Author's Note: Second part of the second battle of the Fourth Ninja War. It features one of the battles I enjoyed writing the most, so I hope you enjoy reading it just as much:
Chapter 105:
Water Warfare
or
Demons, Squids and Sharks
Turtle Island
"Come on... come on...!" Naruto said, beads of sweat running through his hair, as with the help of four other arms made of chakra, attempted to create a Tailed Beast Ball for the umpteenth time. Just like his many previous attempts, the ball appeared to be stable at first, but once it reached a certain size, it grew unstable, before exploding in the blond's face. The blast pushed Naruto backwards a couple meters, before he fell on his butt. He deactivated the golden chakra cloak, and punched the sand in frustration. "GODDAMIT!"
Letting out a despondent sight, Naruto lied on his back, though a better term would be that he dropped on it, and extended his arms, and looked at the sky. The sun shone brightly, there wasn't a single cloud, and the air was filled with the sound of the waves crashing against the shore and the cries of seagulls. Naruto could also heard steps of somebody walking towards him, but paid the newcomer no attention.
"Man, this sucks," Naruto moaned. "What I'm doing wrong?"
"Struggling to master your new power, Naruto-kun?" the voice of an elderly man said. "You aren't planning on giving up, are you? That would be very unlike you."
Naruto sat up, and saw the Third Hokage standing besides him. He also sat down on the sand.
"Yeah. The Tailed Beast Ball," Naruto explained. "It's a Tailed Beast's most powerful ability. You see, it's-"
Hiruzen raised a hand, interrupting Naruto. "I know. I witnessed that jutsu many times in my life. Both when I fought against foreign jinchuriki, as well as when the Nine Tails ravaged Konoha. I admit they aren't memories I treasure much."
"Wait, a Tailed Beast Ball is powerful enough to wipe a large chunk of Konoha out. How did the village survive that?" Naruto asked in shock. While he saw the destruction caused by the Fox in pictures of the Academy's history books, it didn't look like a Tailed Beast Ball went off there.
"Fortunately, your father was there to help with that," Hiruzen explained. "Using his Flying Thundergod Jutsu, he managed to teleport the Ball far away before it could detonate. Hadn't he intervened when he did... I shiver to imagine the even greater death and destruction such an attack would have caused in the middle of a village as large as populated as Konoha."
"I can relate to that. Obito tried to pull the same shit with his half of the Nine Tails during the Akatsuki invasion," Naruto told him. "Fortunately, mom and I were there to ensure that such thing didn't happen."
Hiruzen nodded, and his lips curved into a small smile. "Each passing day, I'm so glad that your parents decided to return when they did. I can't imagine what would have been of Konoha if they didn't return. Especially with your birth parents' tragic demise."
"Speaking of which," Naruto began. "I know my birth mom, Kushina, was the previous jinchuriki of the Nine Tails. Was she able to control his power the same way I do?"
Hiruzen shook his head. "No. Kushina rarely, if ever, drew the power of the Nine Tails. Then again, her seal was far more restrictive. So was Mito's."
"How so?" Naruto asked. "What's the point of keeping a jinchuriki, if they can't even use the power of the Tailed Beast within them?"
"Back then, we believed it to be unnecessary. The other great villages were very reliant on their jinchuriki, but Tobirama-sensei didn't want Konoha to follow that path," Hiruzen explained. "He wanted the jinchuriki to be the village's trump card, and wanted our first line of defense and main deterrent for war to be our finest ninjas."
"Like Hashirama was in the day, I guess," Naruto said. He had heard about the legendary First Hokage's power, closer to that of a god than a man –no wonder he was called the God of Ninja–, and was glad that he wouldn't never have to fight a ninja of that caliber.
"Yes, and Tobirama-sensei after him. Tobirama-sensei always wanted to find the most talented and gifted ninjas since they were children, and train them in order to bring out their potential to their fullest. I was one of such kids. And I continued with Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru. Tobirama-sensei's idea was for Konoha to be known for the quality of their ninjas, first and foremost, and rely on the power of the Nine Tails as little as possible," Hiruzen explained.
As Naruto processed the information, he nodded. "Makes sense, I guess. Though, why would my biological dad would want me to use the power of the Nine Tails, then?"
"If I have to guess, it would be because he knew that it was time to use that trump card," Hiruzen said, placing a couple fingers under his goatee. "While I'm proud of my reputation as a fearsome ninja, I was already long past my prime, and I wouldn't get any younger. Minato knew he was going to die. One of the Sannin was a traitor, and the other two decided to leave Konoha for personal reasons. It's possible that he guessed that being your godfather, Jiraiya would come back, but still thought it wasn't enough. We needed something, anything, that would allow Konoha to keep its edge."
"You know, as good as the Second's intentions were, depending on a few, super powerful ninjas isn't that much better from depending on jinchuriki," Naruto noted, frowning a little.
"Wise words. Jiraiya probably thought the same, that's why he put a bigger focus on the Academy, so we could get a better and stronger generation of ninjas, rather than relying on a couple of prodigies," Hiruzen said, nodding in agreement.
"We still have a couple of prodigies among my generation," Naruto noted. "Neji was called as such. And would have been the strongest Hyuga if Hinata-hime didn't awaken the Tenseigan. There's Sasuke as well, though that's the norm for his clan."
"True, true. But I believe that you're forgetting about somebody, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen said with a knowing smile.
"Who, me?" Naruto asked, quickly catching the old man's implicationns. The blond scoffed dismissively, as he rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure."
"Don't sell yourself short, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen said. "You learned the Rasengan, a jutsu that took your biological father years to make and your adoptive father months to master, in a mere week. And not just that, but you combined it with elemental chakra, something your biological father was never able to do. Same goes with Sage Mode."
"If I was a prodigy, I would have this stupid jutsu mastered by now," Naruto complained.
"Even prodigies have their limits," Hiruzen said. "Like I said before, there were many things your father, considered one of the strongest and most skilled ninjas Konoha ever produced, was unable to do."
