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A thunderous roar, like a catastrophic flash flood suddenly bursting forth, erupted within the relay station base. Obito listened to the sounds coming from inside and, in a remarkably considerate gesture, made sure to seal the door tightly, trapping Dodai and Kisame together inside. This way, there would be no interruptions to their fight. Or so he figured, anyway. Gazing at the door now firmly blocked by his Wood Style technique, Obito nodded with satisfaction.
As for the battle unfolding within? He would leave that entirely to Kisame. He trusted the man would not disappoint him.
Hoshigaki Kisame certainly wouldn't disappoint Obito – his strength was, after all, widely recognized and undeniable. For Dodai, however, this battle was shaping up to be anything but favorable. Due to the need for secrecy, the relay base had been constructed deep underground. Now enemies had infiltrated it with ease and locked the door behind them. Then, without any warning or preamble, Kisame had unleashed his Great Waterfall Technique, instantly transforming the base into a vast, submerged body of water. It was painfully clear that the enemy had come well-prepared, specifically targeting him.
Under these environmental conditions, Dodai's combat capabilities would be severely suppressed. This was because he and Roshi shared the same specialization: they both excelled in Lava Style techniques. And Lava Style's greatest weakness was being countered by Water Style, especially under these particular environmental circumstances. A Water Style user like Kisame could lethally suppress ninja like Dodai and Roshi who possessed Lava Style abilities. Having one's Bloodline Limit countered was bad enough, but what made it absolutely outrageous was the environmental counter. During the operation to capture Roshi, the man had been thoroughly suppressed due to the environment alone – and Dodai's situation was even more suffocating and hopeless than Roshi's had been.
At least Roshi had been in a valley. Even when that valley became a flooded expanse, it had still provided him some room to dodge and maneuver. But this relay base... once filled with water, there wasn't the slightest gap or pocket of air to exploit. What made it even more maddening was that the relay base was buried deep underground. Even if Dodai wanted to break through the base walls and burrow out, it would be nearly impossible to accomplish. And on top of that, Kisame wouldn't give him the chance to try.
"Damn it!" Dodai cursed furiously as he frantically scrambled atop the continuously surging waves, his hands flying through hand seals at desperate speed. "Lava Style: Rubber Ball!"
Though he also commanded Lava Style, what set Dodai apart from Roshi was his ability to apply it with greater versatility. For instance, he could use Lava Style to produce rubber-like substances and encase himself within them. A yellowish-brown sphere of rubber emerged from his mouth, forming a ball that enveloped Dodai completely inside. At the center of the rubber ball was a thinner section that could serve as a viewing window, allowing Dodai to observe what was happening outside.
BOOM!!! More and more water surged in, relentlessly filling the entire relay station base to its absolute capacity. Dodai couldn't help but curse inwardly – did this bastard have an endless supply of chakra?! Wait – what was that?! Dodai's eyelid suddenly twitched violently as he caught sight of a shark-like silhouette streaking rapidly through the water.
The flooded relay base had become an enormous, sealed underground chamber, entirely filled with water – resembling a massive, enclosed aquarium. Having successfully remodeled the environment to his liking, Kisame gazed at the rubber ball floating in the water and grinned broadly. The shark skin blade strapped to his back, Samehada, quickly merged into his body, and Kisame transformed into a humanoid shark. His cold, bloodthirsty eyes locked intently onto the rubber ball that was trying to float upward but remained pinned against the ceiling. He swam swiftly toward it.
In the water, Kisame moved with extraordinary agility and fluid grace. He didn't launch an immediate attack. Instead, he swam around with evident amusement, circling and weaving, deliberately disrupting Dodai's focus while simultaneously biding his time. He was like a predator toying with prey that was desperately struggling for survival.
Dodai had utilized the flexible and versatile nature of his Lava Style to create a rubber ball to encase himself within. But there was one critical problem. The rubber ball was not large, which meant the air inside was extremely limited. Dodai, trapped within, would gradually discover that oxygen was running out, forcing him to either emerge from his protective shell or slowly suffocate inside it. Whether he chose to come out fighting or stay inside and asphyxiate, both paths led to certain death for Dodai.
This was precisely why Kisame felt no urgency. He simply swam back and forth through the water, applying psychological pressure on Dodai without actively striking. He was very curious to see just how long Dodai could hold out.
'Damn it, the oxygen is depleting too fast!' The sealed environment and the sphere's small size dictated an inevitable outcome – the oxygen would be consumed rapidly. But if Dodai abandoned the rubber ball, he would become nothing more than meat on a chopping block. What could he do? Dodai's face had gone pale, cold sweat streaming down his forehead from sheer anxiety. At this moment, he felt as if there was no path to heaven above and no door to the earth below. Staying in the rubber ball was a slow, creeping death, while emerging to attack... using Lava Style in a space completely flooded with water – how utterly brainless would that be? It would only make him die faster.
"Still unwilling to come out?" After waiting a while and seeing that Dodai showed no intention of breaking open the rubber to emerge, Kisame felt somewhat disappointed. This guy was remarkably composed, managing to maintain his calm in such a dire situation and remain holed up inside that rubber ball.
"In that case, let me give you a little encouragement." Grinning, Kisame raised his hands and formed seals. "Water Style: Thousand Feeding Sharks Technique!"
One after another, translucent sharks materialized in the water. Though each individual shark didn't appear particularly large, their numbers were staggering. Looking out across the water, they formed a dense, teeming swarm stretching as far as the eye could see. "Ha ha ha ha!!" Amid Kisame's booming laughter, the countless sharks surged toward the rubber ball, their massive jaws gaping open to reveal razor-sharp fangs as they savagely began tearing into it.
This is bad!!! The rubber ball rocked and jerked violently as the sharks attacked from all sides. Dodai's heart had sunk to the very depths of despair. He realized that he was thoroughly and utterly caught. The rubber ball simply couldn't withstand many of these assaults. With so many sharks swarming and ripping at it in a dense mass, they would soon chew right through. What made matters worse was that he couldn't casually reinforce the rubber ball's thickness – doing so would only trap and doom himself inside more completely.
He couldn't fight, and he couldn't flee. This sensation was even more hopeless than what Roshi had experienced. It should be remembered that Roshi had at least possessed opportunities to escape, but Kisame simply hadn't allowed him those chances. As for Dodai... there wasn't even an escape route to speak of. The very notion of fleeing had become an unattainable luxury.
The sickening, teeth-grating sound of gnawing and tearing echoed continuously around his ears. The rubber ball ultimately could not withstand the relentless assault of countless sharks. It ruptured.
"Get away!!" The instant the rubber ball broke open, Dodai swung his blade, wreathed in crackling Lightning Style chakra, slashing outward. Several of the smaller-looking sharks were cleaved in two. Holding his breath with every ounce of strength he had, Dodai kept dodging and striking within the water.
"It's useless," Kisame said, his grin unwavering. As long as he, the caster, did not stop or get disrupted, these sharks would never truly die – for they were, after all, formed from the water itself. They would die, revive, die again, revive again, and attack endlessly. All that remained for Dodai was pure, absolute despair.
Had this confrontation taken place in any other environment, Kisame would have needed to expend considerable effort to take Dodai down.