Rain and fog fused into one continuous veil.
Pinned beneath Konome Taketori's blade, Kisame Hoshigaki lay sprawled in the water, his body riddled with punctures from serrated spines. Blood streamed freely. The deep-blue chakra core that had once pulsed with restless vigor was now dull and lifeless, devoured until it barely glimmered.
"Ngk, cough cough…"
He fought to push himself up, arms trembling, but the crushing force on his back pressed him flat against the surface. He could not move an inch.
"Huff… Samehada… even you betrayed me!"
Kisame's roar was thick with bitter unwillingness. If Samehada hadn't turned on him, how could he have been taken so easily? He hadn't even had the chance to use his trump card, Samehada Fusion.
Samehada, currently indulging itself as it drank chakra, seemed to catch Kisame's emotion. The massive mouth biting into his shoulder loosened slightly, serrated teeth pulling free with a wet rip, streaked with blood.
"Samehada…"
Hope flickered in Kisame's eyes. His nearly dried-up chakra core sparked again. If Samehada changed its mind, he could still fight.
"Samehada!"
Konome Taketori retracted her tailed beast cloak and tightened her grip on the handle, continuing to feed Samehada chakra without pause.
"Mmnh…"
That delicious violet power flowed into its body. Samehada visibly relaxed, its spines stretching out, then curling in again like a little hedgehog going defensive, only to unfurl the moment it smelled food.
"Gah!"
Kisame screamed. The light in his chakra core dimmed again.
Samehada's jagged teeth clamped down once more, biting deeper, harder, as if proving loyalty to its new master.
"What a fine blade," Orochimaru said, crouching on the water as he studied the living weapon with undisguised delight.
"Can we trade?"
"You tell me."
Konome Taketori rolled her eyes.
Lightning Release chakra mode, the Three-Tails' seal-less Water Style, and the tailed beast cloak were all chakra-hungry monsters. And her greatest weakness was that she simply didn't have the absurd reserves of true chakra freaks.
Samehada's chakra-absorbing ability was, to her, like giving wings to a tiger.
Unless someone handed her Rinnegan eyes, there was no chance she would trade.
"A pity," Orochimaru sighed, shaking his head as he stopped fantasizing. Then he glanced at Kisame beneath her blade.
"This shark man has excellent physical qualities and strong chakra. He's very suitable for experiments…"
"Take him."
Hearing the implication, Konome Taketori lifted Samehada and casually handed Kisame over to Orochimaru.
In that fight, Orochimaru had done the heavier lifting. She had taken the most valuable prize, Samehada, so letting Orochimaru "drink some soup" wasn't a problem.
They would be dealing with each other for a long time. There was no need to clutch every benefit to her chest.
And Kisame's ability was completely countered by Samehada. Even if Orochimaru made a mistake and let him escape later, Kisame would pose no threat to her at all.
Kisame lay in the water, listening as they decided his fate like they were carving up a pig. Despair filled his eyes.
"Straightforward. Ugh."
Orochimaru laughed in his low, magnetic way, then opened his mouth and vomited out a sticky scroll.
With Samehada on her shoulder, Konome Taketori frowned and took half a step back.
That method of "storage" was genuinely nauseating.
Seeing her recoil in clear disgust, Orochimaru didn't care. He dunked the scroll in the water, rinsed it, then tossed it to her.
"Implant…"
Halfway through, he abruptly paused and flicked a glance at Kisame, who still had his "ears" pricked up. His voice turned vague.
"You helped me stall those two. The deal was completed perfectly. The right arm is sealed inside. We didn't even trade for an eye this time. That old bastard Danzo really got off cheap."
He's actually keeping his word?
Konome Taketori accepted the dripping scroll, surprised. She broke the seal to confirm, and only after she verified it truly was the arm did she put it away.
Orochimaru's eyes glinted, but he said nothing about her distrust.
With the combat power she'd shown, she had the right to be a little offensive.
His hands flew through seals.
Five different chakra flames ignited on the fingertips of Orochimaru's right hand.
"Five Elements Seal!"
He slammed his palm onto Kisame's chest.
Hiss!
It was like a red-hot brand pressed against flesh. Kisame let out a strangled grunt. White steam rose around the imprint. When Orochimaru pulled away, five oval symbols were clearly burned into Kisame's blue skin.
Konome Taketori, who had never stopped guarding against Kisame, watched as his chakra was locked tightly inside his core. It slammed and surged, but could not break free from the Five Elements Seal.
