The chakra fluctuations coming from Uzumaki Shixia had not weakened in the slightest.
Kisame dared not hesitate. He immediately used the great sword Samehada to devour the remaining power of Uzumaki Shixia's ninjutsu.
No matter how much chakra Samehada devoured from other shinobi, it could never get enough.
But if it swallowed the Ten-Tails' chakra, it might end up like a snake trying to swallow an elephant and gorge itself to death.
However, what Samehada was devouring now was not all of Uzumaki Shixia's chakra, but an insignificant fraction of his power.
"Lightning Release: Hell Stab: Four-Finger Nukite!"
While Samehada was still struggling to devour the energy contained in 60 Million Volts: Thunder Dragon, Uzumaki Shixia made his move.
He had already appeared in front of Kisame.
Bam!
This time, Kisame could not even make a move before Uzumaki Shixia blasted him away!
Uzumaki Shixia had avoided his vitals, held back his strength, and refrained from using the more powerful One-Finger Nukite.
Otherwise, Kisame would not merely have been badly injured-he would have been torn to pieces!
Thud!
Kisame flew high into the air and slammed heavily into the ground, all the fight knocked out of him.
If Uzumaki Shixia had not pulled back at the last moment, Kisame would have been split in two.
"Samehada!"
"Chakra transfer!"
Kisame gripped Samehada and spoke in a feeble voice.
As he looked at Uzumaki Shixia in midair, he could not help feeling a lingering dread.
Too strong!
This guy is far too strong!
His strength is utterly absurd!
He only used Four-Finger Nukite, not One-Finger Nukite!
At the very last moment, he even avoided my vitals and pulled back in time.
Otherwise, I'd already be dead!
Uzumaki Shixia had thoroughly traumatized Kisame with that beating.
As Uzumaki Shixia slowly descended from the air, he showed no sign of having expended any energy in the battle.
Throughout the fight, he had remained completely at ease, controlling his power effortlessly.
Clearly, Kisame had given it his all, while Uzumaki Shixia had merely tried his hand with a few casual attacks.
By now, Mei Terumi had helped Chojuro escape the Water Prison Technique.
She, Chojuro, Ao, and Gonbei all stared in shock as Uzumaki Shixia slowly landed and stood on the water.
Kisame had practically overwhelmed all four of them single-handedly.
Yet against Uzumaki Shixia, he had been crushed with effortless, overwhelming force!
After staring at Uzumaki Shixia for a long while, Mei Terumi's beautiful eyes narrowed!
His appearance matched an important figure described in their intelligence!
The Amegakure Black Market's Mission Thugs, Mission Perpetual Motion Machine, and Mission-Killing Machines!
With Elder Genshi advanced in years, Mei Terumi was currently helping him handle most of Kirigakure's affairs.
Others in Kirigakure might not know much about Uzumaki Shixia, but Mei Terumi did.
Uzumaki Shixia, the dazzling rising star of the Amegakure Black Market.
He possesses an unbelievable talent for Lightning Release and has mastered nearly every Lightning Release Ninjutsu in the shinobi world.
He carries out missions with exceptional efficiency and has a one hundred percent completion rate!
He has defeated numerous powerful shinobi during his missions.
S-Rank missing-nin such as Kakuzu, Orochimaru, and now Kisame have all fought him-and every one of them lost!
Mei Terumi quickly recalled the intelligence on Uzumaki Shixia.
Even she, the future Fifth Mizukage, could not help being deeply shocked by his terrifying strength.
Throughout the history of the shinobi world, only a handful of shinobi had ever remained undefeated.
And Uzumaki Shixia, who looked so young, was one of them!
Just how terrifying was his strength?
And how terrifying was his talent?
After quickly reviewing what she knew about Uzumaki Shixia, Mei Terumi led Chojuro, Ao, and Gonbei in thanking him.
She was not entirely sure why Uzumaki Shixia had saved them.
But if he had not intervened, they would certainly have suffered casualties.
As an S-Rank missing-nin from Kirigakure, Kisame was extraordinarily powerful.
Not only did he possess immense natural strength, but he also had a terrifying quantity of chakra.
His water release ninjutsu had reached a level of consummate mastery.
Wielding the great sword Samehada only made him even more formidable.
Under those circumstances, even the four of them together were no match for Kisame.
Especially at the end, when Kisame's Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave came crashing down from above-it would have pinned her down and prevented her from escaping the lake.
Chojuro, trapped in the Water Prison Technique, along with the already injured Gonbei and Ao, would certainly have been swiftly defeated.
Without those three helping to keep Kisame occupied, she could neither defeat him nor easily escape him.
At that thought, Mei Terumi felt even more grateful to Uzumaki Shixia.
It was precisely because he had suddenly intervened and crushed Kisame with terrifying, overwhelming strength...
