Chapter 177

Uchiha Itachi returned to the Land of Fire primarily because he heard the Third Hokage had kicked the bucket.

To ensure his foolish little brother wouldn't be persecuted, Itachi specifically prepared to show his face in Konoha and warn certain Konoha elites that he, Uchiha Itachi, was not dead yet.

Of course, Uchiha Itachi had not expected that shortly after entering the borders of the Land of Fire, they would encounter the Fifth Mizukage and Shengzai, who were preparing to return to the Hidden Mist Village.

Operating on the principle that more trouble is worse than less, Uchiha Itachi originally did not want to make contact with the Mizukage and Shengzai; after all, both sides had neither grudges nor conflicts of interest, and even if they fought here, it would benefit neither side.

But just because he, Uchiha Itachi, had no grudge with the Hidden Mist Village did not mean his close friend Hoshigaki Kisame felt the same way.

Hoshigaki Kisame also recognized the Fifth Mizukage, Terumi Mei, and Shengzai; after all, as fellow Hidden Mist ninjas, and with Shengzai and Terumi Mei both being Hidden Mist jonin, it was impossible for Kisame to have no impression of them.

It was just that Kisame had not expected Terumi Mei to become the Fifth Mizukage of the Hidden Mist Village, and listening to their conversation just now, it seemed these two had even set their sights on his Great Sword, Samehada?

"Sorry, Itachi, you go ahead to Konoha to collect intelligence alone; I may need to handle a little private matter here."

Uchiha Itachi did not want to create complications, but he could see that the other party, as the Mizukage of the Hidden Mist Village, did not seem prepared to let go of Kisame, the rogue ninja.

"Be careful, the Fifth Mizukage and that Hidden Mist jonin are not simple. According to the intelligence we have gathered, a major reason for Orochimaru's failed attack on Konoha this time was the Hidden Mist Village's interference."

Uchiha Itachi and his group did not know the specific details of Orochimaru's attack on Konoha, but they had heard some rumors.

"Is that so? Then I really want to see just how 'not simple' the new Mizukage is."

Hearing Uchiha Itachi's words, a cruel grin appeared on Kisame's shark-like face, and at the same time, he reached out and gripped the Samehada wrapped in bandages on his back.

"You few head back to the Hidden Mist according to the original route first; we will catch up with you as soon as possible."

"Although there are only two opponents, you staying here won't help at all, and you will be in danger."

Looking at the unwilling expressions of Chojuro and the other genin, Shengzai gave a shout that directly cut off their thoughts of staying to help.

And the Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame opposite them clearly had no interest in small fry like Chojuro and the others; witnessing the few leave, they had no intention of making a move.

"Pick a more open place; after all, this place is also suitable for a fight."

Looking at the customers fleeing in all directions and the stall owner with a panicked expression, Shengzai also sighed and said.

"You think you can decide everything? You think you..."

Before Kisame's words were finished, he suddenly felt an afterimage dash in front of him in an instant, and out of excellent combat instinct, Kisame also used the bandaged Samehada in his hand to block in front of him in an instant.

"Clang——————!"

And at the very moment Kisame blocked with Samehada, a size 42 foot was printed directly onto the blade of Samehada, and it emitted a crisp sonic boom.

The terrifying force passed through the blade of Samehada and acted directly on the arm Kisame used to hold the sword, making his already blue face turn even more livid!

The Great Sword, Samehada, is the largest of the seven ninja swords, and the fact that Kisame could wield it like an extension of his arm shows how great his strength is.

But just now, when blocking that kick from Shengzai, the immense force almost made the Samehada in his hand fly out of his grip.

Even though he gripped the ninja sword that had almost flown out of his hand, the impact force Shengzai exerted on the sword sent Kisame, who was holding Samehada, flying back a hundred meters!

"You don't want to ask who I am? Then let me tell you, I am Kaguya Shengzai. I don't like fighting here now, so you can only obediently follow me to another place!"

Kisame, who finally steadied his figure, heard Shengzai's words and showed an ugly expression on his face.

However, when he saw Shengzai's foot still resting on his Samehada, a slight smirk appeared on the corner of his mouth again.

"Rip———!"

Accompanied by the sound of cloth tearing, the bandages originally wrapped around Samehada were instantly torn open, and the Samehada in Kisame's hand now grew into deep blue spikes.

The attack method of the Great Sword, Samehada, was originally meant to shave people, and as long as these spikes on the blade hit the enemy, they could directly devour the opponent's chakra to strengthen itself.

Simply put, a ninja fighting in close quarters with a user of the Great Sword, Samehada, is almost courting death, because with just one or two slashes, an ordinary jonin's chakra would be squeezed dry.

However, just as Kisame activated Samehada's ability, preparing to devour Shengzai's chakra, his expression changed again, because he discovered that his Samehada couldn't absorb even a bit of the opponent's chakra!

"As fellow ninjas of the Hidden Mist Village, do you think I wouldn't know the ability of the Great Sword, Samehada?

Open your eyes wide and take a good look at what is under my feet."

Hearing Shengzai's words, Kisame looked closely and was stunned to find that small bone spurs had grown under Shengzai's feet.

These bone spurs grew out under Shengzai's feet like spiked shoes, which meant that Shengzai was not touching Samehada directly with his feet.

"The Shikotsumyaku of the Kaguya clan..."

As a Hidden Mist rogue ninja, Kisame was no stranger to Shikotsumyaku.

"You guessed right, this is an additional reward for you!"

Looking at Kisame's stunned expression, Shengzai did not choose to stop there, but used the foot that kicked Samehada as a pivot and kicked Kisame's shark face again with a two-stage kick.

And because this strike did not use Samehada to block again, Kisame flew even further this time!

"What astonishing speed and taijutsu, Kisame was actually suppressed from the very beginning!"

Because everything from Shengzai launching the attack to Kisame being kicked away happened in the blink of an eye, Uchiha Itachi and Terumi Mei were still standing in place.

Glancing at the Sharingan that Uchiha Itachi had already activated, Terumi Mei finally realized that the other party was "Itachi of the Sharingan," the Konoha rogue ninja who once caused the death of the Fourth Mizukage together with Biwa Juzo.

"Hidden Mist rogue ninja Hoshigaki Kisame, and Uchiha Itachi who once attacked the Fourth Mizukage, I really didn't expect to encounter both of you at the same time."

Terumi Mei formed hand seals to draw out a water whip and swung it directly toward Uchiha Itachi.

However, it was a pity that the water whip, flexible like a swimming snake, looked as slow as a frame-skipping animation in Uchiha Itachi's Sharingan, so it was easily dodged by Itachi.

"Fifth Mizukage, how about we go to another place to fight?"

Glancing at the ordinary people around, Itachi, who jumped to dodge the water whip, didn't wait for Terumi Mei to agree and set off toward the direction where Shengzai and the others were.

(End of chapter)