"It's raining so hard in Amegakure today, Mr. Itachi."
Kisame Hoshigaki grinned.
Of all the rogue ninja, he had always been the most obedient.
Before leaving the Bloody Mist Village, he had carried out the Mizukage's orders and killed his senior.
He was one of the few willing to follow the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan, and he did so wholeheartedly.
"This world feels so unreal. The life I had before my teens is nothing like the life I've had since."
"I can't tell what's real and what isn't. The senior I admired, the Mizukage I followed..."
"They're all like waves that change too quickly. Maybe only the young can remain unchanged."
"Mr. Itachi, you said that being in the rain always made you feel safe from prying eyes."
"You said the moon was the greatest eye of all, like a Mangekyo that would never close."
Itachi was in his strongest Samehada Fusion form.
But beneath Naruto's golden chakra hand, there was no chance of survival!
All his techniques had been countered, and every escape route had been cut off.
The vast amount of chakra, beyond anything Kisame could comprehend, carried the power to destroy everything.
Even a power that had always served him well was now inadequate.
Everything before Kisame's eyes was slipping away.
He hung in the air, unable to fall into the water below.
The golden hand was like a mirror.
It reflected the Masked One-Eyed Man.
"Madara Uchiha? Can you really create that perfect world?"
Kisame reached out.
For the first time, he wanted to lace his fingers with the golden hand's.
"How dazzling!"
"How wonderful it would be if I could stay awake and see that world, one that could rival the Infinite Tsukuyomi, without drifting into a dream."
"But this world is beyond saving!"
Kisame didn't say a word aloud. He only murmured to himself in his heart.
In the end,
all he could do was bare his sharp teeth in a grin.
"I really have been reminiscing, haven't I? Like an old man nearing the end, always telling the same worn-out stories."
Death was coming!
Even Samehada was trembling with fear.
There was no doubt that Naruto's terrifying power was affecting it.
"I prefer the sun to the moon, but I understand that this world needs both the sun and the moon!"
Naruto seemed to understand what Samehada was thinking.
The chakra hand covered the lake.
Whirlpools spun around the water, forming a gigantic Water Prison Cage.
The lines on its palm were clearly visible.
It closed around the tiny Kisame.
"Is that really the kind of power a human can wield?"
Kakuzu grumbled behind his mask.
Ever since seeing Naruto use Wood Style, he had been terrified.
Luckily, he hadn't rushed in to get himself killed right away.
Kisame Hoshigaki, the Tailed Beast Without a Tail, and Itachi Uchiha, who had wiped out his entire clan.
Both were absurdly powerful, yet Naruto had beaten them to this state.
"Hashirama Senju! After this battle, either nothing in the Ninja World will be able to stand in our way, or a new God of Shinobi will be born!"
Kakuzu swallowed.
The several lives inside him were all trembling, desperate to flee.
Yet he was also a little relieved, hoping the battles would use up as much of Naruto's chakra as possible.
If he could seize the chance and take Naruto's life once his chakra was depleted, it would avenge his failed assassination attempt on Hashirama Senju!
But...
Kakuzu's eyes nearly split at the corners as he stared at Naruto's invincible, sage-like figure.
Could they really lose?
Did the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's chakra have no limit?
For some reason,
Kakuzu couldn't shake the feeling that Naruto still had plenty of chakra and trump cards.
Perhaps transforming into the Nine-Tails wasn't the full extent of Naruto's power.
In fact, ever since the white hair and skin beneath Naruto's golden Chakra Cloak had appeared,
Kakuzu had felt a primal greed.
His fear of death and his pursuit of immortality and wealth made him want to know where that power, one with nature itself, came from!
"Why have you all submitted to him?"
Kakuzu looked at Orochimaru and Sasori, not sparing Deidara so much as a glance.
Everyone in Akatsuki knew Deidara wanted to blow up anyone he disliked.
There was no reasoning with him!
All Naruto needed was one excuse that would let Deidara unleash his explosive barrage, and he'd stay forever.
"I used to pursue the path to immortality, but now I want even more to know how to break down the boundary between life and death!"
Orochimaru was even more eager now to see Naruto take that divine step.
"Behind the Nine-Tails, he hides a terrifying power unknown to the world. Puppets can't have life or souls, but if the day comes when that door is truly broken through, even the line between illusion and reality will disappear."
Sasori reached out.
It was as if he wasn't touching the air but a door—
the Gate of Life and Death, which, once opened, would let him cross time and space and embrace his parents.
"What a bunch of incomprehensible lunatics. People need money to live, but all you care about is chasing one bizarre thing after another."
Kakuzu turned away.
The world rumbled.
The air shook with shock waves.
Amegakure's already shattered ruins were battered even worse.
Everyone felt a weight sink into their chest.
The golden hand slammed down, pinning Kisame like an insect!
The chakra struck with tremendous destructive force.
Samehada opened its mouth and desperately devoured the chakra, feeding it back to Kisame as they fused together.
Under normal circumstances,
Kisame would have gained more and more chakra until he had drained his opponent dry.
"Goodbye, Mr. Itachi!"
Kisame's eyes were bloodshot.
The powerful impact had left his whole body aching, and his chakra kept swelling until streaks of blood began to appear beneath his skin.
At the end of his life, the mist began to gather again.
Before Kisame lay the impenetrable Bloody Mist, boundless and covering every moment of his life.
Samehada was like a generator, trying to seize more and richer Nine-Tails Chakra to keep itself running.
But it was like a swimming pool being swallowed by a tsunami, its water level overwhelmed completely.
"So much mist... The air reeks of blood!"
Kisame spat out a mouthful of black blood.
His body and Samehada slowly separated.
The chakra hand clenched, crushing the greedy Samehada and Kisame completely.
Trapped under immense pressure, Samehada was in unbearable agony, yet it could see the figures in the Bloody Mist more and more clearly.
There was the one who had guided it, seniors, juniors, people it had killed, former teammates, the Fourth Mizukage, and its Akatsuki comrades.
In the end, only the Masked Man and Itachi remained by its side, each holding out a hand.
"So death is nothing special after all."
Kisame smiled as he watched the final scene: a golden hand shattered all the Bloody Mist and pushed away the hands of the Masked Man and Itachi.
Darkness completely swallowed Kisame's mind.
Crack!
The sound of a wooden panel splitting reached his ears.
Kisame felt his body again.
"Wasn't I dead?"
He pushed open the lid of the coffin.
Before him stood a small mountain made of ruins.
At its peak stood a boy radiating golden light.
Naruto turned around and tossed the well-used Samehada to Kisame. "From now on, you belong to me. You'll work for me."
He'd been resurrected?
Kisame Hoshigaki looked at his hands. Uchiha Itachi lay unconscious at his feet.
"A forbidden jutsu that brings the dead back to life! Why do I feel like I have even more chakra now?"
The Bloody Mist cleared.
Four enemies remained before Naruto:
Kakuzu, Hidan, Nagato, and Konan.
"Who's next?"
Naruto clenched his fist, then spread his fingers, casually weighing them as if they were fruit.