Kisame watched as the doom approached him.
With broken weapons scattered all around, there was nothing more he could do but watch as the puppet neared, intending to end his life.
He couldn't help but snicker.
"What a short life it's been."
Though his characteristics made him appear as if he were a young adult, he was, in truth, around Gai's age at best.
...The old Kiri was a cold society, dividing people by a caste system.
The founding ninja clans, including the Terumi and Hozuki clans, stood at the top of the hierarchy.
The formidable clans, such as the Karatachi clan, belonged to a caste underneath.
The ones who were absorbed by the force, coupled with the majority of the civilians who gathered in Kiri for the sake of protection, belonged at the dead bottom of the caste.
It was the abrupt death of the third Mizukage that broke this system.
Was it for good? Ethically, perhaps it was. However, the destruction of the system meant the destruction of the order. The destruction of the system meant the start of the chaos—people suffered more than they did in the past. Rather than freedom, they desired peace.
Kisame was born and discriminated against in the middle of the chaos. Some even blamed him, that he was the totem who brought the calamity upon them.
It was hard to take. He was one of the members of the Hoshigaki clan, the clan whose rank sat at the lowest due to them being the losers of the war who got absorbed by Kiri, but the point is, his appearance was
He tried to change everyone's disdain for him, one he acquired simply because of his status and appearance. He willingly became the tool at the disposal of the village.
Nothing changed in the end. Here he was, about to throw his life into the dirt.
"Really, there was no place for me to belong from the start."
Watching as the kunai in the puppet's grasp neared him, Kisame muttered to himself.
"Why was I born in the first place? It would've been better if... huh?"
However, before the kunai reached his vital point, the puppet ceased to move, having run out of chakra.
"..."
Kisame let out a hollow laugh.
"You've got to be kidding me."
Slowly, he stood up. Holding his wound, he limped, walking past the unmoving puppet.
__________
"That little prick...!"
Masa scowled as he dashed through the path ahead of him, chasing after the trail that Hidan left as he ran.
"If not for that freak, I would've..."
He recalled the immense strength that the puppet possessed. Should he have remained on the spot, he would've suffered for sure.
"To think that that freak would actually be useful for once, heh."
Contrary to how he acted in front of Kisame, Masa wasn't the emotionless being whose loyalty belonged to Kiri. No, all he was interested in was his well-being.
Simply, it is easier to chase after some kid than to face the killing machine of a puppet or fight against the ongoing rebellion. That was the reason why Masa accepted this mission in the first place.
"So, where did you run off to, little boy?"
Eventually, Masa came to a stop.
In front of him, there was a small, old-looking wooden house.
Masa paused.
Although it was an old-looking house with nothing special, its owner was someone whom everyone in Kiri knew.
Masamune Kirano. He was the descendant of the first Mizukage, the village founder who was responsible for creating the seven mystical swords of the Seven Swordsmen today.
'And it was through the hands of this man that the sword that is under Red Blade's possession today, Ryuma, was born...'
The fact that Hidan found this place was nothing but a coincidence, Masa could tell based on how aimless Hidan's footsteps were.
Masa sighed, knowing that he may have to kill Kirano.
It wasn't that Kirano was a capable shinobi. Rather, he didn't pursue the path of a ninja, unlike his ancestor. Though he was one of the best smiths in the current era, he held no combat capability.
"Kirano-san. I know that you are in there."
Masa still attempted, calling the name out respectfully.
"I am here for the kid who evacuated to your house. He is the lackey of Red Blade and Terumi Mei. Please let me have my way with him, and I promise you that no harm will be done to you."
There was a silence as Masa waited for a reply. Eventually, a shout was heard within the house.
"Fuck off!"
Masa's eyes twitched.
"...Fine then. You asked for this."
He raised his hands as if about to undergo hand seals, before pausing upon realizing that he didn't have much chakra remaining in him.
