Kisame was a loyal man. Seeing Hidan act as though he no longer cared about the organization at all, even the last shred of pity he felt vanished. "Forget it. Is Deidara in the prison?"
"Deidara?"
Hidan planted his scythe beside him and dug in his ear with his little finger. "So he got caught too? You sure came quickly to rescue him. Where were you when I needed rescuing?"
"Looks like Deidara isn't in the prison. Let's go." Itachi's voice was calm. He had already noticed someone following them.
But at Hidan's attitude, Kisame's mouth twitched. "...Mr. Itachi, whether he's joined Konoha or fallen under genjutsu, the organization already considers him dead."
Clearly, Kisame wanted to attack. Itachi felt increasingly certain that something was wrong with him, which brought a possibility to mind—
Kisame has been acting strangely ever since we entered Konoha... Almost as though his mind has been influenced or altered.
Such an ability was not impossible. Shisui's Kotoamatsukami possessed that very power.
Is it an effect of that new barrier?
Itachi had roughly pieced together part of the answer. Realizing that Kisame might already be under the village's control, he simply stopped interfering. "Suit yourself. We'll split up, then."
Kisame had been assigned to watch him, so Itachi's words were undoubtedly a test.
"No problem. I'll teach this guy a proper lesson, then meet up with you afterward, Mr. Itachi!"
With a ┗|｀O′|┛ roar, Kisame raised his sword and charged at Hidan.
Hidan, meanwhile, looked entirely unsurprised. He grabbed his scythe and met Kisame head-on.
Inside the prison.
After the Chunin Ninja Exams, Kirigakure, Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure had all had either their tailed beasts or their Kage captured and imprisoned in Konoha. Every day, quite a few people who considered themselves highly skilled accepted missions