Chapter 49
As Genma looked at two very dangerous and powerful shinobi, his mind raced at an unimaginable speed. He simulated his next actions, but it made little difference. Without intervention, there was no way out of this situation alive. If their mission hadn't been to face these shinobi, Genma would have called Ebisu a fool for getting himself killed.
It was just his luck that these two had chosen the most unlikely path, furthest away from Fugaku Uchiha. Genma and Ebisu had to hold off these two until reinforcements arrived, and they didn't know how much longer it would take; they could get here at any moment or hours from now on. He guessed he would have to give it his all and hope for the best. After all, playtime was over.
The big guy moved first, his speed far superior to Genma's and Ebisu's. Instantly, they knew they needed to block that weapon, as there was no way out. If one could block it, the other might have a chance to attack. But neither of them had anything strong enough to be effective against this monster. Still, they had no choice but to try.
Ebisu always tried to act cool, so before Genma could move in, he was already in front, ready to take the hit for them. All of them were fools- his old teammates when he was just a genin, or the squad protecting the Fourth Hokage. Wherever he went, he was surrounded by selfless bastards who would not hesitate to sacrifice their lives for their friends.
However, it wasn't his friends who ultimately made the greatest sacrifice in the end. The attack never reached them, as the big guy's feet were suddenly caught by hands emerging from the ground. The next moment, five shinobi burst through the earth surrounding the big guy and stabbed him from every direction.
What would have instantly killed most shinobi only slightly surprised that monster before he ripped three of the five shinobi attacking him with one swing of his weapon. That disgustingly large sword shredded its opponents. The other two behind that monster managed to escape, but the one holding his feet had no chance to get away before he was stomped out.
"Fire release: Falling skies."
Just as Genma heard those words, the sky darkened, casting a massive shadow over them. Looking up, he saw the sky itself falling on them in a flaming fury. If there was time to run, it surely was now. No log could save him from the fire clouds descending upon him. Fortunately, all of it was concentrated on the big guy and the corpses of Konoha shinobi; otherwise, Genma didn't fancy his chances of getting away in a timely manner.
"You did well to hold on for this long," Fugaku Uchiha said as he walked past them. "Retreat and secure the perimeter. I will take over from here."
He didn't need to be asked twice, as he and Ebisu quickly retreated. They had their new orders, and they definitely didn't have anything to complain about. Their job now was to ensure no one would interfere. Though it did leave a bad taste in his mouth to see and know more people from his village would die, and he could do nothing about it. He was suited to be a shinobi in the end.
…
Reckless and arrogant, but Fugaku had to admit that his opponent had the right to be like that, even if he was still young and ignorant. Kisame Hoshigaki, quite an infamous shinobi from Kirigakure, was one of the Seven Swordsmen wielding Samehada. There was limited information about the sword, but one thing was clear: it was very dangerous in the hands of someone like Kisame.
While Fugaku was confident in his abilities, believing he could make even the skies fall, Kisame proved that he could slice them. The falling skies jutsu was one of Fugaku's creations, but it was more for crowd control than for a single person. But he needed to get rid of the corpses before they fell into the wrong hands and distract Kisame so those two could get out. It wasn't their fight.
Still, Kisame alone was difficult to deal with, but there was another one, too. Sasori of the Red Sand was as dangerous as Kisame. Out of the twelve ROOT shinobi he had taken with him, only eight were now alive. With the little he knew, Fugaku could already conclude there was little chance of him killing them both.
"What is this? It's so much more fun now."
"They have surrounded us," Sasori seemed to be calmer of the two. "And they outnumber us. So, it truly was a trap. I wonder how they got information about us. Did that bastard betray us?"
"Does it matter, once we deal with them, we can deal with him too," Kisame replied. "He will spill the beans or I will spill his guts."
"I wouldn't be so confident," Sasori said. "That is Fugaku Uchiha, the Wicked Eye, we are dealing with."
"Well, it doesn't seem they will let us go easy either way," Kisame replied. "And I am not one to face away from a challenge when it is presented to me."
Before Sasori could respond, they were interrupted by a volley of shuriken flying at them. It was nothing but a signal from Fugaku, as just as the duo blocked the attack, Fugaku was already on top of Kisame, and the other ROOT members attacked Sasori, separating them. Fugaku knew that he could not fight effectively if he could not focus on one of them at a time.
Only one clash was enough to demonstrate to Fugaku that Kisame was physically far superior. However, Fugaku had the advantage in speed and experience. Jumping over Kisame's sword, Fugaku planted several shuriken into Kisame's back before sliding beneath the swing and cutting Kisame's ankles. Leaping away, he bound his fingers and brought them to his lips.
"Fire Release. Great fireball."
