"Water Style: Water Flow Whip!"
Faced with Hayama Shirakumo's incredibly sharp offensive, Mei Terumī moved with extreme speed. In the blink of an eye, a whip of water manifested in her hand, lashing out toward the man charging at her.
The tail of the whip tore through the air, producing a violent sonic boom.
Even an ordinary person using a whip could produce a sonic boom; this was even more true for a Water Style master like Mei Terumī.
By observing the body of the water whip, Hayama Shirakumo predicted the trajectory of the strike. His body moved with fluid grace, narrowly avoiding the whip's tail as he continued his rapid dash toward her.
Facing the ever-closing Hayama, Mei utilized the range advantage of her water whip to maintain her distance. With a sudden leap backward, she dived straight off the warship's deck and toward the surface of the sea.
As expected, Hayama Shirakumo followed right after her.
Seeing this, a dangerous curve formed at the corners of Mei's lips.
"It's quite impolite to relentlessly pursue an exceptional woman, you know~"
However, Hayama remained unmoved by her words. Instead, a cold light began to glisten in his eyes.
He swung his blade downward while still in mid-air.
Wind Style: Vacuum Blade!
Sharp wind wreathed the blade's edge. With a single downward slash, the water whip lashing toward him was sliced clean in half.
The moment Hayama Shirakumo landed on the surface of the water, Mei Terumī already had her next technique prepared.
She was a kunoichi possessing two Kekkei Genkai: Boil Style and Lava Style.
However, Boil Style easily affected allies. Usually, when she used it, she would either create a sealed space or wait until she had no teammates nearby.
Currently, they were on a battlefield—one occupied not only by Konoha shinobi but by her own Kirigakure forces as well.
Therefore, her choice was clear.
"Lava Style: Melting Apparition Technique!"
Mei Terumī's hands blurred through seals. She spat out a massive quantity of white, viscous substance, covering every possible angle of Hayama Shirakumo's approach.
The white substance emitted a terrifying steam, looking as though anything it touched would be instantly corroded.
Yet, Hayama Shirakumo remained undeterred. As the master of the "White Fang" blade, he was the strongest swordsman in Konoha, second only to Kakashi!
A piercing hum that made the eardrums ache rang out as the white solution obscuring Hayama's path was instantly torn asunder by a violent burst of sword intent!
Not a single drop of the solution touched Hayama as he closed in on Mei, his gaze chillingly indifferent.
Now that he was within close range, Mei had no time to prepare her next technique!
Just as the violent blade was about to strike her head-on—
"Lady Mei!"
An exclamation rang out, accompanied by a sudden surge of turbulent water rushing toward Hayama!
Hayama didn't even bother to dodge. He simply shifted the direction of his blade, the White Fang, and instantly extinguished the incoming torrent.
At this moment, the Fourth Mizukage had yet to make his move, so Hayama had to maintain his peak condition.
The Mizukage was one of the Five Kage, an opponent on the same level as Kakashi. Hayama had to be in top form to face him.
He simply hadn't expected this Mei Terumī to be so capable; a mere Kirigakure vanguard had managed to evade three of his strikes in a row.
And just as his fourth strike was about to finish her, someone had actually come to her rescue.
Landing back on the water's surface, Hayama looked at the newcomer.
With just one glance, a faint surge of anger rose within his heart.
The man was dressed in standard Kirigakure attire, but unlike other Mist ninja, he only had one eye visible.
His other eye was hidden behind a sealing device.
Ao.
To be precise, it was Ao of the Byakugan.
During the Third Shinobi World War, he had been lucky enough to obtain a Byakugan from the Hyūga Main House. Over the past few years, he had made quite a name for himself thanks to that stolen eye.
"I see..."
"Obtaining a Byakugan seems to have made you lose sight of the situation."
Accompanied by a long, metallic ring, the brilliant blade was slowly drawn back into its sheath.
"Ao, leave now," Mei Terumī commanded her comrade immediately, seeing the way the man before them was acting.
"Leave?"
"Did I give you permission to leave?"
The man's voice suddenly rang out directly in Ao's ear.
The pupil of Ao's exposed eye constricted violently!
"You!"
Ao's soul nearly left his body in fright. Almost instinctively, he thrust a kunai toward the Hayama Shirakumo who had suddenly appeared beside him.
This speed...
Was he not serious before?
Mei's beautiful eyes widened as she watched the sudden appearance of Hayama Shirakumo. A terrifying thought surfaced in her mind.
