Looking at the broken gourd not far away, Temari held back her tears and placed it in Gaara's hand.
Gaara, feeling the gourd, immediately hugged it, a faint smile gracing his face.
"Mom, I can finally come find you…"
Hearing this, Temari finally broke down in tears.
"Sister will take you home, sister will scold father for you, sister begs you not to die, okay…?"
She picked up Gaara and stumbled forward.
Gaara also seemed to experience a final resurgence of life, hearing Temari's words.
With an apologetic smile, he raised his trembling hand and wiped away Temari's tears.
"I'm sorry, sister… This Ninja World is so bitter. In the next life, I don't want to come back…"
Barely finishing his last sentence, Gaara's arm slipped and hung limply.
The last light in his eyes vanished, leaving only a faint smile on his face.
It was a mix of happiness and relief… "Water Release: Great Shark Bullet!"
"Ice Release: Ice Rock Dome!"
As the Shark Bullet shattered the ice wall, it revealed Haku, panting heavily behind it, his faint red Chakra almost dissipated.
"This Tailed Beast Chakra is truly formidable. Samehada has devoured so much, yet it can still boost your strength."
Kisame, his clothes tattered, held Samehada, which was covered in deep blue barbs, a look of admiration on his face.
He then glanced at Itachi on the other side, sighing in wonder once more.
"The person behind you is also terrifying. To fight Itachi-san for so long with just a Shadow Clone!"
On the other side, Itachi, his hand gripping Sasuke, whose pupils trembled and face was filled with fear, frowned in thought and confusion.
"What exactly is going on? Why is it Nine-Tailed Chakra?"
"And who was that Shadow Clone just now?"
Before he could figure it out, the tomoe in his Sharingan flickered, and then he instantly jumped back.
Boom!
A massive, deep crater appeared where he had just stood.
Feng Xu stood in the pit, his nine tails behind him pointing like blades towards Itachi.
Crack!
The sound of joints rubbing together echoed.
Feng Xu flexed his fingers and looked at Itachi with interest.
"S-rank rogue ninja, Uchiha Itachi?"
— — — — — — — —
PS: I might take a day off tomorrow because my family needs to visit ancestral graves early. There are several locations, and they're far, so I probably won't be able to write. (=`ェ?=; )ゞ
Chapter 110: The Corrupted Kisame!
"Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!"
Before Itachi could speak, Kisame's small eyes widened.
For no other reason than that a terrifying pressure and sense of danger filled his heart after Feng Xu appeared.
This sense of danger was far greater than even that from the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, who was known as a perfect Jinchuriki!
At least when he faced Yagura in the Hidden Mist Village before, he didn't feel such an urge to flee!
However, this sense of danger was just that—a sense of danger. Kisame felt he might not necessarily lose in a real fight.
It was just like his former superior, Suikazan Fuguki.
Standing there gave off a strong oppressive feeling, but in the end, he was still stabbed to death in a few moves.
Unless this Nine-Tails Jinchuriki also possessed Mangekyo Genjutsu like Itachi, then he, a warrior with low magic resistance, would concede!
Thinking this, Kisame stopped fighting Haku behind him.
Instead, he turned and held up the excited Samehada, pointing it at Feng Xu.
"Itachi-san, you continue to discipline your brother. I'll handle capturing the Nine-Tailed."
"I'm best at making people exhausted to the point of being unable to resist…"
With Samehada, which could absorb Chakra, Kisame was practically the natural enemy of Jinchuriki!
Moreover, Samehada in his hand was so excited it wanted to leap out.
So, he definitely couldn't miss such a rare opportunity to get his fill.
Sasuke, who was being held by Itachi not far away, also caught sight of Feng Xu's arrival.
He shouted, full of hatred and unwillingness: "Feng Xu, you are not to interfere!"
"I will kill him myself and tear him to pieces!!!"
As Sasuke shouted, Kisame had already rapidly lunged forward.
In the blink of an eye, he was behind Feng Xu.
With a vicious look on his shark-like face, he brought the raised Samehada down in a vertical chop aimed at Feng Xu's Chakra fox tails.
"Ice Release: Ice Rock Dome!"
Swish!
Bang!
Ice crystals splattered, and the ice wall shattered and collapsed.
Haku, who had just been far away, now stood in front of Feng Xu.
Though he was panting heavily from exhaustion and his body was covered in numerous wounds, even the Nine-Tailed Chakra emanating from his body had completely extinguished after being touched by Samehada again.
