Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
Lin Mu no longer needed to watch where he was going. He only had to pick a direction.
Under the crushing advance of the enormous Wood Human, the trees ahead didn't matter how tall or thick they were.
They all got smashed, toppled, or ripped out by the roots!
The once-lush forest was carved open into an incredibly wide road.
Kisame Hoshigaki glanced back, his eyes nearly splitting with rage!
Lin Mu's Wood Human was much faster than he was.
There was no escaping now!
"..."
After a few seconds of silence, Kisame Hoshigaki quickly made up his mind.
Although the Wood Human was incredibly powerful and seemed to have no weaknesses,
the caster himself was the greatest weakness of this technique!
His eyes filled once more with bloodlust and madness. He darted forward and rushed up a towering tree.
After changing direction with practiced skill, he used the spring of the tree's branches to fling himself toward the top of the enormous Wood Human!
"Well, well, you know to look for weaknesses!"
Seeing Kisame Hoshigaki flying toward him, Lin Mu once again wore a mocking smile.
"Get down!!"
He controlled the Wood Human, waited for the right moment, and brought a fist crashing down.
A tremendous impact rang out, like thunder.
Kisame Hoshigaki's body shot away like a cannonball, just as before.
But this time, Lin Mu had controlled the direction of his punch.
Kisame wasn't sent flying. He was smashed straight into the ground.
Thud, thud, thud...
The heavy footsteps approached. Kisame tried to get up and run, but his whole body felt as if it had fallen apart. He couldn't even stand.
"Still struggling?"
Lin Mu was a little surprised. He knew exactly how powerful the Wood Human was.
Kisame Hoshigaki could still move?
"Heh heh heh heh heh..."
His chilling smile widened. Lin Mu made the giant bend down and sent its enormous fist crashing toward Kisame, who lay on the ground.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
After three punches, the ground had caved into a huge crater, and Kisame lay motionless inside it.
He opened his mouth, seeming to want to say something.
"Hm? You can still talk? Still want to curse me?!"
Before Kisame could get a word out, Lin Mu spoke, sounding a little annoyed.
"Shut it!"
Lin Mu made the Wood Human straighten up. Its enormous foot lifted, then stomped down hard.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
After three more stomps, Kisame was completely on the verge of death. Samehada lay stiff beside him, as if it had become lifeless.
"Phew..."
Seeing Kisame Hoshigaki unconscious, Lin Mu finally relaxed.
He hurriedly dispelled the Wood Human Technique and dropped to the ground.
Although he had summoned the Wood Human with a trial card, controlling it still required his own chakra.
After those punches and kicks, his body was nearly at its limit, too.
"Whew... Monsters really are monsters. That guy's body is unbelievably tough!"
Lin Mu sighed from the bottom of his heart.
He had completely forgotten who had just chased Kisame Hoshigaki down and beaten him to a pulp.
"Huh..."
Suddenly, Lin Mu's gaze seemed to catch sight of something.
He walked a few steps forward and came to Kisame Hoshigaki's body.
Looking at the great sword Samehada beside him, he fell into thought.
"Samehada? I'll take that!"
He reached out and grabbed the hilt of the great sword.
Lin Mu's hand had barely touched Samehada when the sword suddenly writhed violently, as if it were alive.
"Hm?"
Lin Mu furrowed his brow.
Samehada seemed to sense Lin Mu's displeasure. Remembering the terror of being dominated by the giant Wood Human, it went limp and gave up resisting.
"Hmph! That's more like it."
Lin Mu nodded in satisfaction, then lifted Samehada to examine it.
Not bad, not bad!
A great sword like this was perfect for a tough guy like me!
Samehada seemed to sense Lin Mu's thoughts. It curved around and rubbed its body against his shoulder.
"..."
This sword... sure knew how to get on his good side!
Lin Mu's battle was over, but Naruto Uzumaki was still locked in a grueling struggle.
Chakra gathered all around him, but he simply couldn't think of any jutsu that could save Sasuke Uchiha.
"AAAAAAAAAH!"
Itachi Uchiha's hand tightened slightly. There was a sharp crack.
Sasuke let out a piercing scream.
"Sasuke!"
Seeing Sasuke injured, Naruto's eyes instantly reddened.
The chakra around him surged violently, and a faint red chakra began to seep out, burning around him like flames.
"The Nine-Tails' chakra?"
Itachi Uchiha's eyes shifted slightly. He slowly raised his free hand and reached toward Naruto Uzumaki.
But his hand never touched Naruto.
That was because Itachi Uchiha saw someone appear behind him.
"You don't know me at all. The manly Jiraiya would never be seduced by a woman!"
Jiraiya had appeared behind Naruto at some point, carrying the beautiful woman from earlier over his shoulder. His face was full of pride as he declared:
"I'm even better at sweet-talking women. I'd never be tempted by a woman's beauty! Women come to me on their own!"
Itachi Uchiha, Naruto, and Sasuke: "..."
The atmosphere suddenly turned strangely awkward.
A row of black lines crossed Naruto's forehead. Even with Itachi Uchiha right beside them, he couldn't help pointing at Jiraiya and shouting:
"Just one lascivious look from a woman gets you all worked up. Quit showing off, you Pervy Sage!"
"Ahem, I told you not to call me that in front of other people!"
Jiraiya felt a little embarrassed after Naruto exposed him, and scratched the back of his head.
At the same time, he couldn't help thinking: If Lin Mu were here, he'd definitely admire how impressive I am!
Lin Mu...
Lin Mu?
Where was Lin Mu?!
He looked ahead and saw only Itachi Uchiha.
Kisame Hoshigaki and Lin Mu...
Jiraiya's expression gradually grew serious.
"To lure me away from Naruto, you used your hypnotic eyes to cast a genjutsu on that woman. What a despicable trick!"
Seeing Jiraiya arrive, Itachi Uchiha slowly released his grip. Sasuke dropped to the ground.
There was a hint of realization in Itachi's voice:
"No wonder Mr. Kakashi knew about it too... I see. You were the source of the information?"
He lowered his eyes to the giant toad blocking his way and said calmly:
"Taking Naruto is the highest-priority order our organization, Akatsuki, has given us!"
"What's going on?"
At the center of the storm, Naruto Uzumaki was filled with confusion. He had no idea why all these people were after him.
The giant toad blocking Naruto turned into smoke and vanished. Jiraiya stepped forward to shield Naruto, his voice cold.
"I won't hand Naruto over to you!"
Itachi Uchiha's eyes shifted. Only after a long pause did he part his lips and say:
"That remains to be seen!"
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