"I'm sure that if he was in my place, he would have mastered this in an instant," Naruto said, letting out a weary sigh. "Dad told me that, when Orochimaru invaded the village, he used Impure World Resurrection on him and Kushina, and upon seeing the elemental Rasengan, managed to replicate it in an instant."
"Because Jiraiya told him the secret behind it," Hiruzen pointed out. "Though, now that you mention the Rasengan, and trying to master the Tailed Beast Ball..."
"What? What about them?" Naruto asked, his curiosity started to peak.
"Apparently, after seeing the Tailed Beast Ball during the Third Ninja War, Minato believed humans could use that jutsu," Hiruzen started to explain. "He tried to replicate it, but he wasn't successful at first."
"Well, of course, you need to be a-" Naruto interrupted himself when he realized the last part of what the former Hokage had said. "What do you mean 'at first'?"
"To put it simply, that's how he came up with the idea of the Rasengan," Hiruzen said. "His attempts to replicate the Tailed Beast Ball failed, as he couldn't emulate the shape manipulation of the chakra. Then he decided to spin the chakra in order to stabilize it. The result was the Rasengan. Naturally, it wasn't as powerful as the jutsu it was trying to copy, but it's still a very powerful one, don't you think?"
"Wow... I wasn't aware of-" Naruto said in awe, before an idea dawned upon him. "Hey, wait a minute! If the Tailed Beast Ball was the inspiration for the Rasengan... then maybe I can use the principles behind the Rasengan to master the Tailed Beast Ball! Thanks for the idea, Old Man Hokage!" the blond excitedly said, as he reactivated his chakra mode, and resumed his practice.
"I'm glad I could be of help, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen said with a kind smile.
…
"Bluntsword Ninja Art: Underground Fissure!"
"Bluntsword Ninja Aart: Earth Breaker!"
Jinin charged the axe half of his weapon with chakra, before hitting the ground with it, sending an underground shockwave that cracked the ground as it moved forward. Miyako, however, channeled chakra through the hammer half of her weapon, before smashing it onto the ground, shattering it, and sending many rocks and pebbles flying in every direction, and most importantly, stopping Jinin's attack.
"Not bad, girl, not bad," Jinin said, acknowledging his opponent. "You make good use of the Helmet Splitter."
"I've been training every day since the day I became its owner. I want to be as good as you were in life," Miyako said, as she swung the hammer half of her weapon at Jinin
The undead swordsman started to swing his hammer as well, albeit in circles. "Bluntsword Ninja Art: Hurricane Hammer!"
A powerful tornado raised around Jinin, managing to deflect the incoming attack, before Jinin swung the hammer forward, sending the tornado at Miyako. The blue haired girl put her weapon down and started making hand seals as fast as her hands allowed her.
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
Miyako spewed a massive torrent of water from her mouth at the incoming tornado. The two elemental forces clashed, splashing water everywhere, but in the end, Miyako's jutsu won out, and the tornado was dispelled. Unfortunately, just as the two attacks died down, Jinin leaped at the now unarmed Miyako, ready to strike her down.
"You shouldn't have dropped your weapon, girl. You never drop your weapon," Jinin said in an even but still chastising tone.
Miyako ignored Jinin's reprimand, and quickly pulled a pair of kunai with explosive tags attached to them from her ninja tool pouch, and tossed them at the incoming Jinin. The undead ninja tried to swat them away, but Miyako detonated them before he even had the chance. The explosion didn't catch Jinin inside, but the resulting shockwave managed to push him backwards, allowing the blue haired woman to pick up her weapon.
"A good ninja has more than one weapon, no matter how good it is," Miyako replied.
Jinin landed on his feet, sliding back a bit, before breaking his movement with the help of his copy the Helmet Splitter, by stabbing the axe half into the ground
"Nice save. You won't die easily. That's good," He complimented, as he pulled the axe half of his weapon back.
"I didn't get to become part of the Seven Swordsmen by dying easily," Miyako spat back. "And neither did you, despite your end."
"I guess so," Jinin conceded. Miyako got ready for the next attack, but after waiting for a few seconds, it didn't come. "Let me ask you something girl, given that you have my sword, that Jinpachi and Kushimaru are dead, and that Yagura is no longer Mizukage, I take your side won the Civil War, right?"
"Yes, thankfully we did," Miyako did. "Albeit we didn't enjoy our victory as much as we could. Yagura was mind controlled by the Akatsuki, and we were unable to break the brainwashing before they took him away and extracted the Three Tails from him. In fact, I'm surprised he hasn't been reanimated alongside you guys."
"I see. That was... regrettable," Jinin said. "Is the village stable, at the very least?"
"The village is at the most stable it has ever been. When the truth about Yagura came out, his supporters pledged their loyaltly to Mei-sama and the rebellion," Miyako explained. "In the meantime, we also made efforts to build ties with other villages as well."
"Good. That's all I wanted to know," Jinin said, and without any warning, he charged at Miyako.
The blue haired kunoichi parried the incoming axe blow with the axe half of her Helmet Splitter.
"Don't you regret it?" Miyako asked, as she struggled against the undead man. "Siding with Yagura?"
"No," was his firm reply. "I fought for what I believed was right. If I will go down in history as a villain, then so be it."
"How can you say that?" Miyako replied, before pushing Jinin back and trying to smash him with the hammer half. "If you knew that Yagura was mind controlled, would you have still fought for him?"
"But I didn't know that. Or at least, I didn't have solid evidence about it," Jinin said, as he dodged the hammer blow. "Thinking about scenarios that will never happen, wondering what could have been, it's pointless. All that matters is the present, the future, and what do you plan to do in the former to reach the latter."
"I guess I can't help but agree with that," Miyako said, as she raised her weapon, preparing for an attack. "The future I want is one with no more pointless war and bloodshed. And I plan to reach it by sending you back to the Pure World, where you belong. For starters, at least."
"That's good," Jinin said, mimicking her action. "Then show me what you're capable of! Show me your conviction to do what's right!"
