Talk No Jutsu: The Art of Gentle Persuasion, Kisame is Tricked Again

"Susanoo is broken?"

Witnessing the colossal entity, which seemed like the power of a god, being shattered with his own eyes, Ryoma Aburame's heart skipped a few beats. He could hardly believe what he was seeing.

Before he saw Susanoo, he had always believed that while the Uchiha clan was powerful, they were not invincible.

But after witnessing the giant that was hundreds of meters tall, he once thought that was the pinnacle of power in the ninja world, the power of a god that could control nuclear weapons like the Tailed Beasts.

But now?

An unknown nobody had shattered this invincible myth.

"What kind of power is that dusty gray bone?"

Ryoma Aburame's heart pounded with fear. Even after the training from the Root Organization, the fear of the unknown still overwhelmed him.

He didn't have the courage to face the enemy directly. He quickly swallowed a Ration Pill, pushed his body to its limit, extracted excessive amounts of chakra, and used the Body Flicker Technique to run towards Shisui Uchiha.

He knew his own abilities. The secret techniques of the Aburame clan definitely wouldn't be able to stop Kisame Hoshigaki and that mysterious brat.

But Shisui Uchiha could.

"Shisui Uchiha, you must hold on. Otherwise, we'll all die."

"Secret Technique: Insect Cloud."

He controlled his insects to form a dark cloud, catching the falling Shisui, and then turned to run.

"Shisui Uchiha, hurry! Summon your Susanoo again, they're coming!" he urged anxiously as he ran.

"Ah... my Mangekyo..."

Shisui Uchiha's eyes were bleeding. He endured the intense pain and weakly said, "That person's attack is very problematic, extremely bizarre. I absolutely cannot be hit. My pupil power limit was instantly erased by at least a third. The Mangekyo was forcibly shut down, and there's no way I can use Susanoo."

"Run!"

He still couldn't understand how those dusty gray bones had erased his pupil power limit.

The Susanoo, which had turned into flying ash along with the gray bone spurs, was entirely constructed from his pupil power.

Generally speaking, even if Susanoo was destroyed, it would only consume pupil power, not lower the limit.

It was like a pool of water; after it flowed out, it could be refilled.

But the current situation was as if someone had directly destroyed the pool.

With more than a third of his pupil power limit instantly erased, he could barely even activate his Three Tomoe now, let alone his Mangekyo.

To make matters worse, his eyesight seemed to have been erased as well. Anything beyond fifty meters appeared blurry.

His current combat power was probably less than a tenth of what it was before.

Hearing Shisui Uchiha's words, Ryoma Aburame's heart sank, and a chill ran down his spine.

"It's over!" Ryoma Aburame thought bitterly.

He recalled every detail since meeting Kazama Kaguya. He never expected that the sickly, weakling he once knew, who was on the verge of death, would become such a powerful being after receiving the Main Family's Byakugan, just by leaving for a short while.

"Byakugan!"

Suddenly, his heart leaped, and a realization dawned on him. "Yes, it's the Byakugan! I definitely didn't misread the brat's eyes. He must have transplanted Hiashi Hyuga's Byakugan. But why would such power appear?"

Ryoma Aburame knew the power of the Byakugan, but he couldn't understand why someone who transplanted the Byakugan would undergo such a drastic change.

A weakling became a noble Byakugan user, and even destroyed Susanoo?

The more Ryoma Aburame thought about it, the more he felt he had fallen into the young man's scheme. He said angrily:

"Someone sent by Orochimaru? Bullshit! If Orochimaru had this kind of power, he would have become the Fourth Hokage long ago, instead of being forced to defect! Danzo-sama was probably played by him too, damn brat."

Ryoma Aburame's face darkened, and he didn't dare to stop using the Body Flicker Technique.

Now, he had to take this news back.

"Lord Danzo's great plan must not be leaked. He is definitely the future Fifth Hokage. I must bring the news back so Lord Danzo can make a decision."

He, Ryoma Aburame, was Danzo's most loyal subordinate.

On the other side, Kazama Kaguya, seeing the vigilant Kisame Hoshigaki, consciously restrained his surging chakra and said with a smile, "Teacher Kisame, you don't need to guard against me. I'm alive today thanks to your protection."

He didn't further explain the reason for his transformation, only nodding towards the fleeing figures of Ryoma Aburame and Shisui Uchiha:

"Shisui Uchiha has already fled. Didn't you accept Kirigakure's mission to 'seize the Mangekyo'? Now is the best time, hurry up."

As he spoke, the gray bone spurs behind Kazama Kaguya turned into ashes.

A layer of fine, grayish-white powder fell to the ground, like burnt ashes, pale and lifeless.

Kisame Hoshigaki took two steps back, not wanting to be stained by the ashes, and said solemnly, "Your ability seems to possess the power to end all things. These ashes are very ominous."

He said this, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and prepared to set off to hunt for Shisui's eyes.

The moment before he left, he subconsciously glanced at Kazama Kaguya.

He saw the young man smiling, his eyes a milky white, as if filled with dense white mist, making it impossible to see what was inside.

Suddenly, a sense of déjà vu surged in his heart.

