to its normal sword shape.
Naruto quickly drew his sword to parry Suigetsu's savage swing of Hiramekarei, but this knocked him flat onto the deck.
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