In Kirigakure
With Fuguki
Fuguki sat cross-legged in the center of the training ground, eyes closed. His presence was steady, unshaken, like an immovable boulder. Nothing around him could disturb that calm.
Minutes slipped by until the sound of footsteps echoed nearby. Fuguki's eyes snapped open, recognizing the presence he had been waiting for.
When Fuguki turned his head, he saw Kisame heading toward him, Kisame expression was twisted into a sharp, displeased frown.
Seeing the discontent on Kisame's face, Fuguki sighed. He stood and looked at Kisame with a firm and serious expression.
Kisame stood before Fuguki, his expression darkening, his voice carrying clear displeasure as he spoke.
"Fuguki-sama, what do you want from me?"
Fuguki sighed again when he heard Kisame's tone and said.
"Kisame, I can see you're angered by my decision to keep you here while the others fought Sunagakure on the border. But I had my reasons."
Kisame narrowed his eyes at this and was about to speak, but Fuguki raised his hand, silencing him.
"I kept you from joining the others at the border because you need to be ready for what lies ahead."
Kisame blinked, momentarily at a loss, and asked, his mind reeling from Fuguki's words.
"Ready for what Fuguki-sama?"
Fuguki looked up at the sky, reminiscing about the past—back when he was a young kid who had just survived the bloody graduation exam.
The faces of his fallen friends flickered through his mind, along with the woman he had loved and lost in the last war. He had been too weak to save any of them.
Fuguki eyes narrowed in anger and hatred and said to himself.
'I can't change the past, but I might be able to change the future. By preparing these kids, maybe they'll be the ones to change Kirigakure—and those stupid traditions.'
His gaze grew cold as the thought settled in. He addressed Kisame, every word weighed with seriousness.
"Kisame, the battle at our border is just the beginning of the upcoming Third Shinobi War."
Kisame's eyes went wide, disbelief flickering across his face, as Fuguki carried on.
"I want to train you to wield Samehada. If something happens to me in the future, you'll be the one to carry on where I left off."
Kisame froze, disbelief written all over his face, and finally spoke.
"Wait a second, Fuguki-sama! Yukina is your apprentice—shouldn't she inherit Samehada from you?"
Fuguki let out a soft chuckle at Kisame's question before replying.
"I won't lie, Kisame. The one most suited to inherit Samehada after me is Yukina-chan. Despite being only nine, she's a prodigy in Kenjutsu and all shinobi arts, with chakra reserves rivaling even a Jonin."
Kisame nodded seriously, hanging on every word Fuguki spoke.
"Yukina-chan wishes to walk her own path, Kisame, and I respect her decision. As her master, it is my duty to support my students unconditionally."
"She is remarkably mature for a nine-year-old girl. If she ever realizes that her chosen path is a wrong path, I am confident she will seek out a path that truly suits her."
Kisame's eyes filled with respect as he listened to Fuguki, who continued without a pause.
"Now, I will ask you the same question I asked Yukina-chan: Kisame, are you willing to inherit Samehada after me?"
Kisame's heart swelled with joy at the question. He quickly knelt before Fuguki and replied with utmost respect.
"Yes, Fuguki-sama! It would truly be an honor."
Fuguki gave a wide smile at Kisame's reply and reached behind him to grab Samehada.
"Good answer, Kisame. Attack me with your sword now, and watch carefully how I defend against your strikes with Samehada."
"I want you to memorize my stance and the way I wield Samehada when I'm on the defense."
"Once you have fully memorized them, you will begin practicing until they become second nature."
"I need to prepare you to wield Samehada as soon as possible, Kisame. I won't hold back. Every day, I'll push you to your limits—so be ready."
Kisame gave a serious nod and responded without hesitation.
"Understood Fuguki-sama."
With a swift motion, Kisame pulled his sword from his back and charged at Fuguki, holding nothing back.
"CLANK."
With ease, Fuguki parried Kisame's strike using the flat side of Samehada. Kisame's frown deepened as he felt his chakra being drained by Samehada.
Fuguki smirked when he saw Kisame frowns,
'Not bad—this kid caught on quickly. He's got a clear head on his shoulders.'
Kisame stepped back and launched a flurry of strikes from every angle, but Fuguki effortlessly parried each one with the flat side of Samehada.
'Interesting. The kid is talented, but nowhere near as skilled as Yukina-chan. This is going to be fun,'
Fuguki smiled at Kisame with interest as he continued training him.
___
With Yukina
After Yukina swiftly returned to the main battlefield, she smirked as she saw the Kirigakure forces overwhelming Sunagakure troops
'Well — I won't let those fools have all the fun. I'll slaughter more sand-dwellers than anyone here.'
Yukina hoisted her katana high, a crazed smirk twisting her lips. Silver sword qi surged along the black blade like living lightning, and in a heartbeat, she slammed it downward with merciless precision.
"WHOOSH.'
A wave of silver sword qi erupted with devastating force, slicing through the nearby Sunagakure shinobi without mercy.
"AAAAAHHHH."
