The internal conflicts within the Akatsuki organization were far more complex than outsiders could ever imagine. Take Obito Uchiha, for instance — he had never truly revealed himself to the other members of the Akatsuki. Nagato believed him to be Madara Uchiha; most others had never even met him at all, while those few who had encountered him mistook him as just another talkative and slightly problematic newcomer. Only Zetsu knew Obito's real identity. Even Itachi Uchiha had never seen Obito's face. All he knew was that this man claiming to be Madara Uchiha was indeed one of the last surviving Uchihas in the ninja world.
This time around, after the Akatsuki finally began their formal operations, things didn't go as planned. Unexpected setbacks kept piling up. The mission to capture the Nine-Tails was supposed to be the ultimate proof of the Akatsuki's years of planning.
"Itachi, you'll have to deal with Jiraiya on this side for now," said Obito Uchiha. He had full confidence in Itachi — if the Uchiha ever went all out, even Obito couldn't say for sure he'd come out on top. Only Pain's Rinnegan stood a real chance against him. Yet Itachi carried too many burdens — the safety of Konoha was one weakness, but an even greater one was his younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha, whom Itachi had sacrificed so much to protect. These attachments made Itachi ultimately susceptible to the Akatsuki's control.
"Fine." Itachi simply nodded without saying anything unnecessary.
"Have you already finished your part?" Black Zetsu asked suspiciously. "What about Kisame Hoshigaki? Isn't he with you?"
"You finally remembered me?" Kisame Hoshigaki's voice came from behind them. Moments later, his terrifying face appeared before everyone. Even back to normal, Kisame still looked like a shark — and just as unpleasant.
"Did you finish it?" Itachi Uchiha asked.
"More or less, although we let them escape..."
"Why didn't you kill them?" Zetsu complained slightly, showing dissatisfaction.
"As long as we capture the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, that's enough. Besides, our opponents weren't easy to handle." Obito understood well the strength of Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy. As for that barely-there guy? Not even worth thinking about.
"Aren't we going to do anything about them leaving like this? What if they interfere with Tobi's operation?"
"Tobi hasn't reported in yet, even with all the time we gave him. Let Itachi hold out a bit longer. If we don't hear anything soon, then we'll retreat accordingly."
Though reluctant, the possibility of mission failure grew larger by the minute.
At this point, charging headfirst would be difficult. With Jiraiya involved, not to mention possibly other hidden experts, Konoha's power couldn't be underestimated. Without complete preparation, launching a direct assault on Konoha wouldn't be wise unless it became absolutely necessary — it wasn't their first choice.
...
At Konoha Hospital, Mizuki led Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha straight to the rooftop without interruption. Along the way, nobody tried to stop or question him — even though many recognized Mizuki, the hospital's lack of vigilance was dangerously lax.
With White Zetsu's Transformation Jutsu, impersonating someone was extremely simple. With Naruto Uzumaki's high emotional intelligence, once he trusted someone, it'd be easy to get him out of Konoha without a fight.
...
Earlier, when Kisame Hoshigaki had nearly eliminated Mizuki's Summoned Beasts, Mizuki realized things were going south fast. With a genjutsu barrier interfering with sensory perception and the powerful invisibility effects of Breath-Sealing Art, hiding in such a chaotic environment still made Mizuki feel pretty confident.
But as always, plans never survive first contact. Facing the rampant destruction of Kisame Hoshigaki, Mizuki found it extremely difficult to perform delicate operations. Furthermore, in his half-human, half-fish form fused with Samehada, Kisame's sensitivity to chakra had become remarkably sharp. Mizuki's Artificial Jinchuriki, who had been comfortably hiding underwater, could no longer recklessly manipulate the genjutsu barrier.
Now that his hiding spot had been discovered by Kisame Hoshigaki, if Mizuki stayed underwater and continued fighting, he knew he wouldn't even survive a couple of seconds. Forced to abandon further attempts at concealment, Mizuki watched as Kisame casually unleashed [Water Release: Five-Star Shark], a nightmare for anyone hiding underwater. Before the shark-shaped water projectile approached, Mizuki quickly ascended, bursting from the water high into the air, then landing beside Might Guy, who was keeping watch.
