"So flimsy?"
Kitazawa couldn't help twitching at the corner of his mouth. He'd planned to copy a couple more Earth-style jutsu, but that would have to wait. No big deal—this war might drag on, and he'd have plenty of chances to copy techniques. No rush.
His eyes suddenly sharpened. Not far away, a Kirigakure chūnin formed hand seals and exhaled a thick bank of mist—Hidden Mist Technique.
Leaf Body Flicker!
Kitazawa flashed to his face and slammed a Rasengan into him, dropping him cold on the spot.
Wind Release: Gale Palm!
He clapped both hands; a hard gust swept the fog away.
"Nice work, Captain Kitazawa!" Uchiha Yashiro shouted from the distance.
Kitazawa felt… odd. Hearing an Uchiha lay it on that thick took getting used to. But he understood: part of it was Fugaku's orders, and part of it was Kitazawa's current strength and standing.
Wind Release: Vacuum Shuriken!
He flicked a shuriken behind him. Wrapped in wind chakra, it punched clean through the heart of a Mist shinobi trying to ambush him. The man hit the ground, blood running bright red.
Kitazawa swept the field and spotted a Konoha jōnin being swarmed.
Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!
He didn't hesitate. Seals—then another shuriken. Mid-air, it shivered and split into a storm of shuriken.
"Move!" a Mist shinobi yelped, voice shaking.
Too late. The sky rained steel. The dozen-plus chūnin ringed around the Konoha jōnin dropped where they stood. The sudden spray of blood left the jōnin frozen for a beat, staring at the carpet of bodies in shock.
"Captain Kitazawa really is Tsunade-sama's student," the Konoha jōnin breathed.
The nearby Mist shinobi, by contrast, went wide-eyed—fear creeping across their faces.
"Everyone on him!" a Mist jōnin roared. "Hold for two more minutes and Kisame-sama's reinforcements will arrive!"
Kisame?
Kitazawa's brow lifted. In the original story, Hoshigaki Kisame had lots of screen time—but as a member of Akatsuki, partnered with Uchiha Itachi, wielding Samehada, "the tailless tailed beast" with monstrous chakra. His Suiton was so overwhelming fans joked it was "Sea Release," second only to Tobirama's.
But here and now he had no Samehada and wasn't in Akatsuki.
Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!
Kitazawa sealed; wind chakra bulged into a massive, high-pressure orb. The Mist jōnin blanched and hastily raised a Water Wall—only for the sphere to punch straight through it.
Water Release: Water Fang Blade!
He gathered a water stream into a blade and carved the wind sphere apart, then charged Kitazawa. Kitazawa glanced at the blade, mirrored the seals, and a water blade formed in his own hand.
"You know Water Fang Blade?!" the Mist jōnin blurted. That was a Kirigakure-exclusive technique.
Kitazawa burst forward. The blades met with a crack. The jōnin's body jolted; the raw power shoved him back several steps, while Kitazawa hadn't budged. Shock spread across the man's face.
Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!
He ditched the blade and vomited out a waterfall-sized mass of water.
Leaf Body Flicker!
Kitazawa scattered into leaves and vanished. The water crashed down and, instead, smashed several Mist shinobi nearby.
"Bastard!" the jōnin snarled, flashing through seals.
Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!
A towering water dragon arced up and dove for the rustling leaves.
Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!
Kitazawa reappeared and clapped his hands. A second dragon plunged from above and slammed into the rising one. Spray exploded, bursting into firework-like blooms mid-air.
"Impossible!" the Mist jōnin gaped. "How are your hand seals that fast?"
"Want to know why?" Kitazawa landed lightly.
The jōnin opened his mouth, then froze—realizing too late what was wrong. An unseen wave pulsed out; his face went slack.
Kitazawa lunged and drew a kunai across his throat.
"Sha—" The Mist jōnin crumpled, clutching his neck. He'd never imagined Kitazawa also used genjutsu—and without seals. Only as he died did he understand it was the Sharingan. But why would an Uchiha wear sunglasses? That didn't fit their style at all.
With that jōnin's death, all seven jōnin at this outpost were down.
"Fall back!" Kitazawa called after a quick sweep.
After their rampage, most of the outpost's shinobi were dead or dying; only a few still fought on. From start to finish, it had been about two minutes. The raid was a clean success.
"Captain Kitazawa!" Hyūga Hoheto suddenly warned. "Eight Mist jōnin, two kilometers off our left front, closing fast."
"Jōnin from the other two outposts," Kitazawa said at once. "Move! If they tie us up, Kirigakure's main force will be on us in no time."
Tsunade's three-minute estimate referred to the main army. Jōnin didn't need that long—hence the eight arriving early.
