Nishimura Tatsuto was startled. Before he could react, a strong torrent of water blasted from Kisame's mouth like a huge waterfall, instantly overwhelming him.
His kunai could no longer be thrust, his whole body had been swept away by the current.
The raging water spread everywhere with no sign of stopping; before long it had submerged everything around them, even forming a not-small pond centered where Kisame stood.
Fortunately Kisame's house was in a deserted area with no residents nearby. Otherwise, who knew how many people would've been affected by this.
But precisely because this place was remote, Tatsuto dared to act without scruple and attempt to kill Kisame in front of him.
The pond grew larger and larger, tending toward becoming a lake, and only then did Kisame seem to run out of strength and stop.
At his age, casting a ninjutsu of this degree, even with his naturally enormous chakra, was extremely taxing.
In an instant his whole body went limp.
With a plop, he fell onto the water surface he himself had created, completely losing consciousness under the double effect of chakra overdraft and the neurotoxin.
Yet his eyes remained fixed on one spot, on where Nishimura Suzuko stood.
When Kisame cast the jutsu a moment ago, he had specifically allocated a portion of chakra to control the water around that spot. So although Suzuko had been submerged by the Great Explosive Water Shockwave, she was protected inside the water's formed shield and had not suffered any substantive injury.
After recovering from the earlier shock, she saw Kisame had collapsed and immediately forgot everything else, moving through the water toward him.
Soon she reached Kisame's side, helped him up, pulled him into her arms, and asked with concern, "Kisame, are you all right?"
"And… my father, did he die?"
Kisame moved his head slightly and forced his mouth open to say, "He took my attack unguarded, he should be injured. But this wasn't a guaranteed killing-level offensive jutsu, I don't think this single move would have ended him."
For some reason, Suzuko breathed a sigh of relief. Then guilt washed over her face, her father had obviously killed her mother and intended to kill her too; why did she still feel concern for him now?
Perhaps because her father had always treated her so well.
She hung her head and whispered, "I'm sorry, Kisame, for dragging you into danger. I still… can't help thinking about him."
Kisame didn't speak for a moment, then suddenly spat out a mouthful of black blood. As the black blood sprayed, a large amount of toxin was expelled from his body and he was able to move a little.
He raised a hand and patted the very obedient, self-blaming Suzuko, a faint smile forming on his lips.
"No… this is fine too. It makes me understand that a person is not merely a tool, people have emotions."
"Suzuko, he is your father after all. Perhaps he's executing some mission, and has become cold and decisive; but at least… he still has humanity."
"Having humanity means this world isn't entirely false."
Suzuko listened to Kisame's somewhat unintelligible words but felt his painful mood had improved, and she couldn't help but feel happier.
She fully supported him and said, "Kisame, let's go to medical."
Kisame immediately stopped her motion, "No."
Suzuko opened her eyes wide, puzzled, "Why?"
Forcing himself calm, Kisame explained, "Suzuko, your father is a spy from another country planted in Kirigakure. If this matter is exposed, you will face very serious consequences."
"The Kirigakure Anbu won't reason with you; they will kill even innocent comrades, let alone you."
Suzuko was momentarily incredulous, "How could that be? Didn't the Blood Mist basically end after graduation?"
Kisame fell silent. He had once thought the same, but after becoming one of Pufferfish Ghost's subordinates and receiving his first mission, he'd been forced to face reality.
Perhaps this was one reason Tatsuto chose to kill his daughter. If you can't survive anyway, then rather than risk being tortured to death by the interrogation unit, better to kill directly.
After a while Kisame said, "Suzuko, we must hide your father's information, and there's not much time. We need to come up with an excuse immediately."
"The jutsu I just released made too much noise and definitely alerted others. They… may already be on their way."
Suzuko's heart jolted and she became bewildered, "Then what should we do?"
Kisame bitterly smiled. He hadn't expected that after fighting Tatsuto to the death, he'd now have to cover up Tatsuto's tracks.
His mind raced. Finally he said, "Listen carefully: if anyone asks, bite down and say you came looking for me to play. Then we were suddenly attacked by a masked ninja, we didn't see his face clearly. I fought him off and he retreated."
Suzuko nodded hard.
But Kisame's mind didn't ease. He warned cautiously, "We're in deeper trouble than that. Before reinforcements arrive, your father will still be a threat."
No sooner had he said that than someone suddenly sprang out of the water not far from them.
Tatsuto looked somewhat weak as he eyed the two, but his gaze finally settled on Kisame.
This sudden development stiffened Kisame and Suzuko from head to toe. Although Kisame had expelled some of the internal toxin, he had taken injury and expended chakra, his fighting ability was nearly gone.
He smiled wryly, "That move indeed can't deal fatal damage to you, Jonin Nishimura. You can still move, say our end has come."
"I never expected that after I suddenly recognized the truth of the world, I'd have to go down together with your daughter."
Tatsuto did not strike. Instead his eyes grew strange as he asked, "I have a question I want you to clarify."
"How did you cast that ninjutsu just now?"
"There wasn't the slightest chance for you to form seals."
Kisame seemed to recall something and spat out a name, "Might Guy."
"Perhaps you don't know him, but like you he is also a close-combat-type shinobi."
"In fighting him I realized something."
"A person can't be so honest as to try forming seals when the opponent is attacking."
"Perhaps he stirred some instinct in me. I once unconsciously used a jutsu without forming seals, and afterward I trained more. Now, for certain jutsu, I no longer need to form seals."
[🎉 Shoutout to Acheron13, LightEvil, Amirul, Benedict, Jordan, Cameron & Jerome for joining p@treon. There is also a discount event ongoing till 6 November 12.00 P.M. Thank you very much.🤗]