But now, she had no more time.
Putting aside her friendship with Ao, his Byakugan was a massive asset to her. It was even that very eye that had detected something was wrong with the Fourth Mizukage.
However, now that Hayama Shirakumo was serious, he didn't give Mei the slightest opening to intervene.
A brilliant white flash of a blade ignited, and a head soared high into the sky!
"Ah, that annoying thing is finally dead."
Inside the Kirigakure flagship, Obito Uchiha watched from afar as Ao was decapitated by Hayama's strike and murmured softly.
"This counts as a good thing for you as well," Black Zetsu added.
Because of the Byakugan, the information that Yagura Karatachi was being controlled by genjutsu had already leaked. Now that Ao was dead, as long as Mei Terumī also perished in this war, Kirigakure would effectively fall entirely into Obito's hands.
"That woman Mei can die, but her death should create a better opportunity for me to take out that guy."
Obito's gaze fell upon the figure of the swordsman.
Hayama Shirakumo.
A member of the Fifth Hokage's personal guard.
His strength was formidable; even within Konoha, he could be ranked in the top seven.
Having observed his combat performance during the Konoha Chunin Exams, Obito knew he didn't have the certainty of taking him down in a short amount of time.
Now, by using Mei to create an opening, Obito intended to strike from the shadows and aim for a one-hit kill.
"In that case, go ahead and do it," Black Zetsu said calmly.
Obito's lips curled into a smirk.
The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, who had been standing idly by, began to move mechanically. He walked out of the cabin and headed toward the distant battlefield.
"Ao!"
Mei Terumī watched in disbelief as her familiar comrade was killed in a single strike by Hayama's blade.
"I'll kill you!"
Ao wasn't just her comrade; he was the key to overthrowing the Fourth Mizukage's rule in the future. With his death, the hope of toppling the Mizukage seemed more distant than ever.
"Water Style: Water Formation Pillar!"
Striking out in rage, it was as if the very ocean was at her command. Countless gallons of water rose from all directions around Hayama, transforming into a massive pillar dozens of meters high!
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"
In that same moment, Mei's next technique was already complete!
The towering pillar was given form. A dragon's roar echoed across the battlefield as the massive volume of water converged into a life-like giant water dragon, lunging to bite the Hayama Shirakumo trapped within its center!
Standing in the eye of the storm, surrounded by the dragon's body, Hayama Shirakumo looked coldly through the torrent at Mei Terumī.
No.
Not at Mei.
But at the youth-like figure currently rushing toward them.
The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi.
Are you finally here?
The Mizukage.
A smirk played on Hayama's lips.
The next moment...
Mysterious black markings crawled up his neck, jaw, cheeks, and forehead...
Sage Art: Wind · Air Severing!
The hum of the blade exploded at that moment! This technique, passed down from Kakashi, was being utilized to its absolute limit by Hayama Shirakumo!
"Roar!"
The dragon's head descended from above. Hayama didn't even give it a glance; the White Fang emitted a chilling radiance that was almost impossible to look at directly!
The blade fell.
The dragon perished!
A flash of light sharp enough to tear through anything instantly shattered the water dragon's form. The dragon let out a mournful cry and dissolved into a downpour that fell back into the sea!
Yet the momentum of the blade did not fade. Carrying a spirit that could cut through all things, it slashed toward the oncoming Yagura Karatachi!
And Mei Terumī, standing directly between the two, bore the brunt of it!
Mei felt a chill in her heart. She instinctively wanted to dodge, but there was simply no time!
As the blade passed, blood suddenly sprayed into the sky!
Her eyes trembled; she watched the scene in disbelief.
Blood soaked her water-blue robes. Her body went limp, falling onto the surface of the sea before beginning to sink into the depths!
The gap...
Is it really this large?
Feeling the icy seawater surrounding her, Mei sighed inwardly. The cold began to erode her body, and darkness bled into her vision.
It's... over for me...
The blade light flashed past, and the slowly appearing Yagura Karatachi was sliced into a puddle of clear water, falling back into the ocean.
A Water Clone.
Seeing this, Hayama's expression didn't change in the slightest.
Or rather, his target from the beginning hadn't been Yagura Karatachi.
It was Mei Terumī.
Fighting two Water Style masters on the open sea was undoubtedly unwise.
Suddenly, the seawater around Hayama rose into the sky like a flood. Countless currents formed into spiraling vortexes, attacking him from four directions!
Water Style: Four Pillars of Water Technique!