Kisame Hoshigaki stopped abruptly, his shark-like pupils constricting.

He sensed the aura of a conspiracy.

He glanced at Shisui, who was fleeing in disarray in the distance, then at the composed Byakugan user, his brow twitching several times as he said with extreme displeasure:

"Kazama Kaguya, you're plotting against me again, aren't you?"

Kisame Hoshigaki trusted his intuition completely.

This intuition stemmed from the frustration of a wild beast that had fallen into a trap.

"You definitely have some scheme."

Kisame Hoshigaki came to a complete halt, his expression grim. "You say Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyo possesses the strongest Genjutsu, Kotoamatsukami. I believe that. Perhaps in the past, you lacked the ability and didn't dare covet those eyes, but with the power you possess now, I don't believe you have no designs on Shisui's Mangekyo."

He stared intently at Kazama Kaguya's blank white eyes, his tone resolute:

"With your current strength, you can fly, you can fight, and you have an absurd amount of Chakra. Taking down a weakened Uchiha Shisui shouldn't be a problem. But you didn't act, and instead incited me to make a move. That's the biggest issue."

"You must be plotting something again. Am I right?"

Kisame Hoshigaki grew more certain of his judgment.

"..."

Kazama Kaguya remained silent, looking at Kisame Hoshigaki for a long while before finally speaking:

"Teacher Kisame, don't be so jumpy. What about trust between people? How could I possibly trick you?"

"Right now, it's truly the closest opportunity you've had to obtain the Mangekyo. If you miss this chance, your mission to 'seize the Mangekyo' will never be completed."

This was not a lie.

Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyo was indeed damaged, his strength greatly reduced, making it the perfect time for Kisame to strike.

However, Kisame Hoshigaki was also correct.

He, Kazama Kaguya, did indeed have designs on Kotoamatsukami, and he was indeed setting a trap for Kisame.

He wanted to use Kisame Hoshigaki's hands to test Uchiha Shisui.

Unfortunately, Kisame Hoshigaki seemed to be on high alert.

"The dangerous intuition of a shark?" Kazama Kaguya mused inwardly.

Although his plan had been seen through, Kazama Kaguya couldn't possibly admit it. He immediately put on a heartbroken expression and pointed at the retreating Uchiha Shisui:

"Teacher Kisame, time waits for no one. Are you really not going to act? I absolutely won't snatch it from you. The Mangekyo is getting further away. Once this opportunity is gone, it's gone forever. Have you really thought it through?"

This was [Talk no Jutsu: The Art of Gentle Persuasion].

Only by constantly considering others could one make them jump into a trap even when they knew it was there.

Kisame Hoshigaki was hesitating.

Kazama Kaguya, however, was contemplating the risks of deliberately withholding information.

Uchiha Shisui was known as Shisui the Teleporter, his Taijutsu skills were undoubtedly formidable.

Kotoamatsukami was the most dangerous ocular jutsu in the ninja world.

Only his Mangekyo was damaged, which would significantly reduce his Genjutsu abilities, but it wouldn't have much impact on his Taijutsu or Fire Release Ninjutsu.

A wise person does not stand under a dangerous wall.

Kotoamatsukami, such a terrifying ultimate weapon, unless he controlled it himself, it could only be destroyed.

Kazama Kaguya didn't want to rise to power only to have some old schemer wield Shisui's Mangekyo and perform some incredible feat.

Moreover, ninjas were inherently cunning.

He wasn't sure if the current Shisui was deliberately feigning weakness, waiting for him to rush in and unleash something big.

A cornered beast will fight, and a weakened Uchiha was at his most dangerous.

Coupled with the Uchiha clan's secret forbidden ocular jutsu, Izanagi and Izanami, even if Uchiha Shisui couldn't activate his Mangekyo, he wouldn't be a lamb to the slaughter if pushed to his limit.

If Shisui knew how to use those two forbidden jutsu, it would be more than enough for Kisame Hoshigaki to handle.

He needed someone to probe the depths.

However, Kisame Hoshigaki didn't know all this secret information.

He looked at Kazama Kaguya and asked suspiciously, "You really aren't plotting anything? I don't quite believe you, I always feel like you're trying to trick me again."

"Teacher Kisame, saying that makes me very disappointed."

Kazama Kaguya shook his head and continued to use [Talk no Jutsu: The Art of Gentle Persuasion]: "Think about the difficulty of your mission, then think about this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I even helped you cripple Susanoo. Are you really willing to give up on acting?"

"..."

This time, it was Kisame Hoshigaki who fell silent.

What the annoying young man in front of him said was true. Faced with such a golden opportunity, how could he be willing to give it up?

"If I obtain the Mangekyo that houses Kotoamatsukami, can it save the current Blood Mist Village?"

After a moment of thought, Kisame Hoshigaki arrived at an answer: It was worth a try.

He fought wholeheartedly for Kirigakure, charging into battle and never retreating.

But sometimes, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

The current Kisame Hoshigaki had not yet reached the crossroads of his life.

He gritted his teeth, suppressed the instinct that he was being tricked, and turned to leave.

"Kazama Kaguya, I'll trust you one more time for now."