On a distant battlefield, Shimizu's Water Clone and Satomi were still locked in a standoff against two members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and six Kirigakure ANBU.
As the battle continued to shift, both sides had gradually moved to the edge of the lake, creating the current situation: Shimizu stood atop the water, Satomi remained on the shore, while the eight Mist shinobi surrounded them from all directions.
"So why did you stop running?" Fuguki Suikazan sneered while resting the massive Samehada on his shoulder.
By now, he had already concluded that Shimizu's chakra reserves were nearly depleted. Otherwise, why would the man rely so heavily on stalling tactics and repeated retreats?
If not for two ANBU under his command noticing Shimizu's intention to escape and intercepting him in time, they might truly have let him slip away earlier.
After all, this was a huge catch.
If they could really kill Shimizu Uzuki here, those two young ANBU would become major contributors to Kirigakure's victory.
For a brief moment, silence settled over the battlefield.
Shimizu made no move.
Seeing this, Fuguki Suikazan became even more certain of his judgment.
"So that's it," he said coldly. "You really can't leave the water... or rather, you don't dare to."
Previously, Shimizu had relied on his overwhelming mobility to tear apart their formation repeatedly. But now that the battlefield had shifted to the shoreline, the terrain itself had become a restriction. Half water, half land—the environment had effectively sealed away half of his movement options.
If he wanted to protect Satomi, then she had to remain on land. The Hyūga clan's Rotation was powerful enough to defend against frontal attacks, but it could not fully guard against enemies attacking from beneath the water.
At the same time, Shimizu himself could not move onto land either.
The moment he left the water, Instant Water would become useless. Relying solely on the Body Flicker Technique, this Water Clone simply could not guarantee it could evade the enemy's relentless assault.
And once the Water Clone was destroyed, the pressure on Satomi would increase dramatically.
So the clone had no choice but to stall for time until the original body returned.
Naturally, such an obvious weakness had not escaped Kirigakure's notice. Now that they understood it, they were determined to finish the two of them here once and for all.
But the clone's chakra was already running dry.
At this rate, it would not survive more than a few exchanges.
At the very least... he could not drag Satomi down with him.
Shimizu glanced toward her and said quietly, "No matter what happens... protect yourself. Don't worry about me."
Satomi nodded softly.
She did not understand what Shimizu intended to do, but that did not stop her from faithfully carrying out his orders.
Even while being completely suppressed, the two of them had still managed to kill two Kirigakure ANBU together.
That alone was already an impressive achievement.
"Kill Shunshin Shimizu first!"
The moment Fuguki Suikazan gave the order, Jūzō Biwa charged forward immediately, carrying the Executioner's Blade as he appeared behind Shimizu in an instant.
Among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Jūzō was one of the few who specialized almost entirely in taijutsu. His speed and strength were exceptional even among elite jōnin.
With half of his movement space restricted, Shimizu could barely withstand the fierce assault.
Instant Water Movement!
His chakra reserves were nearly exhausted.
In the blink of an eye, Shimizu escaped Jūzō's attack range, only to find two Kirigakure ANBU already waiting on the other side.
He barely managed to dodge the first attack.
The second ANBU's savage kick slammed into him before he could react, sending him flying backward.
But before he could stabilize himself, Fuguki Suikazan's voice sounded behind him.
"How pathetic..."
Facing Samehada was dangerous in more ways than one. Not only did the blade inflict physical damage, it also devoured chakra on contact.
Shimizu had no intention of getting entangled with it.
Instant Water again!
Then—
Slash.
A sword pierced straight through his chest.
The blade punched through his heart, and Shimizu froze in place as though stunned.
"So this is Shunshin Shimizu?" the Kirigakure ANBU who landed the strike said coldly. "Pathetic."
"Heh..."
A trace of mockery curled at the corner of Shimizu's mouth.
Just as everyone believed they had finally dealt with the troublesome Shunshin Shimizu, his entire body suddenly dissolved into the lake beneath him.
For a moment, the Kirigakure shinobi were completely dumbfounded.
