Swish!
The massive blade moved with astonishing speed, reaching Mei Terumi almost instantly.
Splash.
The blade connected, but no blood splattered. The moment Samehada made contact with her form, it dissolved into a pool of water.
"A water clone..."
Hoshigaki Kisame's eyes narrowed. He had been tracking Mei Terumi since she departed from the Mizukage Building.
When had she performed the water clone technique?
As confusion flickered across his features, he suddenly realized that the mist enveloping the street seemed noticeably thicker than the surrounding fog.
Hiss!
Without warning, his clothing began to emit sounds of corrosion. Glancing down, he watched as the fabric gradually disintegrated.
"This is... Boil Release?"
Before carrying out the assassination, Kisame had naturally studied Mei Terumi's abilities in meticulous detail.
The Boil Release was one of two Kekkei Genkai that Mei Terumi possessed.
The corrosive process advanced with frightening speed. Almost in the same moment he registered what was happening, his clothes had developed large holes, and his exposed skin began to sting painfully.
Swish!
Kisame leapt upward, attempting to escape the hazardous street, but darkness suddenly fell across his face.
Looking up, he saw a thick liquid falling toward him—resembling magma but emanating a distinctly caustic odor.
Lava Release!
With his retreat blocked, he clutched Samehada tightly and swung it against the descending liquid.
The blade cleaved the substance in two, and the severed portions seemed to shrink by half almost instantly upon contact with the legendary sword.
"Samehada... so it is you after all."
As Kisame landed on a nearby rooftop, Mei Terumi removed the Mizukage's hat, her beautiful eyes fixed intently on her assailant.
"Suikazan Fuguki died unexpectedly during a mission. It seems this was no accident."
"Haha, I killed that useless fool myself," Kisame grinned, revealing rows of unnaturally sharp white teeth.
Mei Terumi's expression darkened. Judging by his skill and his wielding of Samehada, the man before her was indeed far more formidable than his predecessor.
Among the current Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, none surpassed him in strength.
"Why betray the village?"
If he had simply killed his superior, according to the Hidden Mist Village's customs over recent decades, it wouldn't necessarily constitute a grave offense.
The title of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, including possession of the seven legendary blades, was traditionally inherited through demonstrations of superior strength.
"Betray?"
"I simply lost interest in this so-called village. I want to live differently."
Kisame's grin widened, though Mei Terumi couldn't begin to comprehend what he meant by those words.
Without warning, he began forming hand seals.
Mei Terumi's eyes flickered with alarm. To draw out Kisame, she had deliberately avoided alerting the Kirigakure ANBU beforehand.
Recognizing the pattern of his initial hand signs, she quickly began forming seals of her own.
"Water Style!"
"Great Waterfall Technique!"
"Water Pillar!"
They completed their jutsu almost simultaneously. As they both exhaled, enormous torrents of water erupted from their mouths.
BOOM!
Water formations exceeding ten meters in height materialized almost instantly, colliding violently in midair.
But this was merely the beginning. As Kisame continued channeling chakra, his waterfall technique expanded to proportions that could inundate a significant portion of the Hidden Mist Village.
Numerous civilians resided in this area.
This, Mei realized, was his true objective.
"What terrifying chakra reserves!"
Mei Terumi exclaimed in shock. Although wielders of Samehada were necessarily ninjas with substantial chakra, Kisame's capacity was simply monstrous.
She was forced to strengthen her water pillar to counteract Kisame's jutsu; otherwise, civilian casualties would be catastrophic.
Only then did Kisame cease his technique, fixing Mei Terumi with murderous intent gleaming in his eyes.
However, such a commotion would inevitably draw Kirigakure ninjas to the scene within minutes. With his assassination attempt now compromised, he recognized he could not eliminate Mei Terumi today.
Swish!
In a flash, he disappeared into one of Kirigakure's winding streets, vanishing from Mei Terumi's sight.
"Damn him!"
The expression on Mei Terumi's elegant face shifted subtly. With her abilities, had she not been constrained by her surroundings, Hoshigaki Kisame would never have escaped so easily.
However, within their own village, ninjas of their caliber operated under numerous restrictions.
Eight years ago in Konoha, if Minato hadn't prioritized protecting the village's ninjas and civilians, the masked man and his black-robed associates would never have managed to escape.
Swish!
Shortly after Kisame's departure, several ANBU and Jonin arrived at Mei Terumi's position.
She didn't immediately order pursuit, understanding that the mastermind behind Kisame must be the masked man. The delay had already provided ample time for Kisame to flee the village.
The assembled Mist ninjas immediately employed Fire Release techniques to evaporate the massive volume of water Kisame had conjured.
Drip, drip!
After the situation was addressed, the sky above the entire Hidden Mist Village darkened noticeably, and a steady rain began to fall.
In the Mizukage's Office, the crisis was being assessed.
"Lady Mizukage, we found no trace of Hoshigaki Kisame within the village."
Naturally, Mei Terumi couldn't return home peacefully after such an incident. Kirigakure forces had searched extensively but discovered no sign of Hoshigaki Kisame.
Just as she had anticipated, no ninja had spotted Kisame after his confrontation with Mei Terumi, let alone managed to apprehend him.
"It seems that despite that man's identity being exposed, he still maintains hidden agents within our village," Terumi Ryuunosuke observed grimly.
They had assumed that after the masked man's true identity was revealed, even those he had recruited during his control of the Fourth Mizukage would no longer follow him.
Apparently, this wasn't the case.
"We need to immediately purge the village and eliminate the masked man's remaining loyalists," Mei Terumi's eyes hardened.
"That's necessary, but not at this moment," Terumi Ryuunosuke cautioned. "We've only just stabilized the emotions of our civilians and ninjas."
"If he can dispatch assassins against you, then information detrimental to the Hidden Mist Village will soon spread throughout the ninja world."
"Though we don't fully understand their purpose, we've lost both our Mizukage and our Tailed Beast in rapid succession. We're vulnerable. Once this intelligence spreads, we cannot avoid aggression from other nations."
"So what do you propose?" Terumi Ryuunosuke inquired.
Mei Terumi rose from her seat, took a deep breath, and declared, "Our only recourse now is to request assistance from the Land of Fire and Konoha."
"Seek help? Considering Kirigakure's actions during the Third Shinobi World War, even with Namikaze Minato as Hokage, simply not exploiting our weakness would be the most we could expect, wouldn't it?"
When mentioning Minato Namikaze's name, Terumi Ryuunosuke couldn't suppress a flicker of disappointment. He never would have imagined that the young man from their past would become the most formidable ninja in the world today.
"Whether we succeed or not, this is our only viable option," Mei Terumi stated firmly.
She wasn't completely certain, but she sensed that the masked man and Kisame's assassination attempt was more complex than simply eliminating her.
Moreover, wouldn't Lord Minato and Konoha prefer to maintain the hard-won peace rather than allow the ninja world to descend into chaos once again?