From the shadows, Orochimaru emerged — his pale face framed by that eerie smile, golden eyes glinting with amusement as he strode toward Jiraiya and Tsunade.
Jiraiya's expression hardened instantly.
Tsunade, at first startled, allowed herself a faint, almost nostalgic smile.
How many years had it been since the three of them stood together?
The Legendary Sannin — once comrades who shook the shinobi world — now stood apart, each having chosen their own path. They were far stronger than they had been in those days, yet Tsunade couldn't help but long for the simpler times they once shared.
"Orochimaru," Jiraiya finally said, his tone cold, "you still dare to show yourself before us?"
The fragile sense of reunion shattered.
Orochimaru chuckled, voice smooth and mocking.
"Why wouldn't I dare? Tell me, Jiraiya — do you truly think what I did was wrong?"
"Of course it was!" Jiraiya snapped, clenching his fists.
"You attacked the old man — your own teacher! You left him on the verge of death! How could you ever justify that?"
Orochimaru's smirk faded. He turned his attention toward Tsunade instead.
"Tsunade... don't you want to know what really happened in Konoha? Shall I explain it to you?"
Jiraiya took a step forward, fury flaring in his eyes, ready to strike — but Tsunade stopped him with a hand on his arm.
"Don't rush, Jiraiya," she said calmly. "He won't escape. Let him speak first."
Orochimaru's grin returned. "Heh... Shigure is no longer a shinobi of Konoha."
Tsunade frowned.
"What do you mean? He was clearly one of ours. Why would he not be anymore?"
"Did he... defect?" Jiraiya asked sharply.
Orochimaru laughed softly.
"Do you really think a missing-nin could so easily join another great village?"
In small hidden villages, missing-nin might be welcomed to strengthen their ranks — the promise of stolen jutsu often outweighed the risk.
But Kirigakure, the Hidden Mist Village, was different. Their stance against missing-nin was the harshest among the Five Great Nations. To take one in would defy their very code.
"Then what are you implying?" Tsunade demanded.
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed with cruel delight.
"I'm saying... Shigure didn't defect. He was traded by Konoha — handed over to the Hidden Mist in exchange for an alliance."
"What?!"
Tsunade's eyes widened in disbelief. "Konoha... traded one of its own shinobi?!"
The idea was unthinkable. Even with Konoha's strength waning in recent years, such desperation should have been impossible.
Yet Jiraiya's expression grew grim — not shocked, but resigned.
He remembered another time — when the Hyūga Incident forced Hiruzen Sarutobi to bend under political pressure. The life of Hizashi Hyūga, the clan head's younger brother, had been sacrificed to appease the Hidden Cloud.
To trade Shigure for an alliance... was sadly plausible.
"So that boy is now part of the Hidden Mist?" Tsunade asked quietly.
Orochimaru nodded.
"Indeed. And it seems he's flourished there. I hear the Fifth Mizukage herself has taken an interest in him... she intends to train him as her successor — the Sixth Mizukage."
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed.
A shinobi who once belonged to Konoha... now chosen by another village's Kage as her heir. That could only mean one thing — Shigure's talent was exceptional, perhaps beyond anything they had realized.
At that moment, Shigure's expression hardened. His fingers flashed into a single-hand seal as his blade sliced through the air.
A torrent of water burst forth from the sword, spiraling like a living current.
Naruto barely managed to leap aside before the wave crashed where he had stood.
But Shigure didn't stop. The air behind him shimmered as chakra swirled into form.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Twin dragons of pure water surged upward, coiling in perfect unison before roaring toward Naruto from both sides.
The impact exploded in a deafening crash of water and steam.
Tsunade's eyes widened. To unleash two Water Dragons simultaneously — and in a place without a natural water source — required both immense chakra and flawless control.
It was a feat few could accomplish.
No wonder the Mizukage favored him.
Shigure's mastery of Water Release was nothing short of extraordinary.
A blinding blue light flared — Rasengan!
Naruto roared as the swirling sphere of chakra met the incoming torrent of the Water Dragon Bullet Technique, shattering the attack in an explosion of spray. Water droplets scattered through the air like shards of glass, glimmering in the sunlight as Naruto's sharp eyes darted around.
Where is he?!
The air shifted.
Countless shimmering water threads suddenly whipped through the air, converging toward him from every direction.
Tsunade's eyes widened as Shigure's figure materialized from the flowing water itself.
"Water Release: Body Flicker Technique..." she murmured in disbelief.
Even Jiraiya's expression turned grim. "That's no ordinary jutsu. To control water that precisely for instantaneous movement... it's on the level of Hanzō the Salamander."
It was a technique so advanced that few across the ninja world could perform it. With it, one could vanish and reappear in a blink, untouchable like a mirage.
Shigure's body solidified, his eyes calm and focused. The blade in his hand shimmered with condensed water, spiraling with incredible force.
With a single motion, the Flowing Water Blade crashed against Naruto's chakra-imbued kunai.
The shockwave was deafening.
Cracks rippled across the earth as Naruto's legs sank into the ground from the sheer pressure. The soil beneath him caved in, forming a crater.
Naruto grit his teeth, holding on with all his strength. "Damn it…"
Across from him, Shigure stood effortlessly — his posture relaxed, sword steady in one hand, as though this overwhelming clash cost him nothing.
Then Shigure's free hand moved. Chakra spiraled rapidly, forming a familiar blue sphere.
"Rasengan!"
Tsunade's eyes widened. "That's... the Fourth Hokage's jutsu! How does he know it too?!"
Jiraiya sighed softly.
"Naruto learned the Rasengan from Shigure. He mastered it first — recreated it entirely on his own, just like the Fourth."
Tsunade was stunned.
"He developed it himself?"
Before she could finish, Shigure infused his Rasengan with surging streams of water.
The spinning orb transformed — water coiling violently around the chakra sphere until its rotation screamed like a storm.
Water Release: Vortex Hurricane Water Technique!
The amplified Rasengan roared to life, its cutting force so intense that even the air seemed to split apart.
Shigure thrust it forward.
The impact landed squarely on Naruto's stomach.
"Gah—!"
The force sent Naruto hurtling backward, crashing into the ground with a thunderous boom. The earth cracked beneath his landing, water spraying outward from the impact zone.
Orochimaru chuckled softly, folding his arms. "Impressive. The boy's grown again — even combining the Rasengan with Water Release... fascinating."
But in truth, even Shigure hadn't planned it. The technique had been a spur-of-the-moment idea — instinct born from countless battles.
As the dust settled, Shigure exhaled and slowly sheathed his blade, Zangetsu, the metallic ring echoing softly.
"That should've taught him a lesson," he muttered.
But before he could relax, Naruto's strained voice echoed through the haze.
"You held back at the last second... didn't you?"
Shigure froze.
Naruto rose unsteadily to his feet, wiping the blood from his mouth, his blue eyes burning with defiance. "You couldn't bring yourself to hurt me for real!"
Shigure sighed. "This kid... he really doesn't know when to quit."
Then—
Buzz.
A pulse of raw chakra rippled through the clearing. The air trembled.
Shigure's eyes narrowed sharply.
"That chakra...!"
He could feel it — heavy, violent, and ancient.
The Nine-Tails.
Red chakra began to seethe from Naruto's body, bubbling like molten liquid, his pupils slitting into those of a beast.
Shigure's lips curled into a faint smile.
"So you're finally showing your true power... Naruto."
...
TN:
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