Within the Parasitic Destruction Insect whirlwind, dense spider silk appeared as Otsu prepared to bind Yakushi Nonō and take her back to Danzo.
Yakushi Nonō glanced sideways at the sea surface.
A large sword came spinning through the air with a whistling sound, crashing into the insect whirlwind.
Otsu quickly turned his head to look in the direction the sword came from.
The tall figure of Hoshigaki Kisame rose and fell with the waves.
Hoshigaki Kisame said, "Wandering Shrine Maiden, after causing Hōzuki Muragetsu's death, did you think you could return to Konoha?
I need to obtain your corpse to make the Hōzuki clan shut up and stop demanding the Great Sword Samehada from me."
The Great Sword Samehada was embedded in the rock, its bandages unwrapping layer by layer to reveal a blade covered in spikes.
Otsu said, "Yakushi Nonō! You actually brought Kiri-nin to ambush me!"
Yakushi Nonō defended herself, "I told you, the Swordsmen suffered a disastrous defeat, my situation is very precarious, and I didn't know when Hoshigaki Kisame started tracking me."
Otsu moved.
He rushed swiftly towards the Great Sword Samehada and grabbed its hilt.
Hoshigaki Kisame had been overconfident, carelessly throwing such a precious sword over.
However, spikes suddenly protruded from the hilt, cutting Otsu's hand.
Otsu hastily threw Samehada away; he hadn't expected it to have such an ability.
The Great Sword Samehada swam back to Hoshigaki Kisame's feet.
Hoshigaki Kisame picked up Samehada: "You, a Konoha ANBU, what right do you have to hold the Great Sword Samehada?"
The battle between the two erupted abruptly.
Samehada swung, smashing towards Otsu's head.
Boom!
Otsu instantly burst apart, turning into countless Parasitic Destruction Insects.
"Insect Clone?"
The Parasitic Destruction Insects flew through the air, then gathered again in the distance to form Otsu's upper body.
His lower body was gone, replaced only by increasingly sparse, dwindling, flying Parasitic Destruction Insects.
Aburame Ryoma was known as Root's most skilled infiltration ninja; even a gap of a few millimeters was enough for his insect clone to infiltrate.
His body could completely transform into insects and reassemble arbitrarily.
Otsu said, "Yakushi Nonō, help me deal with Hoshigaki Kisame, then return to the village!"
He wasn't worried about Yakushi Nonō refusing. The Konoha Orphanage was under Lord Danzo's control. If Advisor Danzo got angry, he really would kill all the orphans.
Every year at the end of the year, Danzo allowed Yakushi Nonō to return to the village, to her orphanage.
That was Yakushi Nonō's weakness.
Yakushi Nonō lowered her hand, a Chakra Scalpel forming in her palm.
As soon as she stepped forward, she was sent flying by a sweep of the Great Sword Samehada.
Hoshigaki Kisame ignored the Wandering Shrine Maiden; this woman's combat strength wasn't high. His main enemy was the Aburame ANBU.
Crashing onto a rock, Yakushi Nonō deliberately bit her lip, causing blood to trickle from the corner of her mouth.
The rock behind her cracked, but in reality, she was completely unharmed.
She had always cultivated an image of being skilled in disguise and infiltration; no one knew her true combat strength.
Seeing that Yakushi Nonō was of little use, Otsu formed hand signs. The Parasitic Destruction Insects beneath him grew increasingly numerous.
"Secret Technique: Insect Tide Prison!"
Countless insects burrowed out from the ground, instantly covering the entire area.
Everything turned pitch black, filled with the sound of insects gnawing.
The insects suddenly took flight, forming dozens of insect pillars, each over a meter thick and more than ten meters high, segmenting the battlefield.
Hoshigaki Kisame quickly jumped into the air.
The dozens of surrounding insect pillars instantly transformed into insect dragons, lunging at Hoshigaki Kisame from different directions.
Far out at sea, Yōkō was astonished.
Aburame Ryoma's strength is truly formidable. The scale of his Parasitic Destruction Insects is immense, at least four or five times that of White Goat's.
In mid-air, Hoshigaki Kisame formed hand signs: "Great Exploding Water Collision Wave!"
The nearby sea level instantly dropped. Yōkō quickly submerged deeper, nearly exposed by the changing water level.
Tens-of-meters-high waves directly crashed against the towering cliffs by the shore, and Aburame Ryoma's Parasitic Destruction Insects were completely enveloped by the water release.
