Ever since being discovered by the Akatsuki trio in the Land of Rain, Senmei Asahi had been exceptionally cautious during his operations in the Land of Water. He avoided direct conflict with the shinobi of Kirigakure, never lingering too long in one location, never leaving traces. His chakra suppression was perfect, his sensory barriers seamless.
Yet somehow — despite every precaution — he had still been found.
The first sign came as a faint tremor beneath his feet. Then, through the dense mist, hundreds of chakra signatures flickered into existence like faint stars appearing through a storm. They weren't random patrols; this was a coordinated net — a military encirclement.
'So, they've known for some time.' Asahi thought, narrowing his eyes.
The speed and scale of the response meant the Kirigakure had already received detailed intelligence about his movements. Someone had fed them information — someone who could track him almost instantly.
White Zetsu.
No one else in the shinobi world possessed such omnipresence. With thousands of clones capable of merging with the earth, each one carrying knowledge back to a single collective mind, White Zetsu's reach was nearly godlike.
He couldn't match Asahi in analysis, but in infiltration, he was unmatched.
'That thing's eyes are everywhere.' Asahi thought grimly. 'And the moment it reports, Obito moves.'
Still, if he had been discovered, there was no point in hiding. Cowering or fleeing would only erode his image, and for someone like him — whose reputation often did the fighting before his fists even moved — that was unacceptable.
Swish… swish… swish!
Figures emerged from the mist, one after another — more than two hundred Kiri shinobi. They surrounded him in a wide circle, weapons drawn, eyes sharp. Some took positions on the trees, others beneath the ground, and a few were hiding behind layers of chakra-reinforced fog.
Even without activating Sage Mode, Asahi could feel them all. The faint thrum of chakra signatures, the tension in the air, the sound of moisture shifting around their forms.
'Roughly two hundred visible… and at least thirty hidden. Ambushers. Typical Kirigakure tactics — silent, ruthless, suffocating.'
At the center of their formation stood a massive man, over two meters tall, with an animalistic ferocity in his yellow-orange hair and eyes that gleamed like molten metal. On his back rested a grotesque, scale-covered sword that seemed to breathe.
"So, it's Suikazan Fuguki — wielder of Samehada." Asahi said first, calm and almost amused. "One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. I've long heard of you."
Behind Fuguki stood another familiar figure — young, broad-shouldered, with gills on his face and cold, shark-like eyes.
Hoshigaki Kisame.
"You're quite informed, brat." Fuguki sneered. "Hehehe! Samehada's already trembling. It can taste your chakra from here — and it's hungry!"
The eerie, living blade in his hand began to wriggle slightly, scales rising as though it were sniffing prey.
"I'm afraid you'll be disappointed." Asahi replied flatly. "I didn't come here to fight."
The truth was simple — engaging Kirigakure shinobi on their own soil would be politically dangerous. If the Kiri's leadership twisted the story, Konoha could be accused of espionage or aggression. Even if the Hokage dismissed it as a misunderstanding, the damage to Konoha's diplomatic standing could be immense.
However, since the enemy had already shown themselves in full force, Asahi decided there was no harm in leaving them with a warning.
"Senmei Asahi!"
The sharp, commanding voice of a woman cut through the air. The Kiri shinobi instinctively parted as Terumi Mei stepped forward, her vivid eyes glaring at him through the fog. Her tone carried both fury and authority.
"Senmei Asahi! You've infiltrated the Land of Water again and again. What exactly are you plotting this time?"
Asahi turned toward her, lips curving into a small, teasing smile. "It's you again? We really do seem fated to meet, Terumi Mei. The first two times were during the war — now, I'm simply verifying some information. Nothing more."
"Hmph! Do you think you can just walk away?" Mei snapped, her chakra flaring with irritation.
"Can you stop space-time ninjutsu?" Asahi asked lightly.
The question froze the air between them.
Even Mei, proud as she was, knew the answer.
The truth was, Obito hadn't deployed this army to kill Asahi. If he truly wanted him dead, he'd have come himself. No — this was to chase him away. To divert him before he stumbled upon something the masked man wanted hidden.
But Mei didn't know that.
"What are you scheming in the Land of Water?" she demanded, voice sharp.
