Out of all of the possibilities Mangetsu considered when he took on the mission to investigate a lead on Raiga Kurosuki, one that'd turned out to be false and would have been a waste of time if not for meeting Team Seven, he somehow hadn't considered running into the only other two surviving members of the Seven Swordsmen.

If things went perfectly, Mangetsu could return to Kirigakure with two more of the legendary blades back in the village's possession. Not just any of them, either: Samehada, the most terrifying and powerful of all the seven, and Kubikiribōchō. There was no one currently in Kirigakure who could wield Samehada other than himself, so if he retrieved it, he could finally pass Hiramekarei on to Chōjūrō.

Of course, for that to happen, he had to deal with Kisame and Zabuza first. When it'd just been Zabuza and Haku, his plan had been too show off for Naruto while he convinced them to return to the village. Zabuza's motivations for the rebellion hadn't been the best, at least according to Lady Mei, but it'd be hypocritical to kill him when they'd been months away from their own coup when they learned about the genjutsu the Yondaime was under. As long as he was willing to declare loyalty to Lady Mei, he and Haku were welcome back in the village, but she hadn't extended that offer to Kisame.

Especially not now, when Kisame obviously had some sort of connection to Kakuzu. Mangetsu hadn't failed to notice that the red clouds on his black cloak were identical to the ones on Kakuzu's.

While his Hydro Clone annoyed and handled Zabuza, Mangetsu stood in front of Kisame again, one half of Hiramekarei in his hands. Compared to Samehada, its chakra storing abilities were far weaker, but at least that gave him a slight advantage if he didn't use its constructs. As long as the chakra was actually stored in the blade, it would be harder for Samehada to steal, at the cost of limiting its use.

Kisame dashed forward, possibly even faster than he'd been the last time Mangetsu met him, but Mangetsu blocked his powerful overhead swing. Samehada tried to consume the chakra from Hiramekarei while their blades were locked, but Mangetsu flashed through three one-handed seals with his left hand, and the muscles in his arm swelled as he strengthened it with water. With the sudden boost of strength it gave him, he threw Kisame back just enough to unlock their blades.

Letting the jutsu drop, Mangetsu's arm returned to its natural size, and he used his unnatural agility to swipe Hiramekarei at Kisamse's stomach. It hit, but only barely, slicing him thinly across his stomach. In seconds, the wound closed, and Samehada tore through Mangetsu's other arm another second later.

Swearing, Mangetsu jumped back, abandoning his arm as Samehada consumed it and forming a new one from water.

"Your chakra really does taste better!" Kisame dashed forward and swung down again, hard enough that the water beneath Mangetsu's feet splashed over their heads when he blocked. "Samehada loves it! Hopefully you can keep up the meal."

Even with his Hydro Clone currently handling Zabuza, Mangetsu wasn't worried about running low on chakra. Maybe he didn't have quite as much as Kisame, but he'd had enough to wield Samehada three years ago, and he didn't need to keep much in his Hydro Clone to handle Zabuza. A single arm? That was nothing.

Letting go of Hiramekarei, Mangetsu liquified and splashed into the water below, spreading his chakra out in a five meter circle around Kisame's feet. When he used the jutsu to get Zabuza and Haku off the bridge, he only exploded his chakra upwards to avoid damaging anything, but it would be far more potent in the water.

Kisame couldn't get away in time.

With a violent burst of chakra, a powerful blend of Suiton and Yang that few even knew existed, he exploded the circle of water around Kisame. The sensation of his liquified body bursting into countless droplets of water was something he could never explain to anyone but his brother, awareness spread throughout every drop his chakra connected to. While Kisame shot dozens of meters into the air, Mangetsu reformed a fraction of the water above Kisame back into his body, flashing through the Tiger and Jin seals. "Haiton: Hydro Dragon Whirlpool!"

Flying through the air, being circled by a pair of dragons filled with Mangetsu's chakra, Kisame only grinned, Samehada excitedly bouncing around in his grip. The damage the explosion had done to his legs would've maimed anyone else, but he quickly began to heal, his own natural healing abilities only boosted by the weapon in his hands.

"Ha! This is fun!" Kisame shouted, cleaving Samehada through one of the hydro dragons. "Always had a feeling you'd be an interesting fight!" Still holding Samehada with both hands, he formed a quick series of hand seals around the hilt and sucked in like he was taking a deep breath. "Suiton: Five Feeding Sharks!"