"Understood!"
They broke contact and sprinted for the shore.
Boom!
A dull roar of water made them glance back. Beyond the island, a ten-meter wave was rearing up, thundering toward them.
"What Suiton is that?" Hoheto's eyes went wide. "It's not weaker than Captain Kitazawa's!"
"There are still Mist shinobi on that island—he's not afraid of killing his own?" Akimichi Chōza frowned.
"Mist shinobi turning on each other is nothing new," Kitazawa said, shaking his head. "Keep running."
That was the Bloody Mist—no regard for comrades' lives. Zabuza had slaughtered his whole graduating class to leave the academy, after all.
Kitazawa already knew who cast the Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave. Odds were, Hoshigaki Kisame. Judging by its force, the current Kisame was still a notch below the future Akatsuki version.
"Captain Kitazawa, watch yourself!" they called, stepping out onto the sea to retrace their path. After seeing his Suiton earlier, they were inclined to trust him now.
Halfway back, they glanced over their shoulders and saw a once-in-a-lifetime sight.
Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!
Knowing the foe was Kisame, Kitazawa didn't dare hold back. Senju Chakra Mode roared to life; every drop of chakra in his body surged. With more than three "cards" of chakra, currents whipped around him. The sea heaved as if a leviathan were about to burst free. When the swell peaked, it sheared into a horizon-spanning tsunami.
"What?" Kisame's pupils tightened. In all his life, he'd never seen someone's Suiton match his own.
"How?" The remaining Mist jōnin felt like they were dreaming. Most were Suiton specialists; they knew exactly how much Kitazawa's Great Waterfall was worth.
"Help me!" Kisame barked, face set, pouring in more chakra. The other jōnin joined him. Centered on the island, twin ten-meter walls surged up left and right—then slammed together like colliding continents. A deluge hammered the sea; water pillars leaned outward in every direction. The nearest island gave a crisp crack and split in two.
The surviving Mist shinobi stared, hollow-eyed, despair creeping in. They'd dodged Konoha's nine-jōnin raid only to face an extinction-level tsunami.
"Don't let him get away! Leaving a monster like that loose will only cause Kirigakure bigger trouble!" Kisame snapped and rushed straight for Kitazawa. The others followed.
"Who are you? With that kind of power, show yourself!" Kisame called over the chaos.
"Konoha's Kitazawa!"
A voice answered—and Kisame flickered to its source, only to find… nothing.
"A special escape technique? Shame." After a fruitless search, he had to give up.
Kitazawa had melted into the ocean with the Hydrification Technique. He only re-formed and burst from the water after catching up to Yashiro and the others.
"Move!" he barked before anyone could speak, pushing them onward. The three-minute mark was almost up; his chakra was at its limit. If Kisame's group caught them now, it wouldn't be pretty.
Half an hour later, Kitazawa finally halted. He'd dropped Senju Chakra Mode long ago and was drawing deep, ragged breaths. Even with three and a half "cards" of chakra, this fight left him feeling short. Fortunately, he had a cheat—finish more "system" tasks and breaking his limits was only a matter of time.
Uchiha Yashiro, Aburame Shibi, and the rest looked at him in frank awe. If any of them had suspected earlier that Kitazawa's clout came from Tsunade's backing, that notion was completely gone now. Even Tsunade had never shown Suiton like that.
"How's it look?" Kitazawa asked Shibi.
"No one's on our tail," Shibi said with a small smile. "I'm guessing they're busy rescuing their own."
"I noticed that island was split in two," Hoheto said, still stunned.
"Who was that Mist shinobi? His Suiton was on par with Captain Kitazawa's," Yashiro asked, perplexed. Kitazawa's display had rocked him; the enemy had been no slouch either.
"Hoshigaki Kisame," Kitazawa said. "A newly rising talent from the Mist."
At this time, Kisame was still working under Suikazan Fuguki and hadn't yet joined the second generation of the Seven Swordsmen. In peacetime, he wasn't famous, so Yashiro and the others had little impression of him.
"Kisame, huh? I've read his file, but I didn't expect his Suiton to be that terrifying," Shibi muttered. "We should brief Tsunade-sama and warn everyone to be careful."
"Agreed," Kitazawa said. Tsunade's dossier on Kisame was thin—just that he'd only recently made jōnin. Someone similar was Terumi Mei: little buzz. Zabuza, on the other hand, was known for slaughtering his peers at graduation.
"Rest where you are for ten minutes," Kitazawa ordered. "Clan Leader Shibi, keep watch."
"On it." Shibi flooded the area with kikaichū. The others flopped down without pretense to recover chakra. It had only been two minutes of fighting, but they'd gone all-out to maximize destruction.
