"Fuguki Suikazan-sama, please rest in peace. I swear I will avenge you!"
Kisame gently closed Fuguki Suikazan's eyes and made a solemn vow.
Then, gripping Samehada, he turned once more to face Hidan.
"You're truly strange, being immortal and all. But if I don't let you taste my blood, you can't use that cursed technique to transfer damage to someone else, right? So before that happens, I just need to slice your head off."
Samehada, in Kisame's hand, seemed more excited than before.
With a tearing sound, the wrappings around it were shredded completely, revealing its deep blue blade that looked like a shark.
At the tip of the sword, a shark-like mouth opened wide, tongue slithering out greedily, eager to devour more chakra.
Kisame caressed Samehada like a lover and grinned.
"Looks like you enjoy the taste of my chakra. Then let's get revenge for Fuguki Suikazan-sama—together."
Whoosh! Whoosh!
As Kisame swung his blade, the pressure in the air let out a sharp howl.
Hidan stepped back, yanking on the steel cable in his hand.
"Your strength... it's a lot greater than before. Is that sword really boosting you that much?"
His red scythe, connected by the steel cable, swung around and came at Kisame from behind.
Kisame leapt forward, dodging the attack, and came crashing down toward Hidan again.
Boom!
The ground shattered beneath the force of his strike.
Watching Hidan jump to the side, Kisame said,
"For the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, their blades are like their life. Each sword represents half our strength. Now, my power isn't something you can compare to before. You better be careful."
With that, he raised one hand toward the sky while the other formed a seal at his chest.
"Hidden Mist Technique."
A thick fog enveloped both Hidan and Kisame.
Kisame, with his vast battle experience, quickly noticed something important.
Hidan needed to lick blood to activate his strange curse technique that transferred damage.
His ninjutsu wasn't strong, so he relied mainly on taijutsu.
That meant in this heavy mist, Hidan's fighting ability would be weakened.
But for Kisame, who came from the Hidden Mist Village, the fog had no effect at all.
As expected.
Hidan started to panic.
He looked around, shouting, "Where are you? Come out! Weren't you going to avenge your boss?"
From behind.
A strange laugh echoed.
"You're clearly not a sensory-type ninja." Kisame's voice was eerie. "Soon, Lord Fuguki's revenge will be complete."
Plap~
A small stone was kicked by a foot.
Hidan whipped around and swung his scythe backward. "Don't underestimate me, bastard!"
But his scythe hit nothing.
"I'm over here."
Kisame suddenly appeared to Hidan's right.
Samehada sliced through the air, aiming straight for Hidan's neck with terrifying speed.
"A simple feint like that fooled you?" Kisame sneered. "You're really just a musclehead with no brains—what a rare beast."
"What?!"
Hidan was shocked.
It was too late to dodge.
Samehada slammed hard into his neck.
Luckily, the headband from Yugakure absorbed some of the blow.
Otherwise, his head might have been sliced clean off.
Still, his throat was left with a deep and brutal wound.
Blood spurted out wildly.
Clutching his neck, Hidan screamed, "That hurt like hell, bastard!"
Kisame narrowed his eyes.
"You didn't die from that? You really are the immortal freak."
Hidan was pissed.
Really, really pissed.
Being ambushed by Kisame was only part of the problem—the real issue was that even though the five tomoe-shaped black curse marks on his neck had been erased, he still couldn't break free from the Five-Direction Dragon Binding Curse.
Damn it!
Uchiha Raizen's words were true—no matter if his neck got sliced off, the curse wouldn't disappear.
Over the past few days, Hidan had been grinding his teeth in frustration.
Every day, he had to keep calling that guy "Lord Raizen."
He could endure that—after all, you have to bow your head under someone else's roof.
But what truly drove him mad was that during his Jashinist preaching, he now had to mention something like "Great Lord Barabara."
What kind of nonsense is this Barabara god?!
Does he look like an idiot?!
Hidan was furious but couldn't fight back.
He could only pray in his heart that Lord Jashin would eventually bring divine punishment down upon Uchiha Raizen.
And today seemed like the perfect opportunity.
Uchiha Raizen and his sister had been surrounded by Kirigakure ninja.
Although, earlier, it looked like some heavenly lightning had struck down from the sky.
Who knew how many of those Mist shinobi were still alive?
What a bunch of useless trash.
In a sour mood, Hidan said, "Shark bastard, you'd better worry about your other teammates. What if Lord Raizen has already killed them all?"
Kisame didn't seem concerned.
"That's not something you need to worry about. Sure, that lightning jutsu from the sky was powerful, but those are the Mist Village's elite shinobi. Even I, with Samehada, wouldn't have an easy time against them."
…
Kisame was right.
Uchiha Raizen's Lightning Release: Thunder Dragon caught the Mist ninjas completely off guard.
But Mei Terumi, Zabuza, Mangetsu Hōzuki, and Ameyuri Ringo were no pushovers.
Even after the Thunder Dragon's rampage, none of them had died.
Zabuza looked the most injured from the outside.
He was half-kneeling on the ground, his bandages soaked completely red with blood, occasional electric sparks flickering over his body, making him twitch now and then.
Next was Mangetsu Hōzuki.
Thanks to the protection of his twin swords, Hiramekarei, he blocked most of the thunder's destructive power.
Because his body as a member of the Hozuki clan was not very resistant to lightning, he felt numb all over now.
As for Terumi Mei, she used Earth Release for defense.
Although Lightning Release normally counters Earth Release on the surface, as long as Earth Release connects to the ground, no matter how strong the lightning is, the weight of the earth can withstand it.
Therefore, Terumi Mei's injuries were not very serious.
The one who was basically unharmed was Ameyuri Ringo.
This proud young lady was a Lightning Release genius.
She actually used her own Lightning Release techniques to completely cancel out the Thunder Dragon's attacks.
Although she was not injured, her chakra was clearly overused, and she was breathing heavily from exhaustion.
While gasping, she looked bitterly at Uchiha Raizen, who was lying on the ground, and said sharply:
"To protect your sister, you took the Thunder Dragon's attack with your body.
It's really funny.
To be hurt by your own ninjutsu like this, you might be the most embarrassing Lightning Release ninja in the history of the shinobi world!"
Uchiha Raizen was indeed badly injured.
Since crossing over, this was his first serious injury, and it was caused by himself, which was really both sad and funny.
But luckily, his sister was completely fine, and that was enough.
Uchiha Raizen ignored Ameyuri Ringo's cold mockery and said to his sister:
"Sis, while they can't move now, you should run!"
Uchiha Hikari's soft and gentle cheeks were wet with tears.
She tightly held Raizen's hand and sobbed:
"How could sister leave you behind? I will carry you with me."
As she spoke, she tried to lift Uchiha Raizen.
But she couldn't.
Raizen was still maintaining his four to five meter tall beast form.
"Big sister, don't worry about me. My recovery is very strong, stronger than anyone else. It won't take long for me to heal. Anyway, you leave first. I will catch up soon."
Uchiha Hikari just shook her head and tried her best to carry her younger brother.
Terumi Mei looked on with a complicated expression.
She still had some strength left, but…
Behind them, Ao, who was responsible for sensing, had not joined the fight. At this moment, he was the only one at full strength.
He was about to capture the Uchiha siblings, Hikari and Uchiha Raizen, when suddenly, a doll-like thing fell from the sky.
**********
Support me on my patreon and read upto 30 early chapters.
patreon.com/PirateKing24