From his mouth, he unleashed a massive stream of water that immediately formed into five massive sharks and shot after Mangetsu.

With a grin, Mangetsu just liquified as the first hit, running another burst of his unique chakra through it. Yang disrupted Kisame's Suiton throughout the first shark, causing an explosion that splashed his chakra into the other four, chaining the reaction throughout each of them. While Kisame finished off the second dragon and fell back to the water below, Mangetsu reformed out of the water that'd fallen further than he had, diving into the water to retrieve Hiramekarei before Kisame could land.

As he went under, he held up a one-handed Tiger seal, and the next thing he knew he was ducking under Kubikiribōchō.

"So how exactly did you run into Kisame?" Mangetsu asked, batting away Zabuza's following strike and letting the opening it offered slide by. "Any chance you also know how to find Raiga?"

"He showed up on his own." Zabuza jumped back, forming a quick series of hand seals around his sword. "Last I heard, Raiga was somewhere north, but I never cared to look. Suiton: Water Bullet!"

Mangetsu leapt to the side to avoid the blast of water, looking over just as his Hydro Clone burst from the water beneath Kisame, half of Hiramekarei in hand. Using the momentum from his leap, he launched his half of Hiramekarei over to his clone, raising the one-handed Tiger seal again.

As his consciousness swapped with his clone a second time, Mangetsu reached up to grab hold of the thrown sword, crossing both into an X to block when Kisame slammed Samehada down on him.

"Oho?" Kisame pulled Samehada back and slammed it down a second time, hard enough Mangetsu had to will his arms not to liquify from the force. "Decide I'm worth both swords?"

With both hands, Mangetsu formed three hand seals over Hiramekarei's hilts, pumping both arms full of water. His arms enlarged, muscles bulging, and he yanked his blades apart, violently shoving Kisame back. At the end of the movement, he spun his body, daring to infuse chakra into the blades and swiping his blades across Kisame's stomach a second time. The wound was deeper, but Mangetsu knew it wouldn't last, quickly connecting Hiramekarei back together and forming its chakra into a massive hammer.

Even while his stomach stitched itself back together, Kisame raised Samehada to block the hammer, taking an immediate bite of its chakra that only stitched his body back together faster.

Disabling the construct, Mangetsu split Hiramekarei, raising a one-handed Tiger seal. "Haiton: Hydro Serpent!"

Beneath his feet, a dragon-like snake the size of a person rose from the water, carrying him into the air. Kisame swiped at it with Samehada, chewing through its chakra, and Mangetsu leapt off, flipping to land behind him and slashing both of Hiramekarei's blades across his back.

Blood splashed, but yet again, the wounds began to heal almost immediately. Samehada spun around and nearly cleaved Mangetsu in two, but Mangetsu kicked off Kisame to jump back, limiting the loss to just his feet. They reformed before he even landed on the water, the chakra loss negligible, and he swiped his swords down in another X to prevent Kisame from following.

This time, bone-like crystals fired from both blades, lodging themselves into Kisame's chest.

Unphased, Kisame formed a series of hand seals. "Suiton: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!" He sucked in even more intensely than last time, and the sheer amount of water he unleashed was enough to surprise even Mangetsu.

If they weren't already standing on the water, it would've been enough to form a lake to fight atop.

The wave of water, dozens of meters tall, went crashing in all directions. One of those directions was towards the bridge, but Mangetsu wasn't in any position to try and defend it, not when Kisame rode the one headed his way with an excited grin on his face. He could allow it to hit him again, liquify and spread his chakra through the wave to cause another explosion, but instead he bit his thumb.

Pointed teeth punctured his skin and he willed his flesh to remain flesh. Drawing blood, he flashed through hand seals with his other hand and slammed a hand against the surface of the water.

As much as Naruto believed Mangetsu whenever he told them how weakened he'd been for the entire fight against Kakuzu, he still couldn't believe how powerful Mangetsu actually was. There was no comparing the Mangetsu who'd fought Kakuzu with Team Seven to the two currently fighting Kisame and Zabuza.