"I shall do it!" Miyako replied, as she dashed forward. "Water Release: Razor Stream!"
Both Kirigakure ninjas dashed towards each other, gripping the axe half of the Helmet Splitter. When they were close enough, they struck, Miyako being the first one to move, delivering a diagonal downards swipe. However, she attacked too soon, and her swing didn't reach Jinin. The bearded man noticed this, and didn't hesitate to capitalize on his opponent's mistake, and attacked.
SNAP!
"What the...?"
The leather strap that kept both halves of the weapon linked was cut in two. As so was Jinin's head, and one of his arms, both falling from his body, before the body fell back lifelessly.
"What? How...?" Jinin's decaptiated head asked.
Miyako wordlessly walked towards him, and brought the axe half of the Helmet Splitter close to his face. It was then when he saw it: an extremely thin and long blade of condensed water, almost invisible to the naked eye, channeled through the blade of the axe, almost doubling its range.
"Oh... I see," Jinin said in resignation, but then he smiled. "A jutsu that's both deadly and subtle. The way of Kirigakure. I like you, girl."
Miyako's victory didn't go unnoticed, and several Sealmaster ninjas landed besides her, and started to seal Jinin before he could fully regenerate.
"Regardless of being at the wrong side of the Civil War, I always admired you, Jinin-san," Miyako began. "You always fought for Kirigakure's future and well being. You were the kind of ninja I wanted to become."
"You shouldn't have done that," Jinin said, surprising the blue haired girl with his chastising tone. "You should have strived to be better than me. And I can say that you did it. You're a worthy wielder of the Helmet Splitter. Just like I did, fight for Kirigakure, fight for what you believe it's right, so when your time comes, you will die without any regrets."
Miyako nodded. "Don't worry... I will."
After Jinin was finally sealed, the Sealmasters took him to the rear guard, so the enemy wouldn't try to release him. And after a few seconds of contemplation, Miyako decided to look for a new opponent. This battle was far from over.
…
Kisame locked his eyes on Mei, as he scanned her new form. He could sense a very powerful chakra radiating from her body. It was almost as if Mei was absorbing the ambient energy around her and making it her own. Such an interesting ability, not even Samehada was able to do.
"So... Sage Mode, hm?" Kisame asked, as he grinned in anticipation. "I did hear from the other Akatsuki that the jinchuriki of the Nine Tails, as well as the Toad and Slug Sannin, mastered such a mode. I wasn't aware that you had Sage Mode as well."
"Afraid?" Mei asked, as he placed a hand on a hip, though she already expected Kisame's answer.
"Afraid? Are you kidding me?" Kisame asked, almost sounding outraged. "You might be the first worthy opponent I face in years! You have no idea how much I wanted to fight a Sage, but they're so rare..."
"I knew you were going to say that," Mei said, shaking her head. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
"I can smell your chakra... it's like nothing I've experienced before! I'm going to devour all of your chakra, until nothing remains!" Kisame said in excitement, as his own chakra started to flare around him.
"Zabuza, things are going to get ugly," Mei whispered her husband. "As we are now, Kisame and I are on a completely different level. So please, I must ask you to ignore your pride and let me deal with him myself. I can't fight him and protect you at the same time."
"I'm not going anywhere, woman," Zabuza said, his eyes locked on Kisame. "I'm the captain of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, and it's my duty to recover the sword in the hands of that traitor. Not to mention, protect my wife and Kage."
"Zabuza-"
The black haired man raised a hand to silence her. "I may be prideful and ambitious, but I'm not an idiot. I'll let you do all the heavy lifitng. I'll stay close to you, and strike whenever there's an opening, or I'll protect you if you happen to be left wide open."
"Understood," Mei said, nodding, before her eyes also drifted to Kisame, who prepared to attack. "Be careful."
"You too."
"Let's start this already! Samehada hungers, and so do I!" Kisame shouted, as he started to make hand seals. Despite having webbed hands now, the shark ninja had no more trouble weaving hand seals than before. "Water Release: Shark Bullet Jutsu!"
Suddenly, a torrent of water exploded around Kisame, swiriling around a single spot, taking the form of a gigantic shark. Kisame brought both hands forward, sending the shark-shaped water projectile towards his two foes. Mei, however, wasn't going to stay idle, as she started to weave hand seals of her own, before slamming her palms into the ground.
"Sage Art: Earth Release, Titan Grip!"
The land started to shake, and a gigantc hand made of rock and dirt appeared between Mei and the incoming shark missile. Its stony fingers quickly wrapped around the watery shark, stopping it on its tracks. Mei then closed her hand into a fist, and the giant stone hand did the same, squeezing the shark until it exploded into a million water droplets.
"You think I don't know what you're doing, don't you?" Mei asked. "You expected me to counter that direct jutsu with one of my own and-"
Mei was interrupted when Kisame, surrounded by a cloak of raging water, shattered the giant stone hand by crossing through it, before delivering a vertical slash with his right claw. Mei, however, managed to jump in time, and Kisame only hit the ground, opening a large crater with the force of his blow.
"Thank goodness for the chakra sensing, or else I'd be a goner," Mei thought, still mid air. "He's much faster than before."
However, Kisame wasn't going to give up, and launched himself towards Mei, almost like a living torrent. However, before he could strike her, Zabuza delivered a flying kick to the shark man's temple, breaking his momentum, and sending him flying sidewards. Kisame, however, managed to regain balance while mid air and landed on his feet.
"Well done, Zabuza!" Mei praised as her feet touched the ground, before making more hand seals. "Boil Release: Earth's Deep Breath!"
As Kisame charged once again, he started to notice that not only was the ground shaking beneath his feet, but it was starting to get warmer as well. The nature energy overflowing the zone only made the danger more obvious, and jumped away. And just as he did, the ground cracked open, and a massive geyser shot upwards. Even if it failed, Kisame could feel the sheer heat of the boiling water that rocketed into the sky.
