The Backlash Arrives, Kisame Explodes

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Beside the warm campfire, Kazama Kaguya jolted awake from the shadow of death, breaking into a violent fit of coughing.

He shot upright from his deathly illness, like a corpse suddenly rising from the dead.

He rose stiffly like a zombie as his Shikotsumyaku went wild, sharp bone spikes growing from his body.

"I'm still alive?" His voice was full of disbelief.

Kimimaro rushed forward in excitement. Ignoring the sharp bone spikes, he threw his arms around him, his eyes reddening.

"Lord Kazama, you're finally awake."

"Kimimaro?"

Kazama Kaguya had already realized that he had been saved.

He quickly looked around. He saw the warm campfire and the food cooking over it, Kimimaro's concerned gaze, and a cold-looking Shark Face man sitting on a distant tree trunk.

"Teacher Kisame, thank goodness you came." Kazama Kaguya sincerely thanked Kisame Hoshigaki.

The next moment, Kazama Kaguya's vision blurred, and he was lifted high by the neck. A tremendous force clamped down, locking off his airway and blood vessels.

The backlash from [Talk no Jutsu: Strike Weakness Technique] had arrived!

Kisame Hoshigaki used Body Flicker to appear before him. His lips parted slightly, and a voice cold enough to freeze someone to death squeezed through his teeth.

"Kazama Kaguya, who gave you the nerve to scheme against me?"

Bone-piercing killing intent surged out. Kisame Hoshigaki stared at the boy before him, the veins on his forehead throbbing.

Though he did not want to admit it, he probably, maybe, perhaps could not escape the fate of being a babysitter for three months.

"Damn brat. From now on, I hate people from the Kaguya Clan."

He gritted his teeth, overwhelmed by frustration, and wanted nothing more than to crush the sickly wretch before him by the throat.

"Cough, cough, cough..." Kazama Kaguya's face flushed red from suffocation. He slapped Kisame Hoshigaki's arm, signaling for him to let go.

"Hmph!" Kisame snorted and flung him away.

Bang!

Kazama Kaguya slammed into the ground like a sandbag. Dirt exploded around him as he gasped desperately for air, looking utterly miserable.

Kimimaro hurried over to help him up and glared angrily at Kisame Hoshigaki. Just as he was about to speak, Kazama Kaguya stopped him. "Cough, cough... Kimimaro, don't say anything from now on."

"Lord Kazama..."

"Be good."

Kazama Kaguya knew that Kisame Hoshigaki was furious.

Because he had schemed against him, Kisame would protect him. But Kimimaro was an irrelevant outsider to Kisame. If he continued provoking him now, he could be killed at any moment without question.

Seeing his leader insist, Kimimaro could only give up.

After seeing Kimimaro return to fussing with the food, Kazama Kaguya solemnly walked up to Kisame Hoshigaki and bowed in thanks.

"Teacher Kisame, thank you."

It was a life-saving debt. Though Kisame had not been willing, he had indeed saved him.

Seeing the respectful attitude of the boy before him, the gloom in Kisame Hoshigaki's heart eased slightly, but his killing intent did not diminish in the least.

His sharp shark teeth opened and closed, glinting with a pale, chilling light.

"Kazama Kaguya, I'll protect you for these three months. But after three months, I'll personally take your head."

"Teacher Kisame, that is only proper."

Kazama Kaguya's expression did not change in the slightest, as though the person destined to be killed in the future was not himself.

He bowed again and said gratefully, "Then over the next three months, I'll go to Konoha to hunt for Hyuga Bloodline Material. I'll leave every enemy who wants to kill me to you."

The moment those words came out, Kisame Hoshigaki's scalp went numb.

He felt as if he had started hearing things.

His eyes widened as he stared incredulously at the sickly boy before him, pressing, "You said you're going to Konoha to do what???"

"To hunt for Hyuga Bloodline Material." Kazama Kaguya looked serious and solemn as he dealt a killing blow with a single sentence.

"I fucking..."

That sentence left Kisame Hoshigaki seeing stars. The cold and elite Jonin completely lost his composure, unleashing all manner of filthy curses.

"Bastard... */&@!..."

Kazama Kaguya quietly endured the barrage of insults, letting them enter one ear and leave through the other without taking a single word to heart.

Kimimaro fiddled with the bubbling food, his eyes shining as he secretly memorized Kisame's curses.

He had never heard such an extensive collection of profanity before.