"How is it going? Are you okay?" Might Guy had seen everything happening on the surface—the barrier power fading rapidly clearly meant their side was in trouble.
"I'm fine," Mizuki replied, shaking his head. "Underwater is his battlefield; we can't fight him there…"
This battleground, while initially favorable for Mizuki's rear-line control tactics, had also greatly benefited Kisame Hoshigaki's capabilities. Had the battle taken place in jungle environments, Mizuki would have felt much more at ease. Unfortunately, such locations were scarce within the village. Moreover, it couldn't be expected that their opponent would deliberately avoid roads and venture deep into the wilderness—this location had already been one of the more remote and suitable battlegrounds within the village. In a real head-on fight, Mizuki was clearly outmatched. Going toe-to-toe on enemy ground wasn't even something Mizuki had considered.
"I see. Since the opponent has started showing real strength, I can't afford to waste time either. Otherwise, it'd be too disrespectful toward them. Open the Life Gate!"
Without assistance from Mizuki, Might Guy—who used only Primary Lotus—could barely dodge Kisame's attacks relying solely on speed. Without Mizuki's help earlier, he wouldn't have made it this far. Once Mizuki withdrew, Might Guy would face Kisame alone.
Still, Mizuki felt some concern over Might Guy's physical condition. Just days earlier, during the fight against Kimimaro Kaguya, he had used the Eight Gates, opening all the way to the sixth gate—View Gate—and even unleashing Morning Peacock. Then came successive battles, followed immediately by the rescue mission for Hiashi Hyuga's group, ending directly in a clash with an expert like Red Sand of the Desert. After experiencing such intense combat, Might Guy's body hadn't recovered well enough.
Now he had to face none other than Kisame Hoshigaki — a terrifyingly powerful ninja who might not even be defeatable at full strength. Might Guy was in a serious bind.
"Gate of Wounds—open!" The moment Guy opened the fourth gate, his body already showed signs of damage, stepping into the dangerous territory of the Eight Gates.
"Limit Gate..." Just as Guy prepared to open the fifth gate of the Eight Gates, the mist began to clear. Mizuki couldn't help glancing toward Kakashi Hatake's battle with Itachi Uchiha, only to find, much to his shock, that Itachi had also turned his gaze their way now that visibility had improved.
"Not good—dodge now!" Mizuki could only watch helplessly as Itachi Uchiha's three-tomoe Sharingan transformed into the spinning Mangekyou Sharingan before his very eyes, locking directly onto Might Guy.
Damn it, wasn't this all supposed to be an act? Why are you taking it so seriously?
This unexpected shift seemed to stem from Jiraiya's earlier outbreak of battle and the distress flare launched earlier, which unsettled Itachi's composure, making even his usually calm demeanor somewhat impatient.
"What's going on?" Still reeling from the intense surge of chakra caused by the Eight Gates technique, Guy clearly couldn't react fast enough to dodge. With no choice, Mizuki rushed forward, hastily blocking Itachi's line of sight targeting Guy while gathering a large amount of chakra to raise a Chakra Shield over his vital areas.
But before Mizuki could finish forming his defense, before the Chakra Shield had fully taken shape, a mass of black flames suddenly erupted right in front of him, rapidly spreading outward.
That damn bastard! Don't we all pull off dramatically flashy moves and announce our techniques before attacking? How come you release your ultimate move silently without warning? Fine if you won't wait for Guy to finish activating his Eight Gates, but what about me—a minor character—you don't follow the rules here either? Not even letting me get into a basic defensive stance!
Still, Mizuki's poorly constructed Chakra Shield did manage to serve some purpose—at least shielding his chest, abdomen, and head directly from Amaterasu's flames. Unfortunately, his legs and right arm weren't as lucky—the terrifying black flames had begun quickly spreading along his limbs.
"What happened to you, Mizuki?" Seeing Mizuki injured, Guy behind him wanted to rush over and help.
"Don't come near me!" Mizuki shouted urgently. Losing an Artificial Jinchuriki clone stung—literally and figuratively—but at least his real body remained intact. If Guy accidentally caught fire from the Amaterasu flames, losing limbs would become a serious problem. However, Mizuki's warning came too late—one spark splattered onto his arm where his equipment was tied.
