----
As the blinding pillar of light faded, Utakata stood on all fours atop the water, his six chakra tails swaying behind him. Wisps of white steam escaped from his mouth as he scanned the surroundings, but Kisame was nowhere to be found.
The Anbu squad leader was just as puzzled.
That attack had been incredibly powerful, but whether it was enough to leave behind nothing but ashes was another question.
At the very least, Samehada should have remained, right?
Yet there was nothing.
That likely meant Kisame had escaped in time, either by using Substitution Jutsu or perhaps the one they had been fighting wasn't even the real him.
Suddenly, a realization struck the squad leader like a thunderbolt.
He shouted without hesitation:
"Watch out below!"
Whether Utakata, in his tailed beast state, could understand him was uncertain.
But as a leader, he had a duty to warn his allies, even if it meant drawing Kisame's attention to himself.
And sure enough—
The water beneath Utakata surged violently!
Samehada emerged from below slashing at Utakata's body with brutal force!
"Gah!"
Utakata was sent flying over ten meters.
The chakra tails behind him completely vanished, leaving behind only a thin red chakra shroud.
His skin had already burned and peeled due to his Version 2 transformation, but the tailed beast chakra was rapidly regenerating the damage.
Utakata regained consciousness, panting heavily as he lay on the water's surface.
Kisame, meanwhile, wasn't unscathed either.
That attack had been way too close for comfort he knew that if he had hesitated for even a moment, he wouldn't have survived.
But fortunately, he had Samehada.
The blade had absorbed a large amount of chakra from Utakata.
So much, in fact, that Samehada had noticeably grown in size.
It let out a gurgling, delighted noise, like a well-fed beast.
Kisame steadied himself, then began walking toward Utakata.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"
The Anbu squad leader had already been preparing a counterattack.
He had swiftly completed the required 44 hand seals, summoning a massive water dragon that rushed toward Kisame.
At the same time, the squad leader dashed toward Utakata, intending to rescue him.
"Stay back!"
Utakata's voice rang out as red chakra erupted from his body once again.
But this time—
His entire chakra shroud turned a deep shade of blue.
The squad leader immediately halted his approach.
Kisame, watching Utakata transform again, lifted Samehada in front of him like a shield.
"Oh? Another tailed beast form? This one looks different from before."
The Two Forms of Utakata's Six-Tails Transformation
The Anbu squad leader cautiously observed from a distance.
Each Jinchūriki had a unique transformation.
For Utakata, his Six-Tails form had two different states:
Red Form: Focused on raw strength, allowing him to fire Tailed Beast Bombs.
Blue Form: Prioritized speed, with his chakra shroud carrying a powerful alkaline property that could corrode anything it touched.
Additionally, in Blue Form, Utakata could spit out corrosive alkaline fluid.
A stark contrast to Shikkotsu Forest's Slug Sage, which secreted acidic liquid instead.
Kisame was already feeling the effects of the alkaline chakra.
His wounds were healing slowly, and his skin burned painfully wherever Utakata's chakra had touched him.
"This isn't something I can just wash off with water."
Even though Samehada's healing ability was incredible, the constant corrosion was wearing him down.
"In that case, I'll just slice you up again!"
Kisame grinned fiercely and charged forward!
Utakata, in Blue Form, was faster than ever.
He dodged at the last second, appearing behind Kisame in an instant.
"What?!"
Before Kisame could react, he was slammed in the back with a devastating chakra-enhanced strike.
Blood sprayed from Kisame's mouth as he staggered forward.
Before he could regain balance, Utakata followed up with another strike hitting Kisame's ribs and sending him flying sideways.
Kisame struggled to stand, his back and ribs dripping with blood, steam rising from the corroded wounds.
"That felt like… strong alkali?" For the first time in years, Kisame felt genuine pain.
"That bastard is fast and his chakra is corrosive on top of that? What a pain."
But Kisame was a veteran warrior.
He knew that, despite the pain, he had one undeniable advantage.
His resilience.
"If my wounds keep reopening, then I'll just keep healing."
He lunged at Utakata again.
This time, Samehada was ready.
As Utakata closed in, he unleashed another burst of corrosive fluid from his mouth.
Kisame raised Samehada to block it.
Samehada howled in pain as its flesh began melting.
Kisame ignored the sword's suffering and powered through.
With one swift motion, he grabbed Utakata's wrist—
Even as his hand sizzled and burned, Kisame held on tightly.
"Gotcha!"
With his other hand, he swung Samehada downwards.
The massive sword crashed against Utakata's skull, sending him plummeting into the water!
Samehada drank deeply from Utakata's chakra But this time—
It suddenly started writhing and squirming.
Samehada let out a miserable cry and thrashed in Kisame's hands.
"Huh?"
Kisame felt something was off.
His wounds weren't healing.
Instead, Samehada looked sick.
"Tch… did it eat something it didn't like?"
Kisame was heavily injured.
But he wasn't out of the fight yet.
Even if Samehada was throwing a tantrum, it had already absorbed enough chakra to keep him from collapsing.
The Anbu squad leader had been waiting for an opening.
Seeing Kisame momentarily distracted, he sent a water clone underwater to retrieve Utakata.
His real body, meanwhile, bombarded Kisame with a barrage of explosive tags and kunai.
Kisame, in his injured state, could barely defend himself.
But just then—
A small white bird descended between them.
"Tch. Annoying."
From above, Deidara's voice rang out.
"Take this!"
The white bird exploded!
Both the Anbu squad leader and Kisame were caught in the blast wave.
Each was sent flying, coughing up blood.
"WHAT THE HELL, DEIDARA?!"
Kisame, bleeding heavily, glared up at his teammate.
"You trying to kill me too?!"
Deidara grumbled irritably as he descended.
"Hmph! If you weren't so damn slow, I wouldn't be in this mess!"
Kisame finally got a good look at him.
Deidara's newly reattached arm was gone again and his entire body was covered in scorch marks.
"...Wow. You look terrible."
Deidara exploded in rage.
"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE ME, YOU DAMN SHARK!!!"
----
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