That the entire series of dreadful events that would have followed had been prevented!
"Sir, thank you for saving us just now. I'm..."
Mei Terumi could not finish her sentence.
She had just noticed something that left her utterly stunned.
Uzumaki Shixia's sudden appearance to save them had already seemed incredible.
But the scene unfolding before her now was simply too absurd.
After rescuing them, Uzumaki Shixia had smoothly pulled out a stack of commission sheets and begun carefully comparing details and doing calculations.
First, he took out one commission sheet and carefully compared its photograph to Mei Terumi.
The dark blue robe, long brown hair, long bangs covering one eye, and tall figure all matched perfectly.
The shinobi standing before him was indeed the Mei Terumi listed on the commission sheet!
After confirming he had the right person, Sixia nodded earnestly and said,
"Mei Terumi, a bounty of twenty million ryo!"
Having confirmed Mei Terumi's identity, Sixia took out a second commission sheet and carefully checked it.
This sheet bore a photograph of a middle-aged man with short hair.
The man had a rather stern face.
After a careful comparison, Sixia confirmed that he had the right person here, too.
It was none other than Gonbei, one of Genji's personal guards.
Sixia looked up at Gonbei, then lowered his gaze to the commission sheet and said to himself,
"Gonbei, a bounty of eight million ryo!"
"Well, well, that's quite a hefty bounty."
Sixia did not have much of an impression of Gonbei.
After all, Gonbei generally stayed at Genji's side and spent most of his time within Kirigakure.
If not for the clear photograph and vivid description on the commission sheet, he might not have recognized Gonbei at all.
After Gonbei, Sixia turned to the third person.
This man had very distinctive features. Normally, he wore an eyepatch, giving him a one-eyed appearance.
The eye beneath that patch was a Byakugan.
He had already revealed it during the fight with Kisame.
This was none other than Ao, a jonin of Kirigakure.
Holding the commission sheet, Sixia spoke in an utterly casual tone.
"Ao, a bounty of fifteen million ryo!"
Turning over the commission for Ao's assassination, Sixia rummaged through his stack of sheets as though no one else were there.
Then he picked out another commission sheet and looked toward the bespectacled boy nearby, who was holding the twin sword Hiramekarei.
He carefully compared the boy to the photograph and the description of his physical features on the sheet.
Sixia confirmed his identity: Chojuro.
"Chojuro, a bounty of ten million ryo!"
"Tsk, tsk, Chojuro, you'll have to keep working hard."
"You're only worth ten million ryo in their eyes!"
After confirming all four of their identities, Sixia broke into a delighted smile.
Still smiling, he looked over the four of them as though inspecting mission items, then said,
"Excellent. That means if I bundle up all four of you and take you away, I'll get a bounty of fifty-three million!"
"You lot aren't much in a fight, but I'm very happy with your prices."
Uzumaki Shixia excitedly slapped the stack of commission sheets in his hands, his face brimming with delight.
These four were worth so much money!
How many ordinary commission missions would he have to complete to earn as much as taking these four away in one bundle?
Many of the commission missions he sent his Wood Clones to complete paid only ten thousand ryo, or even less.
If he excluded the rewards from the Shinobi World Mercenary System and counted only the payment...
How many thousands of ordinary commission missions would he have to carry out to earn this much?
Fortunately, he had more chakra than he could ever use.
For the vast majority of commission missions, he could simply send a Wood Clone instead of carrying them out himself.
Otherwise, he would never have been able to clear out all the black market's commission missions so easily on his own.
Although none of the commission missions he had accepted before had ever paid this much...
He had still amassed an enormous fortune after completing so many of them.
Without System Space, he would have had nowhere to keep all the money he had earned!
And his wealth was constantly increasing.
Even now, he still had numerous Wood Clones carrying out various low-difficulty commission missions all over the place.
Mei Terumi, Gonbei, Ao, and Chojuro knew nothing of the thoughts running through Sixia's mind.
His words had instantly put all four of them on edge!
"We're in trouble!"
"He's after us!"
"This guy is unbelievably strong. Everyone, be careful!"
Ao's voice carried wariness, anger, and a hint of helplessness.
Even working together, the four of them had been unable to defeat Kisame and had been beaten into a miserable state.
If Uzumaki Shixia had not stepped in at the last moment...
Kisame might already have killed some of them!
Yet the shinobi before them was even more terrifying than Kisame!
Kisame had been utterly powerless against him, crushed in an instant.
After realizing that Uzumaki Shixia might turn against them, Ao did not even know how they could possibly fight him.
Beside Ao, Gonbei said nothing. He was already braced for battle, prepared to fight to the death.
Gonbei's mind was filled with questions.
Where on earth did a shinobi this powerful come from?
Even among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, a genius this young must be rare, right?
Before you continue