Monstrous Strength Crushes All, Shattering Samehada's Arrogance

Samehada's broad blade slammed heavily into Ye's palm.

The violent shockwave sweeping out from the point of impact shook down the already crumbling houses around them, sending rubble mixed with ice shards flying in every direction.

Gripping the hilt tightly with both hands, Kisame Hoshigaki poured all his strength into his arms and ground forward viciously, wanting nothing more than to cleave the arrogant brat before him in two with one strike.

Yet the recoil force rushing back along the blade sent a sharp pain through his wrists, leaving even the gaps between his bones numb.

The black-clad youth standing before him remained perfectly upright, his knees not bending in the slightest.

"With that little strength, you think you can kill someone?"

Ye lifted his eyelids, his gaze passing over Samehada and settling on Kisame's face.

Kisame bared his mouthful of sharp teeth, which gleamed with a cold, sinister light beneath the sun.

"Quit putting on an act, brat."

He thrust his shoulders forward again, his ten fingers tightening further around the hilt.

"So what if you're strong? Once you touch Samehada, your chakra will be drained dry. Just wait to become a shriveled corpse!"

The massive current summoned by the Great Shark Bullet Technique swirled around them. The white bandages covering Samehada snapped apart inch by inch, and countless strips of cloth were torn into the air by the gale, fluttering wildly.

The ugly true form hidden beneath the bandages was fully exposed. Dense rows of barbed scales stood erect, wrapping layer upon layer around Ye's palm as they began devouring the chakra spilling from it.

The devouring began.

Kisame slightly eased the pressure of his arms. He was already waiting to watch the youth exhaust his chakra and collapse at his feet in despair.

Samehada, which had accompanied him for years, had drained the chakra of countless powerful opponents. It had never failed.

Standing behind them, Kabuto Yakushi raised a hand and adjusted his round glasses. There was not the slightest trace of concern in his eyes behind the lenses.

He knew better than anyone how terrifying Lord Ye's chakra was. That vast power had no discernible end. If Samehada dared keep devouring it, it would only destroy itself in the end.

Zabuza drove the Kubikiribōchō heavily into the ground, then folded his arms. His gaze toward Kisame had already turned cold, as though the outcome had long been decided.

A full ten seconds passed in silence.

Not a sound stirred on the devastated street, save for the dull roar of the circulating water.

Ye remained where he stood. His black trench coat snapped and billowed in the gale, yet his breathing was steady, his complexion healthy. There was no sign of chakra exhaustion whatsoever.

Kisame Hoshigaki, on the other hand, had his wild grin frozen on his face. His fish-like eyes grew wider and wider, and even his breathing fell out of rhythm.

The amount of chakra flowing back through the hilt was so enormous that it defied all reason. No matter how Samehada devoured it, it could never reach the end.

"How is this possible... Even a tailed beast should have run out after being drained by Samehada for this long!"

Kisame clenched his teeth, the muscles beside his gills bulging high as he activated the chakra within his body and forcibly pushed Samehada's devouring ability to its limit.

Meeting those protruding fish eyes, Ye let out a faint scoff from his throat.

The newly fused Abyssal Sea Core was operating at full speed within him. The vitality of his already immensely powerful Sage Body had doubled once more at this moment.

Drawn by it, natural energy gathered from all around, forming visible white vortexes that poured continuously into his body.

"Still want to eat?"

Ye raised his palm, slowly spreading his fingers.

"Then eat your fill."

The chakra pathways in his palm opened completely, and an ocean of senjutsu chakra surged forth, flooding in reverse into Samehada through the point where they touched.

With no room left to devour any more, Samehada could only endure this utterly unrestrained forced infusion.

The blade, which had been twisting viciously moments ago, froze on the spot. Then a shrill, piercing wail rang through the street.

The long screech made everyone's eardrums ache. Every person present could clearly hear the agony within it.

Its barbed scales, swollen open by the excessive chakra, stood straight up one after another. Samehada's originally flat blade rapidly expanded, doubling in size in the blink of an eye.