A Water Clone?!
They had been toyed with this entire time by nothing more than a Water Clone?!
Before they could think further, one of the Kirigakure ANBU suddenly shouted:
"Someone's coming!"
"Approximately twenty-five people!"
"Enemies?" Fuguki Suikazan barked impatiently, already irritated beyond measure.
Anyone would be furious after being toyed with like that.
"They're our people..." the Kirigakure ANBU reported.
"Then kill that Hyūga girl first!" Fuguki Suikazan barked immediately. Since Shimizu Uzuki had escaped, they could at least vent their anger on Satomi.
After a brief hesitation, the ANBU added,
"But there are nearly a hundred shinobi chasing them from behind... they're probably enemies."
The sheer number made everyone's expressions change.
If that many pursuers were coming, then the twenty-five Kirigakure shinobi ahead of them had most likely already been routed.
Should they keep fighting?
Or retreat?
In the end, Fuguki Suikazan gritted his teeth.
"Retreat!!!"
The eight remaining Kirigakure shinobi immediately fled toward the Mizukage Building deeper within the village. In their eyes, that place was likely the only position in all of Kirigakure that still had not fallen.
Because their Third Mizukage was there.
However, just as the group began moving, Shimizu—having learned of the situation through the memories of his Water Clone—arrived at full speed, burning through chakra without restraint to maintain Instant Water Movement.
"Another person is coming!" one of the Kirigakure ANBU shouted in alarm. "He's moving incredibly fast!"
Before the words had fully left his mouth, Shimizu's figure appeared directly in the path of their retreat.
This time, he was standing firmly on solid ground.
"Shunshin Shimizu..."
The hearts of the Kirigakure shinobi sank simultaneously.
Shimizu wasted no time with meaningless words. Through his sensory perception, he could already feel more and more people converging on this area.
He immediately formed hand seals.
The Summoning Jutsu, completed with only five seals, was finished in barely a second.
Poof!
Smoke exploded outward.
As the dust cleared, a massive crimson serpent with a single enormous eye appeared before everyone.
It was Manda's rival Garaga.
Its gigantic and ferocious body resembled a small mountain, completely blocking the path ahead.
"Shimizu," Garaga hissed while flicking its tongue, "do you finally have good news for me?"
"I do," Shimizu replied calmly. "But first, help me deal with them."
"Hah! Easy enough."
Garaga's enormous tail whipped through the air with explosive force.
BOOM!!
A cloud of dust erupted violently across the battlefield.
…
Garaga's massive form was simply too overwhelming.
Not only were the eight Kirigakure shinobi terrified, but even the twenty-five Mist shinobi who arrived afterward nearly lost their will to fight. And behind them was an approaching Konoha force of nearly a hundred shinobi.
The battle quickly became completely one-sided.
Before long, the surviving Kirigakure shinobi scattered and fled in every direction.
After fighting continuously for so long and rushing across the battlefield at full speed, even Shimizu's Kage-level chakra reserves were nearly exhausted. Because of that, he did not participate in the pursuit afterward.
At this point, Kirigakure had essentially fallen completely.
So far, Shimizu had not seen any organized resistance worth mentioning. Especially now that the Third Mizukage was dead, what strength did Kirigakure still have left to resist?
Still, one detail from the final battle caught his attention.
Garaga's venom had corroded several Kirigakure ANBU masks, exposing their faces beneath.
One of them was the ANBU who had mocked him earlier.
Dark blue hair.
A shark-like face.
It was clearly Kisame Hoshigaki.
Though at this point, Kisame still looked very young—probably only fourteen or fifteen years old.
Hard to believe someone so young could already be that arrogant.
As for the ANBU who had fought alongside him earlier, the one with equally impressive strength...
That was probably the future Demon of the Mist himself, Zabuza Momochi.
Interesting.
To think that shinobi from Kakashi and Shisui's generation had already reached this level... even managing to exchange blows with those two multiple times during the battle had exceeded Shimizu's expectations.
But if, in the future, they still stood as enemies...
Then he would personally tear their heads off first.