Chapter 377: The Defeat of Kisame Hoshigaki
"Hiro! Buy me some time!"
Jiraiya's roar tore through the torrential rain. His wooden geta slammed violently against the churning water surface, kicking up massive sprays as he shot backward at breakneck speed. His hands were locked together in a rigid, unwavering seal, desperately pulling in the erratic natural energy of the battlefield. Sage Mode was an absolute necessity against these monsters, but the agonizingly slow pre-activation sequence was a fatal flaw.
"Trying to run?" Kisame Hoshigaki bared his jagged, shark-like teeth in a savage grin. "Playing such pathetic tricks right in front of me... aren't you looking down on the Monster of the Hidden Mist just a bit too much?"
Gripping the massive, bandage-wrapped Samehada with a single hand, Kisame kicked off the water, lunging after the retreating Sannin like a predator smelling blood.
"Don't even think about it!"
A colossal shadow eclipsed the sky, plunging the battlefield into sudden darkness. Gamahiro plummeted from the heavens, his massive bulk crashing directly into Kisame's warpath. The giant teal toad drew his colossal twin swords in a flash of cold steel, bringing the crushing weight of both blades down toward Kisame's skull.
Sparks erupted in a blinding shower as metal ground against scales.
Kisame's forward momentum halted instantly. He hoisted Samehada horizontally, bracing against the titanic impact. The sheer kinetic force transferred down through his arms, shattering the surface tension of the water beneath his feet and creating a massive crater in the lake.
"Tch. Annoying beast!"
Kisame spat, the muscles in his thick arms bulging to the point of tearing. With a guttural roar, he unleashed a sudden, explosive burst of raw physical strength, violently shoving the colossal toad back despite the massive size difference.
"Juzo! Go kill Jiraiya!" Kisame barked over the roaring waves. "He is accumulating chakra! Whatever jutsu he is preparing, it is dangerous!"
"I know that! Don't order me around!"
Biwa Juzo's lean figure darted out from the flank, moving with the eerie silence of a ghost. Bypassing the cumbersome bulk of Gamahiro entirely, the former Seven Ninja Swordsman locked his murderous gaze onto the retreating Jiraiya.
"Old man, leave your life right here!"
Jiraiya ground his wooden sandals against the water, launching himself high into the air to evade the incoming strike.
Not ready yet? he cursed inwardly.
He gritted his teeth, thick veins throbbing at his temples. The distinctive red pigmentation of his Sage markings had only partially manifested around his eyes. The chaotic flow of the battlefield was making the accumulation of natural energy far slower than he had calculated.
"Let's see how many times you can dodge!" Biwa Juzo sneered, dragging the massive Kubikiribocho behind him as he launched himself skyward in pursuit.
Below them, Kisame had completely broken free from Gamahiro's interference. His hands blurred through a rapid sequence of single-handed seals before he slammed his palm against the churning water.
"Water Release: Water Shark Bullet Technique!"
Simultaneously, the bandages wrapping Samehada shredded apart. The sentient sword seemed to awaken, opening its terrifying, jagged maw and letting out a high-pitched, excited shriek as it tasted the dense chakra in the air.
Three massive water sharks, condensed from highly pressurized chakra, tore through the lake's surface. They launched into the air, their jaws snapping wildly as they encircled Jiraiya in a flawless triangular formation.
With the lethal edge of the Kubikiribocho closing in from the front and the Water Shark Bullets cutting off his rear, it was an absolute death trap.
Jiraiya's eyes snapped open, a cold glint of absolute determination piercing through the chaos.
It was all or nothing.
Instead of retreating further, he violently shifted his center of gravity, diving directly toward the descending blade of Biwa Juzo. Just as the heavy iron of the Kubikiribocho was about to cleave him in two, Jiraiya's body twisted at an impossible, bone-straining angle.
It was an incomplete application of Frog Kata. The movement was incredibly awkward, utterly devoid of grace, yet horrifyingly effective.
He slipped right through the blind spot of the executioner's swing. In the same breath, his long, spiky white hair whipped out like a steel lash, snapping viciously against Juzo's exposed wrist.
Juzo hissed in pain, his grip faltering and his momentum slowing by a mere fraction of a second.
That half-beat was all the legendary Sannin needed. Jiraiya contorted his body, narrowly slipping past the snapping jaws of the Water Shark Bullets.
The airborne sharks collided, detonating in a massive explosion of pressurized water that sent waves surging toward the heavens. Though Jiraiya had evaded the lethal core of the blast, the concussive shockwave slammed into his back, sending him tumbling through the air before he barely managed to stabilize his footing on the water's surface.
But the delay had served its purpose. The chaotic natural energy swirling around him finally settled into a perfect, harmonious balance.
Here it comes.
Jiraiya's eyes snapped open, the horizontal slit pupils of a toad now burning with ancient power. Thick red markings framed his face. Resting firmly on his left and right shoulders were two diminutive, elderly toads, one male, one female.
Fukasaku and Shima. The Two Great Sage Toads of Mount Myoboku.
Sage Mode, fully activated.
"I apologize for the trouble, you two," Jiraiya said, his voice now carrying a deep, resonant echo.
He stomped his foot.
The water beneath him compressed so violently it acted like solid bedrock, instantly cratering under the sheer force of his chakra. His ensuing burst of speed was so explosive that even Kisame's predatory eyes lost track of him for a split second.
"Sage Art: Goemon!"
Jiraiya inhaled deeply, spewing forth a massive tidal wave of highly combustible toad oil. From his right shoulder, Fukasaku unleashed a piercing torrent of Wind Release. From his left, Shima exhaled a devastating blast of Fire Release.
Wind, fire, and oil.
