The several-meter-long white blade of compressed wind slammed head-on into the massive fireball.
Before breaking through this level, Fujimoto Tōma might have hesitated at such a clash. Now, there was no doubt left in him.
Since crossing that threshold, the increase in power had exceeded his expectations. Whether ninjutsu or taijutsu, everything had risen sharply.
Vacuum Sever might have been born from Wind Release: Vacuum Wave fused into swordplay, but its core was still the blade itself. What he borrowed from Wind Release was only that absolute cutting property.
Fire Release countering Wind Release had nothing to do with this.
There was no explosion.
In the next instant, the enormous fireball of Great Fire Annihilation split cleanly in two. The white blade shadow didn't weaken at all, continuing straight toward Itachi himself.
Itachi stared at the incoming slash. The three tomoe in his Sharingan twisted, blooming into a complex pattern as crimson light flared in front of him.
"Susanoo?" Tōma thought calmly. Useless.
Even before, he could cut through Itachi's Susanoo with Vacuum Wave. Now, Vacuum Sever was on an entirely different level. Even the strongest form Itachi had ever shown wouldn't change the outcome.
At the same time, Tōma didn't forget Kisame.
Chakra mixed with crackling lightning gathered in his other hand, spiraling rapidly.
"Water Release: Great Shark Bullet Technique!"
Seeing that Tōma hadn't used Flying Thunder God, Kisame completed his seals without hesitation. Even if Tōma escaped afterward, this attack would at least pull Itachi out of danger.
A gigantic shark surged forward, jaws wide, tearing through the air toward Tōma.
Tōma casually tossed the lightning-infused Rasengan straight into its open mouth.
The explosion detonated from the inside.
The rotational force shredded the shark's structure, while lightning raced wildly through the collapsing water. Kisame grimaced.
Good thing I wasn't inside that.
If he had merged with the technique, the Rasengan might not have done much, but the Lightning Release would have cooked him alive. For the first time, Kisame felt grateful that the battlefield limited his large-scale Water Release.
That moment of relief turned into a chill.
Tōma's attention was still mainly on Itachi.
The blade had been stopped.
That surprised him, but the reason became obvious immediately.
A crimson shield hovered before Itachi. The Yata Mirror.
Instead of relying on a full Susanoo, Itachi had summoned one of its legendary spiritual tools directly. Against that, even Vacuum Sever couldn't cut through.
But that was all it could do. Block, nothing more.
Even so, Itachi was coughing heavily. The strain on his body was obvious.
Tōma frowned slightly. The white blade light faded, the Inkshadow Sword returning to its unassuming form. He didn't press the attack as Kisame rushed to Itachi's side.
"Are you alright?" Kisame asked, Samehada in one hand as he reached out with the other.
"I'm sti—"
Itachi froze mid-sentence.
A sharp, overwhelming pain tore through his arm and waist.
He stared in disbelief at the severed limb on the ground… and at Samehada buried in his side.
Kisame…?
The sword was his. The attack had come from behind.
His left arm was gone, cleanly cut. Samehada had stopped halfway through his torso, failing to split him completely.
"Tch," the 'Kisame' holding the blade clicked his tongue in irritation. "Missed."
In that moment, the truth became clear.
This wasn't Kisame.
It was Tōma, using the Living Corpse Possession technique to seize Kisame's body.
He hadn't held back. The failure wasn't mercy, but resistance. Kisame's will had interfered at the critical moment.
Otherwise, Itachi would have been cut into pieces.
There was no time to question why Kisame had turned on him.
Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan snapped toward 'Kisame,' spinning violently.
Tōma felt it instantly.
This is bad.
Closing his eyes now was too late.
The world inverted.
He found himself in a pitch-black space.
Yet… he could move.
Tōma blinked, then looked ahead. Itachi stood there, and nearby, Kisame was bound to a cross.
Tōma smiled brightly and waved.
"So this is Tsukuyomi?" he asked cheerfully.
As expected, his resistance wasn't absolute. One of his souls had been pulled in. The other remained fully awake.
Normally, that wouldn't happen. As long as one soul stayed conscious, the other would follow.
But Tsukuyomi was different. It forcibly dragged a mind into a sealed mental space.
Even so, Tōma tested it.
He moved.
Freely.
Control wasn't transferred to Itachi.
That realization mattered.
A lot.
Itachi stared at him, genuinely shaken for the first time.
He could accept dragging two people in at once. That meant Kisame hadn't betrayed him.
But why was Tōma able to act freely inside a genjutsu where Itachi controlled everything?
If that was the case, what was the point of burning precious Mangekyō power on Tsukuyomi at all?
With frustration gnawing at him, Itachi released the technique.
Reality snapped back.
He staggered away from 'Kisame,' widening the distance between them.
Across the cavern, Kakuzu and Hidan stood frozen.
What had just happened?
Why had Kisame suddenly attacked Itachi? Why was Itachi gravely wounded?
"This is getting ridiculous," Hidan muttered. "Kakuzu, maybe you should stitch him up instead."
Kakuzu went silent.
One broken Hidan. One maimed Itachi. One 'Kisame' who might not even be Kisame.
And him.
Alone.
Facing Tōma.
I'm a bounty hunter, Kakuzu thought darkly. Not a martyr.
Tōma opened his eyes fully now. Having confirmed Tsukuyomi's limits on him, he had nothing left to fear.
It worked, but not well enough.
For Tsukuyomi to truly trap him, Itachi would need to cast it twice in succession and hit both of his souls.
With that body? Impossible.
Tōma looked at the severely injured Itachi with faint regret.
The best chance to kill him had already passed.
Using Kisame's body to get close had been the only real opening, and even that had failed.
Now the situation was clear.
Two crippled fighters. One body still under his control. And only Kakuzu left as a complete combatant.
Their plan to kill him had collapsed.
Instead, Akatsuki had paid a heavy price.
...
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