This was clearly Yagura Karatachi's handiwork.
Faced with such an attack, Hayama went to draw his sword, only to find that at some point, the area beneath his feet had become covered in coral, binding his legs.
And in that moment, the Four Pillars of Water arrived!
Hayama snorted coldly. His blade ignited once more, swinging in a horizontal arc! The surrounding coral and the Water Style technique were sliced away together!
Yagura Karatachi stood upon the water, raising a spiked iron club that was as tall as he was. He spoke expressionlessly:
"Water Style: Great Explosive Water Colliding Wave."
As the Jinchūriki of the Three-Tails, Yagura's chakra reserves required no explanation. Under this technique, which demanded an immense amount of chakra, his unparalleled power was released in its most terrifying form!
The sea... was trembling!
Countless, endless amounts of water—the entire sea area was being mobilized by Yagura! Under the weight of his near-infinite chakra, the ocean roared!
A tsunami over a hundred meters high rose from the depths, roaring as it crashed toward Hayama Shirakumo!
Yagura stood atop the tsunami, holding his iron club high, looking down expressionlessly at the tiny, insect-like figure of Hayama below.
The warships and large vessels surrounding their battlefield were tossed about; several were capsized instantly by the churning sea!
"Hmph, the Mizukage?"
"Interesting."
Hayama Shirakumo let out a cold laugh.
He sheathed his blade and lowered his stance, all of his chakra accumulating within him at that moment. The towering tsunami approaching him was nothing more than a minor obstacle.
"Divide the Sea."
Two short words escaped Hayama's mouth.
Just as the invincible White Fang was about to be unsheathed...
"I've caught you."
An unfamiliar, deep voice whispered directly into Hayama's ear.
Behind him! A figure wearing a black robe with red clouds appeared like a ghost behind Hayama Shirakumo!
Obito Uchiha!
With Yagura's Great Explosive Water Colliding Wave in front and Obito Uchiha launching a surprise attack from behind, Hayama Shirakumo appeared to be in a total stalemate!
"Is that so?"
Words of utter indifference came from Hayama, sounding as if he had known of the other's presence all along.
This sent a jolt of surprise through Obito's heart.
He's in the middle of charging an attack, and I've caught him by surprise... Does he still have some other trick up his sleeve?
Why was Kakashi so confident in letting Hayama Shirakumo lead a force against the Mist alone?
Why, even after knowing the Akatsuki was providing support and dispatching Tenzo to the Land of Grass, had he still not arranged reinforcements for Hayama?
There was only one reason.
He was strong.
Strong enough that even Itachi Uchiha, with his Mangekyō Sharingan, might not win against him in a frontal confrontation!
Like Tenzo, he was an elite second only to Might Guy. No—perhaps he was even more exceptional than Tenzo!
As an absolutely loyal subordinate and the very first person to be branded with the Sage Mark, he was also the first to...
Kamui.
Obito didn't have time to overthink. He immediately activated Kamui, intending to suck Hayama Shirakumo into his pocket dimension.
As long as the opponent entered the Kamui dimension, where there was no food or water, even the strongest master would lose ninety percent of their combat power after seven days of starvation!
As the space around Hayama began to warp under the influence of Kamui, just before he was pulled in, a voice of absolute tranquility spoke.
"Sage Mark · Stage Two Release."
As the first to receive the Sage Mark, when the mark was upgraded, he was also the first to undergo the Stage Two Release.
Actually, it should be said that only Hayama Shirakumo had mastered the Sage Mark's Stage Two Release!
Sharpness.
An incredibly sharp chakra erupted at the very moment the Kamui space was about to swallow him!
This razor-sharp chakra made Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan throb with pain, forcing him to interrupt the technique and release the man!
And at the exact moment he broke free from the Kamui suction, a blue blade of light, like a god descending upon a mountain, descended upon the nearby Obito!
Blue, blue, blue!
The original form of this primal chakra manifested as a sword light, gathering all the natural energy above the sea into a single strike that slashed toward him!
Obito's eyes constricted violently in the face of this earth-shattering strike!
Almost as a reflex, he activated Kamui's intangibility to phase through the attack.
In an instant, the entire sea seemed to shake three times. A violent blade qi swept across the surface; the entire ocean trembled and wailed under this power, as if celebrating the birth of the King of Blades!
Hayama's azure eyes, sharp as the finest edge, turned toward the Yagura Karatachi who was still charging forward.
A silent flash of light tore the hundred-meter wave into pieces...
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