"Secret Technique: Needle Rain."
The long hair behind Suikazan Fuguki suddenly stood on end and hardened. Countless strands, as fine as needles, shot toward the Kaguya Clan commander opposite him.
"Is that all you've got?" To everyone's surprise, the Kaguya Clan warrior neither dodged nor evaded, allowing the fine strands to pierce his entire body.
"Hmm?" Seeing that his opponent had emerged unharmed from the attack, Suikazan Fuguki was a little surprised.
"Your attack couldn't penetrate my hardened bone membrane." The Kaguya Clan warrior glanced at Fuguki and spoke scornfully.
"Rapid Healing."
As the power of Shikotsumyaku took effect, the hardened strands—which hadn't pierced deeply in the first place—were pushed out of his body by his healing wounds, falling to the ground around him.
"Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets."
This time, the Kaguya Clan warrior had freed both hands and fired ten bone bullets at once. They sped toward Fuguki.
"Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft..."
The ten bone bullets nearly riddled Suikazan Fuguki with holes, yet not a single drop of blood spilled from him.
"Splish, splash..."
It turned out to be a Water Clone. When struck, it collapsed into a puddle on the ground.
"A Water Clone? When did he—?" Just as the Kaguya Clan warrior was caught off guard, a murderous aura surged from behind him.
"Is that all the fight you've got? Samehada, eat him."
At Suikazan Fuguki's command, the fully unleashed Samehada opened its tooth-lined maw and bit down on half the Kaguya Clan warrior's body.
"AAAAAAAH..."
Even with his bone membrane hardened, he couldn't withstand Samehada's powerful bite and razor-sharp teeth. Before long, his entire body was a bloody mess.
"Ha, looks like you still have plenty of chakra left." Feeling the chakra continuously flowing from Samehada into him, Fuguki gradually returned to peak condition.
Unwilling to be "eaten" just like that, the Kaguya Clan warrior released the last of his chakra before Samehada could drain him dry.
"Sh-Shikotsu... Shikotsumyaku: D-Dance of the Willow."
"Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft..."
As Shikotsumyaku took effect, sharp bone spurs burst through the skin at his limbs—including his shoulders, elbows, hands, and knees. He tried to injure Samehada from within and force it to let go.
"Heh, what a naive attack." As Samehada's wielder, Fuguki knew perfectly well that its mouth had no weak points. His opponent's death throes were futile.
"I... I can't accept this..." Seeing that his all-out attack had failed to hurt Samehada, the Kaguya Clan elite gave up hope.
Unless something unexpected happened, all he could do was hope the Grim Reaper came quickly and spared him further pain.
"Who's there?" A figure suddenly appeared behind Suikazan Fuguki. He whipped around to look.
What met Fuguki's gaze was a white, spiral-patterned mask with a single eyehole—and the crimson eye beneath it.
"It's me. Make Samehada spit out that Kaguya Clan member."
Shimura Danzō had arrived just in time to stop Fuguki from killing him.
"Aide, what is the meaning of this?" While on a mission, Suikazan Fuguki had the right to dispose of defeated enemies as he pleased. Stealing his kill was considered a serious provocation.
Danzō knew Fuguki had misunderstood him.
"This man is one of the stronger members of the Kaguya Clan, and one of the Mizukage's targets."
Although Shisui hadn't clearly explained his purpose to Danzō, he had circled several names in the Kaguya Clan's family register. Danzō's task was to bring those people to Shisui alive.
"But I never received any such orders."
To Danzō's surprise, Suikazan Fuguki refused.
"Samehada likes the taste of this Kaguya. I'm going to eat him." In Suikazan Fuguki's eyes, Shimura Danzō, the Mizukage Aide, counted for nothing. He held the title of "Uchiha Madara" in even less regard.
"The Mizukage has given me authority over the Anbu. I'm ordering you to release that Kaguya." The Sharingan behind the mask narrowed slowly—a habit Danzō had whenever he was about to kill someone.
Still, considering the mission's priority, Danzō decided to complete it as efficiently as possible.
But to Fuguki, all this showed was that his opponent was weak. He was used to giving orders on the battlefield and had no intention of accepting the Mizukage Aide's commands.
"Aide, I only take orders from the Mizukage." Standing nearly two and a half meters tall, Fuguki looked down at Danzō, unmoved by the other man's steadily chilling gaze.
"Heh."
Danzō suddenly let out a cold laugh, the corner of his mouth lifting in scorn. "You have ambition, but none of the strength or brains to match. You think you're the cleverest person in the world, but everything you do is laughable. You're all arrogance and no ability—not even one ten-thousandth of my equal."
Danzō understood Fuguki's thinking perfectly well.
Back in Konoha, he had secretly dealt with plenty of schemers on the village's behalf.
Especially when Hiruzen Sarutobi had just taken the position of Third, countless eyes had coveted that Hokage hat, and they had tried every trick in the book.
A worthless fool like Suikazan Fuguki wasn't even worth Danzō's time.
"Damn you! I call you 'Aide' out of respect, but you really think you can throw your weight around just because the Mizukage backs you?" In Suikazan Fuguki's eyes, no one but the Mizukage mattered. He even believed he was qualified to take the Mizukage's seat—if only he weren't already thirty-five, having served under the Third Mizukage without getting his chance.
He had always told himself he was simply unlucky.
Now that Danzō had exposed the truth and struck a nerve, all Fuguki's frustration and resentment turned into hatred for him.
Sensing his master's intent, Samehada spat out the half-dead prey and turned to face Danzō.
"What, you want to fight? You're not fit to." By now, Danzō had no intention of letting Fuguki go. Otherwise, he would fail to complete Shisui's mission and lose his chance to compete for the Fifth Mizukage's seat forever.
"You old bastard, you're asking for it!" In his fury, Suikazan Fuguki didn't care what consequences might follow from attacking the Mizukage Aide. He raised Samehada with one arm and swung it at Danzō's waist.
Fuguki intended to make "Uchiha Madara" pay for that blow. He had already imagined several counterattacks his opponent might use, along with how he would respond.
Unfortunately, the result was something he'd never imagined.
"Is this... a clone?" Seeing "Uchiha Madara" cut in half at the waist by Samehada, yet not witnessing the gruesome scene he'd expected, Suikazan Fuguki suspected his opponent had used a clone.
But the bisected "Uchiha Madara" hadn't disappeared, and it didn't resemble any Clone Technique Fuguki knew.
"N-No, that's not right. It's not a clone." Only then did Suikazan Fuguki realize something was wrong.
"Could it be... a genjutsu?" Absolutely confident in his own strength, Suikazan Fuguki couldn't believe he had fallen for his opponent's genjutsu without noticing.
"Only figured it out now? How pathetic." In Suikazan Fuguki's vision, the bisected "Uchiha Madara" looked at him with a calm expression and mocked him.
In truth, Danzō's genjutsu had taken effect the moment Suikazan Fuguki first laid eyes on him.
And Fuguki had stared into the Sharingan without even realizing it.
That was why Danzō had thought his opponent wasn't even worthy of fighting him.
"In that case, let's try that move."
Having fallen under the Sharingan's genjutsu, Fuguki was helpless in Danzō's hands.
"Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique."
Before you continue