Flipping out a kunai, Masa opened the wooden door and stared at the inside, which was dominated by the darkness.
"Do you think this will make a difference?"
Masa snorted.
"Ninjas have keen eyesight in the darkness. What can a commoner like you do against a trained killer like me, Kirano-san?"
Among 5000 civilians, approximately 100 become ninjas. Among 100 ninjas, 90 of them end up remaining in the rank of a genin. Among the remaining 10, 9 become chunins, while the final one, whose talent lies above any other, becomes a jonin.
Kage? Those who stand at the peak of all ninjas tend to be the ones with an immense talent found only once every ten years.
Masa is a chunin. He is a skilled professional. He is someone who was respected.
Even if Kirano's achievement as a smith was impressive, there was no greater achievement today than becoming a ninja.
Masa was confident. Against a child and an elderly commoner, it was impossible for him to lose, even if he were to let his guard down.
And that, forcing the enemies to let their guards down, is the first step.
Hidden near the entrance, Hidan and Gai nodded to each other. Akashi's words in the past reached their ears, reminding them of the best that they can do.
Deceive. Look underneath the underneath. Recognize the forest and not the tree. Remember that your goal isn't to win a fight, but to kill your enemies.
"Kirano-san?"
Walking into the darkness, Masa chuckled as he found Kirano seated still, drinking a bottle of sake in his right hand.
"Haven't I told you to fuck off?"
Seemingly drunken, Kirano grumbled.
"Now, what is this?"
At the next moment, Kirano charged at Masa while dropping the bottle. His left hand was holding onto a fine-looking dagger.
If the gap in strength between you and your enemies is too much, plan every single step. As long as they are human beings like you, there will always be a chance.
'That man is arrogant.'
Hidan swallowed his throat as he watched Kirano's interaction with Masa.
Masa, side-stepping to dodge Kirano's dagger, slapped his wrist to knock the dagger out.
'Then, he will grab Kirano-san by the throat,'
Masa grabbed Kirano by the throat and lifted the old man from the floor.
'Neutralizing Kirano-san at a close distance,'
Close enough for Masa to find an explosive tag attached to Kirano's chest.
Masa's eyes widened. Instinctively, he threw Kirano and stepped backward.
'But that isn't an explosive tag. It's simply a decoy.'
By stepping back, Masa was now in range of Gai's assault.
"YAAA!!"
Screaming, Gai threw something in his hold at Masa.
Instinctively, Masa turned and slashed the incoming object with his kunai.
What he ended up slashing turned out to be a bag of some sort.
"What is—cough, cough!"
Masa saw the explosion of a bag that contained a spicy pepper powder. The grains got into his eyes and nostrils, causing him to feel an irritating and burning sensation that blinded him for a brief moment.
'...Now!'
Hidan let go of the iron ball he was holding.
With a wire connecting the iron ball to the ceiling above, the iron ball accelerated as it travelled in a motion that resembled a pendulum.
Perfectly aimed, it slammed right into Masa's head, knocking him down.
"You... bastards...!"
However, the damage wasn't enough. Although coughing nonstop with reddened eyes and a blood trickling out of the newly created wound at his temple, Masa stood back up.
Among Gai and Hidan, Gai was closer to Masa.
Though his eyes weren't able to see clearly, he could hear their breathing just fine.
'Utilization of ninjutsu creates a small gap of time. He won't resort to such a technique. Charging recklessly without a proper vision isn't the right choice either. He would likely throw shurikens at Gai and me.'
Masa took out two shurikens and threw them, one by one, at Hidan and Gai.
However, the two of them were already hidden behind the furniture. Though shurikens are lethal, they weren't strong enough to pierce through furniture and strike the two of them. With a dull noise, they were embedded in them.
Now, it was their turn. Hidan poured out the contents of a bag that lied by his side.
Numerous pebbles spilled out. Bouncing and rolling throughout the room, their noises occupied the entire house.
