Kisame Hoshigaki's Troubles

Ever since arriving in the Sea Country to carry out this mission, Kisame Hoshigaki had been feeling somewhat unsettled.

In Kirigakure, nearly every Ninja believed Kisame Hoshigaki to be a textbook cold-blooded Kirigakure Ninja, and Kisame's conduct perfectly reinforced that impression.

Ruthless in his actions, indifferent and merciless—everything for the mission, everything could be sacrificed...

But in truth, Kisame Hoshigaki was somewhat different from his peers. If the other Kirigakure Ninja had merely been brainwashed into numbness, driven mad by their environment, and turned into cold-blooded killers, then the often-confused Kisame genuinely believed that he was protecting Kirigakure's interests.

That was precisely why this honest man later erupted in the original story and killed Suikazan Fuguki. What the hell was all that talk about intelligence being life? You had me cutting down enemies and comrades every day, but then you turned around and sold the intelligence yourself. What was the point of all those sacrifices I made, of everything I did?

If Kisame had not believed at all in what Suikazan Fuguki kept saying, he would not have suffered such a complete shattering of his ideals. Perhaps Suikazan Fuguki himself had never imagined that his subordinate would be so simple and honest as to believe the things he merely said aloud!

"Where exactly did Lord Suigetsu go? This mission is mainly just reconnaissance. The Sea Ninja Village is only a newly established Ninja village..."

They called it a secret reconnaissance mission, but one look at Suikazan Fuguki's build made it obvious that he was definitely not a reconnaissance-type Ninja.

Besides, what secrets could a newly established little Ninja village possibly possess that would require the leader of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen to act alone?

Though he knew he should not overthink it, Kisame could not help feeling suspicious. Suikazan Fuguki's actions were simply too strange. More importantly, after Suikazan Fuguki had been defeated and undergone all sorts of modification experiments, far too much time had been delayed.

Disappearing for a day or half a day could still be understood as meeting with covert contacts in the Sea Country. But vanishing for more than three days at once meant something was wrong.

"Lord Kisame! We have new intelligence!"

As Kisame Hoshigaki was quietly thinking, he suddenly heard one of his Subordinates calling out. He turned toward the Ninja before him. "Hm? Let me see it."

The Ninja handed over a scroll. Kisame read it for a moment, then frowned.

"Is what this says true? The traces of Lord Suigetsu's battle disappeared in the end? Can you determine the cause?"

"According to the reconnaissance unit's observations, the most likely possibility is... is that Lord Suigetsu... was captured!"

The Ninja forced himself to finish, and Kisame Hoshigaki's expression changed. "How is that possible?! By the Sea Ninja Village?"

The origins of the Sea Ninja Village had already been thoroughly investigated by the Kirigakure Ninja during this time. In intelligence gathering and protection, the Sea Ninja Village's Ninja were far inferior to Kirigakure.

Although the Ninja under Vegapunk had grown much stronger, that growth was in combat power. They had not made much progress in areas such as intelligence gathering and secrecy.

Thus, Kisame Hoshigaki had long learned the Sea Ninja's origins. At first, it had merely been an alliance formed by the Snow Ninja from the Snow Country. Kisame knew of those Snow Ninja as well—they were people who used Ice Release by relying on geographical advantages.

Kirigakure had always disdained them. After all, true Ice Release users came from Kirigakure. Why would genuine Kirigakure Ninja regard those counterfeit imitations highly?

Even Kisame had begun to feel a faint contempt for the Sea Ninja Village, which was why this intelligence shocked him so much.

Suikazan Fuguki already stood second only to the Mizukage in Kirigakure, holding a position comparable to the head of the Anbu. Otherwise, he could not have had a Jonin like Kisame under his command. In terms of strength, with the great sword Samehada in hand, Suikazan Fuguki was currently second only to the Mizukage and the Jinchuriki. In all of Kirigakure, he could at least rank among the top five.

A Ninja of that caliber might be driven back by the Sea Ninja Village through sheer numbers, but capturing him was almost impossible!

Driving back an opponent, defeating an opponent, killing an opponent, and capturing an opponent were entirely different levels of difficulty. Even if the Mizukage himself came, killing Suikazan Fuguki might not be too difficult, but capturing him would have less than a fifty percent chance of success.

Seeing the terrified expression on his subordinate's face, Kisame Hoshigaki took a deep breath. Though he appeared cold and acted ruthlessly, Kisame was not truly that brutal a person, nor would he vent his anger on an Ordinary Ninja for no reason.

"Is there more specific intelligence? Who exactly acted? Was Lord Suigetsu surrounded?"

The Chunin visibly relaxed a little before replying, "Lord Suigetsu was indeed surrounded. Judging from the traces at the scene, there should have been five attackers. One of them was likely skilled in underwater combat, and another was an expert in Earth Release."

"Additionally, we collected some blood and tissue samples there. Our preliminary judgment is that Lord Suikazan Fuguki was poisoned, so the other side likely also had a Ninja skilled in poison."

"Based on our assessment, four of them possessed the strength of Special Jonin, and there should have been an elite among the Jonin holding the line..."

It had to be said that these great Ninja villages were indeed skilled at intelligence work. Their analysis was already almost completely in line with reality.

Aside from the Golden Eagle ability user, who had not left any traces on the ground due to the ability to fly and thus had not been discovered by them, they had already obtained a general picture of the other animal ability users.

After hearing this analysis, Kisame frowned deeply. Did this newly born Sea Ninja Village actually have so many elites?

And being able to directly capture Suikazan Fuguki, his own superior, would likely still have been difficult with only those Ninja. Although anything could happen in battle between Ninja, Kisame was more inclined to believe that the enemy had prepared in advance, which was why his old superior had suffered such a massive setback.

Kisame was still frowning in thought when the Chunin asked again, "Lord Kisame, what should we do next? Should we go rescue Lord Suikazan Fuguki?"

Kisame Hoshigaki opened his mouth, yet did not know what to say. As a tool, as a Ninja, Kisame Hoshigaki was undoubtedly outstanding. He could even be considered one of the Ninja World's most Ninja-like Ninja. But when it came to making decisions himself, he found it somewhat difficult.

Whether in Kirigakure or later in Akatsuki, Kisame had always existed as a tool. Formulating plans and making final decisions had never had anything to do with him.