Kisame rested the massive sword on his shoulder.
Its broad, heavy spine rubbed against his black robe, making a dull rustle.
When he grinned, the gill-like slits along his chin flexed with him.
The sight was rather nauseating.
"Asuma, leave this ugly bastard to me."
Kurenai stepped half a pace forward, standing on the water tinged with green sludge.
Her beautiful red eyes fixed on Kisame as her hands rapidly formed hand seals before her chest.
Her fingertips sent little strings of droplets flying.
"Genjutsu: Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death!"
The instant her words fell.
An enormous, ghostly tree rose from beneath the water.
Thick vines wound up Kisame's ankles like snakes.
Within seconds.
They had bound his towering body tightly to the trunk.
"Got you!"
Kurenai's gaze sharpened.
She held a kunai in a reverse grip.
Her upper body emerged from the phantom trunk, and she stabbed straight at Kisame's throat.
Squish!
The kunai sank in.
But.
No blood flowed out.
Kurenai felt as though her kunai had sunk into a soft, sticky mass of foul water.
"Heh heh heh..."
A low chuckle that made her scalp prickle.
Came from behind her.
"You think genjutsu of this caliber can hold me?"
Kurenai whipped her head around, her pupils contracting sharply.
The "Kisame" she had bound to the tree turned into a puddle of stinking water and splashed into the river.
A Water Clone!
The real Kisame had already slipped into her blind spot!
The massive Samehada in his hands, wrapped in a few tattered bandages, whistled shrilly through the air.
Like a gigantic comb.
It smashed toward Kurenai's slender waist.
"Watch out!"
Asuma roared, the cigarette in his mouth falling onto the water with a hiss.
Along the edges of his Flying Swallow blades.
Pale green blades of wind