Taijutsu Ninjas Are Indeed Annoying

At the edge of the barrier!

Kisame, moving swiftly, fixed his gaze on the Shadow Clone not far ahead. A trace of barely noticeable apprehension appeared in his eyes.

Kisame could sense that Naraku was far stronger than him. Under normal circumstances, if he encountered someone of Naraku's caliber, he would absolutely choose to avoid them.

Even now, facing only his Shadow Clone, Kisame did not dare let down his guard in the slightest.

"Kisame, huh?"

The Shadow Clone maintaining the barrier muttered inwardly. He had long noticed Kisame's appearance. If maintaining the barrier did not require such a massive amount of chakra, even as a mere Shadow Clone, Naraku would have wanted to test himself against him.

But for now, it was better to leave him to Guy.

After all, although Naraku's chakra reserves now rivaled those of a Tailed Beast, maintaining the upgraded Four Red Yang Formation alone—a technique requiring four Kage-level experts to cast—still put some strain on him.

Especially since Obito, whose strength was no weaker than his own, was inside the barrier.

"I'll leave him to you, Guy."

The Shadow Clone spoke softly. The next moment—

Whoosh!

A figure flashed past behind him at high speed. It was Guy.

"Yosh! Leave it to me!"

Guy declared confidently. Without waiting for the Shadow Clone to respond, he vanished in a flash. When he reappeared, he was already standing not far in front of Kisame.

"This guy is...?"

Kisame showed a hint of surprise as he looked at Guy, who had suddenly appeared before him.

Obito's original mission for him had been to randomly ambush Konoha's ninja forces and support Deidara and the others.

Kisame had even felt somewhat dissatisfied with that mission. He wanted to spar with a powerful opponent too—but he swore to himself that