"That was close," the shark ninja said. "If I let that-"
However, Mei's jutsu didn't end there, as another geyser exploded close to Kisame, followed by another and another, and another. Eventually, Kisame was surrounded by burning-hot geysers, and had nowhere to go.
"Execellent. Now let's see how you get out of his," Mei said with a smirk, as she made more hand seals. "Boil Release: Majestic Burning Hurricane!"
All the geysers started to form a swirl around Kisame, until they turned into a massive tornado of burning steam. Even if Kisame was able to absorb chakra, he wouldn't be able to absorb all of it before he was cooked alive.
However, deep down, Mei knew that if it was so easy, Kisame wouldn't be a member of Akatsuki.
"Water Release: Greater Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
Suddenly, a massive watery torrent appeared from inside the steam tornado, dispelling it in almost an instant, before it expanded in every direction, flooding the entire zone, crushing everything on its path beneath gigantic tidal waves. Grinning, Kisame was standing at the epicenter of the ever growing tsunami.
"Oh shit!" Mei yelled, before she and Zabuza were buried by a massive wave.
…
"Water Release: Multiple Water Gun Jutsu!"
"Don't block them, just dodge!" Suigestsu said in a panicked voice.
"I k-know!" Chojuro stammered back.
Mangetsu mimicked a gun with his free hand, and from the tip of his finger fired deceptively large glops of compressed water in rapid succession towards the two Swordsmen of the Mist, which had the foresight of running in different directions. They managed to avoid the deadly watery missiles, which opened large holes in the ground when they impacted.. Some of them still found some marks on some unlucky Zetsu clone or Allied ninja
Given that Mangetsu was focusing on Chojuro, Suigetsu decided it was time to strike. Using water ninjutsu agaisnt Mangetsu wasn't going to produce any results, so he dashed as fast as he could, and tossed the Sewing Needle at him. Without having to stop his current jutsu, Mangetsu parried the flying sword with a mighty swing his copy of Hiramekarei, sending the Sewing Needle back at Suigetsu.
"Shit!" Suigetsu cursed, as he caught his sword back, and engaged Mangetsu in melee.
This forced the older brother to stop firing water bullets at the bespectacled swordsman and focus on his younger brother. Suigetsu started to with a string of aggressive thrusts, but Mangetsu quickly turned the tide in his favor, and countered with more powerful wide swings, as his fake Hiramekarei glowed blue as Mangetsu channeled chakra through it.
"If there's a silver linning to this mess, is that I'm able to see you one more time, Suigetsu," Mangetsu said as he continued his onslaught. "You've grown since the last time I saw you. You also got stronger."
"I had to, if I wanted to get my hands on one of the Seven Swords," Suigetsu replied, as he managed to stop his brother's attack and lock their blades against each other. "Not to mention that I no longer had you to protect me."
Mangetsu managed to break the blade lock and overpower Suigetsu with more fast swings. One of them managed to slice one of his arms off, which quickly broke down into water, as a few water droplets leaked from the stump. Suigetsu jumped backwards to avoid the last swing, and to give himself some time for his lost arm to grow back.
Then, he noticed something: with Mangetsu none the wiser, Chojuro was able to sneak behind him and was ready to strike. Hiramekarei had more power and thus was more effective on a Hydrification user than Suigetsu's Sewing Needle, which was more suited for capture and torture. He decided that Mangetsu needed to have his attention focused on the younger brother for Chojuro's ambush to work.
"Heh, never thought you'd have it in you, Chojuro," Suigetsu thought, as he smirked. "Guess that all that beatings disguised as training from Zabuza-taicho did pay off, huh?"
As Suigetsu charged forward, ready to impale his undead brother with the Sewing Needle, Chojuro moved to strike.
"Hiramekarei, release!"
Chojuro's balde burst with chakra, said chakra forming a gigantic hammer, which would crush Mangetsu into a puddle of water, giving the Sealmasters enough time to seal him before he could reform. However, just as Chojuro prepared his attack, so did Mangetsu.
"Hiramekarei, release!"
Mangetsu's own sword also burst with chakra, before he split it into to two blades, and started to spin around, turning into a blue razor tornado that both shredded and pushed Suigetsu and Chojuro back. While Suigetsu's own Hydrification technique saved him from any permanent damage, Chojuro lost his flak jacket to the attack, leaving him unprotected.
"Not bad, apprentice. Your stealth got much better since the last time I saw you," Mangetsu told Chojuro, with his back still turned at him. "It would have worked if Suigetsu didn't alert me of your presence."
"WHAT!?" the very outraged Suigetsu asked, his face so contorted with anger it was almost comical. "What did I do!?"
"You smirked while you charged towards me," Mangetsu calmly told him. "And even if I couldn't see him, I knew he had to be close. Your sudden display of confidence despite struggling against me couldn't mean anything else."
"Goddamit... I knew you were good, but I forgot how good you were," Suigetsu said, as a bead of sweat trickled down his temple.
"Suigetsu-san, if may offer a suggestion...?" Chojuro asked. "Your sword might not be the best one to deal with your brother. Ameyuri-san has the best chances against him, given her affinity for Lightning Release:"
"A sensible suggestion," Mangetsu agreed. "Where is she?"
"The girl's fighting the previous owner of her swords, Raiga Kurosuki," Suigetsu said. "She really wanted to prove that she's better than her predecessor. I doubt that girl will want to lend us a hand as long as Raiga is alive. Well, living dead, you know what I mean."
"Then go and fetch her," Chojuro request, as he held Hiramekarei in front of him in a fighting stance. "I'll keep Mangetsu-sensei at bay until you come back."
Suigetsu was going to protest and say that Mangetsu was going to cut Chojuro to pieces without any backup. However, he knew that there was no time to argue, and that Ameyuri was their best bet.
"Alright. Just try not to get killed," Suigetsu said, before leaping away.
With his brother out of the way, Mangetsu turned around, and smirked at the blue haired Kirigakure ninja.
"So, you and me. A one on one. Like in the old times," Mangetsu commented.