From the time he left the dungeon until now, only two days had passed. Yet look at everything he had experienced.

Talking with Orochimaru, fleeing across borders, getting beaten by a Hidden Mist Jonin, narrowly escaping death, and now even hearing Kisame Hoshigaki's furious curses after losing his composure.

"The outside world really is so exciting," he couldn't help but sigh.

Crackle...

The sound of the firewood bursting apart as it burned out pulled him back from his thoughts. Watching the person he followed hold his own against so many powerful ninja, he felt genuine admiration from the bottom of his heart.

"As expected of Lord Kazama, the one I follow. He's amazing!"

After a long while, Kisame Hoshigaki finally finished cursing.

Unable to hold back, he once again grabbed the boy by the throat. The sound of teeth grinding rang out as he snarled, "Kazama Kaguya, you want me to take on Konoha's Hyuga Clan just to protect you? Have I been too nice to you?"

"You had this all planned out, didn't you? You'd calculated everything from the moment I stepped into that Ramen Shop, just waiting for me to jump into your trap?"

"Are you treating me like an idiot, or using me like a workhorse?"

By the end, Kazama Kaguya could practically see sparks flying from between Kisame Hoshigaki's shark-like teeth.

Real teeth-grinding rage.

The kind that produced sparks.

"Teacher Kisame, don't get worked up. Let me ask you one thing: was my intelligence real or not?"

Kazama Kaguya did not refute Kisame's words. He merely laid out the key point.

"It was real."

Kisame had to admit that this scheming boy before him truly possessed an incredibly powerful source of intelligence.

The moment Kazama Kaguya heard Kisame's answer, he knew Kisame must have verified the intelligence during the Kaguya Clan Rebellion.

Kazama Kaguya curled his lips into a smile, immediately knowing how to placate the enraged Kisame.

Flickering firelight reflected in the boy's eyes as [Talk no Jutsu: Strike Weakness Technique] activated once more. In a coaxing tone, he said, "Then, Teacher Kisame, do you want more detailed intelligence? Do you want to know who exactly controlled the Fourth Generation? Better yet, do you want to know how to make that person expose themselves?"

Intelligence was a guaranteed critical hit against Kisame Hoshigaki.

As expected, an incredulous expression appeared on Kisame's face in the next instant. "You have such a powerful intelligence network?"

"Of course. I, Kazama Kaguya, make my way through the world on integrity. I never deceive people."

As he spoke, Kazama Kaguya patted his chest. "Three months. Just three months, and you'll have all the intelligence regarding the Fourth Generation being controlled. I can explain the entire cause and effect, even the method to capture the culprit."

"Really???"

"You have my word, Teacher Kisame."

Kazama Kaguya pointed at his own head and guaranteed, "If I can't produce the intelligence in three months, you can take my head whenever you like."

"..."

After a moment of silence, Kisame said darkly, "Even without that intelligence, I'll still take your head in three months."

Kazama Kaguya nodded, utterly unbothered. "Then let that intelligence be the payment for hiring Teacher Kisame for these three months. As long as you don't slack off, it works out perfectly. I'm pretty unhappy with that person myself."

"Deal."

Kisame Hoshigaki knew he had already been lured into the trap.

He could not violate the principles he had set for himself, nor could he turn a blind eye to intelligence that would benefit Kirigakure.

Still, he felt a lingering sense of dread about the next three months.

This person had arranged all sorts of plans before even leaving Kirigakure. Once they reached Konoha, who knew what kind of trouble he would stir up?

Though Kisame had absolute confidence in his own strength, that was Konoha—the strongest of the Five Great Ninja Villages.

After thinking it over, he could not help but warn him, "Kazama Kaguya, I don't know what you plan to do in Konoha by hunting for Hyuga Bloodline Material. But let me warn you: if you're going to Konoha, you'd better have a thorough plan. If you're only going there to die, I can fulfill that wish for you right now."

"Besides, I have my own mission. I can't keep watching you all the time. If things prove impossible, I'll break all four of your limbs and drag you away by force. Don't fucking talk to me about any price."

Kazama Kaguya dodged the spit that Kisame Hoshigaki was practically spraying into his face and replied leisurely, "Don't worry, Teacher Kisame. Everything is going according to plan."

"Oh, right, Teacher Kisame, what mission are you going to Konoha for? If you don't mind, you can tell me. I have connections with Orochimaru too—maybe I can help."