Honestly, the combat power Naruto displayed did exceed the duo's expectations.
However, if it was only this level, they wouldn't abandon their capture plan.
Itachi stood silently in place, no one knowing what he was thinking.
On the contrary, Kisame Hoshigaki, who had just been punched into a spinning top by Naruto, acted as if nothing had happened, his face full of fighting spirit.
"Itachi-san, how about I deal with him first while you play with your brother for a while?"
Hearing this, Itachi just glanced at him without refusing.
Meanwhile, Naruto focused all his attention on the giant snake Orochimaru had summoned.
Konoha has a snake. The snake is so big, one pot can't stew it all...
Honestly, when seeing such a massive beast, Naruto's first reaction was that ingredients had arrived.
This was the largest wild animal he had seen in the ninja world so far.
I wonder if the meat would be tough to chew?
It was fortunate that Jiraiya had only had Naruto sign his name on the summoning contract and hadn't tried to summon Boss Gamabunta.
Otherwise, Naruto might have had to sneak into Mount Myoboku...
As if its beast instincts kicked in, the giant python sensed deep malice and unconsciously recoiled.
Unfortunately, it hadn't reached the level of Manda, who could speak human language, otherwise Orochimaru would have understood its meaning.
"Hehe, Naruto-kun, consider the Kusanagi Sword a gift from me. Now you can play with these two first. Well then, see you when we have the chance."
After saying this, the giant snake opened its mouth and swallowed him, then the entire snake instantly turned into smoke and disappeared.
Tsk.
Don't worry, I'll definitely come find you.
Naruto looked at where the giant snake had disappeared, muttering to himself.
"Do you have time to look around?"
Suddenly, Kisame's rough voice sounded beside Naruto.
At the same time, his Samehada greatsword came down heavily toward Naruto's head with a whooshing sound.
This strike carried some personal grudge, as Naruto's punch earlier had nearly knocked him unconscious. Fortunately, he was called the "Tailless Tailed Beast," and his abundant chakra allowed him to quickly recover from the dazed state.
The bandage-wrapped Samehada came down with tremendous force, but was caught mid-air by Naruto's single hand.
In terms of pure physical strength, Kisame couldn't do much to Naruto.
But there was no surprise on his face. Instead, he showed a smile of successful scheming.
Sure enough, confusion appeared on Naruto's previously somewhat absent face, then his gaze turned to the weapon he was gripping.
The Samehada greatsword had now broken free of its bandages, exposing its body covered in spikes like a giant sea urchin.
What surprised Naruto more was that this weapon seemed to be moving—it was alive.
"Hm?"
Seeing Naruto's confused expression, Kisame seemed possessed by a traditional web novel villain, actually starting to explain his weapon's power during battle.
"How is it? Don't you feel your chakra decreasing..."
"Haha... Samehada really likes your chakra."
As the last word left his mouth, Kisame's Samehada directly burst through all the bandages, fully exposing itself to everyone's view.
The giant sword with a large mouth began constantly shaking the "scales" on its body, seemingly excited about eating delicious food and stomping its feet—if it had any.
"A living sword?"
The examiners and candidates in the distance were also secretly shocked—except for Sasuke.
His eyes still only held Itachi. His speed increased during his charge, and the physical training from these days was now showing its effects.
But Itachi still showed no intention of attacking.
Only after Sasuke had reached him did he speak softly.
"Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique."
In an instant, the charging Sasuke's body froze in place, unable to move at all.
From Sasuke's perspective, he was being pierced by over a dozen giant steel spikes, his consciousness crystal clear in the pain, but his body completely out of control.
Damn it! Damn it! How can the gap be this big!
Sasuke charged. Sasuke was defeated.
"My foolish little brother, how far can those Sharingan eyes of yours see..."
Itachi merely glanced at the two-tomoe Sharingan in Sasuke's eye sockets, then seemed to lose interest and looked away.
This nearly made the already furious Sasuke lose his reason.
It was fortunate he didn't have a tailed beast inside him, otherwise he'd probably be launching Tailed Beast Balls by now.
Seeing Sasuke defeated in one move, Naruto couldn't ignore it anymore.
"Get out of the way!"
Gripping Samehada with one hand, Naruto directly slashed at Kisame with the newly acquired Kusanagi Sword.
His slash wasn't slow like Kisame's.
In just an instant, a massive wound appeared on Kisame's upper body, enough to split him in two.
Then Naruto couldn't be bothered to continue dealing with him, directly kicking both man and sword aside.
After all, honestly speaking, most people in the ninja world who used bladed weapons essentially still relied on ninjutsu for attacks. There weren't many who truly studied swordsmanship—Kakashi's father, Sakumo Hatake, was one exception.
Naruto's slashing techniques were at the level of a true great swordsman, flawless in both angle and force.
Speaking of which, he seemed to have cut a fish-headed guy in half last time too. It seemed he really was incompatible with merfolk—he'd better not visit Fishman Island next time.
"Ugh!"
Being cut like this, even Kisame couldn't help but cry out in pain.
But unlike Arlong, within a very short time after nearly being cut in two, chakra flowed through Samehada's handle into Kisame's body, rapidly helping him heal his wounds.
In just a few seconds, the deep wound had healed again, leaving only a thin scar of a different color.
"That really hurt! Water Style: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
After the initial exchange, Kisame realized how troublesome this Nine-Tails jinchuriki was. Without further hesitation, he directly released a terrain-changing area technique.
Massive amounts of water continuously poured from his mouth, covering the entire field in an instant.
Places with slightly higher elevation, like where Itachi Uchiha was posing like an actor watching the entire battle, didn't need to dodge.
But the direction where the candidates were located was quickly submerged.
Anko could only lead the candidates backward, the battlefield forcibly divided by this jutsu.
Naruto bore the brunt, wrapped in the center of the water flow.
With the terrain changed, many of Kisame's jutsu now had the conditions for release.
"Water Style: A Thousand Feeding Sharks!"
Knowing the guy in front of him wasn't the ordinary genin he'd expected, and that he shouldn't waste more time, he simply activated his ultimate technique.
Massive amounts of chakra poured out, countless large sharks formed from chakra mixed with water quickly swam toward Naruto. At the same time, Kisame mixed among them, waiting for a chance to ambush.
"Fishman Karate: Ocean Current Shoulder Throw—Cross Whirlpool!"
You changed the terrain, but isn't that also strengthening me?
Naruto directly "gripped" the water flow with both hands, then bent down into a throwing posture.
The invisible water flow was instantly driven, then gathered more and more under some force.
Though they were in water, the gathered water flow appeared much deeper in color.
The liquid twisted into "one rope" and finally became a giant cross-shaped torrent, sweeping toward the dense school of sharks.
One could only say Teacher Uzumaki was too comprehensive. Over the years at sea, besides drinking and making friends, he had been learning from various schools.
For Fishman Karate, this environment full of water, like the deep sea, was perfect.
Although one side was chakra-mixed water and the other was ordinary water flow, with sufficient massive scale enhancement, it was hard to say which had the advantage.
The few water sharks swimming in front initially managed to resist for a while, but soon turned back into chakra under the endless water flow impact.
The remaining water sharks met similar fates.
The school of fish didn't break through the current. Instead, they were completely annihilated.
Fortunately, Kisame escaped from the shark school in time, avoiding being swept away by that current.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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