She nodded, stepped back two paces, and left Kisame to Orochimaru.
Still not satisfied, Orochimaru stretched his neck and bit into Kisame's shoulder. The curse-seal toxin that could steal a person's ability to move spread rapidly through Kisame's body.
For an "evil scientist" who supposedly loved courting death, Orochimaru was unbelievably steady and careful.
That battlefield fell silent.
Die had been tracking Konome Taketori's side the whole time. Seeing Kisame in such a miserable state, the suffocating pressure from Uchiha Itachi eased slightly.
"Night Ferry's side has already taken him down."
"So fast? As expected of one of the Three Sannin," Arashi said in disbelief. The image of that enormous, tsunami-summoning power was still vivid in his mind. And yet it had ended this quickly.
"No," Die said. "It was Night Ferry who took him down."
Arashi and Iwaguma both snapped their heads around. Even Itachi and Aburame Ryoma, who had been maintaining their tense "standoff," were drawn in.
Kisame's strength was beyond argument. The massive lake under their feet was proof of it. He was clearly a top-tier powerhouse who could clash with a village's Kage.
If Konome Taketori could defeat someone like that, then she now had combat power comparable to Danzo, maybe even the Third Hokage himself.
"She's getting more and more ridiculous," Arashi rasped.
Not Orochimaru's magnetic rasp, but the dry, sand-choked sound of someone who'd been stranded in a desert too long. After witnessing Kisame's disaster-level power, remembering he'd fought Konome Taketori twice before made cold fear creep up his spine.
Good thing she's my teammate…
In that very moment, Itachi formed hand seals inside his sleeve and, without warning, spat out a raging blaze.
Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!
Even startled, Ryoma's group never once took their eyes off Itachi. They reacted instantly, scattering to avoid the ambush.
Then they realized the fireball, large as a house, wasn't aimed at them at all.
Whoosh!
The flames incinerated the kikaichu swarming the sky. They crackled as they fell from above, and the tightly wrapped insect screen instantly tore open into a huge gap.
Itachi's crimson Mangekyo met Ryoma's gaze for a heartbeat. Then he lowered his body, followed behind the fireball, and shot out through the opening.
On this side.
Konome Taketori stood with Samehada on her shoulder as Orochimaru manipulated bandages, wrapping Kisame into a cocoon like Samehada itself. A single white character slowly appeared at the center of the bandages.
Seal.
He really was too steady.
Whoosh!
A massive oval fire projectile suddenly flew in from the distance.
The blaze was so fierce it evaporated the rain. Mist spiraled up in wisps. Even from far away, the heat was suffocating.
Such savage nature transformation.
So this is Uchiha Fire Style?
Having just finished sealing his one piece of loot, Orochimaru felt the scorching approach.
He slapped a hand onto the water.
Water Style: Water Formation Wall!
Like Konome Taketori, Orochimaru was proficient in all five chakra natures, and what he was best at was elemental countering.
A towering wall of water surged up.
With the environment on his side, Water Formation Wall was massively boosted. The magnificent water wall collided with the flames. The fire flared in one last burst, then was smothered under the downpour until it vanished.
Hiss…
Scalding steam spread everywhere.
Orochimaru licked his lips. The sudden rise in heat disrupted his infrared sensing, and with the fog boiling up around him, his vision turned into a blur.
"Kah, kah, kah!"
Countless crows swirled above him, wings beating as they converged, forming the silhouette of a man in a black cloak patterned with red clouds.
Crimson Mangekyo looked down with contempt.
Orochimaru knew the enemy was overhead, yet he didn't dare raise his head. He watched Itachi's movements through the warped reflection in the water, chakra roaring through his body.
Itachi gave him no time at all. The opening strike was lethal.
His right eye widened, the pupil locking onto Orochimaru's head. Blood vessels crawled outward across the eyeball.
Amaterasu!
"GRAAAH!"
Black flames ignited on Orochimaru's scalp without warning. The burning pain made him scream as he plunged headfirst into the lake.
Drip.
Blood tears fell into the water. Itachi shut his aching right eye, grabbed the bandage-wrapped Kisame, and withdrew at speed.
Boom!
A monstrous "fish" slammed into the spot where they had stood a moment ago. The lake surface buckled under several tons of force, the water level dropping sharply for an instant.
Then a boundless wave exploded outward.
Splash!
Samehada shrank back to Konome Taketori's feet, disgorging a mouthful of clear water in apparent disgust.
Step, step, step.