"Except that if I lose, I die," Chojuro pointed out.
"If you die to me, that means I made a lousy job training you," Mangetsu said, before dashing forward. "Show me how well I trained you, and how much you improved since my demise!"
…
As Suigestu and Chojuro fought the reanimated Mangetsu, not far from there, Ameyuri was engaged in her own little duel against Raiga Kurosuki. From time to time a bunch of White Zetsu clones would try to interfere with the fight but all their efforts got them was being sliced to pieces by either Raiga or Ameyuri.
For most of the time, they kept the fight close and personal, sparks of lightning flying whenever their blades clashed. However, the two of them had the same idea of jumping back and trying ranged attacks, to test how the opponent reacted to them.
"Thundersword Ninja Aart: Feast of Lightning!"
Both Ameyuri and Raiga stabbed their swords into the ground, releasing a mass of thunderbolts, cutting through the ground as they clashed against each other, resulting in an explosion of lightning bolts that opened a crater in the ground.
"You're strong, girl," Raiga said, as he pulled his swords out of the ground. "Your funeral will be a worthy one."
"Shut up! Of the two of us, I'm not the one who's actually dead!" Ameyuri protested, as he did the same, before raising her swords into the air. "Lightning Release: Depth Charge!"
After a bright blue flash of electricity, Ameyuri was completely coated in a cloak of crackling lightning. Wasting no time, the angry redhead dashed at the undead swordman, trading swords swings once again, even if this time, Ameyuri moved much faster and her blows packed far more power. Raiga didn't appear bothered by her spike in power, though he was pushed back with each blow.
"Your skill with the Thunderfangs is commendable, but there's still much you need to learn before you can get on my level!" Raiga shouted, as he tried to push Ameyuri back.
The redhead grinned, showing a mouth full of sharp teeth. "Really? Let's see how do you like this then."
Ameyuri threw her sword, though not at Raiga, but to the side, as she continued to fight the undead ninja with her remaining blade. The sword she had tossed, crackling with electricity, started to spin around the two of them, flying into Raiga at random times as if it had life of its own, forcing him to split his attention to two opponents at once, one that had no body he could harm.
"Did you know that you can use the Thunderfangs that way?" Ameyuri asked in a teasing tone as she continued her assault. That moment, the flying sword decided to strike, and when Raiga parried the blow, Ameyuri attacked that arm, slicing it cleanly. "HA! Got you, old man!"
Raiga disengaged and jumped backwards.
"Time to cast the kids gloves off," Raiga said, as his remaining sword started to crackle with electricity. "Lightning Release: Lightning Strike Armor!"
Just like Ameyuri moments before him, Raiga's entire body was coated with electricity, which shone so brightly it was almost impossible to directly look.
"Come at me if you dare now, little girl!" Raiga said in a taunting tone, pointing his remaining sword at her.
"I'm not a little girl, you fucker! I'm twenty!" Ameyuri yelled, as she charged forward. "Twenty times I'm going to kill you now! I'm going to cut all your limbs, your head, and whatever pathetic excuse of a manhood you have between your legs, wait until grows back, and do it again!"
Ameyuri channeled even more chakra into her lightnging cloak, making it crackle and shine with more intensity, and she and Raiga clashed again. Despite having an arm, Raiga managed to keep up with the redheaded woman until his cut arm and the sword it was holding regenerated again from ash and dust.
"The armor not only protects him from my attacks while harming attackers, it also increased his speed and reaction time!" Ameyuri thought in realization. "It's like the Fourth Raikage's famed Lightning Chakra Mode, only on a lesser scale. Still, if I don't find a way to counter it, I'm so fucked!"
"What's wrong, little girl? Did you realize your mistake of fighting an actual Swordsman of the Mist?" Raiga boasted.
All of Ameyuri's worries and doubts quickly evaporated, as her temper, as short as her stature, quickly replaced them with pure, undiluted anger.
"STOP CALLING ME A LITTLE GIRL!" Ameyuri bellowed, as the electricity across her body flashed brightly. "That's it, you're so fucking dead right now! Thundersword Secret Art: Eye of the Storm!"
Ameyuri started to spin in place, turning herself into a tornado of lightning, before dashing towards Raiga, carving a furrow as she moved. Raiga merely chuckled at Ameyuri's attack.
"So, spinning it is, then? Fine by me," the thick-lipped zombie said with a chuckle, as he crossed his copies of the Thunderfangs over his head. "Lightning Release: Lightning Dragon Tornado!"
Like Ameyuri, Raiga started to spin, and the lightning coursing through his body started to form a vortex of wind and electricity. Said vortex then took the shape of a dragon. The lightning dragon let out a metallic sounding roar, which was more like a screech, before lunging at the incoming Ameyuri.
Both lightning attacks clashed, and in the beginning, Ameyuri managed to power through Raiga's dragon tornado, however, her advance became slower and slower, until it appeared she might be pushed back. However, all the energy gathered by the two ninjas eventually reached a critical point, resulting in a massive explosion that send both swordsmen flying backwards, leaving a rather large crater in the place of their clash.
"Ugh..." Ameyuri groaned, as she tried to get back on her feet, using her swords as support. "Note to self... never try shit like that again...ugggh..."
"Hey, need some help?" a new voice asked.
Ameyuri was a little startled upon seeing Suigetsu suddenly landing besides her. He faced Raiga, who was also getting back on his feet, and took a fighting stance.
"Get lost, dumbass! I didn't ask for your help, nor I need it!" Ameyuri angrily berated.
"Really? Because it doesn't look that to me," Suigetsu said. Before Ameyuri could protest, he continued. "Listen, you may not need my help, but Chojuro and I need yours. We're fighting against my brother, and he's kicking our asses so badly it's not even funny. Of all of us, your skillset is the most fitting to deal with him."
"I'm not going to do your fucking job. Now scram, I have a relic that needs to be send back to oblivion," Ameyuri dismissively said.
