The water shark and Samehada opened their huge mouths at the same time, and two attacks like lasers shot out.
One from above, one from below, colliding midair.
Pi! Pi!
There was no explosive backlash.
Against the combined assault from Konome Taketori and Orochimaru, the water shark barely managed any resistance at all. In the blink of an eye, its head was pierced straight through.
Konome Taketori and Orochimaru poured chakra out without restraint. Water and blade carried bone-deep killing intent, each locking onto Kisame Hoshigaki's chakra core.
One aimed for the chakra center between his brows.
The other for the core at his heart.
They struck where he had to defend.
No matter which side he chose to block, he would die on the spot.
"Heh!"
Kisame showed no fear at all. Sharklike teeth bared, he lifted Samehada horizontally in front of him with one hand.
"Nngh…"
Samehada's body swelled violently. Spines bristled as it expanded from just over two meters into a monstrous shark more than ten meters long.
That twisted, powerful body positioned itself like a shield in front of Kisame, jaws yawning wide as it snapped at the stream blasting toward his brow.
Clang!
A shriek of metal against metal rang through the storm.
Boom!
The giant shark burst apart into an explosion of spray. The shockwave was so violent that even the fine raindrops in the air were flung outward like thrown stones.
Konome Taketori's eyes flickered.
The invisible wind coiling around her body shredded the curtain of water into mist, the impact scattering outward and revealing the massive silhouette behind it.
Orochimaru's slit pupils contracted.
He gritted down on the Kusanagi blade, thrusting forward with all his strength. But no matter how he pushed, the razor-sharp sword was locked dead against that black mass, unable to advance even a hair.
The mist fully cleared.
"Nngh!"
Dense black spines crisscrossed and jammed the Kusanagi in place. Samehada opened its gaping maw like a dark void, swallowing the wind-and-water torrent without pause.
The combination release that could rip anything apart became mud sinking into the sea before it. It collapsed before it could even show its power. The delicate, intricate nature and form transformations shattered instantly, reduced to raw chakra that Samehada absorbed.
Their synchronized attack plan was completely useless.
"Physical attacks and ninjutsu both won't work."
Kisame, unscathed, grinned savagely as he slowly fed his chakra into Samehada. The spines that had been severed by the Kusanagi healed at once, regrowing across its surface.
The Kusanagi was completely pinned by the barbed spines.
Samehada writhed in excitement.
Konome Taketori crushed the remaining water sphere in her hand. Her chakra was already running dry. If Samehada swallowed any more, she would no longer be able to keep her shadow clone stable.
After gulping down the last of the torrent, Samehada swayed restlessly, jaws opening and closing as if savoring the aftertaste.
Pop!
The Kusanagi dispersed into a puff of smoke, then was summoned again into Orochimaru's hand.
"That blade is alive," Orochimaru said, his hoarse voice pressed tight with restraint as he frowned.
Its body was so hard the Kusanagi couldn't damage it. It could devour chakra and shrug off ninjutsu. It could heal itself, extend its body, and protect its wielder automatically.
Both were from the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, yet Zabuza's Executioner's Blade would shatter with a tap. How could it be mentioned in the same breath as this?
"They can also feed each other chakra, so genjutsu won't work either."
Konome Taketori's Byakugan caught the Yin Release nature change beginning inside Orochimaru. She spoke to cut him off, saving him even a fraction of chakra.
"You know your stuff."
Kisame swung Samehada up onto his shoulder, pride spilling from every word.
Ever since he'd obtained Samehada from Mister Madara, it was as if he'd gained the other half of his life. Man and blade fit together like they were born as a pair.
His massive chakra reserves could feed Samehada's gluttony.
Samehada, in turn, covered every weakness he had.
Ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, none of it worked on him.
It dragged him up from an elite jonin who only had Water Style and an absurd chakra pool into a top-tier monster that could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Five Kage.
The help it gave him was beyond imagination.
"Looks like we can only try sealing techniques," Orochimaru sighed, helpless.
Edo Tensei lacked the materials and vessels, and the technique still had major flaws. It couldn't draw out a dead man's full strength.
The Eight Branches Technique would be devoured too. It wouldn't be much better against Kisame.
And the partner at his back was no longer reliable.
His modified infrared perception could clearly sense that her internal energy was nearly depleted. She had probably lost a large amount to that strange fishlike blade earlier and was close to losing combat ability.
As expected, someone who could be partnered with Uchiha Itachi was never going to be simple.
This man's ability might not be as bizarre and unpredictable as the Mangekyo, but chakra absorption perfectly countered Orochimaru's entire arsenal of secret techniques.
Akatsuki sending this man with Itachi to hunt him had its reasons.
If there truly was no way out, he could only abandon the pawn to save the king.
