Ripping Samehada Apart! Beating Kisame Hoshigaki with Brute Force!

On the riverbank.

Kisame's smile was long gone.

He stared at the kneeling weasel, at the two streams of bloody tears flowing from the Mangekyo Sharingan, and only one thought remained in his mind—

Impossible.

Who is Itachi-san?

What level of technique is Tsukuyomi?

He had been with Akatsuki for so many years and had personally witnessed Itachi use Tsukuyomi to torture a Kage Level missing-nin to the point of mental breakdown, foaming at the mouth, and turning him into a vegetable on the spot.

That was a full seventy-two hours of mental torture.

And now--

Less than a second.

Itachi was hit by a counterattack.

"Itachi-san!"

Kisame's voice rang out, "What's wrong with you?!"

Itachi knelt on one knee, his left hand covering his bleeding left eye.

His breathing was rapid and disordered, a metallic taste rising in his chest, and he felt as if his spine had been removed.

He opened his mouth.

A mouthful of dark red blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, dripping down his chin onto the gravel.

"Quickly... Kisame..."

His voice was so hoarse that it was almost inaudible.

"This person... is not Jinchūriki..."

He paused for a moment, as if using his last bit of willpower to organize his thoughts.

"... It's a monster."

There was a two-second silence on the riverbank.

Kakashi stood behind, his right hand unconsciously clenching Kunai.

His Sharingan was still active, and the image of Itachi kneeling and coughing up blood was reflected in his pupils, but his brain was still unable to process the information.

Itachi Uchiha.

Core members of the Akatsuki.

A genius who wiped out his clan.

Users of Tsukuyomi.

--I'm kneeling.

Red was still covering her mouth with her hand, her fingertips trembling.

Asuma's cigarette had gone out on the ground; he had even forgotten that he was still injured.

The three Jonin stood like three wooden stakes.

The culprit behind all of this—

Naruto, with his hands in his pockets, tilted his head and glanced at Itachi.

His expression was as indifferent as if he had just finished a bowl of miso soup.

"Are you done talking?"

He withdrew his gaze, passing over Itachi and landing on Kisame, who was carrying Samehada three meters away.

"Your turn, Shark Face."

Kisame gripped the hilt of Samehada tightly.

His shark-like pupils contracted to slits, and all the muscles in his body were stretched to their limit.

The Samehada made a creaking sound—the scales opened and closed at an abnormally fast frequency.

It wasn't excitement.

It's shrinking back.

A living Ninja Blade, whose instinct is to "devour Chakra," is instinctively trying to escape.

Kisame's teeth clenched together with a grinding sound.

He'd fought half his life, Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, assassinated daimyo, defected from a ninja village, and joined the Akatsuki. What hadn't he seen?

Escape?

I don't know how to write the characters for Kisame Hoshigaki.

"Itachi-san."

He said in a low, deep voice, "You step back first."

Itachi raised his head, and the remaining Mangekyo Sharingan reflected Kisame's silhouette. His lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.

Kisame did not turn back.

He took Samehada off his shoulder and gripped the hilt of the sword with both hands.

Beneath his bluish-gray skin, Chakra began to surge violently.

"Little brat."

Kisame's voice regained its composure.

It wasn't an act—it was a veteran who, upon realizing that fighting was inevitable, instinctively switched to combat mode.

"I admit you're very strong. To push Itachi to this point, you're in the top three among everyone I've ever met."

He held the Samehada horizontally in front of him.

"But you've got one thing wrong."

Kisame took a step forward, and the water on the river surface rippled as his Chakra erupted.

"Itachi-san's Tsukuyomi is a psycho-type. Mine is different."

The bandages on Samehada burst open on their own, revealing a blue blade covered in barbs.

The living knife emitted a low hissing sound, its mouth-like structure opening to reveal countless tiny, sharp teeth inside.

"I am a pure physics enthusiast."

Kisame attacked.

It's very fast.

Kakashi's Sharingan only caught a fleeting afterimage as he approached.

Samehada slashed down with a piercing shriek that tore through the air, blue Chakra ripples exploding from the blade, and the entire river surface was rippled by the blade, creating a wall of water more than two meters high.

This strike was completely unpretentious.

Pure power.

Pure speed.

Pure – murderous intent.

Kakashi's pupils suddenly contracted.

He couldn't withstand the force of that strike.

Asuma couldn't stop him.

No one present could stop him.

Then he saw Naruto move.

It's not dodging.

Naruto raised his right hand.

Spread your five fingers.

Palms facing up.

A thin, almost transparent layer of golden light seeped from beneath the skin.

It's not the blue of Chakra, but a warmer, more primal color.

Yang Release).

Samehada slammed down.

"Bang--!"

The sound is wrong.

It wasn't the sound of metal cutting into flesh.

It was an extremely dull sound, like a hammer striking a mountainside.

Naruto's right hand firmly gripped the blade of Samehada.

Five fingers gripped the blue blade covered in barbs.

The barb can't penetrate.

The palm covered in a golden film was harder than any hangnail.

Kisame's pupils dilated sharply. "Idiot! Samehada will devour your Chakra— "

He hadn't finished speaking.

Samehada let out a scream.

It's not a metaphor.

It's real—a scream.

The moment the living Ninja Blade came into contact with the Yang Release energy in Naruto's palm, the entire blade trembled violently as if it had been branded with a hot iron.

The barbs all over its body contracted frantically, and patches of scorching golden marks appeared on the blue blade.

