Chapter 243: Suigetsu's Trump Card
The chakra disc hovering at the tip of Hiramekarei pulsed with volatile, blinding energy. The air itself seemed to warp under its pressure, humming with a pitch that set teeth on edge. Facing this overwhelming force, Suigetsu's usual bravado was gone, replaced by the grim focus of a shinobi staring down annihilation.
Yet, surprisingly, he did not raise the Kubikiribōchō to defend himself. Instead, he drove the massive executioner's blade into the earth, leaving it standing like a grave marker. His hands then flew through a sequence of seals with practiced speed.
"Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave!"
He abandoned his sword to use a Water Release technique. A colossal torrent of water erupted from his mouth, not as a precise jet, but as a tsunami-like wave meant to flood the entire area. It was a brute-force, terrain-altering move, not a finesse attack.
As expected, Chōjūrō, his focus singular, easily evaded the deluge by leaping high into the air. But Suigetsu's goal wasn't to hit him. The crashing wave spread out, submerging the broken ground and creating a wide, shallow lake, a perfect battlefield for a water-style specialist.
Landing on the newly formed water's surface, Chōjūrō stood firm, his chakra stabilizing him. He never stopped channeling his energy into Hiramekarei, the silver disc growing even brighter, even more unstable.
Suigetsu looked across the water at his opponent, a smirk returning to his lips now that his stage was set. "Heh~ Didn't think I'd need to pull this out for you. I guess I underestimated your desperation."
"Shut up! I'll kill you! No matter what you do!" Chōjūrō screamed, his face a contorted mask of grief and rage. The veins on his forehead bulged, a testament to the immense chakra he was forcing through his body and into the legendary blades.
The power condensing on Hiramekarei had reached its zenith. The silver disc shone with the intensity of a small star, its destructive potential radiating outwards, warping the very light around it. It was a level of power that should have been far beyond a standard jōnin, a testament to how profound emotion had unlocked a terrifying, fleeting potential within him.
"GO TO HELL!"
With his roar, Chōjūrō thrust Hiramekarei forward. The chakra disc did not fly; it unleashed. A colossal beam of solid, compressed energy, as wide as a house, erupted forth. It was less a ninjutsu and more a force of nature, a pseudo-Tailed Beast Bomb. The water in its path was instantly vaporized, carving a deep, steaming canyon through the lake as it shot toward Suigetsu with apocalyptic speed.
Suigetsu didn't dodge. He didn't even flinch.
In a motion so fast it was a blur, he unsealed a scroll from his back and hurled it into the air before him.
POOF!
A cloud of smoke erupted, and from it fell a massive sword, its blade tightly wrapped in bandages, with only its grotesque, cross-shaped hilt visible.
One of Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swords—Samehada.
This was the living blade that had once been wielded by the Monster of the Hidden Mist, Kisame Hoshigaki. A sentient weapon that fed on chakra, it had devoured the chakra of Jinchuriki and Kage alike. After Kisame's defeat at Ren's hands, both the Four-Tails Jinchuriki and this infamous sword had fallen into the Eagle Team's possession. Ren had no personal interest in the fickle blade and had given it to Suigetsu, who had, through some unknown method—perhaps a family secret passed down from his brother, the former swordsman Mangetsu—managed to subdue its wild will.
Now, it was his ultimate tool.
The moment Samehada landed in Suigetsu's grip, it shuddered to life. The bandages covering its length burst apart, revealing a dark, scale-covered blade that ended in a gaping, tooth-filled maw. It was a monstrous, hungry thing.
"Water Release: Great Water Mammoth!"
Suigetsu channeled his chakra, and the entire lake around him responded. The water surged upward, coalescing into a titanic, amorphous shape—less a mammoth and more a colossal, predatory water beast. Suigetsu's lower body merged into its core, becoming one with the construct. He held Samehada aloft, positioning the ravenous blade at the "head" of the aquatic monster, aiming its maw directly at the oncoming beam of pure chakra.
This was the technique he had used in a desperate, failed attempt to block a true Tailed Beast Bomb in the past. That time, he had been blasted into a puddle of helpless protoplasm.
But this time was different. This time, he was not wielding the inert Kubikiribōchō.
This time, he held Samehada.
The chakra beam, a manifestation of Chōjūrō's entire being, slammed into the Great Water Mammoth. Instead of a cataclysmic explosion, there was a deafening HISSSSSS—the sound of an immense amount of energy being consumed. Samehada's maw opened wide, and the blade itself seemed to drink the chakra beam. The scales on its body ruffled and vibrated, absorbing the torrent of energy, feeding on it, growing larger and more vibrant with every passing second.
Suigetsu, shielded within the water beast, grinned wildly. His reliance was not just on his Hydrification Technique, but on the ultimate chakra-absorbing weapon now in his hands. He wasn't blocking the attack.
He was devouring it.
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