Chapter 199: Ghosts in the Mist (Part-21) [Welcome to Nanohai Shore]

Chapter 199 - Ghosts in the Mist (Part-21) [Welcome to Nanohai Shore] {You guys were a bit short but I'm magnanimous} {Also, only 2 chaps left so I'll do a double tomorrow too but don't think this would be a reason to go short on the stones} ~~~ Kakashi and Itachi moved fast as the treeline thinned out and the scent of saltwater filled the air. The sound of crashing waves in the distance told them they were close so neither slowed. They could still feel the pressure behind them as dozens of hunter-nin giving chase, but after several skirmishes along the way, their numbers had finally thinned. Maybe ten or fifteen remained now but they were still too many to turn and fight. As they reached the final rise overlooking Nanohai Shore, both men came to a sharp stop. The beach stretched before them and scattered all across it were dozens of bodies and Kakashi definitely knew them, after all these were the agents he had brought to the base. Kakashi's eye flitted from corpse to corpse, his expression unreadable beneath the mask, but his shoulders had tensed. His gaze finally stopped at a figure collapsed near a drift of blood-darkened water. "Utakata-San..." he muttered under his breath. Itachi's voice was barely a whisper beside him, "They're all alive. But Utakata-Sensei and Hitoshi are in critical condition. The three medics didn't make it but most of the agents are unconscious." Kakashi exhaled quietly, his tension loosening, but not gone. Injured could be healed. Dead could not. He gave a small nod and moved forward again. Behind them, the remaining hunters burst through the trees, Raiga Kurosuki at the front, Kiba blades crackling with wild arcs of electricity. They were ready to lunge when a booming voice barked across the shore. "Stop, you lot." The tone was casual, almost amused, but the weight behind it shut everything down. Kisame Hoshigaki stepped forward from the rocky formation on the far end of the beach, water pooling beneath his feet unnaturally as if the ocean itself leaned toward him. His massive blade was slung over his shoulder, and that ever-present grin twisted wider as he looked at the scene before him. "These two are special guests," he said, pointing lazily at Kakashi and Itachi. "But the guest of honour hasn't arrived yet. So no one dies until he gets here." He let out a low, rumbling laugh. His killing intent surged with it, pressing down on everyone around him like a tidal wave. Even Kakashi's eye narrowed as his skin bristled from the sheer weight of it. One of the hunter-nin behind them took a shaky step back. Raiga gritted his teeth, forcing himself upright. Compared to the others, he held up better, but even he was visibly sweating. "Orders were to capture them alive. The leaders, especially. All these people have more value alive than dead. Kill the rest if you want, but the key targets-" Kisame turned his head slowly toward him, and that smile dropped. "You giving me orders now?" he asked, voice flat. But Raiga didn't respond. Kisame took a step forward, chakra coiling off him like steam. "We might both be one of the seven swordsmen, but don't pretend we're on the same level, Raiga. I kill you here, no one's gonna miss you. And I doubt the Mizukage's going to cry over one more corpse on this beach." The tension between them sizzled in the air. For a moment, it looked like Kisame might act on his threat. But then he laughed again and turned away, seemingly losing interest. "Relax. I'm not here to ruin the plan. You can keep your little prizes. I'm just here to make a point." He gazed out toward the trees beyond the beach, the smile returning to his face. "And I'm going to make it in front of that brat, Ren Takahashi. I want him to see what happens when you leave me mid way of an interesting fight. Let him watch me crush his friends, one by one." His voice lowered into something colder. "I want him to remember this beach." Raiga grunted but stayed quiet as he knew it was better to wait rather than arguing with this dumb shark. The hunter-nin behind him didn't dare move. Itachi's eyes narrowed. Kakashi adjusted his position slightly, but neither spoke. They knew better than to provoke Kisame into acting too soon, because Kisame was right about one thing. Ren hadn't arrived yet and until he did, no one could predict how this standoff would end. ~~~ Ren and the others were still rushing toward the Nanohai shore, pushing forward through the thinning tree line. The air had grown heavier with each step. Not physically but chakra-wise. Ren had already healed Four, Yugao, and the other injured agents during their escape, but even though their bodies were fixed up, none of them had returned to their full fighting condition. Not everyone could bounce back the way Ren did. Even now, he was pushing them harder than before. They hadn't been ambushed again since the last group of hunter-nin as Ren had taken care of them. All of them. His gloves still had dried blood along the seams, and the scent of metal lingered on his skin. But despite the silence around them and the empty forest