Obito had thought Ryoma was just playing a prank on him. But the sight of the terrifying Kisame Hoshigaki made his heart seize up—he had no desire to fight that monster!
Before Obito could protest further, Ryoma retreated several meters, deliberately leaving Obito in front.
"Hahaha, how amusing," Kisame sneered, baring his sharp teeth. "Throwing the rookie out first? I'll kill every last one of you, cut off your legs, and feed you to the sharks!"
Ryoma smiled calmly. "Feed the sharks, hmm? Keep feeding them long enough, and one day, you'll be the one swallowed."
"Looking for death!" Kisame roared as his chakra flared violently.
Kakashi's eyes widened. He immediately raised his kunai, preparing to strike.
Kisame swung his great sword, Samehada, cleaving through Kakashi's kunai with ease before bringing the massive blade down toward Obito.
"Ugh!"
Obito screamed and fell back, narrowly avoiding being split in two. It wasn't skill or luck that saved him—vines erupted from the ground beneath Kisame's feet, forcing him to pause for just an instant. That small hesitation was enough for Obito to escape with nothing more than a shallow graze across his scalp.
The problem was, the graze took his hair with it. Obito's head was now bald on top.
Ryoma couldn't help but laugh.
Obito's eyes filled with tears. He wasn't going to save me… He really wasn't going to save me… Terror and betrayal gripped him.
Kakashi cursed under his breath. "Obito! Do something already!"
Kisame laughed, mockery dripping from his voice. "Crying won't save you, brat! Die here! Blame your useless sensei for abandoning you!"
Cornered and desperate, Obito's Sharingan spun. He raised his kunai and, to everyone's surprise, managed to block Samehada's crushing strike.
At that same moment, Ryoma appeared in front of Kisame, intercepting the strike. But the sheer momentum of the blow carried through.
Boom!
Obito was hurled across the ground, crashing hard. His arm went numb instantly.
"Obito," Ryoma called out with a small smile, "that was good. You blocked a jonin's strike. You should be proud."
"Teacher…?" Obito muttered weakly. He looked forward again, only to see another Ryoma already clashing with Kisame.
"A clone?!"
"Obito, let me heal you!" Rin rushed to his side, her hands glowing with green chakra as she pressed them to his injured arm. A warm current seeped into him, dulling the pain.
Obito stared at her delicate face in a daze. His heart pounded, and wild fantasies filled his mind—becoming Hokage, marrying Rin, being admired. It was just the foolish daydream of a lovestruck boy, but it burned bright all the same.
"Done!" Rin pouted and turned to Ryoma. "Sensei, wasn't that too reckless? Obito's arm was almost destroyed!"
Hearing Rin's concern for him, Obito's cheeks burned hot.
Ryoma chuckled. "It wasn't reckless. This is how one grows."
On the battlefield, Kisame's scalp prickled. A clone was pressuring him this much?
Furious, he began weaving signs, preparing to unleash his Water Style: Exploding Water Colliding Wave, intending to flood the entire battlefield.
But Ryoma suddenly leapt back. "Kakashi, your turn. This is the perfect chance to test your growth."
Kisame's expression twisted. He's treating me like a training dummy for these brats?!
Kakashi nodded. "Yes, sensei. I'll try my newest jutsu!"
He gripped his short sword tightly, lightning chakra crackling violently around it. A piercing screech filled the air, like a thousand birds crying at once.
Ryoma's eyes lit up. "Chidori…? So young, and he's already created such a technique."
Kisame chuckled darkly. "Interesting." In a blur, he stepped forward and kicked Kakashi straight into the dirt.
Kakashi coughed blood, his new jutsu cut short before it could even land.
Ryoma grimaced. "Too early for him… The technique takes too long to charge."
"Kakashi!" Rin rushed over, healing him. Meanwhile, Obito, refusing to freeze again, hurled shuriken and kunai at Kisame, forcing him to stay on guard.
Ryoma watched the three with a satisfied nod. His training had paid off—none of them were panicking anymore. They were still weak, but they were fighting.
The only comical sight was Obito's freshly bald scalp.
Tears welled up in Obito's eyes as he attacked. He had just seen himself in Rin's mirror. Hideous… She won't like me anymore…
"Ughhh!" he cried, shuriken flying with desperation.
Kisame Hoshigaki's face twisted with rage.
"Water Style: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
The moment his voice fell, torrents of water spewed from his mouth, surging out in all directions. The woodland was instantly drowned beneath a massive flood, until a vast lake had formed where the forest once stood.
In the blink of an eye, everyone found themselves trapped inside Kisame's artificial sea, as if they were caught in a colossal water prison with no escape.
Obito, Rin, and Kakashi froze in shock. Their eyes all turned toward Ryoma. They had never experienced anything like this before.
Even Ryoma was mildly surprised. So Kisame was already this strong at this point in time…?
Kisame grinned wickedly, his jagged teeth flashing. "It's over for you now. This is my battlefield, a sea where only I reign supreme! Struggle all you want—you'll still sink into the depths!"
"Water Style: Water Shark Bullet Technique!"
With a roar, Kisame molded his chakra into massive water sharks that tore through the lake and charged toward Team Minato.
"Wood Style: Wood Locking Wall!"
Ryoma's hands flew through seals, and wooden pillars erupted from the ground, curving into an arching wall that shielded himself and the three genin.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The water sharks slammed into the wooden barrier, exploding in violent bursts, but the wall held strong.
Kisame only laughed. He knew he had the advantage here. "Pointless! As long as there's water, my chakra sharks are endless. Your flimsy wooden wall won't last forever!"
Rin's face paled. "Sensei, he's right! Those sharks will keep coming as long as there's water for him to use!"
Obito's Sharingan spun, his expression grave. "Teacher… his chakra isn't decreasing at all. It's increasing."
Kakashi shot Ryoma a helpless look. "Sensei… this isn't the time to keep holding back."
But Ryoma shook his head calmly. "I'm not holding back. I was simply thinking of the best way to counter his Exploding Water Colliding Wave."
His hands blurred again. "Wood Style: Tree World!"
The ground trembled violently as cracks split across the earth like a spider's web. Saplings sprouted from every fissure, shooting upward and thickening into towering trees at a terrifying speed. Within moments, the battlefield had transformed into a dense, living forest.
The massive trunks twisted and coiled, their branches stretching out like serpents, alive with power.
Kisame's eyes bulged in shock. The vast lake he had created instantly drained into the ground, sucked dry by the roots of Ryoma's Wood Style. His sea vanished before his very eyes.
"What… what the hell is this?!" Kisame's voice cracked in disbelief.
Wood Style…?!
Panic surged through him. There was no longer any thought of fighting.
"When did Konoha produce a monster like this?!"
His first instinct was the only one left to him—escape.
I can't win against this man!
...
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