Thinking of the mysterious sphere within his body, even with all his unwillingness, he still had no choice.
"I don't think we'll need to."
"What?"
Orochimaru turned sharply toward Konome Taketori. Was she saying she had another way?
Ignoring his confusion, Konome Taketori stepped past him and stood shoulder to shoulder, raising one hand into the air.
Her shadow clone's heart pulsed slowly. Sparse chakra flowed through her channels to her fingertips, and a faint purple glow gathered around her slender finger.
Kisame narrowed his eyes, aiming Samehada toward her.
From the beginning, he had been wary of the black shadow behind Orochimaru. That chakra felt wrong to him.
Familiar, almost intimate, like family.
Yet it also filled him with the primal terror of a natural predator.
Like one careless moment would get him swallowed whole.
Just like now.
Kisame shuddered.
His heart slammed in his chest.
A huge portion of chakra vanished from inside him out of nowhere, leaving him instantly drained, bone-tired.
Her?
His gaze snapped to Konome Taketori's purple-lit fingertip, but the moment he sensed the flow of his own chakra, he immediately pinpointed the target consuming it.
"Samehada!"
His roar shook the air.
"Nngh, nngh!"
Samehada, which had been obediently resting on his shoulder, quietly lowered its head.
Its huge mouth had somehow turned toward Kisame's back.
As soon as it realized its master had noticed, spines erupted from the handle.
"Aaaah!"
Kisame roared, enduring the pain as those spines pierced through his palm. He kicked the treacherous Samehada away with all his strength.
"Nngh, nngh!"
Splash!
Samehada's huge body smashed a crater into the water, spray exploding outward. It shook its head, then dragged its long handle like a tail and swam toward Konome Taketori like a fish darting through the lake.
It gathered its spines in, lifted its head, and opened its jaws at her glowing finger. Drool streamed from the corners of its mouth.
"Bastard! You damn thing!"
Kisame's eyes went bloodshot as he stared at his bleeding hand.
Watching his partner betray him and crawl up to the enemy's feet, wagging like a pet, made him feel sick and humiliated.
"Good."
Konome Taketori's eyes curved into crescents as she tapped Samehada's forehead with her purple-lit finger, feeding it her chakra.
She hadn't wasted the chakra she'd spent on that high-pressure water blade. Samehada, which loved high-quality chakra, really did betray him.
Samehada's essence was that of the Three-Tails' little follower. What it craved most was high-grade tailed beast chakra.
And her chakra, fused with the power of the Three-Tails and the Nine-Tails, was nowhere near Kisame's in quantity.
But in quality?
In the entire shinobi world, only a handful could compare.
If Kisame's chakra was cheap fried chicken that filled your stomach…
Then hers was an expensive soft-centered abalone dish crafted by a master chef.
It wouldn't fill you up.
But the flavor was incomparable.
Drops of purple chakra slid into Samehada's maw. It smacked its lips, then, tasting only the beginning, shook its head and swished its tail in dissatisfaction.
Finally, it turned its body and offered the long "handle" to her palm, as if presenting a leash.
Konome Taketori gripped it naturally.
Whoosh!
Like a river surging, terrifyingly pure chakra flooded up through her hand.
The chakra core near her heart cheered as it devoured and converted the energy. Deep, dark purple chakra erupted through her body in a wild tide.
Crackle!
Lightning Armor flared across her skin.
A scarlet tailed beast cloak wrapped around her frame, sending out a sinister pulse. Above, storm clouds twisted violently, wind and rain slanting toward her as if the heavens themselves were leaning closer.
"Tailed Beast Cloak!" x2
Kisame and Orochimaru both widened their golden eyes. Orochimaru, standing closest, retreated quickly to the side, wary of her losing control and going berserk.
Bloop, bloop, bloop.
Transparent bubbles rose.
Lightning and red light encased her completely. Infinite power spread through her veins. With Samehada refilling her chakra, Konome Taketori felt unbearably full.
In the short span she absorbed that massive external chakra, her body swelled with it. With Samehada's stored chakra still backing her, she had temporarily surpassed her true body and stepped into the realm of Kage.
Even if this chakra would run out once spent, she couldn't stop herself from craving that surging strength.
This was what she had chased all along.
Power.
The thing that made her feel safe.
The reversal came too fast.
Orochimaru, who had fled far away and watched the whole thing, looked dazed.
He had been ready to try sealing techniques, and if that failed, abandon the pawn to save the king. Instead, Kisame's blade somehow turned on him.
Then that chakra-devouring monster swam up to Konome Taketori like a dog, begging.
The "teammate" who had been hiding behind him and barely acted, aside from one jutsu, suddenly erupted with monstrous chakra.