path, Ren hadn't relaxed even for a moment. Four noticed this and asked "Something wrong?" he asked while moving alongside him, his voice low. Ren exhaled through his nose and glanced at the treeline ahead. "I don't know," he muttered. "But something feels off." Four frowned and didn't respond immediately. He didn't need to. Ren wasn't one to throw around hunches lightly, he was too analytical for that. And if someone like Ren said he had a bad feeling, then it was probably already too late to prepare for it. Yugao, still recovering from her earlier injuries, exchanged a glance with the other agents and quickened her pace too. Ren looked back briefly at the group and then said, "We need to move faster. Get ready, we might not get a second to breathe once we're there." He didn't wait for a response. He surged ahead, moving faster now, breaking through the underbrush like a ghost slipping through leaves. The others followed with as much speed as they could muster. But still, the feeling didn't fade, it got worse instead. Like something at the edge of his senses was watching, waiting, sharpening a blade that hadn't been drawn yet. ~ A few minutes later, Ren and his team finally reached the Nanohai shore, and just like Itachi and Kakashi before them, the moment they saw the beach, everyone came to a halt. Corpses and collapsed figures were scattered across the sand. Some groaning, others ominously still. For a moment, no one spoke. Ren exhaled and said calmly, "Don't worry. Most of them are alive." Yugao visibly tensed at first, but her shoulders loosened slightly after hearing him. Even then, the strain on her face didn't disappear, her boyfriend and her Sensei were both lying on the edge of death. She couldn't relax yet. Kisame, crouched on a rocky outcrop by the water, chuckled when he heard Ren's voice. "Of course they're alive," he said, grin widening. "I wanted to kill them one by one in front of you." Before anyone could react, he flickered from his perch and appeared midair, directly above Hitoshi. His foot came crashing down, aiming for Hitoshi's skull but it never landed. Ren appeared beneath him in a blur, foot raised, stopping Kisame's stomp cold with a block. Kisame blinked, registering the resistance, then laughed like a madman. "Kekeke... what a fool," he sneered. "You already know what I can do, and you still let me touch you for some puny subordinate?" Without waiting, Kisame reached down, and his palm clamped onto Ren's arm. Immediately, chakra began to drain in a visible stream as he activated his absorption. Ren didn't resist. He stood still and let it happen, unfazed. Kisame absorbed Ren's entire chakra and just as he was about to say something smug, his grin wavered. Ren's chakra was back to full. There was no delay, no even a little, it was fully restored in an instant. Kisame's eyes narrowed. "You!" He gripped tighter and absorbed again but the result was the same. Full drain, then instant recovery. By the third time, Kisame pulled away slightly. He wasn't laughing now, at least not the same way. His expression was still twisted with excitement, but it had sharpened and became more serious. He could feel it, Ren's chakra was near equal to that of a high-level S-rank shinobi and he'd absorbed that amount three full times. Doing all this, he was starting to feel bloated. If he didn't use some of that chakra soon, it would affect his mobility. His body wasn't a bottomless pit. Overcharging would slow him down, maybe even immobilize him for a few seconds, an opening he couldn't afford against someone like Ren. Ren, for his part, was still calm. He slowly removed his glasses and tucked them into his belt, his light blue eyes settling on Kisame's. "What's wrong?" he asked mildly. "I thought you were going to wring me dry. But as you can see..." he lifted both arms slightly, showing no sign of depletion, "...I'm very fine. So, what's next?" Kisame didn't answer. This time, he didn't try the same trick. He already knew it wouldn't work. He just grinned again, slower this time. "You're getting more and more fun," he said, cracking his neck as he stepped back. "But I can't play with you like this anymore." In the next moment, his chakra exploded outward like a wave, violent, oppressive, and dark. The pressure weighed on the entire beach. Even the mist hunter-nin paused, their movements slowing under the sheer weight of it. Then Kisame tilted his head and asked, "So, Ren Takahashi. You ready to die?" Ren didn't blink as he replied. "Sure." Then he ducked. A microsecond later, Kisame's punch tore through the air where Ren's head had been, kicking up a gust of wind and sand behind it. Ren crouched down to Hitoshi's side, scooping him up in one fluid motion and tossing him back toward the team. "Catch," he said. This wasn't safe as it could aggravate Hitoshi's injuries but he was in an even dire situation. Yugao jumped forward and caught Hitoshi carefully, bracing herself as the force nearly knocked her back. Without wasting a moment, she dropped to her knees and began pouring chakra into him. She wasn't a dedicated medic, but she'd learned a few emergency healing