"Scheme?" Asahi tilted his head, the corners of his mouth curving upward. "According to my intelligence, the Fourth Mizukage intends to move against the kekkei genkai clans. I'm just here to confirm whether it's true."
"You…" Mei's words faltered, her eyes widening slightly.
The entire line of Kiri shinobi stiffened.
Over the past few months, rumors had circulated in secret — whispers that Yagura was set on purging the kekkei genkai clans, blaming them for Kirigakure's defeats. Until now, no one dared confirm it aloud.
But Asahi's words carried the weight of certainty.
"How could you know something like that?" one of the Kiri jōnin demanded, face pale. "Kirigakure's been sealed off from the outside world!"
"What a filthy tactic!" Mei's fury erupted. "You think you can turn us against each other? The Kiri will not be divided by an outsider!"
Asahi chuckled softly. "Is that so? Then tell me, Mei — why are your own shinobi afraid to deny it?"
Silence.
He could see it in their eyes — uncertainty, suspicion, fear.
The seed had already been planted long before his arrival. All he'd done was speak aloud what everyone already knew in their hearts. The Fourth Mizukage's campaign against the kekkei genkai clans wasn't a rumor; it was already underway.
And now, with those words echoing across the fog, no one in Kirigakure could unhear them.
Even if Yagura and the elders denied it later, the damage was done. The more they tried to refute it, the guiltier they would seem.
That was precisely what Asahi wanted.
He wasn't here to destroy Kirigakure — merely to quicken its decay. The sooner internal war consumed the village, the easier it would be for him to take Kimimaro before Orochimaru ever reached him.
"Oh? Getting bold, are we?" Fuguki muttered, voice low and sinister. His hand tightened around Samehada's hilt. "Then let's see if you can still smile when this blade tastes your chakra!"
Without warning, the massive swordsman charged.
Despite his size, he was astonishingly fast — a blur of muscle and steel hurtling across the mud like a wild beast.
Yin Seal ∙ Release!
Asahi's seal burst open, chakra flooding through his network. The markings spread across his body like molten light.
Sage Mode!
His pupils sharpened. His senses expanded outward like ripples in water. Every particle of mist, every droplet of rain, every heartbeat within a hundred meters came into perfect clarity.
When Fuguki's sword came crashing down, Asahi was already gone.
Swish!
He sidestepped, pivoted, and drove a kick straight into Fuguki's midsection.
Boom!
The impact cracked the earth, sending shockwaves through the ground. Fuguki's enormous body lifted off his feet, crashing backward into a thick tree trunk that splintered upon impact.
"Cough— cough!"
Blood splattered across the mud as Fuguki dropped to one knee, struggling to breathe. His hands trembled as he tried to stand but failed.
Asahi approached him slowly, expression unreadable. "You should be grateful. If I weren't trying to avoid a diplomatic incident, that kick would've crushed your heart."
Gasps rippled through the crowd of Kiri shinobi.
This was Suikazan Fuguki — one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, feared across the entire Land of Water — and he'd been defeated in a single blow.
Even Kisame's gills flared in disbelief.
They'd heard stories about the brute strength of Konoha's prodigy who learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, but seeing him fight firsthand was something else entirely.
The truth was, Fuguki's downfall wasn't just Asahi's strength — it was his arrogance. If he'd opened with Water-style, if he'd flooded the battlefield and fought at range, Asahi might've had to exert himself. But trying to close in and let Samehada devour Asahi's chakra? That was suicide.
For close combat, enhanced by Sage Mode and Chakra Enhanced Strength, was where Senmei Asahi reigned supreme.
Fuguki had simply walked straight into his own defeat.
*****
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✓ Killed For 100 Years in Hueco Mundo, Aizen Invited Me To Soul Society!
✓ Naruto: Senmei Asahi
✓ Naruto: Uchiha's Intelligence Dealer
✓ Naruto: The Fifth Hokage Is Naruto's Uncle
✓ Naruto: Who Made Him a Ninja?
✓ Bleach: In My Second Reincarnation, I Became The Ninth Kenpachi
✓ To Love-Ru: Spoiler Route [R-18]
✓ Naruto: The Accidental Incubus [R-18]