After cleaving a group of Sunagakure shinobi in two, Yukina blurred forward with her illusory steps. Her black katana, alive with silver sword qi, slashed through her enemies with ruthless precision.
"SQUASH, SQUASH, SQUASH, SQUASH, SQUASH."
Yukina then found herself surrounded by ten Sunagakure shinobi, each brandishing kunai coated in wind chakra, ready to strike her from every angle.
The ten Sunagakure shinobi froze in shock as Yukina leapt into the air. Flipping upside down, she swung her katana in a deadly circular arc, beheading them all in a single, fluid motion.
"SQUASH, SQUASH, SQUASH, SQUASH, SQUASH, SQUASH, SQUASH, SQUASH."
At that precise moment, five puppets lunged toward Yukina, their countless blades glinting with a menacing sheen of purple poison.
Just as the puppets raised their poisonous blades to strike Yukina, dozens of ice spikes surged forward, striking with unerring force and precision.
"SWISH, SWISH, SWISH, SWISH, SWISH."
"BAAM, BAAM, BAAM, BAAM, BAAM."
The flying Ice spikes shot through the five puppets, obliterating them into countless wooden shards.
When Yukina landed gracefully on the ground. Yukito and Yoshi appeared beside her, and Yukito immediately began scolding her.
"Don't lower your guard, Yukina. You'll die before you even know how."
Yukina smiled faintly, ignoring Yukito's presence, and in an instant shunshined toward the closest group of Sunagakure shinobi, striking at them without hesitation.
As Yukina resumed her battle against the Sunagakure shinobi, Zabuza and the other apprentices of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen quickly joined her on the battlefield.
Yukito let out a quiet sigh at Yukina's icy dismissal, while Yoshi's temper boiled over.
"Damn, that girl—we saved her life, and she's still ungrateful to us."
Yukito chuckled when he heard Yoshi's words and said.
"No, Yoshi, you're wrong. Yukina was aware of the puppets, but we intervened before she could do anything."
Yoshi's eyes widened in surprise, yet Yukito paid no attention and continued speaking.
"Yoshi, we must end this battle at once. The longer it drags on, the more lives it will claim."
Yoshi gave a stiff nod in response to Yukito's command. In an instant, the two shunshined toward the nearest Sunagakure shinobi, slaughtering them mercilessly with their ice release kekkei genkai.
_______
The vice captain of the Sunagakure troops wore a dark, furious expression, enraged that his troops had been completely overwhelmed by the Kirigakure forces.
'Damn it, Pakura — where are you? If this keeps up our men will be slaughtered. We need to retreat, now!'
The vice captain of Sunagakure troops said to himself resolutely, though he was one of the strongest Jonin in the Sunagakure, he did not wield the same influence that Pakura enjoyed.
He had tanned skin, brown eyes, short brown hair, and an average-looking face.
The vice-captain of the Sunagakure troops was a muscular man, dressed in the village's traditional Jonin attire.
His name is Mitsuru.
Without any hesitation Mitsuru quickly executed a single hand seal.
"Wind Style:Air Clone."
For a brief second, the air around Mitsuru quivered, and then—out of thin air—two flawless clones stood at his side.
He let out a weary sigh after executing the jutsu, his mind racing with thoughts he could barely control.
'I have only one chance. I created this jutsu after reading our village records of the First Ninja War, where the Second Hokage used the Shadow Clone Jutsu as a diversion to save that bastard Danzo Shimura.'
'Normal clones can't perform jutsu and are intangible, but after much effort and time, I was able to develop this jutsu a tangible clones that can execute ninjutsu.'
'The only downside of this jutsu is that it consumes too much chakra; with my current reserves, I can only create two clones.'
'Now, my clones and I can each execute only one A-rank jutsu before they dissipate, and I'm left low on chakra.'
Without hesitation, the two clones shunshined to the flanks, while Mitsuru's real body shunshined to the front of his troops.
At that moment, Mitsuru and his two clones formed a series of hand seals in perfect unison, and once they finished, they all shouted together.
"Wind Style: Devastating Wind Blast."
"WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH."
"SQUASH, SQUASH, SQUASH, SQUASH, SQUASH, SQUASH."
A wide, razor-sharp wind tore through the battlefield, cutting down numerous Kirigakure shinobi and at that exact moment Mitsuru shouted urgently to his subordinates.
"Everyone retreat now."
Without hesitation, all Sunagakure shinobi shunshined away, retreating from the border of the Land of Water.
Yukito sighed when he saw Sunagakure troops successfully retreated. He gave no order for pursuit, but instead looked at his comrades and issued his order..
"Those who are injured, return to the camp. The rest, clean up the battlefield. I want a full report of our casualties—get on it."
"Yes, sir."
The injured swiftly retreated to the camp, while the remaining Kirigakure shinobi began clearing the battlefield.
Yukito eyes narrowed for a moment and said to himself.
'I can't shake the feeling that this battle was just the start. What's coming next will be far more brutal, and if we hope to survive the upcoming war, we need to be prepared for anything.'
Yukito then turned around and started walking away from the battlefield.
______'