"Now there's no one getting in the way. You were having quite a lot of fun earlier!"
Takumi tilted his neck, stretched his limbs, and bared the sharp teeth at the corner of his mouth.
"Next, it's my turn to counterattack."
Whoosh!!!
There was no time to react. Takumi vanished from his spot, leaving only a white ripple trail marking his path.
'This speed is several times faster than mine!'
Kisame realized this with shock. 'Is that why he could dodge my attacks before?'
His mind raced as he swiftly tried to dodge to the side.
But it was too late.
Swish!
A deep gash appeared on Kisame's side. Luckily, Takumi was just greeting him and didn't use full force.
Then, Takumi, like an intercontinental missile, turned a corner and continued charging towards Kisame.
The speed was still incredibly fast.
He didn't need to slow down when turning.
This time, he opened his sharp maw, instantly swept past Kisame's side, and bit off a huge chunk of flesh!
Ptooey!
Takumi spat out the flesh in his mouth, then without a word, continued the attack.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Constant dashing!
Constantly inflicting wounds on Kisame!
In just a few short seconds, Kisame was already covered in wounds.
And this was only because Samehada had been continuously replenishing Kisame's Chakra to heal his injuries.
Otherwise, he might have died right there.
The observing Akatsuki's members outside only saw white water ripples spread throughout the entire water sphere!
By the time they realized what was happening, Kisame was already bleeding all over!
'I can't keep fighting!'
Kisame made an immediate decision and used a summoning Ninjutsu. "Water Release: A Thousand Feeding Sharks!"
Instantly, a large number of sharks were summoned.
But in this scalding water prison, these sharks immediately showed signs of heatstroke, swimming crooked and twisted, completely unable to mount an effective attack.
But this was exactly what Kisame needed.
He just wanted these sharks to block Takumi's line of sight, so he could escape smoothly!
However, the next second.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Like a series of bursting balloons, the sharks Kisame summoned were instantly pierced through as if by bullets!
'This bastard! What kind of speed is this?!'
In that instant, Kisame felt deep fear!
This was the first time in so many years he felt fear in his underwater domain!
In the past, once he dragged an enemy into the water, it was like dealing with a prisoner in his own kingdom… calm and completely at ease.
But today, the one being executed was him!
He was about to be killed inside the water prison!
"Almighty Push!"
At this critical moment, Pain on the side immediately used the Rinnegan's power to blast the entire water sphere apart and pull Kisame over!
Such a large water sphere suddenly exploding would leave even Takumi, with his excellent perception, momentarily disoriented.
Moreover, changing from merman form back to human form also required some time, creating an escape opportunity.
"Failed again."
Pain said blankly. "I didn't expect Takumi to still be hiding such an ability. Let's go back and discuss countermeasures!"
"What a pity. I thought we found a good method, but he still won," Sasori shook his head and turned to leave.
Since they knew they couldn't win, there was no point in lingering.
The others also left one after another.
Only Deidara was triumphant and arrogant.
"This is my respected Takumi-senpai! How could you kill him so easily!"
"Shut up!"
Kakuzu snorted coldly, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes.
"Alright, stop arguing. Arguing is just a waste of time," Konan said coldly. "Rather than wasting time arguing, think about how to defeat Takumi."
"Tch!"
Deidara pouted, then once again cast a reverent glance at the distant Takumi before reluctantly turning and leaving, looking back three times with each step.
…
On Takumi's side.
As Kisame escaped, the giant water prison also dissipated.
The summoned sharks turned into white smoke and disappeared one after another.
If they didn't leave now, they wouldn't be able to leave at all.
They'd all become boiled shark.
"Phew..."
He canceled the transformation.
'This crisis was also perfectly resolved.'
"Takumi-kun!"
Sakura's voice had just reached Takumi's ears when she rushed over and tightly hugged him.
"Phew, good, you're okay."
Sasuke also hurried over. Seeing Takumi completely unharmed, he couldn't help but sigh in relief.
He looked at Takumi, his gaze burning.
'You are my recognized rival. You absolutely cannot lose to anyone other than me.'
"Takumi, I-I thought you..." Sakura looked up worriedly, glistening tears at the corner of her eyes showing her earlier concern.
"Relax, I'm fine." Takumi gently rubbed the top of her head, then looked up at the other young shinobi who had arrived. "The enemy has been repelled. Let's head back to avoid being ambushed again."
"Okay."
Everyone nodded.
Then, everyone returned one after another.
On the way, Takumi also helped heal Sasuke's broken hand injury.
Under his Medical Ninjutsu, Sasuke's injury quickly healed. Although it was still inconvenient to exert force in the short term, he could at least move it now.
As soon as Takumi and the others returned to the village, an Anbu approached.
Kisame's giant water prison could be seen from far away, so the village naturally noticed it.
If Takumi hadn't resolved it quickly enough, Hiruzen would have charged over with his men.
Takumi was his treasure, he absolutely couldn't let anything happen to him.
"You guys find a place first," Takumi said, turning to Sakura and the others.
"Huh?"
Everyone was puzzled. Find what place?
"Aren't we celebrating?"
Takumi said with a smile. "We just experienced a thrilling battle. That's worth celebrating, right?"
"Once you find a spot, send someone to get me. I'll go see Hokage-sama first."
"Yay! I want to eat Ichiraku..."
Thump!
Sakura punched Naruto away, then said to Takumi with a smile, "Don't worry, we'll definitely find a good place."
"That's right. With me here, the food will definitely be from the best place," Choji patted his big belly and assured.
"Then I'll look forward to it."
Takumi smiled slightly, then looked at the Anbu. "Please lead the way."
Whoosh!
The sound of cutting through air passed by.
Takumi and the Anbu instantly vanished.