Chapter 21

Blake stared at the figure standing on the ground, as he frowned. The man seemed strong, yet at the same didn't. It felt as if there was something heavily binding him from reaching his fullest potential. The man also wore a peculiar coat with several red clouds painted on it.

"Hmm...Itachi said that there should have been four of you." Kisame glanced at the group, evilly grinning. "Well, whatever, it doesn't matter if there is one more dead."

Then, he placed his hands together, inhaling deeply as he started doing those annoying hand signs. Blake saw the man mumbling something, and then the water beneath him began to expand. It grew quickly and chaotically, as an entire tsunami formed out of nowhere.

Thankfully, it also created a perimeter of shadows, and Blake immediately dipped into them, not caring even a little about the rest of the group. He knew that most of the shinobi knew how to walk on water, but he was different.

He would be left completely open, as water contained no shadows. So, Blake, utilizing his superior dexterity, moved like a bullet away from the battle. The wave crashed against the ground and Guy's team was too busy dealing with the enemy to care about Blake's disappearance.

Blake climbed up a tree, overlooking the battle from above. The entire place had been turned into one huge lake, causing Blake to frown even further. One needed some great power to be able to do so.

"Should I just run?" Blake considered just continuing on his way but stopped with a sigh. It felt pretty bad in his mouth to just abandon this group. They had not only decided to help him but were also pretty young, and Blake had a soft spot for kids.

Instead, Blake settled against the core of the tree, grabbed his axe, and stared at the developing situation with awareness. The team was actually doing much better than he thought, considering they were on literal water.

They had great chemistry, though nothing flashy. That dark-haired girl was constantly throwing weapons at the shark-man, which forced him to evade repeatedly. The white-eyed man had some strange abilities, which proved dreadful in combination with his creepy martial arts.

Guy and his little clone were also quite impressive, as they managed to keep the shark-man busy with just their physical abilities. However, Blake knew that was not enough.

That intruder was utilizing the surroundings to his advantage. After creating four clones of himself and dispatching water sharks into the water, the battle turned in his favor.

The three teenagers got confined in strange water cells, which were guarded by three identical clones of that man. The main body was engaging in a fight against Guy, who was getting absolutely demolished.

Blake had no idea whether Guy had anything else up his sleeve, but, judging by his composed expression, he had. Still, Blake decided to play it safe. Simply sneaking up to free those teenagers would have probably been the sanest decision, but that shark guy wasn't foolish either.

He left one more clone there, which was probably in case Blake showed up. Blake jumped from the tree, the wind blowing into his face, as he descended into the water. Fortunately, it wasn't deep at all.

"Annoying fellows," Kisame said, swinging his peculiar weapon sideways. Guy put his elbow against it, deflecting it away. Kisame really wondered what kind of training did this man have to go through for his bones to be comparable to steel.

Guy stood on the water, glancing at his three disciples. They weren't struggling yet, they could keep their breath for a few more minutes definitely. Though, Kisame was an opponent that he couldn't deal with promptly.

"I will have to unleash the power of youth on you." Guy's face turned serious, though he continued to spout nonsense. Kisame smiled. It was finally time for the real fun. Preparing himself, licking his lips, Kisame stared at Guy when suddenly he felt a sense of danger coming from behind.

He ducked immediately, seeing a dreadful axe brush just past him. It collided with the water, but instead of going down, a pair of hands caught it. A bare-chested figure of a masked man rose from beneath, catching Kisame off guard. There were so few fluctuations made in the water that he didn't even feel anyone incoming.

Blake swung his axe at Kisame, who grabbed onto his weapon, muscles bulging. The edge, covered in darkness, approached him promptly, looking extremely dangerous. His reaction was a bit off, so he only managed to slightly raise his weapon to block the path.

His foothold was messed up as well, causing the attack to be even more dangerous. Kisame was sent flying away from his own created ocean, as he collided with the trees, exactly where the real Blake was waiting.

"This has just gotten much more interesting." Kisame rose back to his feet, shrugging away the soil that has gotten on his coat. His senses were mostly restricted due to it not being his main body, but they were still superior to most shinobi's. Yet, he didn't feel that man approaching until the last moment.

Glancing into the distance, he saw that masked man still standing there, staring at him. No... not at him. Beyond him. A sensation that he had not felt in a long time attacked his brain. For the first time in a long time, it was not him who was the hunter. Someone was hunting him instead.

"I am sorry, little fishy. I owe them."

Kisame heard a voice behind his back, shadows seemingly coiling around his neck. Before he could even try turning around, he felt his head detach from his body. It was a silent, painless death, and Kisame didn't even comprehend when he came back to his real body.

Opening his eyes, Kisame saw Itachi sitting beside him, still concentrating on stalling that other team. Grabbing his weapon, Kisame stared at it for some time, grinning like a real demon.

"I have found quite an interesting toy." Kisame rested his other hand on the blade. "Perhaps he will also saturate your hunger."