A time-space vortex appeared at the foot of the mountain, and the mysterious masked man's figure emerged. A moment later, an extremely cute young girl jumped out from the vortex, appearing beside him.
The mysterious masked man glanced at the Hidden Mist ninjas leaping through the forest, then turned to the girl beside him, "Soon, that brat will be gravely injured. You must risk your life to save him, understand?"
"Yes."
The girl lowered her head and continued softly, "As long as I make him fall in love with me, you promised to spare my hometown and let me meet Kakashi..."
"Of course."
The mysterious masked man tapped his arm, his voice grave, "I never break my promises. Still, it's hard to understand why there are women who like a useless ninja like Kakashi."
"Mr. Kakashi is not useless!"
The girl bit her lip, obviously afraid of the masked man beside her, yet she mustered up the courage to refute his words.
The mysterious masked man snorted and ignored her.
Of course, the mysterious masked man wouldn't tell Karin that Hatake Kakashi was also in this forest, being pursued by a group of Mist Village Ninjas, and this time, unlike in the past, there would be no one arriving in time to save him...
Inside the forest.
The Pursuing Ninja Squad led by Hoshigaki Kisame had just entered the forest, still tracking the direction of Hatake Kakashi.
Crack!
A card was pinned to a tree!
Just as the ninjas were on alert, avoiding it, and looking towards the source of the card, another card flew in, targeting none other than the leader of the Pursuing Ninja Squad, Hoshigaki Kisame.
Even though Kisame dodged the card attack just in time, he couldn't avoid the card grazing his face, leaving a narrow wound from which a few drops of blood slowly trickled.
The momentum of the card was so strong that it even severed a wild tree as thick as a bowl!
Kisame's face remained calm as he waved to his subordinates, "Hmm? Someone's targeting me, huh? Go inform Lord Terumi Mei that I have a small matter to handle here, and you go assist Lord Terumi Mei in capturing the target."
"Yes, Captain!"
The Pursuing Ninja Squad solemnly accepted the command and leaped far away, not worried at all about their captain encountering an enemy.
Since Hoshigaki Kisame took over from Suikazan Fuguki, they became Kisame's subordinates and witnessed the terrifying might of the Hidden Mist Monster firsthand. To this day, whenever Hoshigaki Kisame led them on missions, they had never failed!
What they didn't know was that Hoshigaki Kisame had long become a subordinate of the mysterious masked man behind the Mizukage.
On the surface, Hoshigaki Kisame was tasked with capturing Kakashi;
In reality, Kisame's true task was to severely injure Uehara Naraku, as brutally as possible, and then let a young girl rescue him.
Although Kisame didn't understand why the mysterious masked man gave him such a peculiar task, as long as it was a mission, he would resolutely carry it out.
"Come out, brat!"
Kisame revealed a mouthful of shark teeth, showing a terrifying smile, "Brat, I haven't fought with all my might for a long time. If you entertain me today, I might let you choose a more comfortable death."
"Hoshigaki Kisame."
A young figure appeared before Kisame, his body floating in mid-air, skillfully twirling a few cards between his fingers.
Uehara Naraku looked down at Hoshigaki Kisame, speaking softly, "Well, although we both know the outcome, we still have to go through the process. I'm inviting you to join an organization dedicated to maintaining peace in the Ninja World. Are you interested?"
"Of course not."
Kisame sneered and lowered the Shark Skin Greatsword in his hands, coldly saying, "Brat, I am a ninja who loves slaughter!"
"How unfortunate, because I'm a person who loves peace!"
Uehara's eyes narrowed slightly, and the cards in his hand suddenly shot toward the ground at Kisame, each card whizzing through the air with such speed that they carved airwaves!
With the rewards from Advanced Task 3, Uehara's physical strength was significantly enhanced, and the power and speed of his card throwing were much greater than before!
Kisame was even faster!
When he saw the cards being thrown, he flickered to avoid the card attack, but one of the cards suddenly exploded like an explosive charm!
Kisame didn't have time to defend; he was blasted away, his clothes destroyed by the explosion, his body riddled with injuries. However, thanks to the Shark Skin's incredible healing power, Kisame's wounds quickly healed back to normal.
"Hey, how does it feel?"
Uehara Naraku flew around in the air, speaking softly, "If you were to die, our organization would have to find someone suitable again!"
"...If you want to kill me, this won't be enough!"
Kisame responded coldly, firmly stabbing the Shark Skin Greatsword into the ground, fully recognizing the difficulty of his enemy!
If Uehara remained airborne, attacking him would undoubtedly be much more challenging, making it hard to utilize his Taijutsu advantage and the Chakra absorption feature of the Shark Skin.
In that case, change the terrain!
"Water Release: Great Bursting Water Wave!"
Kisame quickly performed hand seals, spewing a tidal wave from his mouth, the water beneath his feet rising nearly level with Uehara Naraku's height in the air.
Without pausing, Kisame continued forming hand seals, biting his finger: "Water Release: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu!"
A water shark appeared beside Kisame, encasing his body as it leapt out of the water, agilely charging towards Uehara Naraku in the air!
This guy actually came up with a way to attack an airborne enemy, and if he could knock Uehara Naraku down, he could immediately leverage his strong Taijutsu advantage.
When Kisame neared Uehara Naraku, he noticed Uehara's face seemingly panicking while forming hand seals, one of which wasn't even standard...
"Hmph, kid, you formed the Summoning Jutsu hand seal wrong!"
Kisame sneered, his wrist suddenly exerting force, about to grab Uehara's neck and bring him down to the ground!
"Ninpo: Summoning Jutsu!"
Yet, with a soft shout from the young ninja, a towering monster appeared between them, flinging its anchor precisely at Kisame, dragging him back down!
Kisame couldn't resist the overwhelming force, falling from the air with the monster back into the lake he created.
Once Kisame recovered, he finally saw what kind of monster the brat had summoned...
A monster nearly three times his height, entirely encased in iron armor with only two yellow glowing eyes, holding a massive anchor connected to its body by a tight chain.
What astounded Kisame was that this monster could breathe freely underwater like him and move without hindrance.
Uehara Naraku clapped his hands together, descended to the water's edge, and said with a light laugh, "Mr. Kisame, allow me to introduce you. This is the Deep Sea Titan Nautile, specially prepared for your underwater battle..."
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