Kisame Hoshigaki burst through the mist shrouding the Wood Golem's arm. His greatsword, Samehada, whistled through the air, slashing straight at Tejima Shinichi.
The massive blade rapidly filled Shinichi's vision, its cold glint reflecting in his eyes.
'Close-quarters combat?' Shinichi instantly saw through the plan. 'He thinks I rely too heavily on my kekkei genkai. He assumes taijutsu is my weakness.'
'A logical assumption.'
'But...'
He clenched his fist. Iron Sand peeled away from the Magnet Wood Dragon, surging toward his right hand like a black tide. It locked into place, forming a hardened gauntlet.
'The naturally robust physique of the Senju clan...' Shinichi twisted his waist, drew his arm back, and gathered his strength. '...has long since leveled any gap in technique.'
'Your strategy was correct. Unfortunately, you miscalculated the difference in our raw power.'
He threw the punch.
CLANG!
His fist collided with Samehada. A sonic boom tore through the air. A circular shockwave rippled outward, instantly blowing away the thick mist. Samehada bent backward under the sheer force, its barbs scraping against the Iron Sand gauntlet in a shower of blinding sparks.
The webbing between Kisame's fingers tore open, splattering blood into the air. His arms trembled violently. His eyes widened in shock. The immense kinetic force traveled straight down the blade, nearly ripping Samehada from his grasp.
'How is this possible?!' Kisame screamed internally. 'Why is his physical strength so monstrous?!'
Reaching Kage-level power at twelve years old pointed to one logical conclusion: the boy's strength relied entirely on his kekkei genkai and ninjutsu. By common sense, his physical conditioning and close-quarters combat had to be his weakest links. That was the only reason Kisame had gambled on trading injuries just to close the distance.
But the force behind that punch was like running head-on into a moving mountain. Was this kid really twelve?! What was with this brute strength?! How could a child's body reach this terrifying degree of power?!
The gap... was overwhelming.
Kisame's arms went numb. Swaying backward from the recoil, he stomped his feet hard against the Golem's arm, desperately trying to bleed off the kinetic force and stabilize his footing.
But the opening was already there.
And Shinichi's left fist was waiting.
Riding his momentum, Shinichi drove his Iron Sand-covered left hand into a vicious uppercut. He aimed directly for Kisame's exposed jaw.
The black gauntlet filled Kisame's vision. He couldn't dodge.
CRACK!
"Urgh!"
The brutal impact smashed into Kisame's cheek. His head snapped violently to the side, his neck emitting a sickening creak. A violent spike of pain shot through his skull, flooding his vision.
In his hands, Samehada desperately tried to feed its stored chakra back into his body to repair his fractured cheekbone and concussed brain. But it was a drop in the bucket. Between Kisame's massive Water Release jutsu and the relentless onslaught of Shinichi's Wood Release, Samehada's chakra reserves had bottomed out.
For the first time, the sword's famed recovery felt pitifully slow. Powerless.
His close-quarters gamble crumbled at the very first clash. The uppercut sent Kisame soaring helplessly through the air.
Shinichi's hands blurred through a rapid sequence of seals. He aimed right at Kisame's trajectory.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Chakra transformed into a violent gale, erupting from his mouth in a massive, sweeping wave.
WHOOSH!
In an instant, the roaring storm blew away the dense mist blanketing the forest. Visibility returned. As the haze cleared, Shinichi reappeared in Kisame's sightline, looking down at him with absolute dominance.
'...I can't beat him.'
The bitter realization flashed through Kisame's mind. It was a pill too hard to swallow.
'Samehada's chakra absorption is a complete joke against his Wood Release. The kid just turns around and drains my chakra instead.'
'Water Release? ...Countered by Wood Release.'
'Taijutsu... brute strength...' The throbbing agony in his jaw and the numb deadness in his arms proved the desperate gap between them.
He had calculated his strategy flawlessly. He was certain he had pinpointed the boy's glaring weakness. But Shinichi didn't have weaknesses. His raw combat stats were so absurdly high that they crushed all tactical planning.
Gloom settled heavily over Kisame. He stared up at Shinichi, realizing the boy hadn't broken a sweat.
"This kid..." Kisame gritted his teeth. "He was born to counter me!"
Shinichi stared down at Kisame. The Akatsuki member had been knocked completely off the Wood Golem and was now bleeding profusely from his mouth and nose.
Shinichi's interest in the fight evaporated.
Kisame's miserable state was obvious at a glance. His chakra was nearly depleted, Samehada's healing was crawling at a snail's pace, and his internal injuries were severe. There was no need to drag this battle out any further.
Since that was the case...
Shinichi shifted his gaze, glancing toward the distant battlefield shared by Sasuke and Itachi.
"I've given you enough time for your little reunion," Shinichi muttered, looking away.
Furthermore, he had been passively gathering natural energy throughout the entire clash. His reserves were now completely full.
"Then..." The indifference in Shinichi's eyes vanished, replaced by a cold, predatory gleam. "It's time to get serious."
His hands blurred through a final sequence of seals.
HUM!
A massive well of natural energy fused perfectly with his chakra. On his forehead, two circular purple markings flared to life. Beneath his eyes, pale purple pigmentation extended outward, outlining a imposing visage.
Sage Mode: Active.
His chakra signature exploded, surging to entirely new heights. Shinichi locked his eyes onto the panting Kisame below.
His killing intent poured out, completely undisguised.
He didn't care about preserving the "canon timeline." He didn't care who was supposed to live or die in the original plot. In his eyes, there was only one absolute rule '...all enemies must die.'
As for worrying about the butterfly effect of killing Kisame?
He didn't.
"Die," Shinichi said, his voice flat.
The next moment...
BOOM!
A violent shockwave erupted from the wooden surface beneath his feet. Bolstered by Sage Mode, his terrifying speed exploded. His figure vanished from the Wood Golem, leaving behind nothing but a blurred afterimage as he plummeted toward Kisame like a falling meteor.
Kisame was horrified.
"Bastard, what kind of monster are you?!" he roared, unable to contain his despair.
After such a brutal, drawn-out battle… he had never imagined Shinichi was still holding back. The suffocating combination of Wood Release and taijutsu had already pushed him to the brink of death—
And yet… that hadn't even been Shinichi's full strength.
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