It had eaten too much.

The blade was packed full of immense vitality carrying the violent properties of senjutsu, with no time to digest it, yet more chakra continued pouring in without end.

Samehada struggled violently in Kisame's hands. Its thick hilt twisted back and forth, desperately resisting Ye's palm.

"Hey! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

The muscles in Kisame's arms bulged abruptly as he tried to grip the hilt again, but the struggling force grew stronger and stronger, giving him no chance to control it.

Another miserable wail sounded, and Samehada actually tore itself free from Kisame's hands. Its bloated body twisted and flipped through the air, desperately fleeing from Ye.

After flopping weakly more than a dozen meters away, it smashed heavily into the ruins by the roadside, spraying up a cloud of rubble and dust.

The massive blade sprawled on the ground and twitched continuously, spewing white foam and undigested chakra fluid from its edge. It did not even dare turn over. Its earlier ferocity had vanished completely.

Kisame's hands remained raised in front of him, his fingers still curled in the posture of gripping a sword. They did not close for a long while, and his mind was completely blank.

The chakra reserves he had always been proud of, along with the title of Tailed Beast Without a Tail bestowed upon him by the Shinobi World, had all lost their meaning at this moment.

His most trusted ninja sword had actually been force-fed chakra until it vomited, then escaped its master of its own accord and fled into the distance.

Everything unfolding before him had completely surpassed Kisame's understanding built over so many years. Even the conviction in battle he had always held to was beginning to shake violently.

On a watchtower in the distance, Ao pressed one hand tightly over his Byakugan, blood continuously streaming through his fingers.

The sudden torrent of chakra had injured his optic nerves. His vision was mostly white now, and he could no longer make out Ye's figure clearly.

Ye gave Kisame no chance to regain his composure. His counterattack followed immediately.

As Ye stepped forward, the instant his foot touched the ground, the stone slabs and soil beneath them collapsed together, forming a crater three meters across.

His figure shot across the street. In an instant, Ye was at Kisame's side. Every movement came from taijutsu pushed to its absolute limit, without a shred of wasted motion.

His waist twisted sharply, and Ye's right leg swept out with crushing force toward Kisame's side. The air along its path was torn apart by force, erupting in successive deafening sonic booms.

The Great Shark Bullet water barrier surrounding Kisame collapsed on the spot. Water and white mist blasted outward in every direction, unable to slow that leg in the slightest.

What struck home solidly was that sweeping leg.

A dense series of cracking bones echoed through the entire street, making the scalps of those in the distance go numb.

Before he could even scream, Kisame's tall, burly body folded in midair and shot backward.

The air his body tore through shook violently, shattering the remaining doors and windows on both sides of the street.

Three consecutive thunderous crashes shook half the district.

Kisame smashed straight through three two-story stone houses behind him. Their sturdy walls crumbled layer by layer beneath the impact, and bricks and rubble carpeted the path of his flight.

A vast cloud of dust surged into the sky, swiftly engulfing those ruined buildings and obscuring more than half the street.

No sound came from the depths of the ruins. Whether Kisame Hoshigaki was dead or alive was unknown, but he had completely lost the ability to fight.

From the moment they exchanged blows to the battle's end, the entire process had been incredibly swift, taking less than half a minute.

Ye slowly withdrew his right leg. The sole of his shoe remained clean, not even stained with a speck of dust.

His hands hanging naturally at his sides, Ye stood alone in the middle of the wrecked street, his breathing rhythm unchanged.

The four subordinates behind him looked as calm as ever, not the least bit surprised by the result.

At that moment, the thick mist at the end of the street stirred softly, and several figures gradually emerged from its depths.

The crisp, rhythmic click of high heels passed through the ruins, each step clearly reaching the ears of everyone present.

The approaching clicks fell upon the stone slabs at perfectly even intervals.

Passing through the endlessly rolling mist, several figures slowly entered everyone's view.

Walking at the front was a mature woman with long, wavy reddish-brown hair.