"Slap... slap..."
The churning waves swept past, crashing heavily against the walls of the deep pit. After throwing up several smaller splashes, they gradually settled.
"Splash!"
On the lake's still-undulating surface, a small burst of water suddenly exploded. As the spray scattered, a man in a black cloak and an orange spiral-patterned mask was already standing where it had burst.
However, the spiral mask was covered in cracked fissures, and the man was drenched from head to toe. Rising and falling with the waves, he looked rather bedraggled.
Heh...
So, what should I do next? Though he looked like a drowned rat, the Three Tomoe Sharingan in the masked man's eye still gleamed a vivid scarlet, showing no change at all. It was as if the consecutive battles had not affected him in the slightest.
Not in terms of stamina, Chakra, or injuries.
His battle with Taki Chiba seemed to have had no effect on him whatsoever.
At that moment, the masked man had already begun considering the current situation.
According to the plan, Taki Chiba should not have died here. He should not even have killed Taki Chiba!
The proper use for Taki Chiba was not to kill him.
Now that Taki Chiba was dead, he felt somewhat regretful.
Tch! Have things been going too smoothly for me lately? Did I become irrational without realizing it? So what if he made a few stupid moves? How many people in this world do foolish things when they are struggling at death's door? Wasn't Taki Chiba just following suit? Was there any need to get so angry that, in a moment of heated impulse, I killed him?
As he looked at the surging lake, whose water level had clearly doubled, a series of self-reproachful thoughts flashed through the Masked Man's mind.