"Hokage-sama, we found traces of Hoshigaki Kisame."
A purple-haired female ninja pushed the door open and walked in, reporting to Uchiha Fugaku.
The purple-haired kunoichi was Uzuki Yugao, formerly an Anbu.
Considering the need for assistance in organizing information and documents, Uchiha Fugaku consulted her and had her retire from Anbu to serve as his secretary.
"Where was he found?"
"He appeared in the territory of the Iron Country a day ago. There was a hunched old man with him."
Uzuki Yugao reported.
"A hunched old man? It should be Sasori of the Red Sand."
Hearing Yugao's description, Uchiha Fugaku immediately deduced that the one partnering with Kisame was Sasori.
"Go call Shisui and Hayabusa."
After some thought, Fugaku said.
Soon, Spore Clone No. 1, disguised as Uchiha Shisui, and Spore Clone No. 2, disguised as a middle-aged man, arrived.
The middle-aged man was Spore Clone No. 2's alias, Yuki no Hayabusa, registered as a ninja from the Snow Clan who defected from the Hidden Mist Village and joined Konoha.
Since he operated within Anbu, few people knew of him, and there was no concern about Mist Village pursuing him.
Even if they did, he wouldn't care. After years of bloody purges by Uchiha Obito, the Hidden Mist was too weakened to confront Konoha.
"Hoshigaki Kisame appeared in the Iron Country with Sasori a day ago. Go there, kill both, and bring back Kisame's body."
Fugaku ordered.
Kisame, with vast chakra and expert Water Style ninjutsu, was Kage-level.
Sasori, an S-rank rogue ninja of the Sand, had killed the Third Kazekage—also Kage-level.
To handle both, at least two Kage-level ninjas were needed. Sending more would weaken the village.
Luckily, Spore Clone No. 1 was stronger than most Kage-levels due to his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Spore Clone No. 2 was nearly as strong, possessing the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai.
While Fugaku no longer relied on it, it made Spore Clone No. 2 more than Kage-level.
Sending them was enough.
"Yes."
Both clones nodded.
Being Fugaku's clones, they were completely loyal and obedient.
After brief preparations, the two clones left Konoha for the Iron Country.
Over a day later, they arrived in the Iron Country.
Iron Country is neutral. Due to this neutrality, it avoided involvement in the previous three Great Ninja Wars.
It had no ninjas, only samurai.
They also used chakra, but unlike shinobi, they enhanced weapons with it for combat.
"This is where Kisame was last seen."
After entering the country, the two clones met the Konoha informant.
Guided by the informant, they entered a small town—Kisame's last known location.
"Did you assign anyone to monitor him?"
"Yes, but we lost contact with them. They may have died."
The informant looked grim.
"My condolences."
Spore Clone No. 1 sighed.
Ninja work is dangerous—casualties are inevitable.
The clones searched the town. After hours of investigation, they found nothing. Kisame and Sasori had left.
Outside the town, the clones began searching the outskirts.
Though many entered and exited daily, shinobi didn't use common roads—they moved through forests to avoid detection.
Using this logic, the clones narrowed the area, searching for signs.
"There's something here!"
In the grass, Spore Clone No. 2 found a faint footprint and called over Clone No. 1.
Clone No. 1 approached. With the Sharingan's insight, even faint footprints became clear.
Not just that—previously invisible ones also appeared.
"One, two, three… Three sets of footprints."
"The last set overlaps the front two—someone was following."
Clone No. 1 analyzed.
"These must be Sasori, Kisame, and the informant."
Clone No. 2 speculated.
They followed the tracks. After about 30 minutes, Clone No. 1 stopped, staring ahead.
There, the soil was freshly disturbed.
"Susanoo—"
Having guessed the situation, Clone No. 1 summoned Susanoo. Its massive hand drove into the soil and unearthed a corpse.
It was a man with an ordinary face. A fatal chest wound—clearly stabbed and killed.
The clones had seen the missing informant's photo and recognized him instantly.
As expected, he was killed.
They sealed the corpse in a scroll and continued forward.
But the tracks had vanished.
Kisame and Sasori likely erased them after noticing the pursuit.
An ordinary ninja couldn't continue tracking. But Clone No. 1 was no ordinary ninja.
Unless they flew, even erased footprints left traces.
With his Mangekyō Sharingan, he could follow them.
Two days later, two figures stood beside a small river.
Both wore black cloaks with red clouds—Kisame and Sasori.
They had entered the Iron Country to assassinate a high-ranking target.
They'd already completed the mission and delivered the body to the underground black market.
Now, they planned to leave after a short rest.
Suddenly, a tearing sound rang out.
A giant orange-red skeletal hand burst from the earth and grabbed toward them.
Reacting quickly, Sasori used his segmented metal tail to block it.
But the skeletal hand wasn't easily stopped.
The metal tail shattered upon impact. The hand continued toward them.
"…!"
Sasori grunted in shock as his prized puppet weapon was destroyed.
He leapt from his puppet and retreated, controlling it with chakra threads to hold the hand off and buy time.
Crack—
The puppet shattered under the Susanoo hand's strike. Sasori and Kisame retreated far enough to evade.
"Who's there?"
Sasori, now appearing as a youthful man with orange-red hair, coldly demanded.
His mood was foul from the ambush and loss of a puppet.
Kisame had already drawn the bandaged weapon from his back, staring in the direction of the attack with his shark-like face.
The skeletal hand vanished.
Two figures rose from the earth—Clone No. 1 as Uchiha Shisui and Clone No. 2 as a Yuki clan ninja.
Having tracked them, they launched the surprise attack.
"Uchiha Shisui… no, a Uchiha with the Mangekyō."
Sasori immediately identified the disguise. As a member of Akatsuki, he knew Shisui was dead. This had to be someone else.
"A Konoha ninja, huh? Looks like we've been targeted as prey!"
Kisame grinned. But with his face, it looked terrifying.
"Prey?"
Sasori sneered.
Anyone who dared treat him as prey became one of his puppet trophies.
"I'll handle the Uchiha. You take the other one."
He once thought of turning Fugaku into a puppet, but after learning even Pain couldn't defeat him, he abandoned that fantasy.
Now, another Mangekyō Sharingan user—perfect for collection.
"No problem."
Kisame stared at Clone No. 2 like a shark eyeing fresh meat.
"Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique—"
A torrent gushed from his mouth like a raging river toward the clones.
The clones leapt into the trees to dodge but were separated.
Sasori chased Clone No. 1, while Kisame pursued Clone No. 2.
(End of this chapter)