"Goddamit Ameyuri, this isn't a game! Can't you just put your pride and ego aside?" Suigetsu hotly asked, making the redhead glare. "We're fighting a war, for fuck's sake! I can't deal with my opponent on my own, and neither can you! So stop being so fucking stubborn, and let me help you so can help me in return!"
Ameyuri's fingers gripped around her swords, as she clenched her teeth at the white haired ninja. She wanted to yell at him to leave her alone, but she was forced to admit that he had a point. If that dumboass got himself killed, then Magetsu would more than likely move to fight another swordsman, herself included. In the end, common sense won, even if barely.
"Fine, you win," Ameyuri finally said in defeat. "But how do you plan to help me against Raiga, smartass? He has a similar skillset to mine. You'll be nothing but dead weight."
Suigestu merely smirked at her. "Just leave that to me."
…
"Water Release: Underwater Breathing!"
Zabuza barely had the time to made the seals that would allow him not to drown underwater before he and Mei were engulfed by a massive wall of water. The two of them had to strengthen their bodies with chakra as much as they could so the crushing torrent wouldn't break their bodies. The masked man looked at his wife, who appeared to be fine despite the fact that she didn't use the same jutsu as him to breather underwater. However, he could see three gills at the side of her neck –and guessed there were other three at the other side–, and sighed in relief knowing that she'd be okay.
"She'll be better than me. This jutsu will drain my chakra little by little, while I guess that she can brether underwater at no additional cost as long as she keeps that form," Zabuza thought, before his eyes drifted towards Kisame. "And the same can be said of him, if those gills around the shoulders are any indication."
"Now, time to rip and tear!" Kisame shouted, and shot like a missile towards Mei, leaving a trail of bubbles, as he extended his arms and large claws grew from each of his fingers. In no time, he would close the gap between himself and Mei. Kisame was already fast underwater, and when he was merged with Samehada, his speed increased even more.
Mei, however, wasn't going to let the Akatsuki kill her without putting up a fight. She made a hand seal.
"Sage Art: Tentacle Grip!"
Four of Mei's locks-turned-tentacles grew in size and length, and lashed at the incoming shark man. Kisame merely dodged the first two, while slashing at the other two with his claws, cutting them off. Seeing her counterattack ineffective, Mei opted to fall back. Not that she was going to escape from him.
"I'm craving some fried squid!" Kisame said, as he prepared to strike Mei with a claw swipe.
However, Kisame's claws didn't tear soft flesh like he expected, but met metal instead. It took him a second to realize that Zabuza managed to get in the way between Kisame and his prey, and used his Executioner's Blade to parry the attack.
"You aren't the only one who can move fast underwater!" Zabuza said, as he defiantly stared at the shark man.
"Water Release: Multiple Water Bullets!"
Before Kisame could attack again, Mei spat many missiles of highly pressurized water at him, forcing the shark man to fall back, even if briefly, to dodge the deadly projectiles. Making a U-turn, Kisame shot towards Mei and Zabuza once again.
"Zabuza, I'm afraid that not even with Sage Mode I'll be able to match Kisame. At least, not as long as we're underwater," Mei suggested. "We should try to go back to dry land."
"I agree. We can't let him have such a bug advantage," Zabuza said, as he watched Kisame charge towards them again.
"Be ready to swim to the edge of the water. I'll prove some cover," Mei said, as she started to make some hand seals. "Boil Release: Skilled Mist Jutsu!"
Mei exhaled a massive cloud of acidic mist from her mouth, which manifested in the shape of a mass of super heated bubbles that spread in every direction, forming an improvised smokescreen between them and their Akatsuki foe.
"That should be enough to cover our escape," Mei thought, before he looked at Zabuza. "Come on, swim towards the border!"
Nodding in return, both Zabuza and Mei started to swim away as fast as they could towards the edge of the water, taking With the bubble cover, Kisame wouldn't know which direction they took until it was too late. Or at least, that was in theory, given that no matter how fast they swam, it felt like they didn't move at all.
"How wide does this improvised sea spread?" Mei asked, upon noticing that they weren't making any progress.
"It's as if the water moved at the same pace as we do!" Zabuza replied, just as perplexed.
"You can't escape from me!" Kisame's voice said from behind.
Much to their surprise, and a little horror, Kisame managed to power through the barrier of acidic bubbles as if they were nothing, and found the two Kiri ninjas with amazing ease, before lunging at them with the same gusto as a predator hunting their favorite prey.
"As long as I'm fused with Samehada, I can sense chakra! Especially if you're trapped inside my aritifical sea, which amplifies my sensing ability!" Kisame boasted, as he dived at them.
Once again, Zabuza put himself between Mei and Kisame, and a made a hand seal with his free hand.
"Water Release: Water Clone Jutsu!"
Using the water around him, Zabuza created an army of clones, which instantly dived at Kisame, ready to cut him to pieces. However, this turned out to be a little more than a distraction for the shark man, who was able to destroy them with one swipe of his claws, while absorbing their chakra. Then again, all what Zabuza hoped was that they could give them some time to form a plan.
"Well done, husband," Mei said, as she floated besides him. "But they won't keep him busy for long."
"I know," Zabuza acknowledged. "Come on, let's keep swimming. We can't be that far away from the border."
"Actually, we are. I've been noticing that the chakra in the water doesn't stay still, it moves as well. It's like you said, the artificial sea moves alongside Kisame. As long as he chases us, we won't make any progress," Mei said.
"Then let's split. Kisame can only chase one of us, allowing the other a safe escape. Hopefully, he'll go after me, given that I'm the easiest enemy," Zabuza said, as he prepared to swim again, but Mei grabbed his shoulder.
"No. I won't let you sacrifice yourself like that," Mei said, and continued before Zabuza could protest. "I have another idea. I'm going to the bottom. I need you to keep Kisame distracted a little more. Can you do that?"
Zabuza saw that Kisame just finished destroying the last of the water clones, and was now swimming at them once again.
"Understood. Now go!" Zabuza said.
Mei nodded, and swam to the bottom of the artifical sea, while Zabuza intercepted Kisame once again who was ready to strike Mei down.