The three distinct elemental natures fused flawlessly in mid-air, amplifying each other in a terrifying chain reaction. The resulting sea of white-hot flames blanketed the battlefield. The ambient temperature spiked to such apocalyptic levels that the torrential rain vaporized into steam long before it could even touch the fire.
"Water Release: Great Water Shark Bullet Technique!"
Kisame roared, thrusting his hands forward. A titanic shark, dwarfing the previous ones, erupted from the lake and crashed headlong into the approaching inferno.
But it was utterly futile.
In the span of a single heartbeat, the Great Water Shark Bullet was flash-boiled, completely incinerated by the scorching, oil-fueled hellfire until nothing but steam remained. The sea of flames roared forward, an unstoppable tsunami of heat.
Kisame and Biwa Juzo had absolutely no avenue for escape.
Juzo let out a blood-curdling scream of agony. The legendary Kubikiribocho, forged from blood-iron, began to glow a blinding cherry-red, its edges softening under the catastrophic heat. The sheer thermal shockwave blasted the swordsman backward, the skin across his arms and torso instantly blistering and festering into charred ruin.
"It is over," Jiraiya muttered coldly.
Biwa Juzo collapsed onto the boiling water, half of his body suffering from severe, third-degree burns. The superheated Kubikiribocho slipped from his ruined fingers, hissing violently as it sank beneath the surface.
A raspy, wet chuckle echoed from the steam.
"Interesting... This is truly interesting!"
Kisame dragged himself upright, his Akatsuki cloak singed and smoking. "So this is the true strength of Konoha's legendary Sannin? I must admit, I am impressed. But killing me, Kisame Hoshigaki, will not be that easy!"
Without a second of hesitation, Kisame grabbed the hilt of Samehada and violently plunged the spiked, sentient blade directly into his own chest.
Samehada writhed frantically, its fleshy spikes digging deep into Kisame's flesh as it began to literally fuse with its master. Kisame's body swelled grotesquely. His skin darkened into a tough, shark-like hide, a massive dorsal fin tore through the back of his cloak, and a thick, powerful tail sprouted from his spine.
The half-fishman form was complete.
"Come on!" Kisame roared, his voice now a distorted, guttural growl. "Within the water, I am an invincible god!"
He slammed his webbed hands together.
"Water Release: Water Prison Shark Dance Technique!"
The surrounding lake responded to his monstrous chakra, rising up in a terrifying display of hydrokinesis. A gigantic, hemispherical dome of hyper-dense water materialized out of thin air, completely swallowing the battlefield and trapping Jiraiya within its crushing depths.
Suspended in the suffocating aquatic void, Jiraiya furrowed his brow.
What an incredibly troublesome fellow.
Holding his breath, he watched calmly as the fused, monstrous form of Kisame shot toward him with the speed of a fired torpedo. Jiraiya's hands blurred through a rapid sequence of seals.
"Sage Art: Frog Kata!"
The exact moment Kisame closed the distance, jaws snapping for a lethal bite, Jiraiya pivoted and threw a devastating straight punch.
The fist struck nothing but water. It completely missed Kisame's physical body.
Kisame sneered inwardly, his shark-like eyes glinting with cruel mockery. Has the old man's vision gone bad?
But a fraction of a second later, the mockery died.
An invisible, catastrophic force slammed into Kisame's cheek like a giant's hammer. The sheer kinetic impact shattered his jawline, sending his massive, fused body spiraling wildly through the water, the violent torque nearly forcing Samehada to detach from his flesh.
What is this?! Kisame's mind reeled in absolute horror. He clearly missed! So why?!
He did not understand the terrifying nature of Frog Kata, an absolute mastery of natural energy that formed an invisible, lethal extension of the user's physical strikes. It was an attack that could neither be seen nor guarded against.
Before the reeling swordsman could even attempt to right himself, Jiraiya had already completed his next sequence of seals beneath the crushing water pressure.
"Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon!"
Jiraiya's long, white hair hardened into steel wire, instantly transforming into tens of thousands of razor-sharp senbon. The needles erupted outward, tearing through the dense water at an astonishing, inescapable velocity.
Blood bloomed in the water like crimson ink.
Despite his desperate, thrashing attempts to evade, Kisame was completely overwhelmed by the sheer density of the barrage. The hardened hair pierced his tough hide, riddling his body with countless holes until he resembled a bloody, sinking hedgehog.
The Water Prison Shark Dance Technique instantly destabilized.
With a deafening roar, the gigantic sphere of water collapsed, crashing back down to the earth in a torrential flood. Kisame's ruined body slammed heavily against the muddy ground. The fusion forcibly dispelled, leaving a battered, unconscious Kisame lying in the muck, while a severely weakened Samehada slumped lifelessly beside him.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield.
Uchiha Akira stood amidst the devastation, completely unbothered by the chaotic clash of titans happening miles away. He made no sudden movements, feeling absolutely no rush to act. Instead, he calmly raised his hands, unhurriedly unbuttoning the cuffs of his dark, tailored sleeves.
In his eyes, the supreme, god-like ripple pattern of the Rinnegan slowly began to recede, fading back into the deep, abyssal black of his natural irises.
Yet, despite deactivating the ultimate dojutsu, the suffocating, tyrannical aura radiating from his body did not weaken in the slightest. If anything, the air around him grew heavier, thick with an icy, calculated malice.
"All this time, I have rarely ever bothered to use this move," Akira murmured, his voice smooth, cold, and dripping with absolute arrogance. He casually rolled up his sleeves, his dark eyes locking onto the figures standing in the distance. "Partly because it is simply too destructive... but mostly because there has never been a need."
A cruel, razor-thin smile curved upon his lips.
"But today... using these six corpses for a little target practice does not sound too bad."
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