In terms of jutsu scale, no village could compare to Kirigakure.
The Hiding in Mist Technique could easily cover several kilometers.
Combined Water Release was like a tsunami, endless to the left and right.
Aburame Ryoma's Insect Tide Prison covered dozens of meters, already quite exaggerated, but it still paled in comparison to Hoshigaki Kisame's Water Release.
Hoshigaki Kisame stood upon the waves and formed seals again.
The tips of his hair hardened and pierced into the water.
Dense hair, like hundreds of steel wires, ran rampant through the water.
"Hair Needle Seaweed!"
Otsu's body vanished, leaving only a black cloud of insects visible in the water.
Hoshigaki Kisame's hair, like seaweed, instantly filled the tens-of-meters-high waves.
The hair couldn't pierce every single insect, so the Hair Needle Seaweed formed a vortex sphere underwater, enveloping all the insects and instantly collapsing inward, crushing them.
The insects, trapped within the gaps and sphere of hair, were instantly crushed.
Green fluid appeared in the seawater – the burst innards of the crushed Parasitic Destruction Insects.
As the waves subsided, Hoshigaki Kisame released the large sphere of Hair Needle Seaweed, revealing piles upon piles of crushed Parasitic Destruction Insects inside.
He used another Water Release to wash away the insect corpses, but found no human body among them.
Did I actually kill the Aburame ANBU or not?
He turned his head and found the Wandering Shrine Maiden was also gone.
After all that effort, he had accomplished nothing – neither killed nor captured anyone.
After Hoshigaki Kisame's Water Release ended, the borrowed seawater quickly returned to the ocean, raising the surrounding sea level significantly.
Hidden in the seawater, Yōkō noticed a dark shadow and followed it.
Otsu had escaped Hoshigaki Kisame's terrifying Water Release Hair Needle Secret Technique.
In preparation for facing the Kiri-nin in the Land of Whirlpools, Otsu had cultivated many Water Louse Insects.
These Water Louse Insects, capable of moving freely in water, ultimately reformed his body, allowing him to luckily escape Hoshigaki Kisame's killing move.
The Aburame clan's insects were far more powerful than others imagined.
A mass of Water Louse Insects swam rapidly through the water. Only after putting considerable distance between themselves and the battle site did they reform into Otsu's body.
Underwater, Otsu looked up at the sea surface. The moon was scattered by the ripples, creating a shimmering effect. Once he surfaced, he could breathe fresh air.
The next instant!
He shuddered violently!
A hand pierced through his back and out of his chest!
This hand crushed his heart before his eyes.
The Parasitic Destruction of Insects nurtured within his heart spilled out with the shattered organ and quickly died.
What Otsu saw was a copper-red arm!
Copper Fox!
How dare he?
How did he instantly appear behind me? Why did I sense nothing?
What ability is this?
Another hand pierced out from his right lung, crushing Otsu's lung.
The Parasitic Destruction Insects nurtured in the lung were squeezed out, dying in the seawater.
A fox mask slowly appeared from behind Otsu's neck.
This move, 'Black Tiger Steals Heart from Behind', even Uchiha Madara couldn't withstand it, let alone you, Aburame Ryoma.
Aburame Ryoma's insect clone was too powerful; only this cruel and disgusting method could ensure a certain kill.
Water Body Flicker was Yōkō's ultimate trump card.
Absolute Defense Copper Light was merely his public signboard; Water Body Flicker was his true killing technique.
Here in the vast ocean, the power of Water Body Flicker was infinitely amplified.
Hanzo earned his title of 'Demigod' in Amegakure relying on Water Body Flicker; Yōkō in the seawater was equally powerful, god-like.
Root must be gradually weakened.
Given Danzo's character of being cautious with his own safety in major endeavors, he always sends subordinates to test the waters in every conflict. If his subordinates' strength diminishes, Danzo's actions will also be constrained.
Otsu is the second-in-command in Root. With Orochimari obeying orders but not fully submitting, Otsu is effectively Danzo's most capable subordinate. He must die.
After smashing Otsu's head, Yōkō waited for a long time, but Otsu did not use a clone technique to reform his body. It seemed Otsu was truly dead.
Dragging Otsu's corpse into the deep sea and weighing it down with rocks, Yōkō surfaced.
Next, to meet the Wandering Shrine Maiden...
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(Chapter End)