Aburame Ryoma arrived with Iwaguma's trio, splashing across the water.
They weren't even slow.
The exchange between Kage-level fighters was too fast. Three or four seconds, at most. Their support was already extremely timely.
Konome Taketori and Ryoma's group converged.
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine."
Konome Taketori nodded, then glanced at Ryoma with surprise.
Above his head, emotions were flickering: concern, friendliness.
That wooden man who was usually almost emotionless looked… strangely normal now.
His favorability had even increased for no obvious reason.
But with the enemy still nearby, there was no time to dig into Ryoma's change. Konome Taketori guarded Samehada behind her and looked toward Itachi, who was removing Kisame's bandages in the distance.
She waited quietly for him to undo the seal.
Knowing Itachi was an infiltrator, she didn't want to keep fighting. The gains from this mission were already too rich.
Thunderstone.
Ink Thunder Crystal.
The Black Lightning secret technique.
Samehada.
Danzo's right arm.
She was carrying too many treasures. If her shadow clone got blown apart by accident, she would drop a whole pile of loot onto the ground.
That loss would be unbearable.
Rain fell in sheets.
Itachi's right eye remained shut. Blood washed down his pale face, mixed with rain. He pressed both hands to Kisame's body.
The bandages vanished one by one.
"Itachi… you should just run," Kisame said with a bitter smile.
The Five Elements Seal and curse-seal toxin were still working inside him. He couldn't move at all.
And even if he returned to full strength, facing a jinchuriki holding Samehada, he was useless. Worse, he would become a walking chakra battery for the enemy.
"Stop talking."
Even Itachi found Kisame's condition troublesome. He crouched, hoisted Kisame onto his back, and used the remaining bandages to strap him down tightly.
Kisame's gaze turned complicated. He lay against Itachi's back and fell silent.
On the other side.
"Pfft!"
Orochimaru burst up from beneath the surface, body completely intact. He stared at Itachi's reflection in the water, golden eyes so thick with killing intent it was nearly tangible.
That black flame held Yin Release power. It burned even on water and could not be extinguished.
If not for the substitution technique Orochimaru had developed, he would have been instantly killed again.
So this was the Mangekyo's power.
A genjutsu space that felt like reality.
An inextinguishable Yin Release fire.
Being "one-shot" again and again by Itachi only drove Orochimaru's craving for the Sharingan to its peak.
He didn't notice the space behind him warping.
"Watch out!"
Die, who had been sending ripple-like chakra to monitor everything, shouted the warning.
But it was still too late.
Silently, a hand reached through space and grabbed Orochimaru's right shoulder. A bizarre vortex of distortion formed where the palm touched, spreading as it twisted across his body.
At the center of the vortex, Orochimaru's eyes widened. His body began to spiral and warp, yet there was no pain.
Space-time ninjutsu?
Orochimaru opened his mouth to cry out, but no sound came. Even his head was twisting, deforming inside that vortex of space.
Rip!
Two pale hands thrust out from his own mouth.
Covered in slime, Orochimaru tore free of the warped "shell" like shedding a skin and fled in terror from the distortion.
Whoosh.
The discarded outer layer twisted and vanished. In its place stood a mysterious shinobi with loose hair, wearing an orange one-eyed mask patterned with swirling lines. His body flickered into existence, stepping across the water.
Splash splash splash!
The rain passed straight through him, striking the water below and leaving countless ripples, as if he were only a false shadow.
Uchiha Madara.
Mister Madara.
Itachi and Kisame's hearts both slowed by half a beat.
Itachi was Konoha's undercover agent and had just met with Aburame Ryoma to pass Akatsuki intelligence. With the true mastermind arriving, he couldn't help feeling guilty.
Kisame was Madara's plant inside Akatsuki. He had failed the mission to secretly reclaim the Six Paths treasure, and he'd even lost Samehada. Compared to Itachi, he had even less confidence.
Both had once served in ANBU and had undergone specialized training. Their mental discipline was elite.
They controlled their heartbeats and expressions, not letting a single drop slip.
Seeing the tension points blazing above everyone's heads, Konome Taketori, the one who knew the most, finally exhaled.
She gripped Samehada so tightly her knuckles whitened.
She had just wanted to blow up a mine, go home, and get Sharingan eyes to treat an illness.
So what exactly is this turning into?
Looking at the mountaintop of Raikōzan, now drowned under floodwater, with four or five Kage-level monsters gathered in one place…
Even someone as composed as Konome Taketori couldn't help wanting to swear.
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