Yet, there was no fear on his delicate face; instead, his gaze was fixed intently on Kisame.
"Your opponent right now is me!"
"If you want to fight others, you'll have to step over my corpse first!"
As a subordinate and a tool, his role was to stand at the forefront, to share his master's worries and solve his problems.
Even if he was injured and had lost his fighting ability, he still had to use his body to hold back the enemy!
This was the principle Zabuza had instilled in him, and it was his unwavering creed as a tool.
Kisame's attack was blocked by Haku, and his small eyes flickered slightly, a cruel smile appearing on his face.
"Before, I was just playing with you a little, not devouring all your Chakra and finishing you off."
"Since you're so uncooperative, I'll just have to ask you to die!"
As his tone gradually rose, Kisame once again wielded Samehada, which had completely torn through its bandages.
Its entire body bristled with sharp spikes, its mouth wide open to reveal its fangs, as he brought it down towards Haku's pale neck!
Haku, whose Chakra was almost completely depleted, showed no fear or terror on his face.
Only an image of a bandaged figure appeared in his eyes, and then he gripped the senbon needles in his hand and attacked forward.
Brother Zabuza, you'll definitely be proud of me later, right… Clang!
The anticipated scene of Samehada cutting through the senbon needles and slicing across Haku's pale neck did not occur.
Instead, a golden-red fox tail extended out, firmly blocking Samehada, which was greedily devouring with its wide-open mouth.
Immediately after, another fox tail emerged, coiling around Haku and sending him flying to crash into the side.
Then, Feng Xu's cold and annoyed voice rang out.
"I don't have a habit of hiding behind others, so get out of the way. You're in the way."
Feng Xu found this kind of inexplicable self-sacrificing spirit—where a weak body protected a powerful teammate, and they felt self-satisfied about it—to be utterly baffling and incomprehensible.
Shouldn't one just honestly stand by and be a cheerleader, watching the powerful teammate crush the enemy?
"What a cold-hearted and arrogant Jinchuriki, indeed~"
As powerful Nine-Tailed Chakra continuously flowed into Samehada, Kisame no longer felt fear; he was quite confident now.
"That Ice Release brat clearly experienced the powerlessness of having his Chakra eaten, which is why he helped you block."
"If I were you, I would have escaped while I had the chance."
"But you showed no gratitude and foolishly dared to directly touch my Samehada with your Chakra."
At this point, Kisame looked at Samehada, which had nearly doubled in size, and a mocking smile appeared on his face.
"Hehehe… Your defeat is sealed. Let me chop off your legs and take you back~"
After speaking, he once again exerted force with his arm, intending to swing Samehada and chop at Feng Xu's legs.
But when he strained, he couldn't move Samehada in his hand!
"What's going on!?" A bad premonition arose.
Kisame turned his head in surprise, looking at Samehada.
He saw that the originally golden-red Chakra fox tail was now inexplicably scarlet to the point of black!
At the same time, waves of terrifying, evil, desperate, and resentful aura emanated, as if some evil god had descended!
And Samehada, which was devouring the fox tail's Chakra, was trembling like a sieve, looking both fearful and pained!
Feng Xu's emotionless, cold voice rang out again.
"I have nothing in abundance except Chakra."
"Since you want to devour it, then I'll let you devour your fill all at once."
As he spoke, more emotions from the depths of his heart were added to the Nine-Tailed Chakra, polluting both the man and the sword.
In an instant, the overwhelmed Samehada began to transmit a large amount of this to Kisame.
Kisame's expression twisted, followed by countless curses like the whispers of an evil god, or disordered screams, ringing in his ears!
Madness and frenzy completely polluted and filled his mind!
"Awoooahhhhh!!!"
"Stop! Get out of my head! I'll kill you all!!!"
Looking at Kisame, whose eyes were bloodshot and who was senselessly attacking the air, Feng Xu's fox tail tip lightly flicked.
The next second, Kisame flew backward, blood gushing from his mouth and nose!
A massive, bleeding hole also appeared in his abdomen!
Using the brief clarity of mind that came with this intense pain, Kisame immediately shouted to Itachi not far away.
"Itachi-san, save me!"
On the other side.
Itachi, whose three tomoe in his eyes spun into the shape of a three-bladed pinwheel, was speaking to a dazed Sasuke, word for word.