Samehada shot in.
Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!
Kitazawa snapped a shuriken out of his hand. He formed seals; chakra surged; the shuriken flickered—and split. In a blink, a cloud of shuriken filled the sky like a gigantic beast, swallowing Samehada and racing along its chain to seal off every angle around Suikazan Fuguki.
Shadows from the shuriken swallowed Fuguki. His eyes narrowed. Only after actually crossing blades with Kitazawa did he realize Raiga Kurosuki and Ameyuri Ringo hadn't died unjustly. Still, there were levels even among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen—and he was the strongest of them.
Fuguki yanked the chain; Samehada boomeranged back and spun before him. Shuriken rang away in all directions.
"Huh?" he clicked his tongue—because when the last shuriken fell, Kitazawa was gone.
Fuguki reacted instantly. His right hand twitched and he flung Samehada again—this time straight at Kurenai.
Kitazawa reappeared out of thin air; Zangetsu and Thunderclap crossed and caught Samehada.
"Knew you'd show yourself," Fuguki sneered. "For a shinobi, emotions are useless."
He flashed in; water swirled in his left palm, shaping into a blade, and he slashed for Kitazawa.
With a pop, Kitazawa burst into smoke.
"A shadow clone?" Fuguki blinked.
Heat licked at the back of his neck. He whirled to find Kitazawa there, Zangetsu wreathed in flame in his hands.
"What—?" Cold sweat broke across Fuguki's brow. His left hand snapped back on reflex; the water blade caught Zangetsu.
Supervibrato Lightning Release Swords!
Kitazawa had read him; Zangetsu thrummed and flashed with lightning. The water blade in Fuguki's hand sheared apart. Zangetsu bit toward his arm.
Fuguki's face drained; he yanked his left arm back while hacking down with Samehada in his right.
Blood sprayed—but not Kitazawa's. It was Fuguki's.
"Bastard! I'll kill you!" A gash to the bone opened along his left forearm. Pale and shaking with fury, he glared at Kitazawa, eyes burning.
"That depends on your skill," Kitazawa said evenly.
"Kid!" Fuguki snarled, goaded by the calm. "I was famous when you were still a snot-nosed brat!"
He suddenly swung Samehada down—onto himself. The expected self-bisect never came; instead, the blade fused with him. His head warped into a shark's, fins sprouted from his forearms—he'd become something like a merman.
Samehada Fusion Form.
In this state, Fuguki could fly through water and devour chakra.
Kitazawa's brow lifted. He'd thought only Kisame Hoshigaki could fuse with Samehada; apparently Fuguki could too. Thinking on it, it made sense—fusion was a function of Samehada itself. In theory, any wielder could merge with it.
"Die!" Fuguki clapped his hands.
Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!
A massive surge of water chakra roared up around him, leaping skyward and shaping into a gigantic water dragon in an instant.
Kitazawa's face tightened. Did the fusion boost Water Release as well?
He swept his blade. The fire wave smashed into the dragon and went out at once. Kitazawa stowed Zangetsu and flew through seals.
Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!
A huge wind orb detonated, a howling gale slamming the water dragon back.
Fuguki blurred and suddenly appeared point-blank.
Samehada: Severing Sweep!
His forearms turned to blades and scissored down from left and right.
Rasengan!
Kitazawa raised both hands; spiraling chakra coalesced into twin spheres. Both Rasengan smashed into Fuguki's arms. Even with Samehada's protection, the skin along his forearms twisted grotesquely. Gritting his teeth, Fuguki wrenched both arms back.
Water Release: Water Fang Blade!
As he slipped past the Rasengan, twin water blades formed in his hands and hacked down for Kitazawa.
Heavenly Foot of Pain!
Kitazawa fired a savage kick. His right leg, wrapped in surging chakra and a ripping pressure wave, landed before the water blades could—and blasted Fuguki away.
Lightning Release: Chidori!
Lightning flared in Kitazawa's right hand; the shriek of a thousand birds gathered into a killing thrust. He lunged, hand like a blade, aiming straight for Fuguki's heart.
Every hair on Fuguki's body stood up. A wave of danger hit so hard his adrenaline spiked. He threw both arms up. Chidori carved his skin open; blood poured—but in Fusion Form his hide was thick. He gritted through the pain and triggered Samehada's chakra-eating power. The lightning vanished as if it had never been. Fuguki bounded back, staring at the blood running down his arms—shocked and furious.