Once more, Kisame used his sword to slice through the flames, but Fugaku noticed that it still affected him, as it momentarily weakened him. The sword did not tolerate heat well; the question was how much heat it could endure and whether Fugaku had enough left in him to provide it. If he wanted to avoid losing more people, he needed to end this quickly, yet he hesitated to use his eyes.
He had already overused them in the war, and his vision was not what it once was. He didn't know how many more times he could use them before going blind. However, it didn't seem likely that anything less would be enough to deal with Kisame. Ultimately, it didn't matter what he decided, as the choice had already been made for him.
"Kisame, don't look at his eyes," Sasori said as he effortlessly dodged the coordinated attacks from eight shinobi. "I don't know the specifics of his abilities, but he needs eye contact for them to work."
"If you know him so well, why don't you take him on?" Kisame asked, though he didn't appear to want to relinquish the fight. "Worry about yourself, and don't interfere. I have long yearned for a challenge against the renowned Uchiha clan. Facing the strongest member since Madara himself is a dream come true."
"Then I will show you the difference between the dream and the nightmare." Fugaku wasn't going to let the opportunity to fight him alone pass him by.
Fugaku let the sword pass as he sidestepped, driving his fist toward Kisame's neck. He could not leave it at one attack, though. Fugaku vaulted over him and kicked the back of his knee, bringing him down, finishing with a kick to his face. Yet, he couldn't launch another attack, as Kisame merely brushed off the kick with a grin.
Fugaku narrowly avoided Kisame's sword by leaning back. He wasn't flustered by his failed attempt and brought his hand to his mouth once more. Kisame was poised to cut through the flames again, but what he didn't expect was a black liquid shooting from Fugaku's mouth, coating his sword.
"What kind of shit is this," Kisame tried to get rid of the black liquid from his sword, but it was stuck.
"I commend you for your strength," Fugaku said as he prepared his next jutsu. "But you rely too much upon your weapon. And that will be your downfall. Fire release. Fireball."
"Fool. You know nothing of what you speak."
The fire that Kisame should have easily split did its work, igniting the oil Fugaku applied to the sword and engulfing it in flames. Kisame was strong, with remarkable endurance against physical damage, but he was young and reckless. Fugaku had faced monsters like the Third Raikage. Kisame still had a long way to go to reach that level.
Just as Kisame was forced to let go of his sword, he was met with a kick to his stomach, so powerful that it lifted his body into the air before he was brought back to the ground by Fugaku's fist. Fugaku was about to use his eye prowess to finish the rogue shinobi quickly, but instead, he was compelled to use it to defend himself as sand bullets almost blew off his head.
A ribcage of black chakra covered Fugaku, as black sand was just a few inches away from him. That provided enough time for Kisame to retreat. However, at this point, Fugaku's focus was on Sasori, whose body was almost destroyed by the ROOT shinobi's weapons. And yet there stood a puppet resembling the Third Kazegake.
"Ugh!"
"What is this?"
Fugaku looked at his shinobi collapsing one after another. He had already lost four; that was too high a number. He wasn't going to lose any more. Using shadow clones, he took them away from Sasori before checking on their condition. Poison, odorless and invisible. However, not too powerful or life-threatening if dealt with in time.
"You should have stayed out of it," Kisame said as he got on his feet and stood next to Sasori.
"We already lost one member to him," Sasori replied. "Even if you could, I wasn't going to let him tarnish Akatsuki's reputation anymore. After all, now I belong to it."
"I wondered who had killed the Third Kazegake," Fugaku said. "He was someone comparable to the Third Hokage. His death shook the world, and yet to find out that a kid like you did him in is a surprise. Or maybe not. The Third Kazegake, for all his proud and stoic personality, believed in his comrades. So, he must have revealed a weakness that you exploited ruthlessly."
"Iron Sand. Scattered showers."
"Annoying," Fugaku replied, as hands of black chakra covered his shinobi and protected them from the iron sand before quickly disappearing.
Fugaku could not allow his subordinates to die like this, so he used shadow clones to take them away to safety. He knew he was wasting his chakra, which he would need in this fight. But he was someone who could never abandon his comrades. As long as there was a chance to save them, he would do everything to achieve that.
"Ha," Fugaku couldn't help but laugh, as that thought would never have crossed his mind before he met his hero.
And here he was, making almost the same decision as he did, and facing someone who had every right to hate his hero. Yet he had no intention of failing his mission or leaving his children behind, even when he confronted a genius puppet master with probably the most powerful puppet in existence and one of the Seven Swordsmen wielding one of the most powerful weapons known.
"I say, the Uchiha surely don't disappoint," Kisame picked up his sword and placed it on his shoulder. "As much as I don't like it, it seems we will have to work together on this one."
"Just don't hold me down."
A.N. As always, thanks for reading and supporting me, so I can continue writing without any concerns, and if you want more, up to seven more chapters, you can support me on pa treon. com \ ironwolf852.