The blazing sun continued to hang over the arena, casting intense heat across the dueling grounds. But Uchiha Saya stood tall, resolute and composed.
She clapped her hands together, and a vortex of water erupted beneath her feet. The core of the vortex was a vacuum, rapidly spiraling from bottom to top in a sharp, rising column.
"Water Style: Surging Wave Vortex!"
The massive water tornado expanded rapidly, absorbing the water already present on the field, spiraling upward until it towered over twenty meters. The swirling cyclone of water sliced across the flooded arena, charging directly toward Hoshigaki Kisame.
Kisame narrowed his eyes, instantly recognizing Saya's tactic. He hadn't expected her to be this proficient in Water Style ninjutsu.
"Tch… she's turning my own technique against me..."
He reached behind his back and unsheathed Samehada, the sentient blade already bristling with anticipation.
Just then, Gaara seized the moment. From a distance, he observed as Uchiha Saya focused entirely on Kisame. He knew he couldn't win a direct confrontation against her. His only chance was a sneak attack—an ambush to force her out of bounds.
After all, even if he couldn't injure her, the rules were simple: fall out of the arena, and you're disqualified.
Gaara pressed his hands into the ground, sending his chakra through the soil. Sand surged upward around him, growing denser by the second. He was preparing for that one critical strike—the moment when Saya would corner Kisame near the edge.
At the same time, on the other side of the arena, Sasuke was having similar thoughts.
"Naruto, Hinata," he said quietly, eyes locked on the battlefield. "We wait for the right moment. When I give the signal, we all strike at once and try to force Sister Saya out of bounds."
"Understood," Naruto nodded. "You'll use your Sharingan as the signal, right? Got it."
Hinata also gave a silent nod. She hadn't faced Saya's power directly in the Forest of Death, but even from a distance, the red Susanoo she'd seen then was seared into her memory. That strength… it was something else entirely.
Meanwhile, the towering water vortex continued its advance.
Inside the spiraling torrent, Saya's hands moved again.
"Water Style: Water Severing Wave!"
She inhaled sharply, then unleashed a piercing, high-pressure jet of water from her mouth. The stream, narrow and gleaming, was thin as wire but sharp as a blade—yet it twisted and danced like a whip.
With a subtle shift of her neck, she angled it across Kisame's right flank.
Kisame's eyes widened. "What the—!?"
He barely had time to react. He'd never seen a Water Style technique like this before—not even in the Mist.
Of course he hadn't. This was a rare and elite jutsu—passed down from the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju himself. Not inherently complex in concept, but incredibly difficult to perform.
It had been passed to Saya by Uchiha Hikaru—the Hokage's assistant, and her older brother.
After all, why specialize in only one area when you could be a six-path warrior?
Especially since Fire Style, while flashy, was limited in one-on-one combat.
Kisame had only one option to dodge.
He dropped flat onto the wet ground, Samehada still clutched in both hands. But the size of his sword was now a disadvantage—the water whip sliced through some of Samehada's barbs with surgical precision.
The moment the chakra-infused water struck the blade, it hissed. Samehada screeched in pain, its body recoiling.
"AH↘AH↘↗AH—! AHHHHHHH!!!"
Kisame's eyes twitched. "Oi, oi, calm down—Samehada, don't cry. I'll buy you takoyaki later, alright?"
The blade stopped its wailing, but its spikes flared outward, and its body inflated like an angry pufferfish.
Then Kisame grinned.
He felt Samehada's chakra pulse along his spine.
"Oho~ You're itching for a real fight, huh?"
"Fine then—let's show them what we're made of."
Samehada opened wide—and swallowed Kisame whole.
Gasps erupted from the audience.
"DID HE JUST—GET EATEN BY HIS OWN SWORD?!"
"Is that even legal?! What even IS that thing—summoning beast? Ninja tool? WHAT?!"
"I bet a million on that bastard! AND A FISH ATE HIM?! AHHHHHH!"
Just when it seemed like Kisame was finished, a surge of water exploded from the side of Samehada's bloated form.
A silhouette emerged—towering at over two and a half meters.
When the water dispersed, the transformed Kisame stood tall.
Shark fins jutted from his arms and back. His skin was a sickly grey-blue, his eyes beady and feral. A thick, reptilian tail slithered behind him. His head was longer now—his jaw sharper, his teeth more monstrous.
The crowd went wild.
"What the HELL!?"
"He fused with Samehada!?"
"This guy—he's a literal SHARK now!"
"Shut up and fight! My million taels aren't gonna cry themselves back!"
With a snarl, Kisame clapped his hands and laced his fingers together.
"Water Style: Giant Shark Bullet!"
From between his palms, a massive chakra-laced shark burst forth, seven or eight meters long, devouring the remnants of Saya's vortex. As it absorbed her chakra, the shark grew larger—nine meters. It shimmered with concentrated power.
Naruto rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
"Did that thing… just get BIGGER?"
Hinata, her Byakugan fully active, nodded with a frown. "You're not imagining it. That jutsu… it absorbed Sister Saya's chakra. It's some kind of advanced chakra-feeding technique."
But Saya didn't flinch.
A blinding crackle of lightning surged from her right hand, and birds began to chirp—a high-pitched electric trill that echoed across the battlefield.
"Chidori."
With a flash, she lunged forward—lightning piercing the air, aimed straight at Kisame's torso.
But Kisame suddenly ducked and dove underground.
"Earth Style: Subterranean Voyage!"
He vanished.
But Saya wouldn't let him flee so easily.
She slammed her hand down—redirecting the Chidori into the wet soil.
"Chidori Current!"
Electricity exploded outward beneath the ground, frying everything within several meters. A burst of steam erupted from the surface.
Sasuke's eyes flickered with admiration.
"As expected of Sister Saya... This is what I always imagined the Chidori could be."
But even as he praised her, Sasuke was already moving—charging toward her position.
Gaara, too, had already begun to raise his arms. The golden sand beneath him surged upward like a wave, preparing to strike.
"It's time!"
As Sasuke activated his Sharingan, Naruto responded instantly. He created multiple Shadow Clones, all of them rushing straight toward Saya.
Hinata tensed at his side.
Their plan was in motion.
And Saya—still focused on Kisame—had no idea she was about to be ambushed.
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Send Power Stones
Bonus Chapter at 150 Power Stone
Second Bonus Chapter - 300 Power Stones
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