This is the smallest knife on me

A nail clipper!

Kisame Hoshigaki's eyes flared with blood-red light; even for a Kage-level powerhouse, this was far too insulting.

"I am fundamentally different from those Chunin. I am a direct subordinate of Lord Suikazan Fuguki, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and I possess the strength of a Jonin."

"With the great sword Samehada in hand, even I am terrified by the full force of my own strike. And you intend to face me with a nail clipper?"

Feeling utterly humiliated, Kisame Hoshigaki bared his teeth and retorted indignantly, "You will regret this. Any other ninja would never be as arrogant as you."

Regret? I'll regret nothing. Seeing the points jumping by +1 and +1, which showed just how much his attitude was affecting Kisame, Rasa felt completely satisfied.

He shrugged and apologized, "I am truly sorry, but this is the smallest blade I have on me. I don't have the habit of carrying an ear pick."

An ear pick!

Kisame Hoshigaki's heart swelled along with the expanding Samehada, his cardiac muscles tightening; so, in his eyes, I'm only worth the level of an ear pick.

"If I pull out a nail clipper, should I be thanking you for overestimating me?"

Sensing the wildness in Kisame's heart, the great sword Samehada revealed its ferocious nature, thrashing and struggling as if it wanted to swallow Rasa whole.

"Hah!"

With a roar, Kisame Hoshigaki swung Samehada, shattering the inn wall and smashing toward Rasa with the force of a death sentence.

Every barb glowed with a blood-red light, and every bit of chakra it absorbed burned; Samehada was like a crocodile, launching a death roll toward Rasa.

It opened its blood-drenched maw to reveal rows of sharp teeth, spraying foul-smelling saliva, swearing to tear Rasa apart for a high-quality chakra feast.

Rasa finally moved. He pinched the nail clipper between two fingers and slashed forward; the speed was sharp, like a thunderbolt.

Kisame grinned, anticipating what would happen next.

According to Captain Suikazan Fuguki's analysis, this Himura Kenshin wasn't fighting without chakra; rather, his control was so exquisite that others couldn't perceive it.

Thinking about it, that was the most logical explanation. In the current ninja world, how could a ninja or swordsman fight without using chakra?

It was merely a matter of precision and the method of application.

Samehada could absorb an enemy's chakra; even if it couldn't touch Himura Kenshin's body, it could at least touch his nail clipper.

Upon contact, it would drain the chakra infused into the tool, and combined with his own strength and the absolute disparity in weapon quality, he would surely shatter Himura Kenshin's perfect defense.

You are still too arrogant. Kisame Hoshigaki felt victory was in his grasp; it was steady, couldn't be steadier. It seemed Himura Kenshin was intentionally holding back.

Lying on the ground, Ringo Ameyuri also considered a possibility: could it be that Himura Kenshin didn't want to offend Kirigakure too deeply and was intentionally throwing the fight to return the ninja tools to the village?

Electromagnetic Force, activate!

The moment the nail clipper met Samehada, all of Kisame Hoshigaki and Ringo Ameyuri's fantasies and confidence were shattered in an instant.

A trace of lightning surged onto the nail clipper, transforming into a streak of light like a meteor crossing the night sky. It shredded Samehada's barbs, pierced its scales, left a wound several feet long, and lodged itself into the blade's body.

The recoil traveled to Kisame, who held the sword; the webbing between his thumbs and forefingers split, blood seeping out. He was sent flying backward, slamming into the wall and leaving cracks before sliding to the floor.

Samehada's misplaced confidence vanished; it retracted its barbs and returned to its original state, acting docile while blood flowed from its side.

Kisame Hoshigaki groaned, his eyes vacant as he stared blankly at Samehada. Impossible. This is simply impossible.

His full-force strike from a superior position had been blocked by a nail clipper. It defied logic. Samehada hadn't absorbed any chakra, and instead, its scales had been pierced by a mere nail clipper.

Samehada had followed Suikazan Fuguki through countless battles and had never been damaged; its scales were even harder than the Kubikiribōchō.

The overlapping information declared a single fact: Himura Kenshin's swordsmanship had reached the realm of gods and demons; he was truly a god among swordsmen.

Without using chakra, relying solely on blade technique, he had blocked a strike from Samehada with a nail clipper and even wounded both the sword and its wielder.

Defeat is not a shame. How could an ordinary ninja be a match for a god?

Kisame slumped dejectedly on the floor, murmuring, "Is this the Sword God? The pinnacle of blade arts... I have witnessed it..."

Rasa retracted his blood-stained hand and examined it; he hadn't expected Samehada's blood to be red as well.

To ensure the nail clipper could pierce Samehada's defense and counter-injure the wielder, Rasa had pushed his Electromagnetic Force to the limit.

Shaking the blood from his hand, Rasa shook his head and sighed, "This blood is not mine. It is a pity; you did not pass my test."

Ringo Ameyuri's heart trembled. Am I going to die?

Rasa changed his tone, saying, "However, I am satisfied with you."

"If Samehada can be counted as a sword, then your talent in the way of the sword surpasses this girl's."

"Unfortunately, you are merely a blade. You can only be swung at enemies passively, unable to decide the direction of the strike yourself. There is always a layer of restraint upon you."

Between the lines, he was clearly hinting for Kisame to defect and become a turncoat.

Kisame Hoshigaki was thoughtful. He wasn't actually stupid; he was just too professional, stubbornly believing he should be nothing more than a blade.

Rasa waved his hand and turned to leave, saying, "Your lives are yours for now."

"But I will take these ninja tools. When you become truly strong and have the confidence to take one of my strikes, come to the Land of Wind to find me."

"I have a friend in the Land of Wind. Once he sees you, he will bring you to me. If you can take one strike from me then, I will return these things to you."

Kisame watched Rasa's retreating figure, unable to recover for a long time. The Land of Wind, is it?

Rasa's true goal was to obtain points and raise his Electromagnetic Force level; compared to that, even Sunagakure didn't matter all that much.

It was merely a tool to alter the plot and leverage the ninja world. Since it was a tool, one had to make at least two preparations.

Before the plot began was the Third Great Ninja War; after the plot began was the Konoha Crush Plan, followed by the Akatsuki. Rasa viewed everything as a tool for harvesting points.

Establishing an organization similar to the Akatsuki to manipulate the landscape of the ninja world from the shadows, maintaining both overt and covert identities, seemed like a decent idea.

The muddier the waters of the ninja world became, the more he would profit. As for Kisame, he was a high-quality thug; it would be best to hoodwink this honest man early on to prevent him from being swindled by Obito.

"Thud."

Lost in his future plans, Rasa had inadvertently let his mind wander. Just as he stepped out of the inn, he bumped into someone.

A broken bowl sat here...