Chapter 886

"Even Jiraiya isn't weak at all, let alone Young Yuanzi is there too..." And the third person? It was Orochimaru, who should still be in Konoha! What on earth is going on?

The White Zetsu didn't dwell on the question; he simply stepped aside, clearing the path to the Kaguya clan village now burning.

"You keenly sensed some truths, which is why you came to find Black Zetsu, right?"

"Of course... I saw her in Konoha. I wonder if Young Yuanzi mentioned it—I have a very special way of recognizing people." Orochimaru smiled sweetly; no one could read anything from her expression—not even White Zetsu.

"I'm just kindly warning you. After all, I've been Jiraiya's teammate for a long time—I know better than anyone how strong he is." As he walked toward the previously agreed-upon "item of exchange," Orochimaru's steps grew much lighter, as if she had not a single worry about Jiraiya being attacked.

Orochimaru reached the well, paused her hand above its mouth, then smiled as she felt the wind rising from below. Before leaping down, she turned back and spoke solemnly to White Zetsu, who was preparing to leave: "Kisame will be slaughtered in an instant."

Time returns to the present: within the border of the Land of Fire, Jiraiya's team is being pursued.

Ding!

"Tch! You're tougher than you look—cut up like this, and you're still standing..." Though the blade was slender, the young girl wielding the tachi was vastly smaller than her opponent—yet the reality was that Kisame, nearly one meter eighty tall, was being crushed.

Too fast. Though he knew the girl possessed speed beyond human comprehension and wielded a tachi rivaling Samehada—even making Samehada wail when blocking attacks—Kisame had no viable counter. Pure taijutsu exchanges gave him no advantage.

Besides, his men were few now; if he got pinned here, those useless fools could never break through Jiraiya's defense.

"You've left an opening behind, Shark-face. Do you really have time to worry about others right now?" Young Yuanzi vanished entirely from Kisame's lock-on; the next instant, the blade pressed against his neck.

Without hesitation, Kisame activated his substitution technique. Instantly reappearing nearby, he felt immense relief—he'd had the foresight to prepare a Water Substitution scroll for emergencies.

His substitution was instantly beheaded by Young Yuanzi's blade. Even Samehada in his own hands trembled at the unimpeded slash.

"So sharp—if I hadn't had a last-resort survival trick, I'd already be dead. I saw it earlier: with your skill, you could never be a Konoha genin. Who are you?"

He had no second Water Substitution to absorb the next fatal strike. Kisame felt the threat to his life—he couldn't tell if the girl before him was merely an illusion.

It was normally a complex hand seal technique, but Kisame had mastered it thoroughly. Since losing to Minato Namikaze, he'd trained relentlessly—enough to match Minato's Flying Thunder God hand seals, giving him the initiative during jutsu exchanges.

When Kisame asked that, Young Yuanzi was about to proudly announce her name—when a water dragon lunged straight at her face. Her sharp eyes caught several sharks hidden behind the dragon.

The young Yuanzi's face darkened. She felt underestimated. She gripped the North Wind, its blade trembling from the runaway flow of the Dragon Vein's power.

Just a stupid water dragon? Watch me send it back with North Wind!

"This life is unbearable!"

Young Yuanzi hurled her small purse violently to the ground—but sadly, the empty purse didn't spit out even a single coin despite her abuse.

"Sigh... it's just a string of dango anyway. And sweets? Better to eat less." Jiraiya replied cautiously from beside her.

"Hmph! You, the culprit, dare say that?" Young Yuanzi glared at Jiraiya with utter contempt until he, unnerved, shut his mouth and she finally looked away.

"To go to some unhealthy izakaya, you spent every last coin—and even (so badly) hid it from us! How terrible!"

What exactly happened? It all goes back to the earlier battle.

"Just a stupid water dragon? Watch me send it back with North Wind!"

Aside from being balanced in every other aspect, Young Yuanzi was especially confident in deflecting thrown objects—technically, jutsu counted as thrown objects too. So Kisame's sudden ambush felt to her like a slow-motion replay.

"Too easy!" Young Yuanzi didn't cleave the onrushing water dragon as she claimed—North Wind sliced through it without resistance, its true target being Kisame, who followed right behind.