Kisame Hoshigaki vs. Uchiha Shisui

Inhale, puff cheeks, open mouth.

A massive amount of chakra transformed into a huge water wave, spewing from Kisame Hoshigaki's mouth.

The water grew against the wind, becoming a twenty to thirty-meter tidal wave in the blink of an eye, roaring as it swept stones and branches towards Shisui Uchiha.

Kisame Hoshigaki, using the recoil force, continued to flee with Kazama Kaguya in tow.

This wasn't the first time.

Eight minutes had passed since the two ventured deep into the Forest of Death, and they had already covered nearly thirty kilometers.

Although Kisame Hoshigaki was known as the "Tailed Beast Without a Tail," the high-intensity running and the repeated use of large-scale Water Release had taken their toll.

"Is that Red-Eyed bastard a dog? He's been nipping at our heels the whole time," Kisame Hoshigaki cursed inwardly.

He panted and stopped beside a small forest river, quickly saying, "I can't run anymore. That Red-Eyed bastard is faster than us and has been chasing us, draining my chakra. If he's as strong as you say, then this is the most advantageous battlefield for me."

"Does a place with abundant water vapor enhance the power of Water Release?" Kazama Kaguya nodded, releasing Kisame Hoshigaki's arm and standing aside.

Under the moonlight, a night breeze blew, lifting his black robe and revealing Kazama Kaguya's body.

Kisame Hoshigaki could clearly see that the young man who had gotten him into this mess had undergone many abnormal changes.

His height had shrunk from the original one meter seventy-five to one meter fifty, and his emaciated body had become fuller. The distinctive features of the Shikotsumyaku—"white hair, green eyes, and red, round eyebrows"—were almost gone.

"Your eyes? Byakugan?" Kisame Hoshigaki stared intently at Kazama Kaguya's eyes.

His eyes had undergone the most significant change.

The originally deep green irises had turned a pure white, with veins bulging around them.

What was different was that the left eye was purer white, while the right eye still retained some of its deep green color, like pine branches in the depths of winter not yet completely covered by snow.

"That's right, it's the Byakugan."

Kazama Kaguya didn't hide it, stating directly, "My purpose in Konoha was to hunt for Byakugan materials, and clearly, I succeeded."

"But implanting the Byakugan wouldn't cause such obvious changes to your body."

Kisame Hoshigaki had seen Ao implant the Byakugan, and it was nothing like this; he looked like a completely different person.

"Who knows, maybe I'm special." Kazama Kaguya offered no explanation.

His body was still evolving and transforming. The turmoil in his muscles and bones had stopped, and deeper, unique traits of the Otsutsuki Clan were manifesting.

Kazama Kaguya could feel his inner self ascending to a higher level every second.

His genes were iterating and amplifying towards perfection, his physical strength and spiritual energy were continuously increasing, and his chakra limit was spontaneously growing without end, like a stream in the rainy season, unstoppable.

This process would take a quarter of an hour.

He glanced at the dark, primitive jungle in the distance, seeing no sign of Shisui Uchiha, only a faint, chilling killing intent approaching.

"Is he preparing to attack?" Kazama Kaguya formed a hand seal, veins bulging in his eyes.

"Byakugan, activate!"

In an instant, the dark night was illuminated, and the entire world transformed into a transparent, black-and-white three-dimensional wireframe.

Within a one-kilometer radius, all matter became observable: trees, rocks, rivers, animals, and even Shisui Uchiha, who was hiding behind the trees five hundred meters away, forming hand seals.

His surging chakra and the Sharingan with its grass-green pupils were clearly visible.

"Seven o'clock direction, five hundred meters," Kazama Kaguya stated concisely, relaying the information he had detected.

Before his voice faded, a burst of fire erupted from the forest.

The fire also grew against the wind, instantly transforming into three enormous flaming dragons.

With sharp dragon teeth, long and flowing dragon whiskers, and fiery eyes that blazed with intensity, they roared and charged towards the two, accompanied by terrifyingly high temperatures.

Two of the flame dragons targeted Kisame Hoshigaki, while one locked onto Kazama Kaguya.

Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique.

"I can't dodge this." This B-rank fire jutsu was powerful, and Kisame Hoshigaki could handle it easily, but Kazama Kaguya could not.

With his genin-level movement speed, it was impossible for him to dodge a B-rank ninjutsu from an elite Jonin.

Kisame Hoshigaki, judging their disadvantage, immediately formed hand seals while the fire dragons were in mid-air.

"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave."

A massive amount of seawater erupted violently from Kisame Hoshigaki's mouth, rapidly expanding with the river water in the forest.

In the blink of an eye, the surging seawater formed a huge, ellipsoidal water prison that protected the two, and its volume continued to grow.

BOOM!

The flame dragons attacked, and water collided fiercely with fire, sending countless plumes of white steam skyward.

Crack, crack, crack...

Beneath the obscuring steam, flaming shuriken were thrown into the water sphere, exploding into bursts of fire and fragments of iron, but they were quickly swallowed by the waves.

It was clear that Shisui Uchiha's attack was not limited to the Great Dragon Fire Technique.

His true killing move was to use the Sharingan's dynamic vision to project a ninjutsu with absolute accuracy, combining high-temperature lethality with cutting capabilities.

Fire Release: Flower Scattering Dance.

However, no matter how exquisite the throwing technique and Fire Release were, they were still stretched thin against the Water Release that Kisame Hoshigaki, a tailed beast-level entity, unleashed with his burst of chakra.

Fifty meters, one hundred meters, two hundred meters...

The water sphere formed by Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave continued to swell until it covered an area of three hundred meters in radius, at which point the Water Release ninjutsu finally stopped.

"What an absurd amount of chakra."

Shisui Uchiha retreated and leaped, avoiding the massive water prison from afar, but its terrifying volume still left him deeply shaken.

He had pursued relentlessly, using Taijutsu to get close multiple times, all to continuously deplete Kisame Hoshigaki's chakra.

He had tried his best to overestimate his opponent's total chakra reserves, but it still exceeded his imagination.

Facing such a colossal Water Release, even if he expended all his chakra to use Fire Release, he wouldn't be able to inflict any damage on the person inside.

"So this is Kisame Hoshigaki, the 'tailed beast without a tail,' truly astonishing."

Shisui Uchiha's Sharingan stared at the two dark figures in the center of the water prison. The circular water sphere refracted light, making the two appear like distorted, swaying water weeds.

"To attack them, I'd need to use Susanoo, but my eyesight..." Shisui Uchiha hesitated.

At the Mangekyo stage, each use of Susanoo could decide the battle, but it also led to a continuous decline in eyesight.

Unless it was absolutely necessary, Shisui Uchiha did not want to use his Mangekyo abilities.

"Perhaps it's not worth a direct confrontation. Their information can be obtained from Lord Danzo." He gazed at the exaggerated, massive water sphere, recalling the connection one of them had with the Root Organization.

Suddenly, a faint buzzing sound could be heard, like the beating wings of a swarm of insects.

Accompanying the sound, a swarm of tiny, jet-black insects flew rapidly from a distance.

"Kikaichū swarm? The Aburame Clan?"

Using his Sharingan's vision, Shisui Uchiha saw the person following the Kikaichū from afar.

It was a figure clad in a black robe and wearing a mask – Ryoma Aburame, a capable operative of the Root Organization.