Just at the moment, Masa's sense of sight, sense of hearing, and sense of smell were all blocked, simultaneously. All that remained to him were the sense of taste and the sense of touch.
The sense of taste was negligible in this situation, while the sense of touch required contact.
Essentially, Masa was standing in the darkness without any information regarding his surroundings.
Thus, the best he could do was to quickly go through hand seals.
'This isn't the time to worry about the repercussions...!'
Masa finally realized that he was in a carefully laid-out trap.
He was out of hand; the only option left for him was to perform a powerful ninjutsu to blast everything around him.
So he raised his hands—or tried to. He realized that his body wasn't responding to his will, that his hands were trembling instead.
"What...?"
"I am a smith. One of the best smiths in this world."
From the back, Kirano, whose breathing calmed down, spoke.
"At the same time, I am a shopkeeper. I treat numerous ninja tools. In other words, there are all kinds of things that I produce, ranging from swords, kunais, shurikens, to even more costly ones such as the explosive tags."
Yagura was strong, so strong that those under him never learned the taste of defeat.
That fueled arrogance in Masa's mind. While some degree of self-esteem was acceptable, such arrogance went against the 'rationality' that he had highlighted to Kisame previously.
"That bag of spices that splattered onto you... also contained a paralytic poison. But of course, I also recognized the possibility of you having some degree of tolerance to those types of poison, so I also added a cup of sedative."
Masa was in a trap, one that the combined wits of Hidan and Kirano managed to develop.
"How... can this... be..."
Unable to maintain standing, Masa fell, completely paralyzed.
Turning on the light, Hidan, Gai, and Kirano slowly approached the breathing figure of Masa.
"Ha..."
Holding the knife, Kirano sighed.
"This is why I didn't want to get myself involved..."
Grimly, he struck the knife down onto Masa's exposed chest.
The blood squirted out, causing Hidan and Gai to flinch.
__________
Letting the others handle Zabuza and the caught rebels, Seiji and the Swordsmen were dashing across the village, toward the gloomy-looking area that kept Mei jailed.
"By now, Ao should have freed Terumi Mei. Having predicted this outcome, I stationed ten jonins and fifty chunins in the area. When we arrive, they should be subdued."
Seiji explained with confidence as they arrived at the scene.
"...Hah? Are you sure about that, Terumi Seiji?"
However, what was shown in front of them wasn't as expected.
The fight was still ongoing. Numerous Kiri ninjas were assaulting their target, Ao.
Ao was fighting desperately. Wounds were present all over his body. It was hardly a fight. He was simply trying to survive as long as he could, fighting against numerous by himself alone.
However... there was no sight of Terumi Mei anywhere.
"Just as how Momochi Zabuza improved, so did Ao, it seems."
Kushimaru snorted before he looked at Seiji.
"Don't tell me that you haven't taken this into account?"
Seiji's face reddened in fury. He stared at the Kiri ninjas who opposed Ao as if looking at the trash that rolled across the street.
Then, before Seiji could say anything else, a huge explosion occurred at a distant sight.
The dark night's sky was briefly illuminated by the fire, earning everyone's attention.
"That's..."
The exploded area was none other than Seiji's office—the primary location suspected to have hidden the imprisoning orb.
"...Of course, that would be your plan B."
Seiji whispered.
"...Yes."
Ao, surrounded by the enemies, heard Seiji's whisper. Fallen on one knee, he chuckled.
"You wasted time by coming here, Terumi Seiji."
"Oh, is it?"
Ao froze. For some reason, Seiji appeared calm.
'Something is wrong—'
A kunai was driven into his chest.
Bleeding from the mouth, Ao fell to the side. As he did so, he saw Seiji motioning everyone to head toward the site of the explosion.
'Don't tell me that...'
Seiji's reaction only meant one thing: there was no imprisoning orb in his office.
'Mei-sama...'
Ao felt his vision blurring. Eventually, the darkness consumed him as he fell unconscious.