For one, Naruto still couldn't sense which one was the real Mangetsu. At some point, the one fighting Zabuza had thrown his sword to the other one, but it was almost like they shared one chakra pool. His only clue to the real one was how much more intense the fight between Mangetsu and Kisame was. He was pretty sure that made that one the real Mangetsu.

His efforts in verifying that came to a halt when Kisame let loose a wave of water so massive Naruto almost thought it was a genjutsu.

Mangetsu and Kisame had moved much further out onto the water than the other Mangetsu and Zabuza, but Naruto could tell the wave would come crashing into the bridge in under thirty seconds. It rose dozens of meters into the air, dwarfing the height of the bridge, and all the scrolls Sasuke made him read on architecture told Naruto that the unfinished bridge couldn't handle the wave. When it hit, the builders' work would be set back weeks, if not months.

"No…" Tazuna's voice came out weak, eyes widened in horror at the oncoming wave. "All our progress…"

"I apologize, Tazuna, but we need to get going," Guy said urgently, grabbing Tazuna's arm and pulling him along as Guy and the rest of his team started running from the bridge. When he saw Naruto wasn't running, he pushed Tazuna to continue running and turned around, calling out, "Naruto! Kakashi-"

"I can save the bridge!" Naruto shouted back without looking, hands already clasped in the Snake seal as he braced for the imminent crash. "Believe it!"

Whether it was just who Guy was, because of Naruto's spar against Lee, or because of his trust in his rival's teachings, Guy just shouted, "Yosh! The power of youth burns bright in you!" and continued after his team.

Just in time, too, as the shadow of the wave fell over Naruto.

It wasn't like Naruto had a specific jutsu that dealt with bridges, so he relied on his natural affinity for Mokuton. Through the Snake seal, his chakra surged into the wood that made up the frame of the bridge, empowering it with vitality. In the areas where it was visible, he was sure leaves and little green plants were sprouting from the wood, and roots grew to strengthen the concrete in the areas it was covered.

He barely remembered to raise a wall in front of himself before the wave could crash into him, only for it to shatter under the force because it was too hastily made.

It helped a little, at least. Shards of broken wood slashed into him, and being hit by the water felt like being punched by Kakuzu all over again, but it bought him a second to brace himself with chakra and somewhat limit the damage. It didn't save him from being sent flying over the edge of the bridge.

Slamming into the water hurt, but he held his breath, hands in the Tiger seal in an effort to force himself down into the water rather than be taken with the current.

Thankfully, it worked. By the time the current slowed and the water started to return to its original level, it felt like Sasuke hit his lungs with a fireball directly, but his head breached the surface and he gasped for air. While his lungs filled, he pushed himself up onto the water, arms shaky and covered in scrapes. Blood stained his jacket where it was torn, but the scrapes beneath were already healing, leaving pink lines across his skin. Now that he'd noticed it once, he could feel his chakra working to patch him up, as little as it was for the shallow wounds.

"Naruto! Are you alright?!" Lee landed with a splash next to Naruto. "You look very injured!"

Still catching his breath, Naruto linked his hands behind his neck and just nodded. "All good!" After a few seconds, his breath felt less desperate, and he looked down at himself. "Aww… My jacket!" The tears he'd noticed on his sleeves covered the rest of his jacket, stains of blood with lines of pink skin beneath, cleaned scrapes in varying stages of healing. "And my shirt…"

"But… you are fine?" Lee asked, blinking at him. "You are covered in scrapes."

Naruto waved him off with a grin. "Scratches are nothing!"

Taking a few more deep breaths, he checked on the bridge, and he was gratified to see it mostly undamaged. "Success!" he cheered. "The bridge stands!"

Lee followed his gaze to the bridge and nodded. "Very impressive! How did you do it?"

From what Naruto could see, any greens that'd sprung up along the bridge when he filled it with his chakra were washed away, so there wasn't evidence of something impossible… he didn't think there was, at least. "Just reinforced it!" he said, without explaining how, and jumped back up to the bridge.

At the top, he noticed Neji watching him, but he didn't pay any mind as he ran back over to the other edge to continue watching the fights.

If Zabuza and the closer Mangetsu were bothered by the massive wave of water, they didn't show it, still fighting on the surface of the water as though nothing changed. Mangetsu didn't have a sword, but he danced around Zabuza's blade almost like he was toying with him. Were they talking?

