This was a dim space. There was no sky, no earth, surrounded only by chaotic cyclones.
It's a bit like a mental space.
After looking around, Uchiha Itachi came to this conclusion.
His Tsukuyomi could pull people into a mental space he created, where everything inside was dominated by him. However, this didn't seem to be a pure mental space.
Itachi could feel that he didn't just enter mentally; his physical body entered this space together.
"Where is this?"
Itachi looked at the youth in front of him, his expression somewhat puzzled.
Having not seen each other for a few years, the little boy who once only reached his waist had grown into a youth, becoming more handsome and mature.
"It's a domain."
Jokichi was also curiously examining the surrounding environment.
"It's my first time entering this space too."
"An item with some kind of function?"
"Right."
Jokichi nodded, withdrew his curious gaze, and turned to look at Itachi.
"This space has a certain rule. People in this space can never defeat each other, no matter what."
Hearing this, Itachi was silent for a moment.
"...You should have used this thing on Kisame."
"Why?"
"He is very strong!"
"How does he compare to you?"
"...We each have our advantages, I suppose!"
Itachi hesitated for a moment before saying, "Kisame has chakra comparable to a Tailed Beast, excels in large-scale ninjutsu, and his weapon and ninjutsu can also absorb the opponent's ninjutsu and chakra. It can be said that the stronger the opponent, the stronger he gets."
"Can he beat you?" Jokichi continued to ask.
"He is not my match." Itachi said indifferently, "But that's just a matter of compatibility. If there was no compatibility issue, it's hard to say who would win and who would lose."
"That amazing, huh!"
Jokichi sighed somewhat. Compared to the other members of the Akatsuki organization, Kisame looked like an ordinary ninja. Besides that shark head, he had no distinct features.
However, in the anime, Kisame's performance was indeed solid. Soloing the perfect Jinchuriki Killer Bee, playing infiltration in front of the Fourth Raikage and Killer Bee, forcing Might Guy to open the Seventh Gate ultimate move—whether it was combat power or ninja experience, he was extremely formidable.
Now, Itachi giving such an evaluation meant his strength was even beyond imagination.
"You don't seem worried at all?"
Itachi looked at Jokichi with a strange look in his eyes.
"Although you have the complete Nine-Tails' chakra, facing Kisame, this will instead become your weak point. Or is it that you plan to expose the Mangekyo Sharingan?"
"Well, don't worry."
Jokichi chuckled lightly.
"All these years, I haven't just grown taller."
"I see."
Itachi nodded, asking no more. That ability of Jokichi's was too terrifying. Thinking cautiously, it wouldn't be surprising no matter how many trump cards he had.
"Before my main body and Kisame determine a victor, come help me test the effect of this space!"
Jokichi said, eager to try.
"Although I know a victor cannot be decided in this space, I'm not clear on the specifics either. Plus, I also want to fight against you and see."
"Alright."
Itachi said indifferently, "However, please don't kill Kisame. Although he was sent by Madara to monitor me, we get along pretty well. If he dies, Madara will send someone else of unknown character over."
"Understood."
...
The giant shark opened its sharp mouth and roared, as if intending to destroy all threats blocking its path.
The Great Shark Bullet Technique looked similar to the Water Dragon Bullet, just a much larger form of water-attribute shape transformation jutsu.
But in fact, the Great Shark Bullet was a giant chakra bullet that would explode upon hitting a physical object.
With such a giant chakra bullet exploding, unless there was a large mountain blocking the way, it could not be stopped.
Furthermore, the Great Shark Bullet could absorb the chakra of the enemy's ninjutsu, thereby weakening the enemy's ninjutsu and strengthening itself.
Trying to counter it with offensive ninjutsu was very difficult.
Unless the power of your ninjutsu possessed an overwhelming advantage and could blow it up before the Great Shark Bullet absorbed its chakra. Otherwise, it would just be buffing the Great Shark Bullet.
But facing the imposing roar of the giant shark, Jokichi's expression didn't change at all, as if he had expected it long ago. He clapped his hands together.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique."
The seeds dormant on the seabed sprouted, growing dense trees that formed a giant wooden dragon with a long hooked nose and spikes all over its body. It broke through the water surface, bit the giant shark's neck in one bite, and its body tightly coiled around it a second earlier.
The roaring giant shark swung its tail wildly, wanting to break free, but the wooden dragon tightly coiled around the giant shark's body, not relaxing at all. Moreover, its originally massive size—casting a shadow across the sky large enough to cover half the forest—rapidly shrank like a deflating balloon.
"Impossible!"
Kisame widened his eyes, his face full of disbelief.
"The chakra I poured into the Water Shark Bullet is being absorbed by that wooden dragon!"
"What's impossible about it!"
Jokichi said disdainfully.
"The First Hokage once used this wooden dragon to bind the Nine-Tails, rendering it immobile. What is a mere giant shark in comparison?"
"If that's the case, then let's detonate it early!"
Kisame's face turned stern, and his hands rapidly changed seals.
The giant shark, whose volume had shrunk to only one-tenth of its original size, exploded with a loud bang. The fierce air waves blew the tree branches, making them sway, and the ocean waves surged and roared, forming a massive whirlpool.
However, despite the immense power, the wooden dragon remained unharmed. Jokichi wasn't surprised at all by this result.
The wooden dragon remained completely unharmed even when taking a Tailed Beast Ball head-on. How could it be destroyed by a Water Shark Bullet weakened to only one-tenth of its power? That would be too embarrassing for Wood Release!
"Surrender without a fight!"
Wearing a confident smile on his face, Jokichi changed the seal of his clasped hands, directing the wooden dragon to fly toward Kisame.
"That wooden dragon is unstoppable; if I get entangled, it's over. But, it's ultimately wood. Can it be as agile in the seawater as it is in the sky?"
Kisame chuckled, his feet sinking into the water.
Splash!
The wooden dragon missed its target entirely, kicking up waves several meters high.
But just as Kisame thought, the wooden dragon was wood. It had massive buoyancy in the water and couldn't soar as nimbly as it did in the sky.
However—
"Did you think you could escape?"
The corners of Jokichi's mouth instead curled up slightly, his hands clenching into fists to form seals.
"Wood Release: Tree Bind Eternal Burial."
Seabed.
As soon as Kisame dove into the water, he noticed something was wrong. The entire nearby sea area was floating with tiny green particles.
He casually grabbed a handful and examined it carefully, finding that they were all plant spores. They were just like the stuff emitted from Zetsu's body, and the source of the spores was exactly the roots of the forest created by Deep Forest Emergence located on the seabed.
"Oh no!"
A sense of crisis rose in Kisame's heart. He immediately wanted to surface, but it was too late.
The densely packed spores rapidly divided and sprouted, growing into saplings and vines. The nearby sea area was instantly occupied by plants, leaving absolutely no room to dodge.
Kisame used ninjutsu to blast open a space, but vines from other directions immediately filled in. Densely packed, endless and continuous.
Unless he cleared the entire sea area in one breath, he would never be able to escape this trap on the seabed. Obviously, Kisame did not possess the ability to clear the entire sea area in one go while underwater.
After resisting for a while, he finally showed a flaw and was entangled by a vine. Next, the chakra-absorbing ability of Wood Release activated. The vine entangled around him used it as nourishment and grew rapidly, turning into a giant tree that required one person to wrap their arms around in just an instant.
And Kisame, acting as nourishment, was absorbed into the trunk and pushed above the sea surface.