Your Swordsmanship Is Crude!
After subduing Kakashi Hatake, Hoshigaki Kisame returned to his formation.
"Take him back," Kisame said calmly.
He handed Kakashi over to Ao, the veteran sensor-nin of Kirigakure. Ao nodded, sealing Kakashi's chakra flow with restraint tags before preparing to withdraw.
Only then did Kisame slowly turn his attention to the final observer on the battlefield.
His sharp eyes narrowed.
A black cloak.
Red clouds.
The unmistakable uniform of the Akatsuki.
Not long ago, a masked man wearing identical attire had approached him. That man had claimed to represent a mysterious organization and had extended an invitation.
Kisame had refused without hesitation.
At the time, he served under Fuguki Suikazan, wielder of Samehada and one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Kisame enjoyed authority, status, and abundant resources within Kirigakure.
Why would he betray the village for vague promises from a masked stranger?
The offer had seemed hollow.
And so he rejected it.
Afterward, the masked man disappeared.
But misfortune followed soon after.
During a classified mission, a fellow comrade attempted to assassinate him. Kisame killed her without hesitation but her dying words were strange, cryptic.
Only later did he uncover the truth.
The assassination had been ordered by his own superior Fuguki Suikazan.
The reason?
Kisame's talent.
His mastery of the blade.
His growing influence.
Fuguki feared that Kisame would one day challenge his position among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
Kisame had laughed when he learned this.
Not out of joy.
But disbelief.
If strength determined rank, then strength would decide the outcome.
He confronted Fuguki openly.
And killed him.
Taking Samehada as his own.
By Kirigakure's brutal traditions, that should have marked him as a traitor.
Yet the Yagura Karatachi intervened personally.
Yagura declared that Kisame had defeated Fuguki fairly. In the Mist, the strong inherited the blade. There would be no punishment.
Kisame had been moved.
He believed the Mizukage valued merit above corruption.
What he did not know
Was that behind the scenes, the true manipulator was Obito Uchiha, controlling Yagura through genjutsu and steering Kirigakure into chaos.
Unlike the original timeline where Obito, under the alias "Madara," eventually revealed the truth to Kisame in this altered course, that revelation had not yet occurred.
Thus, Kisame still believed he had been acknowledged legitimately.
But the consequences of that manipulation rippled outward.
The principle became clear to all in Kirigakure:
If you want a Ninja Sword
Kill its wielder.
At first, challengers fought honorably.
Public duels.
Formal challenges.
It became almost ceremonial like a grand proving ground for the village's youth. Children proudly declared they would one day join the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
But then
Someone broke the code.
An heir to a blade was assassinated in secret.
When confronted, the killer merely shrugged.
"A ninja's duty is assassination. Why should combat be honorable?"
Shockingly, he was not condemned.
He was allowed to inherit the blade.
After that, restraint vanished.
Ambushes replaced duels.
Poison replaced steel.
Brother turned on brother.
Kirigakure's shadows deepened, echoing once more the horrors of the Bloody Mist era.
Kisame, however, remained unaware of how deliberately those seeds had been planted.
His thoughts returned to the present.
To the man in the red-cloud cloak before him.
"Take Kakashi back first," Kisame ordered Ao. "I'll handle this."
Ao hesitated briefly but obeyed, retreating with the prisoner.
Kisame rested Samehada across his shoulder.
"So," he muttered, "you've come again."
This time, the invitation would not be dismissed so casually.
The cloaked figure stepped forward.
"My name is Ah Huo," he said calmly. "A member of Akatsuki."
He removed his hood slightly, revealing sharp eyes beneath.
"I've come to recruit you."
His voice was polite. Measured.
"I'd like to hear your answer."
Kisame grinned, rows of sharp teeth flashing.
"Heh."
"Talk is cheap."
He lowered Samehada.
"Let's decide after we fight."
The killing intent thickened instantly.
Kisame had expended chakra battling Kakashi but his reserves were monstrous. His stamina bordered on inhuman.
The nickname "Tailless Tailed Beast" was no exaggeration.
"You just fought," Ah Huo observed mildly. "Your chakra isn't at its peak. If you lose now, don't blame circumstances."
His tone almost sounded considerate.
Kisame's eyes sharpened dangerously.
"Kid."
"If you don't draw your blade…"
"You'll die."
He vanished in a burst of speed.
In a blink, Samehada roared downward in a diagonal arc, tearing through the air.
CLANG!
Ah Huo reacted instantly.
From his waist, he drew a sealed katana
Its true name concealed.
He raised it vertically to intercept.
Steel met living blade.
The impact exploded outward.
Even though he blocked successfully, the force behind Kisame's strike was overwhelming. The diagonal trajectory carried enormous torque, sending Ah Huo skidding across the water's surface before he stabilized.
Ripples expanded in concentric rings.
Kisame observed carefully.
In that single exchange, he had already assessed the opponent.
"Your swordsmanship is crude."
The judgment was blunt.
Samehada was massive, heavy, and irregular. A proper swordsman would never meet it head-on without redirecting force or shifting angles. One must deflect, glide, or counterbalance.
Ah Huo had blocked directly.
He absorbed the shock instead of dispersing it.
That was inefficient.
Amateurish.
"If that's all," Kisame continued, slightly disappointed, "you're not worth killing."
The reputation of Akatsuki dipped slightly in his mind.
He had expected more.
From beneath Ah Huo's lowered bangs, a faint smile appeared.
He adjusted his grip.
"Is that so?"
The blade in his hand trembled faintly
Not from weakness.
But anticipation.
Ah Huo exhaled slowly.
This fight was not about winning.
It was about recruitment.
And in Kirigakure
Only overwhelming strength commanded loyalty.
Kisame raised Samehada again, chakra surging through the blade as it writhed hungrily.
The water beneath them churned.
Two killers.
Two paths.
Only steel and power would determine the next chapter of fate.