Further away, the other Mangetsu's fight with Kisame had only grown more intense. Naruto had to squint a little to make it out, but it looked like there was a massive… clam on the water, surrounded by sharks circling it. Mangetsu stood on top of the clam, both halves of Hiramekarei in his hands, as it let out some sort of mist. The sharks jumped from the water and shot straight for Mangetsu, but they passed right through him, not even a splash of water to signify they made contact.

The image grew increasingly fuzzy. Naruto squinted harder, but it looked like there were two clams now, and two Mangetsus fighting Kisame. Had he cloned himself again?

Naruto's attention was drawn back to the other Mangetsu when one appeared right in front of him, holding out a hand. "Hey, mind if I borrow your sword?" He pointed a thumb back at Zabuza, who was still locked in combat with yet another Mangetsu clone. "I promise to show you some cool tricks."

Blinking in wonder, Naruto just nodded, raising his hand and channeling chakra into his wrist wrap.

The sword poofed out and Mangetsu caught it, immediately back flipping off the bridge and twisting midair to land on the water in a run, heading straight for his other self and Zabuza. When he got near, the other Mangetsu kicked Zabuza in the chest hard enough to send him flying back across the water, and caught Naruto's sword as his clone threw it. Then, the clone just dove into Mangetsu's back, disappearing with a splash of water.

Holding his sword in both hands, Naruto could make out Mangetsu's grin even from the top of the bridge. He dashed forward in a blink, a shroud of water forming around Naruto's sword. Before he was even near Zabuza, he swiped, sending a blade of water flying through the air.

Zabuza swiped through the blade of water, cutting it in half before it could reach him, but then Mangetsu was on him. Every time Mangetsu sliced with the sword, a blade of water followed, creating an endless barrage of blades for Zabuza to cut through and dance around.

"I didn't know it could do that," Naruto muttered.

Zabuza held on, but he was covered in bleeding scratches, ones that didn't automatically heal like Naruto's, Mangetsu's, or Kisame's. He managed to kick Mangetsu in the chest, gaining a brief reprieve when his body splashed, but then Mangetsu slipped Naruto's katana into the hole of Zabuza's sword, yanking it from his grasp and sending the massive sword flying into the water.

Now disarmed, Zabuza tried to create distance from Mangetsu, ducking under a blade of water that went for his neck. Mangetsu didn't let up, sending blade after blade at Zabuza, until eventually there were more than he could possibly avoid without a sword.

Then, they turned to ice, halting in the air and crashing into the water below with a splash.

Haku appeared next to Zabuza, holding his sword and handing it to him. Mangetsu looked entirely unphased by his appearance, standing still as Zabuza grabbed his massive sword back, like he was just allowing it to happen. If he was worried about Haku joining the fight, he didn't show it.

The other fight had only grown more hazy in the distance. Whatever was going on with the giant clam Mangetsu was standing on, Naruto couldn't tell if there was just one or if there were a dozen, and even extending his senses out towards the match didn't help anything. Occasionally, he felt the watery sensation of jutsu being used, but it was obscured in a way that made Naruto think of genjutsu. Could that be what the clam was? Mangetsu never struck him as the genjutsu type, but he really couldn't tell what was going on in the fight.

A thought struck him and he turned to Neji. "Hey, you can see, like, super good with your kekkei genkai, right?"

For a few seconds, Neji just stared at him, veins around his eyes bulged and vaguely defined pupils in his usually featureless eyes. It reminded Naruto of Hinata, and he was beginning to wonder if staring just ran in their clan when Neji just said, "Yes. I can see very well with my Byakugan."

"Can you see what's going on with the other Mangetsu and Kisame?" The more Naruto tried to focus on that fight, the more confused he felt by it. "I can't tell what's going on at all," he admitted, scratching the back of his head. "I think it's genjutsu?"

Neji's eyes shifted to the unusual fight and he shook his head. "No, I can't." The veins around his eyes disappeared, his defined pupil fading. "It's a genjutsu that fools the senses directly, not with chakra."

"Huh?" Naruto cocked his head to the side. "Genjutsu without chakra?"

Neji looked at him like he was an idiot. "Most genjutsu work by pouring chakra into someone's mind and using it to fool their senses." He gestured at the hazy clams in the distance. "That one works by bending light to create illusions and fool the senses directly, seemingly with some sort of mist."

