The other Sand ninja, seeing the situation, panicked. He unleashed a Katon (Fire Release) technique—but he wasn't as fast as Kisame.
The blue-skinned warrior hurled Samehada (Shark Skin) forward, the blade spinning in a curving arc. While he dodged the flames and lunged again toward the three Sand shinobi, Samehada looped around from behind like a hammer strike aimed straight for the fire-style user.
A hit would mean certain death.
Fortunately, Chiyo reacted instantly. Chakra threads shot from her hands, coiling around the fire-style ninja. With one sharp pull, she yanked him aside—Samehada swept past, grazing his cloak. He lived by inches.
The battle raged on. Kisame's cold eyes flicked repeatedly toward a tree nearby.
Perched upon the trunk sat a young man, poorly dressed yet unmistakably a shinobi.
That man—Shigeo—wore an expression of amused detachment, merely watching.
At the same time, a small sprout-like shape—Zetsu—emerged on another tree, its gaze locked on the scene, then turned toward the youth across the field.
Uchiha Itachi's eyes also settled on Shigeo. There was no mistaking it—those deep blue eyes, that faint, almost mocking smile, and the quiet lethality hidden behind his calm posture.
Three gazes—Kisame's, Zetsu's, and Itachi's—fell upon Shigeo.
Even Chiyo found herself glancing at him.
Her distraction cost them. One Sand ninja screamed, collapsing in blood.
He had attacked when Kisame turned his head toward Shigeo—but the Akatsuki swordsman had countered instantly, flooding the area with water and slamming the man aside with brute force.
"Such enormous chakra…" someone gasped.
Indeed. To create such a massive Suiton (Water Release) field in a desert without rivers—only a man with monstrous chakra could do that.
None of them knew that these two—Kisame and Itachi—weren't the real bodies at all.
They were remote projections created through the Shōten no Jutsu (Body Double Technique), using thirty percent of their original chakra to fight through sacrificed corpses.
So even this water technique was powered by only a fraction of Kisame's true strength.
No wonder people called him "the tailless Tailed Beast."
"Tsuchi no Naka Senkō (Underground Submersion)!" Kisame's deep voice echoed, and then—he vanished underground.
"Not good! The enemy's gone—trackers, full scan!" Baki barked orders as the Sand ninja scattered.
At that moment, among the four surrounding Itachi, one suddenly drew his kunai—and plunged it into his own heart, dying instantly.
He had tried to exploit a gap to strike, but one glance from Itachi was enough. That was the power of the Sharingan.
"Don't look at his eyes!" Chiyo shouted, leaping atop a boulder. "He's from the Uchiha clan! Avoid his gaze or you'll fall to his genjutsu!"
"Yes!" the others turned away in fear, none daring to meet Itachi's gaze.
"But if we can't look at him, how do we fight?" one asked nervously.
Two enemies stood before them—one calm and still, killing without lifting a finger; the other, a monster with chakra like an ocean who had already vanished underground.
How could they win?
"Why isn't he affected?" another Sand shinobi pointed suddenly—to Shigeo.
He still sat on his tree branch, calmly watching Itachi face-to-face, completely untouched by genjutsu.
Chiyo followed the pointing hand. Indeed, Shigeo wasn't averting his eyes. He was staring directly at the Sharingan—and then, realizing their whispers, turned his head toward them instead.
In that instant, a wail erupted. From below, the ground exploded as Kisame burst forth, sweeping everyone aside.
Bodies flew, and among them was Gaara's teacher—Baki.
His fury burned. The trackers had pinpointed Kisame's location, but the sharkman moved too fast. Before anyone could react, he had struck.
"Gaara's in that cave! We need to move now!" Temari shouted, her brow furrowed. She looked toward the valley below, eyes flashing with urgency.
"Go! Just don't look into his eyes!"
She whipped open her iron fan, conjuring a storm of dust and leaves to obscure vision, and charged toward the opposite side of the ravine.
She refused to be bogged down by this fight. She would take another route, reach the cave, and rescue Gaara herself.
But compared to Itachi's speed, she was far too slow.
Before she could reach the other side, he was there—blocking her path.
Temari kept Chiyo's warning in mind and didn't meet his gaze. She backstepped, swinging her iron fan again to force him back.
Chiyo and another Sand ninja rushed in, stepping between them.
The clash of steel rang out—clang, clang, clang—Temari's eyes went wide. Behind her, the black-and-red-cloaked man now stood silently.
If Chiyo and that other shinobi hadn't arrived in time, she'd already be dead.
"Don't look at his eyes!" Chiyo yelled again.
But it was too late. Temari had glimpsed them.
Her vision twisted—an illusion took her.
The desert stretched before her, endless. Blood soaked the sands. Sunagakure lay in ruins.
No matter how she screamed or searched, no one answered.
She was utterly alone beneath the choking yellow sky.
Why live, when the world itself had died?
She raised her kunai—and drove it toward her chest.
"Temari!" Chiyo bit down hard, lunged, and kicked her wrist aside. Injecting chakra through her palm, she broke the illusion.
Temari gasped, staring at the fallen kunai in horror. She had almost killed herself.
This wasn't even Mangekyō Sharingan.
If it had been, breaking it would take days—and even a shinobi like Kakashi couldn't escape unscathed.
How could ordinary people?
From his tree, Shigeo watched, expression unreadable, eyes fixed on Itachi.
Overusing the Mangekyō Sharingan damaged vision and body alike. He wondered how Itachi's health was holding up.
Had he been using the restorative blood Shigeo had once given him?
"Temari, are you alright?" Chiyo asked quickly.
Temari steadied herself, forcing a smile. "I'm fine, baa-sama."
(End of Chapter)
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