Kitazawa dispelled the summoning and sent Katsuyu home.
[Current Mission: Secure Konoha's first victory.]
[Reward: Supervibrato Lightning Release Swords.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
As soon as he sat, the reward hit. A flood of information poured into his mind. Better than he'd expected, honestly. No wonder Killer B could outduel Uchiha Sasuke in swordplay. Of course, the true core of the Seven-Sword style is the "Acrobat."
When the break ended, they set out again and reached Konoha's forward camp just as dawn was graying the sky.
"You're okay?" Kurenai appeared in front of Kitazawa at once. With time short last night, he hadn't said goodbye—and he hadn't brought her or Kabuto along.
"Not a scratch," Kitazawa said with a grin.
"Good." Kurenai looked him up and down and finally exhaled. She'd worried all night and barely slept. Raiding a Mist outpost was just too dangerous.
"How did it go?" Tsunade asked, glancing at Kurenai as she stepped up to the group.
"Perfectly," Kitazawa said. "We leveled the outpost. All seven jōnin and most of the chūnin are dead."
"Excellent," Tsunade smiled. "That puts Mist's losses well above ours."
"All thanks to Captain Kitazawa," Yashiro said quickly.
"For sure," Shibi, Chōza, Hoheto and the others nodded in turn.
"Oh?" Tsunade arched a brow, surprised. She knew Kitazawa was strong, but not enough to overshadow eight Konoha jōnin—especially with heavy hitters like Yashiro, Chōza, and Shibi on the team. Aside from the likes of Hiruzen, Hiashi, and Fugaku, they were the village's top tier.
"It's a long story," Kitazawa coughed lightly. "Let's talk in the tent."
"The rest of you, go rest," Tsunade told the others. "We move out again in two hours."
"Yes, Tsunade-sama." Chōza, Yashiro and the rest headed for their tents. Kitazawa and Kurenai followed Tsunade inside.
"Here, water," Shizune said, handing Kitazawa a cup of boiled water.
"Thanks, Shizune-sama." Kitazawa took a sip and recounted the raid in detail—omitting only the three-tomoe Sharingan. At this point, showing more of what he could do would only get him more trust and responsibility.
"Your Suiton's already at that level?" Tsunade was taken aback at the mention of ten-meter waves. She'd only seen that kind of Water Release from two people: Sarutobi Hiruzen and Tobirama Senju.
Shizune and Kurenai wore matching expressions. They'd seen Kitazawa use Suiton before, but hadn't imagined how terrifying he was at full tilt.
"This Hoshigaki Kisame you described might actually be stronger than Suikazan Fuguki and the other Seven Swordsmen," Tsunade mused.
"Kisame pressured me more than Raiga did," Kitazawa nodded. "We don't have many who could beat him."
He still lacked Samehada, but his chakra reserves were simply enormous—especially by the sea, where Suiton hit harder. In the original story, he even killed Suikazan Fuguki, Samehada's previous wielder. That said, once Kitazawa flipped on Senju Chakra Mode, beating him wouldn't be hard; he'd only held off earlier because he'd already been in that mode for two minutes and Kisame had teammates.
"Shizune, spread word of today's victory," Tsunade ordered. "And flag Kisame as a priority threat."
"Understood." Shizune slipped out.
"You should've told me sooner how strong you are," Tsunade said, shooting Kitazawa a look.
"You didn't ask," he blinked.
"Forget it. A win's a win. You worked hard tonight—go rest." With Kurenai standing right there, she resisted the urge to punt him out of the tent.
"Got it." Kitazawa led Kurenai back to his tent.
Two hours later, daylight was full.
Konoha's main force moved out, aiming to link up with the vanguard near the Land of Fire's southeastern border by midday. Kirigakure's main force, meanwhile, had reached the area even earlier but stayed offshore, encamped on nearby islands.
"Kitazawa, huh?" Ao said after hearing Kisame's report. "With that level of power, no wonder he's Tsunade's student."
"Tsunade's not known for Suiton," Suikazan Fuguki shook his head. "Kitazawa was using Second Hokage Tobirama's water techniques."
At that, Terumi Mei and Momochi Zabuza both flashed a hard glint in their eyes. They were Mist prodigies, proud to the bone. And Tobirama was the man who'd stolen Suiton's reputation from Kirigakure; when people said "strongest Water Release," they thought of him, not a Mizukage. Tobirama was dead—out of reach.
But a living successor to his Suiton had arrived; naturally they wanted a look for themselves.
Only Kisame, who had felt Kitazawa's power firsthand, truly understood: as an heir to Tobirama's Water Release, the title fit. Luckily, on a battlefield, true one-on-one chances were rare.