"Ohh," Naruto said, nodding along. He wasn't really sure how much he got it, but he could always just ask Sasuke or Sakura later. "Okay."

Somehow, he got the impression Neji saw through him, but Neji didn't call him out and Naruto returned his focus to the fight he could see.

"Genjutsu is always such a damn pain." Kisame swung through yet another illusive clam, Samehada chewing through the chakra that made up the mist, only for more mist to fill right back in where it'd been. "And somehow, this is only the second most annoying experience I've had with it."

That made Mangetsu raise an eyebrow. "Only second place?" He projected the question through one of the illusive mist clones, but Kisame didn't even glance at it, obviously searching for any clue of the real him. "I'd love to know who beat me for most annoying genjutsu."

Kisame laughed. "You don't want to meet him." He landed on the water, calmly looking around at the ever-varying number of illusive clams, some with Mangetsu standing on top and some without. "He'd see right through this illusion of yours, I'm sure."

"Any chance he's another member of a mysterious group dressed in cloaks like yours?" Mangetsu projected his question from an empty spot of air in front of Kisame, who immediately swung Samehada through it. "Pfft, I'm embarrassed you'd think my voice would come from anywhere near me." This time, he didn't bother to project it from anywhere, jumping out of the way of a shark that leapt out of the water at him. "Seriously, you'd have better luck just attacking everywhere indiscriminately."

"He may be," Kisame confirmed without care. "You've met another member of the Akatsuki?"

"So that's what you're called." Mangetsu stepped out of the illusive mist and allowed Kisame to see him, Hiramekarei's points dragging on the surface of the water and trailing ripples. "A creep with a bunch of tentacles kept trying to steal my heart. Know him?"

Kisame raised an eyebrow. "You met Kakuzu?" He dashed forward, stabbing at Mangetsu with Samehada, but Mangetsu crossed his swords and blocked. "He still alive, or am I gonna have to deal with some annoying newbie at the next meeting?"

Mangetsu locked Samehada between his twin blades, formed a hand seal, and grew the muscles in his right leg before he spun to kick Kisame in the side. Kisame lowered one hand from Samehada to block, but he was unprepared for just how much power the jutsu added to Mangetsu's kick, and his arm snapped. He barely even grunted in response.

As he let his leg return to normal, Mangetsu used it to kick off of Kisame, Samehada still locked between Hiramekarei's blades. With a grunt, he tore it from the grip of Kisame's remaining uninjured arm, launching Samehada onto the water while he flipped into a landing.

Grinning, Mangetsu reconnected both sides of Hiramekarei and reached out to grab Samehada when his feet touched the water. The sword reacted to his presence, inching towards him, but one of Kisame's sharks made it to the sword first, retrieving the sentient blade and returning it to their master.

"So close," Mangetsu muttered, disappearing back into the mist of his clam. "Kakuzu's down a few hearts, but unfortunately he made it out!" He leapt back over to stand on his clam, the original large violet-and-white summon undetectable to anyone but him, even if Kisame destroyed every illusory one that formed. "Who's the Akatsuki's genjutsu genius?"

"You've probably heard of him." Kisame already had Samehada back in hand, his arm fully healed, essentially returning them to the exact position they'd been in since bringing in their summons. "He's from the same village as those other ninja you're working with. About your age, too."

"Itachi Uchiha? Really?" Mangetsu hadn't heard anything about him since Itachi slaughtered the entire Uchiha Clan, save for apparently Sasuke, but somehow Mangetsu wasn't surprised. He didn't even need confirmation: there wasn't anyone else who fit that description. "What's your group's goal for him to join? That guy's not much of a team player."

"Can't tell you that, but it doesn't really matter anyways because it's not why I'm here." Kisame didn't move to attack any more of the illusions, his sharks swarming in the water below in an unsuccessful search for Mangetsu and his clam. "You know Itachi?"

"We took the Chunin Exams together." Tactfully, that wasn't something Mangetsu had mentioned to Sasuke, though talent clearly ran in the family. "He was quiet, the only other ten year old there, and taking it alone, so I said hi." He raised the one-handed Tiger seal and formed a weak clone behind Kisame, just for Samehada to immediately eat it. "Back before he snapped and killed his entire clan, of course. Samehada enjoying the meal?"

