The bird screeched loudly as it spread its wings. So far, Nagisa knew the bird didn't shy away from close contact with fighting and resorted to creating gusts to keep its enemies at bay. Maybe if she could figure out its weak point, she'd be able to subdue it long enough to reach her sister. The only problem was, every time she thought of moving, her eyes would travel back to Shigeru's severed head.
"I have to get to my sister." The violette willed to herself, digging her nails into the palm of her hand so she could distract her mind.
"Then get her and get lost."
She nearly jumped at the sound of Kisame's voice. She'd been so focused on what she had to do and what could happen to her that she forgot she wasn't by herself. Glancing to the side, she noticed that he had stepped ahead of her and was fully prepared to face the monster in front of them.
"If you still have all that spunk, then you wouldn't hesitate." Kisame continued. "You had all this fire power before when you took it upon yourself to be a stowaway. You may as well continue to commit now."
"How can you just jump into a situation freely knowing that death is on the table?" Nagisa asked as she continued to look at him. Wasn't it human nature to be scared? Regardless of how she felt, she'd never been in a situation like this before and it felt like her body and her mind were two separate entities right now.
The shinobi shrugged in response. He'd been trained to act this way; it was all second nature. Besides that, it was also exciting for him - the thrill of a good fight. "Aren't you a fisherman? You know nature is unpredictable and unforgiving so why don't you think of it like that?"
Everything he said made sense, however it was illogical at the same time. What mattered the most at this point was that she wasn't alone. Stepping up towards him, she smiled with slight amusement. "Look at you, being so supportive and encouraging."
Kisame glanced down at the female beside him, somewhat relieved that she hadn't completely shut down in the face of death. "I specifically remember you promising I wouldn't have to kill you. I figured you wanted to uphold that."
Nagisa mulled over his words before smiling more to herself and grabbing a hold of her staff. She was too close to her goal to break her promise now. Nodding her head, she directed her attention to the bird. "Let's do this."
Kisame ran into battle first, swinging Samehada at the bird's chest. The bird folded its wings in front of itself for protection and pushed back against the male with brute strength. The two went back and forth, assessing each other's abilities through interactions. What amazed Kisame was how advanced the monster's thinking was; it was as if it was evolving as the fight progressed.
Nagisa inched along the perimeter of the nest, making sure she didn't move too suddenly and alert the bird. She couldn't help but notice the bird was making physical changes as the fight went on, like making its beak smaller as its wings grew larger for more fighting power. Pushing it to the back of her mind, she crept closer and closer towards her sister. Once she was a few meters from her sister's body, the bird completely ignored Kisame and immediately swept its wings towards Nagisa, creating a large gust of wind that almost blew her off the side of the nest. Kisame took that opportunity to use Samehada and hit the bird over the back of the head.
"Hey, are you okay?" The Kiri nin glanced over towards the nest wall to see the female standing back up.
"I'm fine!" She answered, activating her staff. The bird had recovered from Kisame's blow and proceeded to fly up into the air. Narrowing her eyes, she swung her staff, casting a chakra line with a hook flying from one end. Once she was successfully attached to the bird's ankle, she began to reel it in. The bird made its beak larger to try and chew on the line to free itself, but it was futile as Nagisa took this chance to yank it down with the help of Kisame. Once the bird crashed into the nest cavity, the violette immediately sprinted towards her sister.
"Mizuko! Mizuko, please be okay!" Nagisa tossed aside discarded branches and leaves that had been blown everywhere. Once her sister's body was in plain view, she hugged it close to her as tears spilled over her cheeks. "I'm so sorry all of this happened."
"Nagisa?" Mizuko opened her eyes weakly, her voice scratchy from her throat being dry. "You really came."
"I did." Nagisa nodded as she held her sister in her arms. "I'm going to get you out of here, okay? I promise."
Her sister was a bit pale and cold, probably from the rain shower earlier. Once Mizuko was on her back, Nagisa hoisted her up and made her way back to the entrance point she and Kisame came through. Speaking of the male, he appeared at her side before she could turn to look for him. She started to make her descent, but noticed that he wasn't following behind her.
"Come on, Hoshigaki-san! We have to go!"
"I have a mission to complete. Go on ahead."
A deafening screech filled the air and Nagisa averted her gaze just in time to see Kisame tackled into the nest wall. The bird took on a more humanoid appearance, one that she recognized from the night of Mizuko's kidnapping. The bird no longer had a beak, donning an actual face, and now had arms, but retained its wings.
Kisame brushed himself off as he stepped out of the small crater and smirked. "Finally getting serious now, huh?" Cracking his neck, he sprinted towards the monster and the two locked arms, battling with a power struggle of brute strength. Realizing that the bird would manipulate its body to send chakra wherever it was needed, he already began to formulate a plan to kill it. The only wrench was he wanted to flow freely, but he couldn't kill Nagisa in the process.
"You're in the way. Hurry up and leave!"
"Are you sure you'll be okay?"
"Just go."
Nagisa gave him one last glance before disappearing into the trees below. He was going to be fine. Her number one priority should be getting her sister to safety, but the voice in the back of her mind kept telling her she should stay. Once she got out of the tree, she made sure her sister was okay before trekking the journey to get back to Lana.
"Was that the secret boyfriend you've been hiding from me?" Mizuko teased as she held onto her older sister's frame.
"If you have the energy to make jokes, you have the energy to walk." Nagisa retorted.
"You didn't deny it!"
"Cause I'm not entertaining your delusions!"
Mizuko tried to laugh, although it ended in a strangled coughing fit. "I've always been able to read you like a book, Nagisa, but I'll believe you for now. Where are we going?"
"Don't talk so much, alright?" Nagisa scolded. "There's some fresh water on Lana that you can drink."
