On an island somewhere off the coast of the Land of Craftsmen, the fishing boat the pirates were riding was slowly sinking.
On the shore, Kakuzu crushed most of the pirates with overwhelming force. Aside from the weaklings tangled up with Takeshi, the only tricky one left was their leader—the Kirigakure ninja known as Seki.
Kimimaro wanted to step forward to help and was about to take off his shirt, but the shadow clone Takeshi had left beside him reached out to stop him.
This feeling of being protected was something Kimimaro had never experienced before.
In his clan, most of the names he had been called were "monster" or "weapon of war." Even when he was needed, it was only for killing.
But the man before him was protecting him instead.
In his eyes… am I not just a weapon of war?
Kimimaro stared blankly at Takeshi's back.
...
Elsewhere, in the middle of the fight with Seki, Kakuzu sensed something was off.
This rogue ninja before him was far stronger than an ordinary pirate.
Takeshi, having just finished off the small fry, also felt it. He frowned as he watched the battle between the two.
Several times Kakuzu tried to ensnare his opponent with black threads, yet Seki always managed to dodge nimbly, using his ninja blade to sever any tendrils that tried to sneak up from behind.
Dodging yet another hidden strike from Kakuzu's underground black threads, Seki used the Body Flicker Technique to appear right in front of Kakuzu.
His blade surged with a wave-like ferocity, carrying boundless killing intent as it slashed toward Kakuzu's neck.
Clang!
Kakuzu raised his arm, the sound of metal ringing out as the arm—hardened with Earth Spear—blocked Seki's strike head-on.
Then, with a heavy kick, he knocked his opponent back and began weaving hand seals.
As the sea of flames quickly spread forward, the moment Seki—who had been kicked away—saw Kakuzu forming seals, he completed his own.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Drawing on the seawater nearby, Seki conjured a detailed, lifelike water dragon that coiled protectively around him, holding back Kakuzu's Fire Style attack.
Mist began to spread over the area, blocking the vision of everyone present.
With fog this dense, it was unlikely the opponent would attack right away.
From past experience, Kakuzu guessed that Seki was now looking for the best position to strike, while he himself began considering his next move.
Suddenly, a few more hard impacts rang out. Attacked, Kakuzu's eyes widened.
Fortunately, he hadn't undone his Earth Spear—otherwise, those last blows might have sent him straight to meet Hashirama.
Was it just luck?
He shifted his position—only for his leg to be struck a second later.
No. His position had been fully pinpointed. Each of his opponent's strikes was testing the range covered by Earth Spear.
...
"This mist is lasting too long."
Also standing within the fog, Takeshi felt something was wrong.
"This is the Hidden Mist Technique, isn't it?"
Reaching out to feel the texture of the mist, and remembering being elbowed once by the Fourth Raikage, Takeshi wisely coated his vital points in ice crystals.
To be able to fight Kakuzu, use the Hidden Mist Technique, and even employ Silent Killing...
All these factors stacked together, and Takeshi couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
Combined with the location where their ship had been attacked, a certain thought began to take shape in his mind.
...
Failing to probe out Kakuzu's weakness after several attacks, Seki also found his opponent troublesome. That turtle-shell-like defense made him hesitate between continuing the fight or retreating.
Just when had these two capable fighters boarded his ship?
"You're not a rogue ninja from Kirigakure at all. You're someone disguised as one, aren't you?"
Takeshi's sudden voice cut right through Seki's thoughts.
Hearing it, Seki's briefly wavering resolve hardened, his killing intent locking directly onto the young-looking brat who had spoken.
"The location where you just raided is very close to the Land of Water. As far as I know, rogue ninja from Kirigakure generally avoid getting anywhere near the Land of Water's territory, because that would invite pursuit squads."
"With jōnin-level strength like yours, the number of pursuers wouldn't be small. And yet, not only have you not distanced yourself from the Land of Water, you've brazenly plundered one of their ships and gathered people nearby. It's almost as if you deliberately slipped in here..."
As Takeshi spoke, black markings began to appear on his face.
Bending sharply, he let Seki's blade pass so close it nearly grazed his hair. Immediately afterward, he flicked out a handful of senbon he'd long since prepared—but Seki, reacting swiftly, narrowly dodged them.
To Takeshi, dispersing this mist with a Wind Style technique would be easy. But he chose not to.
The reason was simple—he wanted to try sensing his opponent's movements using Sage Mode.
And judging by the results so far, it was working well.
At this moment, he could clearly feel exactly where Seki was.
"Also, the behavior of the samurai on your ship was far too crude. Completely inconsistent with their supposed identities."
Takeshi still hadn't forgotten the cake he never got to eat.
"That analysis doesn't sound like something that would come out of your mouth."
Hearing the sound of Takeshi fighting, Kakuzu—while staying on guard—couldn't resist teasing him.
"What do you mean by that?!"
Takeshi was annoyed.
He was a Konoha jōnin, after all—the most basic information analysis skills were a given.
"In your eyes, what exactly do you think I'm like?"
Dodging another strike from Seki, Takeshi ground his teeth as he asked Kakuzu.
"Well..."
Considering the endurance of his five little hearts, Kakuzu wisely chose not to voice his real opinion.
Still, Takeshi's earlier deduction had indeed surprised him.
It seemed that as this brat aged, his intelligence had grown somewhat too.
...
While Takeshi and Kakuzu handled themselves with ease, Seki—the Kirigakure jōnin—was in trouble.
Takeshi's reasoning had been correct: he had indeed come to the Land of Craftsmen on a mission, and the pirate identity was just a cover. His subordinates were genuine scum gathered from nearby.
Their original plan had been to move on to the next stage after plundering the merchant ship, but before they could even send news of success, Kakuzu had come charging out from the stern of the ship.
Now that his cover had been blown, Seki's escape route was cut off. Only two choices remained: die in battle, or kill the two of them.
If he died in battle, his jōnin status would at least guarantee his family the village's pension.
But if he let these two—who had seen through the plan—leave alive, and the mission failed, then all the blame would fall on him alone.
At that point, not only would he still be executed, but he would also bring endless disgrace upon his family.
"Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!"
With that thought, Seki stopped hesitating. He decided to use the terrain to his advantage and go all out against Takeshi and the others.