"Huh?"
After admiring his state, Takumi looked up and found all the fish were avoiding him.
As if he were some monster, they didn't dare approach at all.
He gently swam over, and the fish scattered like startled birds, rapidly fleeing.
"I didn't expect this effect."
Takumi was somewhat surprised. After a little thought, he felt it was likely due to the ferocious aura accumulated from constant devouring in the simulation, and finally successfully devouring Sanbi.
What is Sanbi?
That's an overlord in the water!
Not an easy character to deal with.
After the test ended, Takumi surfaced from the center of the lake.
"Huh? Takumi, what are you doing here?"
A sudden voice startled Takumi.
He immediately canceled the transformation. Fortunately, only his head was above water, otherwise, his trump card would have been exposed.
He turned his head, heart still pounding, to see Tenten on the shore looking at him curiously.
"I was just swimming. What about you? Why are you here?"
Takumi said, slowly swimming towards the shore.
"Me? I came to train."
Tenten said as if it were natural.
Takumi looked up and noticed Tenten had been training for a while.
Some homemade targets were already filled with various shuriken and kunai.
"I see. Sorry for accidentally disturbing you."
Takumi stepped out of the water, dripping wet.
He pretended to scratch his head embarrassed, then intended to leave. "If there's nothing else, I'll head off first."
"Wait. I think you should go check over there. Sakura and Ino said they saw you heading this way, so they came looking for you."
Tenten pointed towards the forest. "If you don't go check, it could be dangerous in the forest, you know."
"The forest?"
Takumi was startled, looking towards the forest.
It wasn't far from Training Ground 5.
That meant they might encounter Kisame?
Thinking this, Takumi directly rushed out, not even replying to Tenten.
"What an impatient fellow. It seems Takumi-kun really likes them."
Tenten wasn't angry. Instead, her eyes sparkled brightly, as if she had eaten some tasty gossip.
"I wonder when he'll care about me like that too..."
"Sigh, am I not proactive enough?"
Meanwhile, Takumi raced forward. With his speed, he quickly found Sakura and Ino.
But to his surprise, aside from Sakura and Ino, the other Konoha 11's members were also there.
'Thank goodness, they haven't encountered Hoshigaki Kisame yet.'
Takumi sighed in relief, then caught his breath before appearing from behind them. "Hey, Tenten said you were looking for me?"
"It's Takumi-kun!"
Sakura turned joyfully and ran towards Takumi.
Ino also quickly followed. "We were thinking of celebrating together after completing the mission, but Takumi-kun, you disappeared after leaving the Hokage Tower."
"Oh, I went home to sort some things out."
Takumi scratched his head. "In that case, let's head back. It's still dangerous here."
"Okay."
Sakura nodded.
"I want to eat Ichiraku Ramen!"
Naruto raised his hand and said loudly his choice.
"Idiot!"
Sakura punched him on the head. "Since it's a celebration, we should eat something good! Do you plan to have Takumi-kun just eat a bowl of ramen?!"
"But... Ichiraku Ramen is really delicious..."
Naruto held his head, saying pitifully.
However, at that moment.
"Watch out!"
Sasuke's expression suddenly changed. Takumi's face also changed drastically.
But it was too late.
"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
Instantly, an enormous amount of water appeared, immediately turning this forest into a lake.
'Huh, here he comes?'
Takumi's expression changed. Jumping high, he saw Kisame not far away, spewing massive amounts of water from his mouth.
Caught off guard, Team 7 and Ino were all swept away.
Only the more alert Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Shino avoided the attack.
But although this move seemed ferocious, its lethality was limited.
However, Kisame used this move not for lethality, but to create favorable terrain for battle.
Kisame was an extremely powerful Water-Release Shinobi.
"That person's clothing! He's from the Akatsuki!"
Shikamaru immediately recognized the clothing Kisame wore.
Although he was lazy, memorizing intelligence was effortless for him.
"The Akatsuki?"
Sasuke's eyes lit up instantly. 'The members of the Akatsuki are all powerful Shinobi. If I can defeat him, the distance between us will definitely shorten!'
'Just wait, Itachi. Today, I'm different from before!'
The Second Pillar is starting again!
As soon as this thought emerged, he immediately put it into action.
After swiftly forming hand seals, a sphere of electricity, crackling with light, immediately appeared in his hand.
The sphere emitted a piercing sound like a thousand chirping birds.
"Chidori!"
Sasuke charged forward.
"Wait!"
Takumi reached out, but he was some distance from Sasuke and couldn't stop him in time.
He could only watch helplessly as Sasuke charged forward to... serve himself.
Yes.
Serve himself.
The current Sasuke wasn't the Sasuke of three years later… his potential was far from fully developed.
Naturally, he was no match for the long-established Kisame.
Snap!
Kisame cleanly grabbed Sasuke's wrist, the one holding the Chidori, and with a squeeze, broke his arm. "Brat, you call this an attack?"
"AAAAAAAGH!"
Sasuke let out a sharp scream, but Kisame shoved Sasuke underwater. The immense force and the pain in his wrist made Sasuke swallow several mouthfuls of water.
"Holy crap, Itachi, is that your little brother?"
"He's a bit reckless..."
In the distance, concealed in the forest and observing the battle, the Akatsuki's members were stunned by Sasuke's move.
After all, this guy is offering himself up right off the bat.
"Yes."
Itachi nodded calmly.
But inside, his heart was aching.
'Oh, my foolish little brother!'
'Why are you so impulsive?'
'How could you possibly be a match for Kisame?'
'Sigh!'
…
Inside the water sphere.
Whoosh!
Takumi charged over, throwing a heavy punch that was blocked by Kisame using Samehada.
However, the immense force still sent Kisame staggering back fiercely.
Then Takumi pulled Sasuke up, saying somewhat helplessly, "Are you okay? Don't act recklessly from now on. He's not an opponent you can handle right now."
As he spoke, he pulled Sasuke behind him.
Takumi didn't see the look of intense resentment in Sasuke's eyes, and even if he had, he wouldn't have paid it any mind.
The gap between him and Sasuke was already too large.
At least until Sasuke fully realized his potential, Takumi didn't need to take him seriously.
"Quite a punch. Hard to believe you're just a kid."
Kisame shook his wrist. The power of that punch nearly made him drop Samehada.
"You're not bad either. Not many can block one of my punches."
Takumi's expression was serious.
The main issue was that people behind him were holding him back.
If he were alone, he could fight or leave as he pleased.
But now he had to protect the people behind him.
"Good work, Zetsu."
Pain, observing from afar, said calmly. "Using those brats to tie him down means he has no chance to escape."
"This is the weakness of human nature. So-called bonds might strengthen a person's will, but they can also become burdensome shackles," Black Zetsu replied in a hoarse voice.
"The show is about to begin."
Hidan laughed loudly. "Hurry up and kill that guy! Anyone who dares disrespect Jashin-sama must go to hell!"
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Deidara was furious, getting right in Hidan's face, looking like he was about to fight.
"Stop arguing. Now isn't the time for you to quarrel," Sasori said in a low voice. "We are here to confirm Kisame kills Takumi. If your noise makes Takumi alert, I'll definitely kill you all and turn you into my new puppets."
"Sigh..." Konan sighed softly, not wanting to deal with these lunatics.
She looked at Pain, who was watching the distance expressionlessly.