Kisame's ferocious grin twisted into something even more terrifying as he bared his saw-like teeth—sharp enough to silence a crying child in an instant.
"Hahaha! Zabuza, you're getting bolder by the day! Let's see if your strength is really as tough as you claim!"
His laughter rang out, but beneath that bravado lurked a hidden wariness. Kisame might have mocked the mysterious organization backing Zabuza, yet in truth, he had already given them his full attention.
Touching the entire shinobi world…?
The person pulling the strings behind Zabuza's actions clearly possessed ambitions that were nothing short of astonishing. Kisame couldn't help but wonder—would he one day meet that figure face-to-face?
Samehada would probably love his chakra.
Zabuza hefted the massive blade in his hand and sneered.
"Then let's test it!"
With a dull rasp, Kisame drew Samehada once again. For the briefest moment, Zabuza's eyes flickered with apprehension.
Samehada—one of the Seven Ninja Swords of the Mist.
Compared to its former wielder, Suikazan Fuguki, Kisame was without question a far more suitable master. Samehada's ability to absorb chakra and feed it to its wielder, paired with Kisame's monstrous reserves, made for a terrifying combination.
The two clashed in an instant, their massive swords colliding with a roar.
Samehada lashed out like a living beast, immediately draining chakra from Zabuza's body. Though Zabuza managed to suppress the loss, even the smallest drain in the middle of battle could prove fatal.
From nearby, Yu's eyes glinted red. The three tomoe of his Sharingan spun into focus, and Kisame's gut sank.
Not good!
The world warped around him—he was already caught in a genjutsu.
Within the crimson illusion, two figures hurled jutsu straight at him. Kisame gritted his teeth until blood welled in his mouth. With brute will, he tore himself free.
But Yu was already upon him, katana flashing down in a lethal arc.
Kisame swung Samehada in a desperate block. The impact jolted up Yu's arms, a sharp pain stabbing through his tiger's mouth. Kisame's raw strength was staggering.
Kisame pivoted smoothly, his leg snapping out in a brutal kick that sent Zabuza staggering backward. Without pause, he followed through, drawing his blade into another precise slash aimed at Yu.
Yu managed to block, but the force hurled him across the ground, his heels carving deep furrows into the earth.
"Your Sharingan… it's far beyond my expectations." Kisame's voice carried a note of genuine surprise.
As Uchiha Itachi's partner, Kisame was no stranger to the Sharingan's power. He had seen firsthand the overwhelming danger of Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan. Even he had to treat those eyes with the utmost caution.
Yet this Uchiha's three-tomoe Sharingan held power approaching that same level.
He's not far from awakening the Mangekyō…
But close was not the same as having it.
And in battle, that difference was life and death.
"Haa… haa…"
On another front, Itachi and Izumi broke free from their genjutsu duel. The outcome was clear—Itachi held the advantage.
"Izumi… you've grown," Itachi said quietly.
Their reunion was cold, distant. The bond they once shared felt like a dream long faded. A shadow of sorrow flickered in Itachi's heart.
"You have no right to lecture me," Izumi shot back icily.
Shuriken whistled from the shadows, slicing through the air toward him. Itachi sprang aside, landing lightly as the weapons buried themselves in the ground.
His fingers twitched, releasing a precise volley of kunai and shuriken.
Bang! Whoosh! Clang!
Every one of Izumi's projectiles was struck down, with three more weapons sailing straight for her.
Izumi reversed the grip on her kunai and swatted them aside with practiced precision. They quivered as they embedded deep into a nearby tree.
"Your Uchiha throwing technique is still flawless," she said coldly. "But I am no longer the same girl you once knew."
Her eyes locked onto his, unyielding. She hurled the kunai straight at his chest—
Caw, caw, caw!
The blade pierced through him, but his body dissolved into a swirling flock of crows, scattering on the wind before settling back into his form.
"Amaterasu."
The word slipped from his lips without hesitation, without tenderness, without a trace of the past they once shared.
Izumi's expression hardened.
"So… you're finally serious?"
Izumi sneered, her Mangekyō eyes locking onto the black flames of Amaterasu that had just erupted.
Before Itachi's eyes, the "inextinguishable" flames vanished into nothingness.
His brow arched in quiet astonishment.
A Mangekyō ability…? She can erase ninjutsu—or even objects—within her sight?
But is it effective on living beings? No… even if it is, there must be heavy restrictions. Most likely, it applies to inanimate matter: ninjutsu, tools, constructs…
In that fleeting moment, Itachi had already dissected the mechanics of Izumi's Mangekyō Sharingan.
A sharp pressure throbbed in his eyes, and a thin trickle of blood slid down his cheek. The strain was there—but unlike the years to come, the side effects of his Mangekyō were not yet so severe.
Izumi's vision, by contrast, only ached faintly. Her eyes were almost pristine—unused, unscarred by overexertion.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
Enduring the pain as if it were second nature, Itachi wove hand seals, unleashing a storm of flame-coated shuriken.
"Show me your true strength!"
"Susanoo!"
Izumi's roar shook the air, and a colossal blue avatar surged into existence. Though still in its first stage—half-formed, ribcage and torso incomplete—it radiated a crushing aura no shinobi could ignore.
"Oh? You've already awakened Susanoo?" Itachi murmured.
A heartbeat later, crimson chakra erupted behind him. His own Susanoo rose, far more complete, already at its second stage: a skeletal upper body, arms, and a jagged head looming with dreadful power.
The two titans slammed fists together.
BOOM!
The impact shook the forest. Itachi stood firm, unmoving, while Izumi staggered back three paces.
This was the might of Susanoo—the godlike power born from the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Izumi grimaced—not from being pushed back, but from the oppressive burden Susanoo placed upon her body. Its weight, its strain, was suffocating.
This was her first time manifesting it.
Her Mangekyō flared again, and her body surged with renewed strength—her other eye's ability amplifying her physical capacity.
At once, her Susanoo grew, skeletal form solidifying as its head took shape. The towering construct expanded in size, its aura thickening, pressing down like a mountain.
Itachi's eyes narrowed. He had thought this was Izumi's limit. But to see her Susanoo evolve to the second stage in an instant… that was unexpected.
And her aura—why had it suddenly spiked? Was it merely the illusion of Susanoo's presence, or something more?
At the edge of the forest, two chakra giants—one crimson, one azure—faced each other.
Izumi's lips curled into a smile. Her Susanoo lunged forward, its massive fist crashing down with enhanced precision. The boost to her body gave her tighter control over the construct—but the cost in chakra was staggering.
This won't last long… I have to end it now.
The two giants traded blows, each strike devastating. The shockwaves alone shredded the trees around them.
Even a Kage would be shattered by a direct hit from these chakra-forged fists.
And this was only the beginning.
...
TN:
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