As he spoke, Suikazan Fuguki's beady eyes remained fixed tightly on Samehada.
Strictly speaking, his eyes were not actually that small. At the very least, compared to Kisame Hoshigaki's little round eyes, they were still within the normal range.
But his face was simply too large.
"So you came here to reclaim Samehada?"
Araki smiled teasingly.
"That's right. We'll fight with Samehada as the stake! Only the winner deserves to wield Samehada!"
Suikazan Fuguki said in a deep voice.
"And then?"
"What do you mean, and then?"
"After Samehada's ownership is decided, what will you do?"
"Then everything here will have nothing to do with me."
"Heh, are you sure?"
Araki looked at him with a faintly mocking smile and reached back to grip the hilt of his sword.
"Of course!"
Suikazan Fuguki nodded heavily. At the same time, he drew a large sword from his back and assumed a defensive stance.
This sword had been provided by Elder Qingquan. It was said to be a rare and excellent ninja tool as well.
"Fine."
With a light flick of his wrist, Araki sent Samehada spinning straight into Suikazan Fuguki's arms, then pointed to an open space nearby.
"Hold on to Samehada. There's nothing for you to do here now, so go play over there."
Clang!
Suikazan instinctively tossed aside the large sword he had hastily found and wrapped his arms around Samehada.
Only after the sound of the blade hitting the ground did he come back to his senses.
But after looking down at Samehada in his arms, then at the utterly ordinary long sword on the ground, he made his choice without the slightest hesitation.
Choosing between two swords was easy. What he was supposed to do next, however, left him utterly lost.
"Uh..."
Suikazan Fuguki stared blankly at