A cutting wind hissed in. A figure raced in from afar—Uchiha Itachi. He glanced around and paused. Kurenai, Kabuto, and the others being on the back foot was expected. But for Fuguki to be pressed this hard? Both arms bloodied—clearly he'd taken a beating. And what was with that strange appearance?
"Konoha Anbu?" Fuguki blinked, then scoffed. Even a jōnin wouldn't change the outcome, he thought. But Itachi's arrival reminded him that if he stalled, more Konoha shinobi would show up.
"You three, finish them!" he barked, face dark.
Then he fixed on Kitazawa. He'd assumed Fusion Form would let him end this quickly. It hadn't. Time to pull out his real trump card—techniques he hadn't needed in ages: the Hidding in Mist and Silent Killing. He only used them against equals—or someone stronger.
"This is where you die, kid!"
Mist billowed as he clapped his hands; a dense fog surged outward from him.
"Agreed—time to finish it," Kitazawa said. With Itachi here, he no longer needed to hold back.
Senju Chakra Mode!
The mist churned. Behind him, Fuguki lunged out of the fog. Monster Strength—Kitazawa turned and punched as if he had eyes in the back of his head. Fuguki's eyes went wide as he was launched, crashing down and aching all over, bones feeling like they might scatter. If not for Fusion Form, that one punch would've knocked him cold. More shocking was how Kitazawa reacted at all. Could he see through the mist? Impossible!
Fuguki scrambled up, dodging a roaring water dragon. The fog stilled again. Silent as a ghost, he crept toward Kitazawa. Kitazawa stood in place in his sunglasses like he'd sensed nothing.
Body Flicker!
Fuguki seized his opening; his right hand knifed straight for Kitazawa's heart. A bloodthirsty grin split his face. Killing Tsunade's student—a monster in his own right—would be a huge feat.
Then his smile froze. Kitazawa's hands snapped out and caught his arms. Fuguki tried to yank free—but Kitazawa's fingers pinched together and tapped the tenketsu in his forearm.
"You know Gentle Fist?" Fuguki blurted, staring as the chakra in his arm seized up.
"I've got two Hyūga students. I've picked up a thing or two," Kitazawa said, and struck another chakra point in Fuguki's arm.
"Get off!" Fuguki felt the danger mounting. He lashed a kick; Kitazawa rocked back, letting it whip past. Fuguki exhaled in relief—then his body shuddered twice, and Fusion Form canceled.
Realizing what had happened, he grabbed Samehada and melted into the mist, keeping his breathing as quiet as possible. Whether by design or luck, Kitazawa had tagged two points that disrupted the fusion.
This was getting hairy. Hidden Mist was working—but up close, Kitazawa kept reading him. Fuguki glanced down at Samehada—and a plan clicked. If close-in attacks got read, he'd just go long.
He twisted Samehada's hilt. As the blade shot away, he beat it by a step, flying through seals.
Hair Needle Senbon!
His hair stiffened and fired like a thousand senbon.
Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!
Kitazawa's speed in countering came entirely from his Byakugan. Thanks to a 30% Byakugan purity buff, his vision was far beyond even clan members'. The one drawback: in the Hidding in Mist he could only see about three meters—but that was enough.
A wall surged up to catch the hair needles. An instant later, Samehada smashed straight through the wall—and the needles tore into Kitazawa's body like a hedgehog's spines.
"Got him?" Fuguki's eyes lit—
Poof. Kitazawa crumbled into earth.
"Damn it!" Alarm bells blared in Fuguki's head. He yanked the chain, hauling Samehada back.
Composite Ninjutsu: Blazing Wind Wild Wave!
Watching Samehada whip away, Kitazawa flashed through seals, leaned back, and belched a mass of flame. The moment it hit the ground, it spread—an instant sea of fire. At the same time, a high-pressure wind orb detonated, and the blaze blossomed like fireworks, racing outward.
"No—!" Fuguki had just seized Samehada when the wildfire swallowed him whole. He screamed. He tried to run—but too late. Wind-fed flames moved at a terrifying speed. The fog vanished, replaced by a raging inferno.
Kitazawa swept the area with his Byakugan, found Fuguki, and drew Zangetsu. One cut—
A flame blade lanced into the fire and struck home. The screams cut off; Fuguki collapsed.
Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!
Kitazawa slashed again. Vacuum Blade usually meant infusing wind chakra into a kunai; poured into a sword, the effect was similar. He split the firestorm and sprinted in, hauling Fuguki's body out. Even moving fast, the man was charred beyond recognition.