"I'll make sure to ask Itachi if he remembers you." In Kisame's hand, Samehada jerked around wildly as it craved more and more of Mangetsu's chakra, but it didn't attack any more of the illusions. "Samehada's loving that Yang-Suiton thing you've got going on, but it's not a fan of all the Yin in this mist."

"Mm, yeah, thought that might be the case." Mangetsu could use genjutsu on his own, if he really tried, but Yang chakra ran strong in the Hozuki Clan even among those without Haiton. To balance it out, they'd contracted with the giant clams known for mist-based genjutsu, so it wasn't even really his chakra in the mist. "Samehada's welcome to all the delicious Yang chakra it wants if you just hand it over."

Kisame snorted derisively, but Mangetsu was pretty sure Samehada started jerking around more fervently. "Nice try. Don't think I'll give up my sword just because it likes your chakra a little."

"Aw, man, I was really hoping." Mangetsu formed four clones in the mist surrounding Kisame on all sides, each with just enough chakra for one jutsu. Connecting to them on a surface level, he raised a hand in the Rabbit seal and his clones copied, followed by Boar and Ram. "Raiton Burial: Banquet of Lightning!"

He wasn't a fan of lightning, but that'd been all the more reason to master it. From each clone, three bolts of lightning unleashed, ripping through the mist and across the water to reach Kisame in a flash of light.

Kisame raised Samehada in time for it to eat the lightning bolts coming from his left and front, and managed to jump out of the way of the ones coming from his right, but the three from behind crashed into him with a BOOM. It fried his back and sent him shooting forward across the water, Samehada nearly knocked from his grasp.

Without missing a beat, Mangetsu threw Hiramekarei at the clone that landed the hit and switched, catching the sword and breaking into a run after Kisame. Before Kisame could make it back up to his feet, he jumped into the air and shaped the chakra in his sword into a massive hammer and slammed it down against Kisame's back.

For the first time, it landed directly, and Kisame slammed into the water with an enormous splash.

Samehada went flying from his grasp and Mangetsu went for it without a second thought. He knew Kisame wasn't anywhere near done after that move, but he knew his priority: as good as it would be to kill an S-rank missing-nin, Samehada was more important to Kirigakure. Plus, he just really liked the sword. It was the last one he'd been allowed to master and definitely had the most personality of all seven.

For most, the grip would have grown spikes when they tried to grab it, but that wasn't the case for Mangetsu. He reached out for Samehada and the sword reached back, handle curving up to meet his right hand for a second time, now without a shark to get in the way.

"Been a while, buddy," he greeted, feeling it connect to his chakra as he held it, a symbiotic drain that would be too much for anyone who didn't have enough to support it. "Aww, don't get jealous." He sealed away Hiramekarei and gripped Samehada with both hands, turning around just as Kisame broke the surface of the water, visibly pissed. "You can go now, if you want! I got what I wanted!"

"You're better than you were four years ago, but I'll give you the same warning I did when you tried carrying around all the swords." Kisame couldn't heal as fast without Samehada, but with his sheer chakra and physical strength, just three lightning bolts wouldn't be enough to take him out of the fight. "You can hand Samehada back, or I'll make sure to drain all your chakra until you can't even form a puddle when I take it back."

Mangetsu just grinned. He let his clam disappear and return to the sea, but the Yin chakra hung in the air, casting a few hazy illusions.

Taking his grin as the answer it was, Kisame just let out a low growl and dashed forward.

Kisame's hands flashed through seals and he launched a massive shark made of water at Mangetsu, but Mangetsu just tore through it with Samehada, soaking in the feeling of Suiton chakra flooding him. It felt good. What relatively little chakra he'd lost since taking hold of Samehada refilled and overflowed, and with a hand seal he redirected the overflow to his left arm, enlarging it to block Kisame's following punch.

A shark jumped out of the water and bit his bottom half, liquifying his legs. Punching Kisame away with his still-enlarged arm, Mangetsu swung Samehada down and caught the shark with it, reforming his legs and launching the shark back at its master.

Before it could hit, Kisame sent his summon away, landing back on his feet and glaring at Mangetsu.

"That's enough."

