Sunlight filtered through the canopy, casting mottled patches of gold upon the female kunoichi. She seemed to be draped in a soft halo, a sight that caused a subtle tremor in Kisame Hoshigaki's long-sealed heart.
Ever since he was a child, his peculiar appearance had kept him isolated. He was a shark among men, a freak to be avoided. No one wanted to speak with him, and even fewer wished to call him a friend.
'Her name... is Terumi Rin, I believe,' Kisame recalled, his mind shifting through data files. 'A ninja of the Terumi Clan who only promoted to Chunin at eighteen.'
"No need," Kisame replied coldly, dismissing her concern without a second thought. "Please, do not get too close to me."
Despite the rejection, Rin did not seem discouraged. Instead, she sat down beside him, pulling out her rice balls and dried rations to begin her meal with a quiet persistence.
Kisame's hand, reaching for his water flask, paused for a fraction of a second.
They sat side by side, separated by only a small distance. For Kisame, this silent proximity was an experience entirely foreign to his existence.
The other ninjas in the squad stole curious glances at them. Seeing the two simply eating together without further conversation, their confusion grew. They respected their captain, but his monstrous visage struck a primal fear into their hearts. None were willing to exchange more than the necessary words with him.
Once lunch concluded and the group had rested, Kisame gave the cold command to move out and resume their patrol.
The six Kirigakure shinobi followed him, leaping through the coastal forest branches with speed. Yet, they instinctively maintained a calculated distance from their leader.
Kisame was accustomed to this. Solitude was his only shadow.
"Captain Kisame!"
Suddenly, Rin—her large, bright eyes shimmering and her long brown hair fluttering in the wind—accelerated to pull level with him.
Kisame tilted his head slightly. His small, shark-like eyes fixed on the woman who had now approached him twice. He remained silent.
"About what I mentioned earlier... once the mission is over, it should be fine, right?" Rin looked at him with a gaze full of expectation.
For the first time in his life, Kisame Hoshigaki, a man who knew nothing of the intricacies of human connection, was being asked out by a girl. He found himself at a complete loss, not even knowing how to voice a refusal.
A coastal port in the southwest of the Land of Water.
Aboard a merchant vessel belonging to the Gato Corporation, Menma—carrying both the Great Sword Samehada and the Executioner's Blade—found Orochimaru. The Sannin was busy weaving his web of manipulation, using honeyed words to entice the orphans they had "recruited."
"Settled?"
Seeing Shura return, Orochimaru dismissed the children to their cabins, telling them to rest for the journey to their "new home." He turned his gaze toward the masked figure, his snake-like pupils glinting with interest at the two legendary blades slung over Shura's shoulders.
"So, these are two of the Seven Ninja Swords of the Mist."
"As expected, you aren't wounded in the slightest. Those fools from Kirigakure really are nothing special," Orochimaru remarked. He wasn't surprised by Shura's safe return.
Even when Orochimaru had defected from Konoha, he had been heavily injured. Yet Shura had managed to wreak havoc within the heart of the Hidden Leaf and retreat completely unscathed. His strength was undeniable.
During the last Great Ninja War, Orochimaru had clashed with Kiri ninjas many times. He knew the caliber of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen well.
Licking his lips in anticipation, Orochimaru said, "I've heard that each of those seven blades has unique properties. Samehada and the Executioner's Blade are perhaps the most peculiar. If you don't mind, would you let me study them?"
While tool research wasn't his primary specialty, Orochimaru was no amateur. He had once used the Nine-Tails' chakra to develop a Mecha-Naruto and a Mecha-Kurama, both possessing the combat power of an Elite Jonin.
"Ask me again when you can mass-produce the Three-Tomoe Sharingan," Menma replied flatly, walking past him toward the inner chambers.
"Don't bite off more than you can chew, Orochimaru," Menma added as he brushed past the Sannin.
"Heh." Orochimaru let out a dry chuckle, unfazed.
His desire to unravel every mystery in the world was insatiable. That thirst for knowledge was the very engine that drove his pursuit of immortality.
Menma produced a storage scroll and sealed both Samehada and the Executioner's Blade inside. When needed, he could simply summon them back.
The Hozuki Clan's legendary scroll for the Seven Blades was essentially a similar storage device; they hadn't signed blood contracts with the swords, nor could they summon them through other means. This explained why, during the Fourth Great Ninja War, the reincarnated Swordsmen only had four of the blades—those were the ones Mangetsu Hozuki could summon from the scroll. The others were still in the hands of living successors.
As the ship prepared to depart, Orochimaru looked at the silent figure of Shura through the cabin door. Even now, he could not pierce the mystery hidden behind that white, three-eyed fox mask. Satisfied with the results of their trip to the Mist, the snake departed to check on his "spoils"—the children.
Outside, the noise grew as more passengers boarded. The vessel was nearly ready to set sail.
Menma activated his Kagura Shingan, spreading his sensory net across the surrounding region.
Though he had defeated the remaining members of the Seven Swordsmen, he couldn't rule out the possibility that Obito would send White Zetsu to track them, or force Yagura to send more Kiri ninjas to their deaths.
Menma knew well that Obito was systematically dismantling Kirigakure's strength, suppressing its clans and fostering the "Bloody Mist" policy as revenge for Rin. This was why Menma hadn't bothered chasing the fleeing Mangetsu Hozuki after killing Juzo Biwa and Fuguki Suikazan. A living Mangetsu returning to the village would only accelerate the internal friction within the Mist.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, his sensory perception picked up several chakra signatures dozens of kilometers away.
"What immense chakra..."
The individual at the lead of the squad possessed a chakra volume so massive it was comparable to a Tailed Beast. However, it wasn't the familiar, malevolent energy of a Bijuu; it was ordinary chakra, just in staggering quantities.
'The Tailless Tailed Beast... Kisame Hoshigaki.'
"Did Obito send him?" Menma mused.
He recalled that Kisame's defection usually happened after Itachi Uchiha joined the Akatsuki. Itachi's first partner had been Juzo Biwa; Kisame only stepped in after Juzo's death.
After a moment of deliberation, Menma decided to go meet him.
In the original timeline, Kisame Hoshigaki was a "true man" wrapped in tragedy. He had lived his life in the shadows to protect the secrets of the Mist, even slaughtering his own comrades to prevent leaks. When he discovered his superior was a traitor selling secrets to the enemy, his entire world collapsed.
It was then that Obito, controlling the Fourth Mizukage, appeared before him as "Madara Uchiha." He spoke of a world without war or lies—the Project Tsuki no Me—and invited Kisame to join.
Kisame was the only member of Akatsuki truly loyal to Obito's vision of peace. Even at the very end, defeated by Might Guy and captured, he chose to summon sharks to devour his own body rather than betray the organization's secrets.
A man of such conviction was someone Menma very much wanted to bring under his own banner.