No sooner had Kitazawa set him down than Samehada began to slither away like something crawling in the dark—fast. Kitazawa stepped forward, pinned the hilt under his boot, and formed seals.
Four Limbs Weighting Seal!
Black sealing formulae of chakra crawled over Samehada until it couldn't twitch.
He stroked his chin. Credit where it was due—Samehada was impressive. Of the seven blades, it might be the most useful. Just its chakra absorption was terrifying. In the original tale, it could even drain a tailed beast.
But Kitazawa was a traditionalist; a living sword wasn't his style. And Samehada might not accept him anyway—it was picky. Even if it did, the first time a jinchūriki showed up, it would probably ditch him.
He paused. A jinchūriki… Uzumaki Naruto?
Huh. That might actually be perfect. Naruto's chakra needed no introduction—outside of Hashirama, good luck finding a second shinobi who could match him (putting outliers like the Sage of Six Paths and Kaguya aside).
Samehada would love Naruto's chakra. And Naruto would probably like Samehada back. It had a mind of its own; you could practically treat it like a pet. Naruto had plenty of friends—one more wouldn't hurt.
Decision made, Kitazawa wrapped Samehada in bandages. Since it was alive, he couldn't stuff it into a summoning storage scroll; he'd have to carry it.
"Kitazawa!" A waft of perfume, and Kurenai hurried up. Kitazawa glanced over—the other three Mist jōnin were down like Fuguki.
"You okay?" Kurenai asked, worried.
"I'm fine," he said, then, "What about you?"
"Izumi and Torune are a bit banged up; Kabuto's treating them," she said, exhaling in relief.
"Sorry I'm a step late," Itachi said, apologetic.
"It's fine—you were in time," Kitazawa said with a smile. "You're scary strong, Itachi—three jōnin down just like that."
"I had Kurenai-senpai and the others helping. It wasn't just me," Itachi said earnestly, then looked at Fuguki. "I'm nowhere near you."
"This isn't the moment," Kurenai cut in. "We should move. If we linger, more Mist shinobi could double back."
"Right." Kitazawa nodded. He'd just used Senju Chakra Mode; pushing a fight after that was asking for trouble. With Itachi here he still hadn't had to reveal his Mangekyō—despite facing three jōnin earlier.
He sealed Fuguki's body and the other three Mist jōnin into a summoning storage scroll. The team headed for Konoha's main base.
After they left, a figure appeared—the same Mist Anbu who'd delivered the message to Fuguki earlier.
"We're finished—this is a disaster," he trembled. Fuguki was one of the Seven and a deputy commander in this war. His death would rock Kirigakure. He snapped to and fled to report to Ao.
[Current Mission: Stop or kill Suikazan Fuguki.]
[Reward: +2/5 card to chakra capacity.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
Mid-stride, Kitazawa faltered for a beat, reading the three lines only he could see. A surge of chakra poured into him. The chunk he'd burned in Senju Chakra Mode was restored by a good margin. His total chakra now exceeded four "cards." Among jōnin, only a handful had more.
They reached Konoha's main base by dusk; the sun hung low, its light fading.
"How did it go?" Tsunade asked as soon as she saw them. In the command tent, Nara Shikaku and Hyūga Hiashi looked up, Hiashi especially—his clan had originally been tasked with stopping Fuguki's squad, and had failed.
"Mission accomplished," Kitazawa said with a smile.
"Excellent work," Tsunade said, lips curling into a grin.
"These are the four bodies from Fuguki's squad," Kitazawa said, producing a scroll. "Heads up—there's a lot of blood."
Tsunade blinked, accepted the scroll, and handed it to Shikaku without looking.
"All four… killed?" Shikaku's eyes went wide. Given who Fuguki was, calling his death "seismic" for the Mist was no exaggeration.
"No wonder—Tsunade's student," the other jōnin murmured, the tent buzzing. They'd assumed Kitazawa's team had merely repelled Fuguki's squad—not wiped it. The gap in difficulty was night and day.
"Haru," Tsunade said after a glance at Kitazawa, "send this intel to the old man."
"Yes, ma'am," the Anbu operative Haru replied.
"Shikaku, make the deployments. Prepare for a revenge strike from the Mist," Tsunade added after a moment's thought.
"Understood, Tsunade-sama," Shikaku said, and strode out of the command tent.