However, before Hoshigaki Kisame could get away, he was instantly surrounded by a mass of roots and vines.
Swish!
Swish!
Swish!
Kisame hacked through the roots and vines before him, only for more to burst up behind him.
Obito shouted, "Go to hell, shark freak!"
Then the kunai in Obito's and Kakashi's hands whipped toward their target.
At the same time, Night Maple's shadow clone drove a fierce kick at Kisame.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Kisame's reactions were lightning-fast; his body swayed, and several kunai buried themselves in his cheek!
They'd struck home only because he had no bandwidth to deal with Team Seven—every ounce of focus went into evading Night Maple's attack.
"Damn brats—just you wait!"
Kunai sticking from his head, Kisame roared in fury and spun to flee.
But endless roots and vines kept surging up, hemming him in again.
Obito laughed wildly. "Hah! Shark freak, let's see you strut now!"
Kakashi rolled his eyes.
Watching at the side, Rin's gaze sparkled as she looked at Night Maple's back; suddenly his back looked so broad to her.
At first, she'd thought Night Maple was too bloody—actually making Obito kill.
But now it seemed that in just these few short days, Obito had changed more than in the past year.
And her own thinking had shifted a lot, too.
All of it came from Night Maple-sensei.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, Kisame—trussed up like a rice dumpling—gave a furious roar and actually burst the roots and vines apart!
Bang!
With a thunderous crash, roots and vines flew; Kisame bolted straight into the forest.
"As expected of a 'tailless tailed beast'—power rivaling a bijū. After him!"
Night Maple breathed out and sprinted after.
Tree World Emergence is ridiculous, but once the target gets beyond its range, closing again gets tricky.
And Kisame was the run-you-to-death type—blazingly fast.
"Sensei!"
Rin hurriedly called Night Maple back.
Seeing she wasn't keeping up, Night Maple simply scooped the little loli up one-handed.
Rin flushed, suddenly shy.
"Sensei, wait for me!"
Obito yelled at once.
Of course, Night Maple had no particular thoughts about the little loli Rin.
"You're too slow. Rin, what were you saying just now?"
Blushing slightly, Rin said, "Sensei, isn't our mission to find that little girl? How did it turn into chasing down Mist-nin…"
"Catch up first. If Mist-nin are showing up here, they're searching too—maybe they've got a lead."
Hearing his explanation, Rin nodded, convinced. "I see—Sensei really thinks things through."
In truth, Night Maple just wanted a fight—but he needed a reasonable pretext.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Night Maple formed seals, left a shadow clone behind to look after the lagging Obito and Kakashi, and then dashed on with Rin in his arms.
Couldn't be helped—this tailless tailed beast Kisame ran too fast. If he didn't press hard, he'd lose him.
"Sensei, wait up!"
Obito shouted, noticing Night Maple had at least left a shadow clone.
Kakashi was speechless. Night Maple-sensei was way too unreliable—and even suspected of being a lolicon!
Fleeing, Kisame glanced back and, seeing Night Maple with Rin, nearly bugged out.
What kind of monster was this—hugging a little girl and still keeping up?
"Too terrifying… We'll need Lord Suikazan Fuguki, Lord Jūzō Biwa—even the Seven Ninja Swordsmen together might not be enough to handle this monster…"
With that thought, Kisame angled toward where the Seven were gathered, sprinting hard.
He knew the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were still operating together; if they split up and got picked off one by one by this monster, it'd be even worse.
After five minutes of pursuit, Kisame felt about spent; he glanced back—Night Maple was still there.
"Damn it—where's Lord Suikazan Fuguki? I'm gonna drop dead!"
Chasing behind, Night Maple was astonished too. So young—didn't even look twenty—and Kisame had this much stamina?
Maybe after skimming a lake or two, he could use Water Release to turbo-charge himself.
It was like he had endless chakra inside.
Night Maple suddenly grew curious. Could this be a kekkei genkai?
Just then, not far ahead, a flock of birds scattered skyward; a peal of laughter followed, shaking the whole forest.
Kisame's eyes lit up—The Seven Ninja Swordsmen were just ahead.
He glanced back again—Night Maple was still on him. Panic flashed across his face, but inside he cackled.
Keep chasing! You'll die soon enough! I'm chopping off your legs and feeding them to the sharks!