"You think you can protect her from me? That's so cute," Kisame said in a mocking tone, as he engaged Zabuza. "In fact, she's the one who needs to protect you."
"Do not underestimate me!" Zabuza said, as he tried to stab at the shark ninja, who dodged Zabuza's blows with insulting ease.
"Give me a reason not to understimate you then!" Kisame fired back, as he tried to get past Zabuza, seeing how Mei was getting to the bottom. Feeling a little more restless, Kisame went on the offensive, delivering a flurry of claw swipes at Zabuza.. "I don't know what that woman is trying to do, but it will be useless!"
"Samehada is a powerful sword indeed. But its power blinded you, and made you overconfident," Zabuza said as he expertly blocked the blows. However, he couldn't help but worry upon seeing how Kisame's strikes were leaving pretty big dents on his sword. Not to mention that it was becoming increasingly difficult to move underwater. "Come on Mei, whatever are you planning, do it now!"
"If you're so eager to die protecting that woman, then so be it!" Kisame said, smirking menacingly, as spike-like scales grew all over his arms and shoulders. "I can't wait to see her face when I present her your decapitated head!"
Meanwhile, swimming as fast as she could, mei managed to reach the bottom of the aritificial sea. Wasting no time, she made several hand seals, before slamming both hands into the ground.
"Sage Art: Earth Release World Breaker!"
Mei allowed herself to float away from the bottom as the ground beneath her started to shake violently. Soon, cracks started to spear and spread in every direction, growing larger and wider, forming a spiderweb of fissures. Many pieces of rock and dirt separated from the ground and started to lazily float around... and that moment, what Mei was aiming for finally happened.
Above Mei, the still fighting Zabuza and Kisame felt a powerful water current pulling them down towards the ground. It didn't take them long enough to realize what was going on.
"That woman... just what the hell she did!?" Kisame said, forgetting momentarily about Zabuza, while trying to swim upwards as fast as he could.
"That's what you get for underestimating her!" Zabuza said, swimming as well, but not taking his eyes from Kisame. "Let's see how you fight us now that you won't have field advantage!"
Soon, the entire artifical sea was drained by the gigantic cracks in the ground, lowering the water level to a meter or so above surface, allowing Zabuza and Mei to merely use Water Walking to stand above it.
"Good job, Mei. That was impressive," Zabuza told his wife.
"A compliment from you? Now, it had to be something truly amazing to deserve something like that," Mei chuckled in return.
"I'll give you more compliments if we manage to kill this guy for good and get Samehada back," Zabuza replied.
"Your sappy and corny exchange might kill me if you keep it for long," Kisame replied, unamused, and pretending to gag.
"What's wrong, Kisame? Don't you like sweetness? I think we all could do with a little more sweetness in our lives," Mei replied, before she placed a hand on Zabuza's shoulder. "You should have seen Zabuza before. Nothing like he is now!"
"Yes, I can see. One of the deadliest, most powerful swordsmen, now tamed and under the control of a weak woman that feeds him lies in order to keep afloat a corrupt system," Kisame fired back, as he once agarin grew spike-like scales over his arms and shoulders. "Now let's see what YOU taste like!"
As Kisame dashed forward, Mei made a hand seal, and more tentacles shot forward as they grew in size. Kisame, however, started to spin around his feet while jumping from one side to another. With each spin, his blade-like long scales sliced some of Mei's tentacles, and absorbing some of their residual chakra.
That moment, Zabuza appeared behind him, ready to strike him down. However, with a move of his arm, Kisame was able to parry Zabuza's blow with the blade scales of his arms.
"Didn't you listen when I told you I can sense chakra in this form?" Kisame said, sounding a little irritated. "Your silent killing won't be of any use against me!"
Kisame pushed Zabuza's sword backwards, and before the latter could defend, he delivered a wide chop with his other arm. His blade-like scales started to glow blue with chakra, and the moment they hit the Executioner's Blade, they cleanly cut the sword in two, much to the masked swordsman's anger, but above all things, shock.
"Shit, my sword!" Zabuza cursed, as he disengaged Kisame and jumped back to Mei.
"Normal weapons are useless against me, Zabuza. Not even the other Seven Swords are a match for Samehada's power when it manifests through this form," Kisame boasted, before letting out a taunting chuckle. "There's nothing you two can do to cause me or Samehada any harm."
"You okay? Did he hurt you?" Mei asked, a bit concerned.
"I'm mostly fine," Zabuza said. He looked at his sliced sword with sadness and anger. Even if it still could be used, he was only half as long now. "Damn, I'll have to kill a lot of people to repair so much damage... " he then noticed his wife's severed limbs. "What about you?"
"Don't worry, I have a healing factor in this form," Mei replied, as one of her head tentacles slowly regrew. "It takes some time, but it allows me to fight for longer."
"Let's see how well your regeneration those against THIS!" Kisame said in a mocking tone as he clapped his hands together. "Water Release: Divine Maesltrom!"
The water all around the place started to stir and shake, as it started to gather around Kisame, forming a column of spiraling torrent, elevating the shark ninja above the Mizukage and her Captain Swordsman. The gigantic watery column started to move towards the two Kiri ninjas, almost like a tsunami that came back to life.
"You think you can counter that?" Zabuza asked, as he saw the giant mass of water ready to engulf them.
"I'll try," Mei said, as she started making hand seals. "Earth Release: Mountain Sandwich!"
Mei slammed her hands into the watery floor, and two gigantic rock formations raised to the sides of Kisame's titantic whirlpool, depriving it of momentum and splashing the water around as the liquid tornado was crushed. Kisame, however, managed to leap out of the way of Mei's jutsu in time, and started to make hand seals.
"Let's see how well you do against my strongest jutsu! No matter what you do, you won't be able to stop it! Water Release: Great Shark Bullet Jutsu!" Water started to gather around Kisame's arms, which took the shape of a gigantic shark. The blue skinned man then thursted both hands downwards, releasing it at Mei and Zabuza.