techniques from Utakata during their Genin days, which were just enough to stabilize someone in critical condition. As her hands lit up with faint green chakra, she whispered under her breath, "Come on... hold on." Ren straightened and turned back to Kisame, his gloves tightening around his fingers. The beach had gone silent again, save for the faint hiss of wind and waves, and then it began. Ren and Kisame clashed, their blows sending shockwaves across the shore as the tide began to froth and churn around them. Ren had already opened the Fifth Gate, his body straining under the strain but moving with frightening speed and strength. Kisame, forced to fight seriously for the first time in their encounter, could no longer absorb chakra as his reserves were dangerously bloated after absorbing Ren's full power multiple times. That left Ren free to make use of chakra-enhanced strikes, turning the tide against the shark-like swordsman. Their fists collided midair again, Ren's movement was sharper and faster now. Kisame grunted and slid back, his feet carving trenches in the sand. The two locked eyes for a breath, then rushed again. In the midst of that chaos, Raiga Kurosaki and the remaining Mist Hunter-nin began to move. Seeing this, Ren's voice rang out across the battlefield, his tone sharp and commanding, even while exchanging blows. "Kakashi, keep Raiga busy. Weasel, wipe out the fodder. Four, Cat, four's subordinate gather every agent, alive or dead, and move. Head straight for the water. Don't stop, no matter what. Tenzo... wait for your chance." No one hesitated and moved instantly. Kakashi appeared in a blur, intercepting Raiga mid-charge. Though he no longer had his Sharingan, these past few weeks had taught him something important, without the constant chakra drain, he was actually growing stronger. The weight he'd carried for years was finally lifting, and now, with his chakra reserves near their peak, he didn't need a special eye to win. If he had to spam jutsu until the sea itself dried up, he would. Raiga scowled as Kakashi's foot collided with his sword, pushing him back slightly. "Hatake..." he muttered. "Yeah," Kakashi replied, forming hand signs. "Let's not talk too much." Meanwhile, Itachi, still wearing a nondescript ANBU mask and with normal black hair unlike Ren and Kakashi's special hair was keeping his identity hidden. He jumped into the heart of the hunter-nin formation. The Mist hunters didn't know who he was, but they'd seen what he could do. They reacted immediately, casting jutsu without holding anything back, desperate to keep him from overwhelming them. Back at the shore, Four, one of their strongest remaining combatants, wanted to stay behind and hold the line, but Ren's orders were clear. He couldn't afford to question them now. So, with Yugao and Noi, he rushed to gather their comrades. The agents behind them wasted no time, slinging bodies over their shoulders and sprinting for the waves. Yugao, already carrying Hitoshi, made a beeline for where Utakata was half-buried in the sand. Her steps hesitated only briefly as she knelt beside him, his skin was pale, his body limp. But before she could lift him, she heard a weak murmur. "Leave. I'm fine." It was Utakata's voice. Her eyes widened slightly as she found he was conscious, and deliberately submerging himself. She realized instantly that he was planning something. Without wasting a moment, she pulled a sealed body from her scroll, one of the fallen agents, and slung it over her shoulder, positioning it to obscure Hitoshi. To anyone watching, it would appear she'd picked up Utakata. As the last of his form sank into the earth, Utakata offered her a faint smile before vanishing completely beneath the sand. Yugao turned and sprinted back, just like everyone else. None of the enemy had noticed a thing. Moments later, the shore was empty and there were no wounded agents, no medics, no scouts. Only three battles remained. Itachi vs the Mist hunters. Kakashi vs Raiga Kurosaki. Ren vs Kisame Hoshigaki. ~~~~~ {Comment what you think would happen in the fights, Itachi would be able to handle the hunters easily so I won't be showing that fight and even Kakashi would be able to stall Raiga so he too would get less focus and the main attention would be Ren vs Kisame of course. I'll also make sure that this fight doesn't become a repeat of the previous fight, after all this time Kisame is near an ocean so he is even stronger.} {Also, some of you might have doubts about Kisame being bloated by just absorbing Ren's chakra three times but you gotta understand that Kisame had nearly full chakra reserves when he began absorbing Ren's chakra who is just a little short of Kage rank chakra level (the likes of late stage Shippuden Kakashi) So, even if he could absorb chakra it would be basically impossible for him to have so much chakra and not feel it, so I added this, if you still have some questions, comment below and I'll answer them.} {If you want, you can support me on pat-reon} { h t t p s : / / w w w . p a t r e o n . c o m / Z e e n o n } {You know what else} {280 Stones = Extra Chapter} {STONES!!!!}