The voice was unfamiliar, but Mangetsu's head snapped to the side and he recognized its owner instantly. Even with Samehada in hand, he didn't risk making eye contact, but he took in the sight of another black cloak with red clouds. One arm rested in the split of his cloak, and the other hung at his side, a hand peeking out of the sleeve with a single ring. As soon as Mangetsu's eyes fell on it, Samehada pulsed his system with chakra and undid the genjutsu.

In his peripheral, he saw dark hair and blood red eyes. "Hey, Itachi," Mangetsu greeted, tempted to summon his clam again. There was every chance Itachi Uchiha would see through the illusion it cast, like Kisame said, but Kirigakure knew better than to underestimate a fully matured Sharingan and Mangetsu would take every precaution. "How've you been?"

"Mangetsu Hozuki." Itachi's voice was soft, but it had no problem carrying over the water, inflectionless as though Mangetsu was just anyone else. "This fight has gone on too long."

Mangetsu tightened his grip on Samehada, but he doubted it would like Itachi's Yin and Katon chakra all that much. "I don't know, I felt like we were just getting started."

"Itachi, don't get in the-" Kisame began.

"I warned you this would be a waste of time." Itachi turned to look dispassionately at Kisame. "Now you've lost your weapon. At this rate, you'll only lose more before the fight is over."

Kisame met Itachi's gaze unflinchingly with a glare. "This is my fight, leave it to me. I'll get Samehada back myself."

"I have no intention to help you." Itachi's gaze flickered to Mangetsu, but he still didn't meet it, and it quickly returned to Kisame. "If you want your sword back, take it back quickly. If you can't, as seems to be the case, just make sure you don't lose your use to the Akatsuki."

Mangetsu cheekily met Kisame's glare and raised one hand from Samehada to wave. "Well, you heard your newest ally." Again, as good as it would be to deal with one of the village's missing-nin, retrieving Samehada was his priority. It was possible for Kisame to steal Samehada back on his own if the fight continued; Mangetsu wouldn't reject the opportunity for Itachi and Kisame to just leave. "Looks like there isn't any more love lost between your new group than there was in our last one, and I'm not about to let you take my buddy here back, so you can go ahead and leave."

"I'm not leaving empty handed," Kisame growled. "Just give me a few minutes and I'll go, Itachi."

For a few moments, Itachi was silent, and Mangetsu began to wonder if he would handle Kiri's missing-nin problem for them. "Fine," he finally said, calmly turning around and walking away. "Five minutes."

Mangetsu firmed his grip on Samehada and raised an eyebrow at Kisame. "You think you can get this back in five minutes?"

Kisame didn't respond. He moved in a blur, and the final leg of the fight started.

Whatever was going on in the fight between his original self and Kisame, Mangetsu could feel the moment his original self retrieved Samehada. Hydro Clones were unique in their ability to switch and share chakra with the original, as long as they were near, but they couldn't transmit memories without being absorbed.

He assumed his original self's possession of Samehada meant the fight was winding down. With that in mind, he jumped over Zabuza's swing and landed on Kubikiribōchō, shoving it down into the water with a flip to land behind Haku. Haku spun, a one-handed seal raised, but Mangetsu beat him to the punch and said, "Haiton: Hydro Shackles."

Shackles made of solidified water formed from Mangetsu's body and locked onto Haku's limbs, restraining them together and spreading to restrict both his hands.

"So," Mangetsu began, holding Naruto's sword up to Haku's neck to dissuade Zabuza from trying to free him. "Fun as this has been, I think it's about time we wrapped it up. It's pretty clear neither of you will be able to kill that bridge builder, so how about you just abandon this mission and we all just return to the village for drinks?"

Whether he truly just saw Haku as a weapon or not, Mangetsu knew Zabuza wouldn't want to lose him, and predictably he stopped attacking. Or maybe that was just the offer. "What?"

"I said I was here to bring Kubikiribōchō back to the village, your head with it if I needed to." Mangetsu shrugged. "Never said your body couldn't be attached to your head."

"This is a trick." Zabuza raised his sword, but he still didn't attack. There were clean, bleeding scratches all over his body, from both Naruto's sword and the water blades it created. While he didn't have any serious injuries, it was clearly adding up, his movements growing slower and slower. It had to really suck having a normal body. "We attempted a coup."