The fierce burning continuously devoured Mizuki's body. On one hand, there was nothing he could do but watch helplessly, yet worse was the excruciating pain accompanying the Amaterasu's consumption of flesh—a pain so unbearable that he longed desperately for unconsciousness.
"How are you holding up?" Nearby, seeing the unfavorable situation developing around Guy, Kakashi hurriedly sprinted over.
Since crossing over several months ago, Mizuki had seen countless battles and endured severe injuries—each fight drawing more blood than the last. He'd bled so much, it felt like he'd emptied his entire lifeblood in every single battle. His ability to endure wounds and pain had gone through the roof since back then.
Mizuki endured the pain and took out a scroll, quickly spreading it on the ground before forming the Fire Sealing Method hand seal. As Mizuki moved, the spreading Amaterasu flames slowly got sealed away.
[Figured this thing was just emergency backup. Never thought I'd actually use it. And I even took a direct hit from Amaterasu myself—that's treatment usually reserved for top-tier supporting characters, huh? Well, there are many ways to stop Amaterasu. Naruto can just shake it off with tailed beast chakra, and Kankuro could simply discard his armor and clothes that caught fire. Why did I suffer so much damage trying to block it?]
Might Guy clearly knew exactly how much chakra had been consumed by the Chakra Shield resisting Amaterasu moments ago. If the burning continued any longer, the Artificial Jinchuriki would collapse automatically without anyone needing to act.
[Mizuki, Guy! Are you alright?]
Kakashi Hatake rushed over anxiously after seeing Mizuki put out the strange black flames on himself.
[I'm fine. Earlier, Mizuki blocked the attack,] Might Guy replied. [But...]
Both Might Guy and Kakashi Hatake looked at the pitiful condition of the Artificial Jinchuriki.
[Looks like I won't be able to help anymore. From here on out, it's all up to you two...]
Just then, the few frightened individuals still hadn't figured out how their enemy had attacked when suddenly the nearly exhausted Artificial Jinchuriki's expression changed.
[Watch out.]
The remaining summoned beasts still alive were faithfully monitoring the underwater situation when, just as Mizuki sensed something wrong, an enormous shark-shaped water projectile burst from beneath the water, erupting directly from below the trio. Amidst chaotic splashing water, the three people were blasted away by the powerful attack wave, which surged forward across half the lake until finally slamming them heavily against the lakeshore.
When the water cleared, Might Guy was still standing, thanks to the Eight Gates. He'd dodged the blast head-on—only caught in the aftershock wave. However, both Kakashi Hatake and Mizuki weren't in such good shape—they narrowly avoided the giant shark's gaping maw but still got directly struck by its massive body, getting smashed solidly onto land.
[Sigh.] Mizuki muttered, watching the rumpled Kakashi Hatake try to stand up. [Why even bother saving a shadow clone like me? I'm probably toast soon anyway.]
If Kakashi hadn't grabbed Mizuki instinctively and instead just dodged alone, he wouldn't have gotten hurt this badly.
[Well…] Kakashi coughed out some water, spitting it to the side. [Habit, I guess. Your clone's just *too* real. And yeah… didn't expect their Water Release to hit this hard or spread so far…]
[Fine then, Kakashi.] Mizuki muttered, watching Kisame Hoshigaki come barreling through the crashing waves again. He handed Kakashi the scroll. [Make sure to get this back to my original body.]
Mizuki paused briefly before continuing, "I hate to be the one to say this, but I'd still suggest you head to Naruto right away. Staying here will just let them lead you by the nose. Keeping an eye on Naruto is the top priority right now. Pay attention—Itachi Uchiha isn't here anymore; he just left. And finally, let my [shadow clone] go out with a bang..."
As Might Guy helped Kakashi dodge an attack, Mizuki moved forward against the current, dove straight into the water, and quickly oriented himself with the help of his summoned beast. As Kisame Hoshigaki drew close, a deafening explosion erupted. A massive geyser exploded upward, slamming Kisame—who was trapped in water—high into the air, cutting off his attack. At the same time, Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy were able to break free from combat.
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