Kimimaro stared at the man before him.
"You… are from the Kaguya Clan?"
Kuji responded without a word.
Bone spikes erupted from his body like a forest of ivory spears.
"Is there even a question?"
Kimimaro froze, disbelief clouding his eyes.
"Impossible. Our clan was annihilated. How could there still be survivors?"
Kuji smirked.
"Perhaps that's only what it looked like to you. On the night our clan fell, many children were secretly smuggled out of Kirigakure."
"Really…?" Kimimaro murmured, skeptical.
The Kaguya clan preserving children?
Those battle-obsessed fools?
But the bone spikes on Kuji's body—
Shikotsumyaku—couldn't be faked. This man was undeniably Kaguya.
Kimimaro lowered his stance.
"Very well. Let me see what strength a surviving clansman possesses!"
Bone blades burst from his arms.
In the next heartbeat, the two charged.
When bone clashed against bone, sparks flew—
actual flames dancing from the impact.
The Fourth Raikage, watching from the side, was stunned.
The Kaguya Clan… monstrous. Their bones are shields, weapons—an entire fighting style.
No wonder they were feared.
Raikage briefly considered moving to assist elsewhere—
when a massive surge of water exploded skyward.
"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
A tidal mass swallowed the factory grounds, water swirling wildly.
Kisame stood atop the swelling flood, Samehada strapped to his back, a predatory grin on his face.
"Let's see how long you can keep hiding!"
Water gushed into every corner. Soon, none of the intruders would have space left.
Kisame, Zabuza, Mei, and Ringo Ameyuri waited atop the rising current.
Suddenly, Ringo narrowed her eyes toward a distant corner.
"There. I'll take the enemies on that side."
She vanished—
a crackle of lightning marking her departure.
Kisame clicked his tongue in admiration.
"As expected of a Lightning Release prodigy. She's mastered the Lightning Release: Body Flicker that Lord Shigure personally developed for her."
Zabuza grunted.
"Terrifying, that one."
At first, both he and Kisame doubted whether a kunoichi like Ringo deserved a position among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
After witnessing her affinity with lightning—
and her perfect compatibility with the blades Kiba—
they had no doubts left.
In the direction Ringo sped toward—
Samui's squad was locked in a desperate clash with Kakuzu.
The battle had dragged on through the night.
Samui, Omoi, Karui, and Atsui were exhausted, breaths ragged.
Meanwhile, Kakuzu—reanimated by Edo Tensei—
fought as tirelessly as a machine.
If the battle continued, Samui's team would fall first.
Samui was trying to lure Kakuzu into a trap when—
A cluster of black tendrils shot out.
Kakuzu's elongated limb wrapped around her, lifting her off the ground.
"Didn't I say?" Kakuzu said coldly.
"Your speed is far too slow."
He held Samui from over ten meters away, body unmoving.
Omoi, Karui, and Atsui tried to rush in—but Kakuzu unleashed Lightning Release: False Darkness, forcing them back.
"Captain!"
"Samui-senpai!"
"Big sis!"
Atsui's panicked shout rang out.
Then—
"You're Kakuzu… a member of the Akatsuki. Lord Shigure dealt with you before. Why are you here again?"
A voice echoed through the rain of splashing water.
Samui saw a flash—
a streak of lightning—
A blade wrapped in crackling electricity swept past her.
Slash!
Kakuzu's extended arm was severed cleanly.
Another flash—
a bolt of lightning streaked past Kakuzu's torso.
His neck was severed.
Kakuzu's head spun through the air, eyes wide as he looked at the kunoichi who had appeared before him.
"You… who are you…?"
His head hit the ground with a dull thud.
Black tendrils writhed, pointing toward Ringo's back.
Kakuzu's head reattached to his body with a wet snap.
"Hmph. Even decapitation won't kill him," Ringo muttered.
Lightning danced across her dual swords.
The real fight was about to begin.
"No wonder Lord Shigure chose to seal you ten thousand meters beneath the ocean."
Ringo turned her gaze toward Kakuzu, lightning quietly humming along her twin blades.
"But that's fine. With your strength, you're the perfect opponent to test how far my power has grown."
Kakuzu frowned, eyes lingering on the blades in her hands.
"That sword… one of the Seven Ninja Swords, isn't it? You—are you one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist?"
Ringo lifted her crackling twin blades.
"Lightning Blade — Kiba."
Samui and her squad exchanged confused looks.
Why were the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist here of all places?
Before they could process it, a massive surge of water erupted from the opposite side of the compound, crashing through the factory like a tidal wave.
Ringo glanced toward the source.
"Looks like they finally forced their targets out."
High above the factory, the Fourth Raikage stood on a steel beam, staring intently at the three silhouettes in the water below.
"So those three are also part of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist?"
His eyes shifted toward Ringo's direction.
"One… two… seven. That makes the complete set of all Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Which means…"
His pupils narrowed.
"The Mizukage must be here as well."
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist served directly under the Mizukage.
If the entire unit was present, their leader would not be far.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several figures shot out of the water simultaneously, landing on the destroyed factory floor.
Akatsuki cloaks—red clouds illuminated by moonlight.
"Finally crawling out, are you?"
The Fourth Raikage's voice boomed in excitement.
"You secretive jerks!"
He hadn't expected that after an entire night of chasing shadows, a single Water Release technique would drag the enemy into the open.
He scowled.
Why didn't I think of doing that earlier?
"Long time no see… Mr. Tobi!"
Kisame grinned, deliberately emphasizing the fake name.
The masked Obito stiffened. Rage simmered beneath the spiral-patterned mask.
"Kisame," Obito said in a low voice, "let's settle this."
Kisame's grin widened.
"Gladly. I've been wanting to test your real strength!"
They vanished simultaneously, the shockwave kicking up debris.
Left behind were Nagato, Konan, Zetsu, Yahiko, and a cloaked Kabuto.
Zabuza studied the group ahead of them.
"Their numbers are greater than ours. Splitting them evenly won't be easy."
Mei beside him shrugged lightly, her expression calm.
"Then we don't split them. We take them all at once."
Nagato laughed softly.
"You truly believe you can fight all of us on your own?"
Before the standoff could escalate, a deafening explosion echoed across the battlefield.
Darui was engaged in a ferocious duel with Hanzō.
Even weakened, the man once called the Demi-God of the Shinobi World radiated overwhelming pressure.
"Boy," Hanzō said darkly, his scythe slicing through the air,
"your strength is impressive. If I still had my salamander, you'd already be dead…"