She was a jinchuriki.
He didn't even know which tailed beast, but Konoha only had the Nine-Tails. If he counted the years, the child who housed it should be around six.
Seeing her small frame, a guess formed in his mind.
Giving the Nine-Tails jinchuriki to Danzo to raise…
Had his teacher gone mad?
"Hiss… Konome Taketori, are you still in control?"
The snake hiss and Orochimaru's hoarse, magnetic voice pulled her out of the intoxication.
"Relax."
Lightning and the tailed beast cloak reflected each other. Even the blue-white arcs seemed stained into eerie crimson by the beast's power.
Chakra and strength surged through her, rolling like a tide.
With Samehada, larger than her own body, slung over her shoulder, Konome Taketori turned toward Kisame, whose eyes were blazing with murderous intent.
"Ready? Round two starts now."
"Damn you!"
Kisame roared, hands snapping together. Even after losing nearly a third of his chakra to Samehada's betrayal, his burst was still terrifying.
"Die!"
Water Style: Great Shark Bullet Technique!
A shark nearly a hundred meters tall formed instantly underfoot, swallowing Kisame into its belly. Then it opened its jaws and bit down toward Konome Taketori.
The shark swelled like a missile as it charged.
Because she knew the original plot and had Byakugan vision, Kisame's techniques were clearer to her than a freshly cleaned glass pane.
The Great Shark Bullet was Kisame's strongest killing move. It could devour chakra-based attacks and grow stronger and stronger.
Even ignoring the flashy effects, its raw destructive power and quality were monstrous.
Before now, she had no way to handle it.
She could only flee at top speed with Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
But now…
Whoosh!
Samehada, which had been considering taking a bite of the tailed beast cloak, instantly pulled away from her body and aimed its gaping mouth at the incoming shark bullet.
"Samehada!"
Her crisp voice rang out through the storm, the voice of its new master.
That unbelievably delicious purple chakra surged into Samehada through the handle.
"Nngh!"
Samehada swelled in excitement. Spines bristled, and it expanded into a giant blade more than ten meters long.
Crackle, crackle, crackle!
Crimson lightning roared around her body. Muscles tightened like a drawn bow.
Konome Taketori gripped the handle with both hands, holding Samehada horizontally, her stance strangely like someone about to swing a baseball bat.
Power fused into one.
Tendons and bones sang together.
Taut fascia and hard, heavy bone supported the flow of strength.
Konome Taketori's gaze turned cold.
She swung.
A full sweep.
"Nngh!"
Samehada carved across the sky.
The shockwave detonated the rain instantly. The sweeping blade, carrying boundless force, slammed straight into Kisame's water shark.
Boom!!!
A thunderous roar filled her ears. The air trembled.
In the instant they collided, a crescent shockwave exploded outward. The water mist was blown apart, spraying like a waterfall.
Step, step, step!
Orochimaru stamped across the surface, kicking up "lotus" splashes as he retreated. He raised one hand to shield his face. The flying droplets struck his palm like gravel, stinging sharply.
Only when he had put enough distance between himself and the blast did he steady his body.
He lowered his hand and looked up.
In the swirling black clouds overhead, lightning flashed.
Rain and white mist merged into a blur.
At the center of the mountaintop lake, the petite figure wrapped in crimson lightning stood with a giant blade in one hand, pressing down on the man before her. The owl mask remained eerily calm and pristine.
Kisame, towering and broad, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, knelt in tattered clothing. Both hands braced Samehada, his body shaking, blood smeared across him.
"Graaah!"
Veins bulged. His biceps swelled, yet he still couldn't stop the crushing force pouring down through Samehada.
Samehada opened its jaws and bit into Kisame's shoulder.
As the last of his chakra was drained, Kisame could no longer endure it. The giant blade forced him down.
With a splash, he collapsed face-first onto the water, unable to move.
The outcome was decided.
Orochimaru exhaled slowly.
Staring at that figure whose chakra grew more and more violent, with three faint, spectral tails appearing behind her, the golden slit of his eyes no longer held fascination.
Only deep wariness remained.
She held tailed beast power.
She held that bizarre living blade.
She was no longer someone he could provoke casually.
If before, it had been out of respect for Aburame Ryoma and the fact that she was Danzo's disciple, now her power alone made his spine go cold.
And at this age.
When her chakra core matured with time, how strong would she become?
A shinobi god?
Orochimaru shook his head, not daring to think further.
Thankfully, Ryoma had held Itachi back in time.
Otherwise, Orochimaru would have gained yet another terrifying enemy.
Stopping that monstrous Uchiha and removing a huge problem for him in advance…
Orochimaru couldn't help but feel genuine gratitude toward his old partner.
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