Samehada's "mouth" opened to its maximum size—not to devour.

It was a scream.

It desperately tried to break free from Naruto's grasp, its blade twisting and turning like a snake being grabbed by its vital spot, struggling wildly.

But Naruto's hand remained completely still.

"Devour?"

Naruto glanced down at the struggling, thrashing blade in his hand, and a slight smile played on his lips.

"You dare to show off this piece of junk knife that eats garbage?"

Bring your five fingers together.

Clench your fist.

Click.

The first crack appeared on Samehada.

"No--!"

Kisame gripped the hilt of the sword tightly with both hands, pulling it back, veins bulging on his forehead, his Chakra frantically pouring into Samehada in an attempt to stabilize it.

It's useless.

Naruto's grip tightened further.

The second crack.

The third course.

The fourth one.

Cracks spread from Naruto's palm to both sides, like a spider web, like lightning.

Kisame sensed it.

That power.

The impact that came from the blade of Samehada, flowing along the hilt into his hands—was not Chakra.

It is pure, primal, violent—physical force.

His finger bones made a cracking sound.

Then--

My wrist bone is broken.

"Ah--!"

Kisame grunted and flung his hands off the hilt of his sword.

He lowered his head.

Both hands were bent at an abnormal angle, starting from the wrists.

The sound of bones cracking still echoed in my ears.

Naruto casually tossed Samehada aside.

That legendary weapon, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist, twitched twice on the ground like a crippled dead fish, and then lay completely still.

Kisame didn't even have time to react.

One foot has already reached it.

Naruto's right foot, carrying the terrifying kinetic energy of the Perfect Sage Body's full power, brutally kicked Kisame right in the center of his chest.

There are no fancy Ninjutsu.

There was no Chakra light effect.

It was just one kick.

Pure physics.

"Boom--!!"

Kisame's sternum collapsed.

His entire body bent into a twisted arc, his feet off the ground, flying backward like a baseball hit to a home run—no, ten times faster than a baseball.

He didn't fly far.

Because he was flying downwards.

Kisame's body slammed into the riverbank at a near-vertical angle.

Gravel, soil, and rock shards scattered like a bomb exploding.

A huge crater, more than ten meters in diameter and over five meters deep, collapsed into the ground.

A muffled thud came from the bottom of the pit.

Then came the sound of blood spitting out.

It fell silent.

On the riverbank, the dust slowly settled.

Naruto retracted his foot, moved his ankle, and heard a slight clicking sound from his joints.

He glanced down at the bottom of the pit.

Kisame lay sprawled on the pile of rubble, a large section of his chest caved in, blood dripping from his mouth and nostrils.

Its shark-like eyes were still open, but the pupils were already dilated.

There's still air.

But it no longer possesses any fighting capability.

Naruto turned around.

His gaze swept over Itachi kneeling on the ground, Kisame slumped at the bottom of the pit, and Kakashi and the other two staring in disbelief in the distance.

He put his hands back into his pockets, shrugged slightly, as if to say, "That's it?"

Then he walked towards Itachi.

Squat down.

"Itachi Uchiha."

Itachi covered his left eye; the light in his Mangekyo Sharingan had dimmed considerably.

He struggled to lift his head and met Naruto's deep blue eyes, which were completely devoid of any emotion.

"You should remember everything I said to you inside."

Naruto's voice was very soft, so soft that only two people could hear it.

"About Sasuke. About the truth about the massacre of the clan. About what role you're playing."

The weasel's lips moved slightly.

"The path you laid out for Sasuke— " Naruto extended his index finger and tapped Itachi's forehead.

The exact same action as in Tsukuyomi.

"--This is hereby void, effective today."

Naruto stood up and dusted off his hands—there was no dust at all.

"Sasuke is mine. I will decide how to avenge him. I will decide how he will walk his path."

He turned around, his back to Itachi, and his voice drifted out casually.

"If you still want to live and see what happens to your brother—"

He tilted his head slightly.

"Just stay quietly in your lousy organization and don't come to Hidden Leaf looking for trouble again."

The weasel lowered its head.

Blood and tears are still flowing.

Naruto walked up to Kakashi and patted him on the shoulder.

"Alright, Kakashi-sensei, stop keeping your mouth open like that, mosquitoes are flying in."

Kakashi's mouth was indeed open.

It took him three seconds to close it.

"Naruto... what you just did..."

"Ah, it's nothing serious."

Naruto yawned. "It's just about teaching them how to be human."

He stretched and looked up at the sky.

The morning sun had completely pierced through the clouds, casting golden light on the river's surface, making it shimmer and sparkle.

It's very quiet.

It was just an ordinary morning.

It's as if nothing happened.

Just as Naruto was about to say something, a system notification sound suddenly rang in his mind.

[Ding--Abnormal fluctuation detected in the "Fate Intertwined" radar.]

[Location: Southwest, Land of Wind, Sunagakure.]

[Target: Temari (S-rank)]

[Status: Extremely Dangerous.]

[Emotional fluctuation capture -- "Naruto... save me..."]

Naruto's expression changed.

It's not that I'm worried.

It was an extremely subtle chill that rose from the depths of his eyes.

He slowly abandoned his lazy posture, tilted his neck slightly, and his knuckles cracked.

"Kakashi-sensei."

"Um?"

"Help me clean up these two lousy fish."

Naruto turned around, facing southwest.

Her golden hair was blown about by the morning breeze.

"I have something urgent to attend to."