With the hand that wasn't holding the sword, Mangetsu scratched the back of his head. "Sure, but that was on the Yondaime." The details behind the Yondaime's actions weren't public, but his actions weren't exactly something that could be hidden. "Considering our new Mizukage has two kekkei genkai, that's not something she can really blame you for, now is it?"

"Why now?" Haku asked. His mask had been knocked off in the fight, his body covered in just as many scratches as Zabuza. "Is this an attempt to receive our help against Kisame?"

Mangetsu scoffed. "Nah. I'm not sure how the fight is going, but I can feel Samehada. I'm not worried." He could tell his original self had sent his clam away, but the mist still hung in the air enough to obscure him from sight. "It's just about time to stop showing off." He glanced back at the bridge, where Naruto and Guy's team were still watching while they guarded the bridge builder. "Plus, it would've been awkward if I convinced you to return to Kiri without beating you up a little for Konoha's viewing pleasure."

"The Godaime would just allow us back into the village?" Zabuza asked suspiciously.

"You might have to give up Kubikiribōchō for a while as a sign of trust," Mangetsu admitted. "Prove Lady Mei can trust you, and you'll get it back. Even if you don't," he held Naruto's sword a little closer to Haku's neck, though he didn't draw blood, "it's the better alternative to staying a missing-nin, isn't it? You two never even crossed out your forehead protectors."

For a second, Zabuza looked like he was considering it.

Then, there was a splash, and a massive shark broke the surface of the water below Zabuza. His eyes went wide and he nearly jumped away in time, but he was just seconds too late, already on his last legs from the countless scratches across his body. The shark caught his left arm and bit it off with a bloody splash, tearing a painful yell from his mouth. It was a testament to his ability that he didn't drop his weapon, but that didn't save him when Kisame broke out of the water behind him and ripped it from his grasp.

"Shit," Mangetsu's original self hissed, appearing just behind him and laying a hand on his shoulder. A second later, their memories merged, and Mangetsu held Samehada and Naruto's sword in each hand.

Freed, Haku called out, "Lord Zabuza!" and dashed for his master, but he was too late.

With a skillful, almost casual, use of Kubikiribōchō, Kisame slipped Zabuza's head into the cutout at the top of the sword and sliced it off.

A/N:

Tried to post this earlier, but FFN was down and I couldn't upload the doc to ffn. Tbh, I forgot what I was originally gonna put as the notes, but I'll try my best.

Haiton: Hydro Release, composed of Water and Yang. I'm going to continue adding more lore as the story progresses, around this topic especially, but a quick explanation is that Yang applies the effects of water to the body. Externally and on its own, Yang doesn't seem to be very useful for anything but generating light (Kurama's Yang chakra also caused spontaneous growth in Mokuton, but that's unique), but the Akimichi Clan uses it to enhance and enlarge their bodies, so that's why I landed on this.

Hydro Clone: Imo, it's pretty obvious Shadow Clones are Yang clones, despite the name. I mean, Naruto can use them easily and learned them really easily, so there's no way they're Yin chakra because we all know he's hopeless with that (Yin clones are prob just the standard illusory clone). Yang being part of Hydro Release, Hydro Clones are similar in concept, but not the exact same. Mangetsu doesn't get the memories unless he absorbs them directly, so if one is just dispelled or popped the info won't transfer, but the fact that his body can be freely reform out of any water allows him to swap his consciousness between the bodies.

Mangetsu vs Kisame: Fight could've continued longer, both are stamina freaks by nature who really aren't going to go down until they're out of chakra, which they both have an obscene amount of. If the fight continued, Kisame could have successfully retrieved Samehada, or Mangetsu could have successfully put him down by eating enough chakra. Itachi and his mysterious ways just decided otherwise.

Itachi's a fun character to write.

Also, I did originally plan on Zabuza surviving this... but hey, Kisame really wanted a sword, things happen. The people Kisame works with don't have a very good track record of survival, he didn't really have any fondness for Zabuza, and if Itachi wasn't going to give him enough time to retrieve Samehada, he wasn't about to leave empty handed.

Should probably expect me to continue to be slow during spring and potentially summer. I am very prone to seasonal allergies, enough that it slows me down physically and mentally, so while I am still working on stuff, I'm at my best in winter by a long shot. Naruto may like trees but pollen is my worst enemy

I think I've actually written a solid half of this fanfic just during December and January lol