It was still dark as the day had progressed into the middle of the night but the eldest Uchiumi was able to figure out the right path to get them back to her beloved boat. Hitoshi was waiting for them along with all of the women from earlier. As Nagisa made sure her sister was wrapped in one of the blankets she kept on Lana, an explosion in the distance stopped everyone in their tracks. Suddenly, a dark shadow flew out from behind the trees and circled above the beach line where they were.
"Ms. Uchiumi, we need to go now." Hitoshi boarded Lana.
"What about Hoshigaki-san?" Nagisa frowned as she glanced back towards the trees. "We can't just leave him."
"He'll catch up."
Nagisa wanted to protest, however a familiar loud screech drowned her out. Hopping into Lana, she pulled up the docker and used a jutsu to help maneuver the water around her boat like before so they could travel faster. As they traveled further away from the mainland, Nagisa couldn't help but frown at the decision they'd made. What if Kisame needed their help? Shaking her head, she focused on the women they needed to return home. He was going to be fine, so she didn't need to worry.
The shadow swooped down, aiming for Lana. Nagisa quickly left her position and herded the women into the lower compartment of the boat so they would be safe. It was a bit of a tight squeeze, but she promised them they'd all be home soon. Returning to the deck, Nagisa watched as Hitoshi used his katana to try and ward off the birdman. As it tried to swipe its wings at the male, the Uchiumi threw her staff at the aggressor, stabbing it with the spearhead.
"Thanks. Stay back and I'll direct it towards the edge of the boat." Hitoshi told her as the bird shrieked in pain.
Nagisa ran over and picked up her discarded staff once the bird shook it off. "No, I'm going to help."
As she and Hitoshi worked to fend off the bird, the two were successful until Hitoshi was knocked overboard and Lana's sail and cockpit were destroyed. Nagisa looked over the railing to see if she could catch sight of where Hitoshi was to help him, however she ended up cornered by the bird. Blood was dripping from its earlier wounds so she figured if she could get one good hit in, they'd be okay.
"No more…"
Nagisa's eyes widened as the bird spoke to her. How much has this monster evolved? Its words were very raspy and barely audible, however it was enough to startle her and make her drop her staff.
"What do you mean?" She asked, confused by its words. "Why are you doing this?"
"No more!"
The bird regrew its arms and lunged for Nagisa. Hitoshi, who had resurfaced in the sea, yelled for her to duck as he activated his genjutsu. Everything next seemed to happen in slow motion. Nagisa dropped down and covered her head with her arms as the bird froze, stunned by the jutsu. A large wave flew over the side of Lana and a grand shark appeared, taking the bird into its mouth and disappearing into the water on the other side of the boat.
Suddenly, everything was silent. A doused Nagisa helped an equally soaked Hitoshi out of the water and the missing women slowly climbed out of the lower compartment and onto the deck. It was still dark, but in the distance, the sky was starting to light up, meaning dawn was on its way.
"Did you create that shark?" Nagisa asked breathlessly.
Hitoshi shook his head as he wrung out the ends of his shirt. "No, I didn't."
"That means… Hoshigaki-san?" Nagisa turned to the male in shock, who simply nodded.
"I told you he'd catch up. Let's get back to the island."
With the sail and cockpit damaged beyond repair, Nagisa and Hitoshi had to focus their remaining chakra into the surrounding water to help steer Lana in the right direction. The remaining passengers helped shovel water out of the deck using buckets from the storage. Although she was devastated about Lana's state, Nagisa was glad her seafarer withstood yet another battle with her.
"Nagisa, you're going to get sick in those clothes." Mizuko made her way over to her sister. Pulling off her blanket, she quickly tried to wrap her in it, however Nagisa pushed the blanket away.
"Don't worry about me, Mizuko. We're almost home so just leave it on."
"But-"
"No buts. Leave it on."
Trying to focus on steering the boat, Nagisa's mind wandered. She kept looking into the water, hoping to see Kisame pop up but she'd been waiting for a while. Maybe she should've gone against what he said and stayed in the nest, but she had her sister with her so that wouldn't have been great for anyone. She'd regained some hope when she saw the shark appear, but after that, there was nothing but silence. It was very unsettling.
"Nagisa, look!"
The female turned to see the sky illuminated in yellows and pinks as the sun began to rise in the distance. Mizuko marveled in the sight as she had never seen anything like it before.
"This is what you were talking about that night, right?" Her sister couldn't stop staring. "It's absolutely beautiful! I wish I could see it this way all the time!"
Exhausted by all the action throughout the night, Nagisa leaned her back against the rails of Lana. Everyone was so preoccupied with what they were doing, she figured she could close her eyes for a moment since everyone seemed safe. As she sat down, someone sat down next to her and a scroll appeared in front of her face.
"What's this?" Nagisa asked sleepily as she took the scroll into her hands. Glancing over to see who it was, her eyes widened once she recognized Kisame and she wanted to move, but her body wouldn't.
"Don't make any sudden movements. You're pretty spent." Kisame smirked at her, amused by her appearance. Even if she didn't have any energy, it only took one thing for her to dig down and find some more. "That scroll might be the answer to your problem."
"Forget about the scroll right now. What about you?" Nagisa frowned. "You've been appearing and disappearing this whole time! I thought that bird did you in."
"You gave me a whole lecture in the forest, yet you had no faith in me?" He joked. "How unfortunate."
Nagisa rolled her eyes. "You had me worried, but I'm too tired to go back and forth with you right now." Looking at the scroll in her hands, she turned it around to untie it when she spotted her clan's insignia engraved in the damp cloth. Frowning, she turned her attention back to Kisame as seriousness settled in. "Where did you find this?"
"Inside the bird."