Kisame Hoshigaki Slaughters the Seven Ninja Swordsmen! Samehada Chooses Its New Master on the Spot!

Pfft!

Kisame didn't hesitate for a moment. He reversed his grip on the blade and, with his own warm blood still on it, drove it viciously into Suikazan Fuguki's heart.

"You..."

Suikazan Fuguki's massive body shuddered violently. He lowered his head in disbelief, staring at the Ninja Blade embedded in his chest, then looked up at the shark-like face only inches away.

That face had once belonged to his most capable subordinate, his most loyal tool.

Kisame said nothing. He simply yanked out the Ninja Blade. Warm blood splattered across his face, making his already savage features look even more ferocious.

He didn't stop. With blood still streaming from the wound in his abdomen, he walked toward the next member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen bound by the vines.

"Psycho! You're a psycho!"

"Kisame! You've betrayed Kirigakure! You'll die a horrible death!"

"If you kill us, the Kirigakure Assassination Squad won't let you get away with it!"

"You... traitor! You'll never have a good ending!"

The legendary ninjas, still bound, finally came to their senses after their initial shock and began cursing and roaring furiously.

They were the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, the pride of Kirigakure, fearsome figures who struck terror into their enemies.

But now they hung helplessly in midair like livestock waiting to be slaughtered, forced to watch as a former subordinate approached them step by step, blade in hand.

Yahiko couldn't take it anymore. He shouted at Kisame's retreating back, "Stop! Kisame! Have you lost your mind? They can't fight back anymore!"

Kisame didn't slow down in the slightest.

Nagato reached out and stopped Yahiko from going after him.

"Yahiko, don't," Nagato said softly, but with a coldness that brooked no argument. "This is his choice. This is how he embraces pain."

"Embraces pain?" Yahiko spun around and looked at the Rinnegan in Nagato's expressionless eyes. A chill rose from the depths of his heart. "Nagato, how... how can you say something like that?"

Kakuzu watched the drama unfold. He glanced at Suikazan Fuguki's body in the pool of blood and clicked his tongue. "Tsk. What a waste. One heart, one bounty, gone just like that."

Sasori of the Red Sands had little interest in the slaughter. He cared more about the materials. "Hurry it up. Don't damage the bodies too much, or they won't look good as puppets."

Pfft!

Another muffled sound of a blade piercing flesh.

The second member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Munashi Jinpachi, wielder of the Exploding Blade Shibuki, was silenced with a single slash as he cursed in despair.

Kisame was like a tireless butcher, mechanically repeating the motions of swinging and withdrawing his blade.

Blood stained his dark blue hair and ran down his cheeks, mixing with the blood flowing from the wound in his abdomen. It pooled in a small puddle at his feet.

With every life he took, the hatred and savagery within him ebbed a little. But the light in his small eyes dimmed a little, too.

This wasn't the pleasure of revenge.

It was... release.

It was a final farewell to the past that had forced him to turn his blade against his comrades.

It was the beginning of his new life.

At last, he reached the final man.

Jinin Akebino, wielder of the blunt sword Kabutowari.

"Kisame... please, let me go..." Jinin Akebino had completely broken down, begging through his tears and snot. "I was forced into it, too! The order to kill our comrades came from the Mizukage and Captain Fuguki! It had nothing to do with me!"

Kisame raised his blade. As he looked at the face twisted with fear, countless faces flashed through his mind—the faces of the comrades he had killed with his own hands, just before they died.

Their expressions had looked much like this man's.

"It's all the same."

Kisame rasped out two words.

Pfft!

His blade fell. The seventh head rolled to the ground.

The entire plaza fell silent.

Only Kisame's labored breathing and the steady drip of blood hitting the ground could be heard.

Lin Feng watched in silence. He had shown no reaction from beginning to end.

The outcome was even better than he had expected.

A subordinate who submitted purely out of fear of your strength could betray you at any moment.

But someone who had severed his past with his own hands and offered himself to you completely would be unshakably loyal.

Kisame leaned on his blade and dropped to one knee in the pool of blood. The blood loss and pain made his vision swim.

Just then, a sudden change occurred!

The bandage-wrapped Greatsword Samehada, lying beside Suikazan Fuguki's corpse, suddenly began to twitch violently!

A low, beastlike humming came from beneath the bandages near the hilt.

"Hmm?"

Kakuzu and Sasori both sensed that something was wrong.

As everyone watched in astonishment, the legendary blade seemed to come alive. It slowly wriggled free from Suikazan Fuguki's already cold hand.

It rubbed itself against the blood on the corpse as if disgusted, then turned its tip toward Kisame, who was kneeling in the pool of blood.

The next moment, the entire Greatsword Samehada slid across the ground and rushed straight toward Kisame, like a loyal dog eager to find its master!

Kisame felt the massive Chakra, too. With effort, he lifted his head and faced the strange blade rushing toward him.

Samehada stopped in front of him.

The scale-like barbs on its hilt opened and closed, as if expressing excitement.

It was hungry.

Hungry for Kisame's massive, fierce Chakra, far beyond that of an ordinary person.

Kisame was stunned.

Of course he knew this blade.

It was Suikazan Fuguki's weapon, the most unusual of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen's blades—a "living blade" that could devour Chakra and merge with its master.

Was it... choosing him?

Kisame instinctively reached out and grasped Samehada's hilt.

Vmmm—!

A surge of vitality far greater than his own instantly flowed from the hilt into his body.

The wound in his abdomen began to heal at a visible speed, and a trace of color returned to his pale face.

Samehada let out a satisfied, joyful hum and affectionately rubbed its blade against Kisame's arm.

The surviving Kirigakure Ninja around them stared, completely dumbfounded.

The Greatsword Samehada had changed masters on the spot!

Lin Feng walked up to Kisame and looked down at him.

"Looks like it has better taste than its former master."

Kisame leaned on Samehada and struggled to stand and pay his respects, but Lin Feng raised a hand to stop him.

"From today on, you're no longer Kirigakure's executioner."

Lin Feng's voice wasn't loud, but every person present heard him clearly.

"You're a member of the Akatsuki."

"Your code name is South Star."

"You're also the Fourth Mizukage."

He reached out and pressed his hand against the still-gaping wound in Kisame's abdomen.

"You did well. Consider this power your reward."

A gentle energy, brimming with vitality, poured from Lin Feng's palm.

As Kisame watched in shock, a slender green shoot emerged between Lin Feng's fingers and took root in the flesh of his wound.

It grew at an impossibly rapid rate, weaving into a small network of vines that perfectly stitched the torn flesh together and healed it.

In just a few seconds, the wound that could have killed him was reduced to a faint scar.

Kisame felt the vigorous vitality coursing through his body. The shock in his heart defied words.

What... was this power?

Was it Medical Ninjutsu? No! No Medical Ninjutsu could bring someone back from the brink of death like this!

This was practically... creation!

"Thank you... Lord Madara..." Kisame knelt on one knee, this time submitting completely and sincerely.

Lin Feng looked at the Kirigakure Ninja still kneeling before him and spoke to Kisame.

"The changes in Kirigakure are only just beginning.

Nagato, Kakuzu, Konan, go with Kisame and invite representatives of all the Kekkei Genkai clans in Kirigakure to a meeting at the Mizukage Building."

"Yes, Lord Madara." ×6