"You will be surprised," Mei confidently said, as she started to make hand seals of her own. "Sage Art: Lava Release Pyroclastic Meltdown!"
Mei expelled a barrage of lava projectiles from her mouth towards theicoming water shark. The two attacks eventually clashed, resulting in the lava projectiles exploding upon contact in a fiery blast, and struggled to push each other back. Kisame was expecting that his attack would literally eat through Mei's, and absorb its chakra to become even stronger, but for some reason, it was unable to cut through the lava explosions.
"I don't get it. I can feel it absorbing the chakra of the lava release attack. Why it's not pushing forward? Is that woman pouring more chakra into her jutsu than it gets absorbed?" Kisame thought, as he descended towards the water. Then, he noticed something: the intense heat of Mei's lava blasts was slowly but surely evaporating his shark. "That cheeky woman! She knew she couldn't beat my jutsu with brute force, so she opted to destabilize it through heat! I have to-"
"Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
Kisame felt a spike of chakra below him, and looking down, he saw the water gathering in a spiraling column, before it took the shape of a serpentine dragon. The dragon then let out a roar, and lunged at the still airborne Kisame, was unable to dodge, and was trapped between the watery beast's jaws.
"Forgot about me already? I might not be as strong as Mei, but I can sure be a thorn in your side!" Zabuza boasted, as he made another hand seal.
As the water dragon arched down, Kisame started to absorb its chakra. However, it was too late. Before the dragon could break down into harmless liquid, Kisame was slammed against the floor, making a huge splash. Even if that wasn't nowhere enough to put Kisame down, it did cause no small amount of harm.
"Damn... that... hurt more than what I'm willing to admit," Kisame thought, as he tried to get back on his feet. Being fused with Samehada granted him a healing factor that he could keep running by absorbing more chakra from his opponents. However, right now it wasn't healing him as fast as he was hoping. Splashing sounds warned him that Zabuza wasn't done. And indeed, he was coming at him with his broken weapon.
"Don't think I'm done yet!" Zabuza said, as water started to gather around his ruined weapon, taking the shape of the missing chunk Kisame had cut before. "Water Release: Water Spirt Blade!"
"Excellent! That fool is going to provide me with enough chakra to heal my wounds!" Kisame happily thought, as he prepared to catch the attack. "I only need to-"
"Fire Release: Double Searing Lash!"
Suddenly, Kisame felt searing pain as two whips made of fire wrapped themselves around his forearms, and pulled them back, leaving him defenseless against Zabuza. He tried to absorb them as well, but deep down he knew that he couldn't do it in time in order to stop Zabuza's attack.
"Time to end this already!" Zabuza said, as he delivered an horizontal chop to Kisame's torso. The moment the watery blade made contact and dug into the Akatsuki's flesh, sharp blue scales started to pour from the wound instead of blood or guts. Zabuza continued to dig even deeper, until Samehada was forced out of Kisame's body.
Kisame stumbled forward, falling on one knee, the forced way the fusion was terminated leaving him dazed. Still, he was lucid enough to know that without his sword, he'd be defenseless against Mei. He extended his arm "Samehada, to me!"
Like a loyal dog, Samehada flew towards Kisame. However, Zabuza managed to get in the way, and the sentient sword let out a whimper of pain as Zabuza kicked it away.
"No! Samehada!" Kisame shouted, as he tried to move towards his sword.
"Not this time!" Zabuza said. "Mei, now's your chance!"
Mei nodded, and made more hand seals as fast as her hands allowed her. "Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"
Mei expelled a high pressurized stream of water from her mouth, as thin as a thread. She quickly moved the stream in a wide arc towards Kisame, cleaningly cutting his head from the rest of his body, which fell to the ground, motionless.
There was a moment of silence as the two Kirigakure ninjas processed what had happened. Did they win? Was the fight really over?"
"Is he dead?" Mei dumbly asked, as exhausting caught up to her, and fell to her knees.
Zabuza walked towards the headless body, and kicked it a couple times. "I'm no medical ninja, but I don't think this guy is getting up anytime soon. Heh, just like I said. In the end, he wasn't that good without his precious Samehada."
Speaking of which, the sentient sword managed to crawl towards the dead Kisame, and started to whimper like a puppy who just lost its owner.
"Look at that. It seems Samehada is crying the death of is master," Mei observed, before her expression hardened a little. "It will be the only one to cry his death. Today, justice has finally been done. Our greatest criminal has been punished, and the treasure he stole is finally back to its rightful owners. Zabuza, put this sword on a scroll. Careful not to touch it too much."
"I know how Samehada works. And no, I don't plan to replace my Executioner's Blade with it," Zabuza grumbled, as he pulled out a sealing scroll. "Do you have any idea in mind for somebody to wield it?"
"I couple names, yes," Mei replied with a nod. "But now is not the time to talk about that. Kisame might be dead, but the battle isn't over yet, and our allies need us."
Zabuza nodded back, and after he finished sealing Samehada, he handed the scroll to Mei, and the two of them returned to the main battlefield.
Author's Note: First of all, I'd like to confirm that yes, Kisame is dead. So no, he isn't going to pull the same stunt as in canon by hiding inside Samehada while leaving a decoy corpse behind. By this point, I simply have no more use of him, so dying after giving Mei and Zabuza a fierce battle is the best he can do. So yeah, I hope you guys enjoyed Kisame's last battle, since I had this fight on my mind even before I started with Part II, and I'm so happy to finally be able to share it with you guys.
I also hope that the other fights were also to your liking. I didn't show all the Swordsmen fighting because then the chapter would get too long, and another fight against Kushimaru and Junpachi wouldn't add anything to the story, since they don't have any kind of emotional connection or meaningful bond with the living swordsmen. In fact, I had to move the resolution of those fights to the next chapter since it was getting way too long for my tastes, and I wanted to focus on Mei, Zabuza and Kisame.
Thanks to Ookami88 for betareading this chapter.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please leave your thoughts in a review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!