Naruto: Stormbreaker

Chapter 329: Chapter 329: First Blood

Shisui looked at Gato’s current residence, inhaling slowly. It was late into the patrol shift, just before they were scheduled to rotate. The men were likely bored and mentally exhausted, eager for their replacements. That was the exact moment they usually let their guard down.

Shisui’s voice was serious. ”I will use only physical attacks at first. That will encourage Gato to send Kakuzu out, thinking it is just a normal gang dispute, rather than going into hiding. It will also help me preserve chakra just in case the ANBU take their sweet time assassinating him.”

I nodded, my expression grave as I kept my eyes on the entrance, ready for whatever was to come. Shisui looked pleased with my focus, but his tone held a strict warning. ”Noa, do not let your guard down around an S-rank ninja, ever, no matter what. Even if Kakuzu gave you an opening, do not fall for it. He is an experienced fighter, and veterans like him have many tricks.”

”Yes, sensei,” I replied.

Shisui drew his two swords, the steel catching the fading light. He began to walk forward slowly. ”This whole mission has been crazy,” he muttered.

The guards noticed him almost immediately, as Shisui was not actively hiding his presence. He did not utilize any external chakra. He just walked calmly toward the perimeter. One of the men called out, his tone sharp. ”Hey, idiot! This is a private residence. Go away or you will die. We might even go after your family for the trouble alone, so back off. We are not in the mood.”

Shisui ignored them. He kept his steady pace, his head dropped slightly so his hair cast shadows over his face.

The other guard grumbled. ”Is he on something? Can he even hear us? Maybe he doesn’t know where he is.” He stepped forward, reaching out with a powerful hand to grab Shisui’s shoulder and stop him.

Suddenly, Shisui raised his head, his dark eyes locking onto the man. In a blur of motion, he swung one of his swords, brutally slicing right through the side of the sentry’s stomach. The man let out an agonizing scream and dropped to the floor. He desperately tried to hold his spilling innards, his hot blood pooling and sending wisps of steam rising into the cold air beneath the orange setting sun.

The second man’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief. He shouted into the building, ”Enemy attack!” before rushing forward. He was smart enough not to engage blindly, opting to slash at Shisui from a slight distance. Shisui smoothly twisted away from the blade, using the momentum of his rotation to launch his left-hand sword straight through the air. The weapon buried itself deep into his target’s left eye. The man collapsed, his limbs twitching violently.

Shisui approached at a terrifyingly calm pace. He grabbed the hilt of the embedded sword and wrenched it upward, slicing through the rest of the skull to free the blade. Blood sprayed in an arc in front of him, painting the ground like a macabre work of art. Shisui didn’t even flinch as he looked up at the main gate.

Six more thugs poured out of the building, eyeing the carnage and Shisui with obvious fear. The oldest among them stepped up, shouting to break their paralysis. ”Come on, you cowards! He is only one guy! Let’s defend our post!” He shoved one of the younger fighters forward, spurring the rest into motion. ”Attack!”

The men roared through their fear as they charged. The fastest among them reached Shisui well ahead of the pack.

”You idiot, let’s attack together!” the old leader screamed, but his warning came too late.

Shisui easily ducked under the heavily telegraphed strike, bringing his blade up in a vicious, sweeping slash that cleaved straight through the attacker’s neck. The man’s body continued its forward momentum, while his severed head hung suspended in the air for a fraction of a second.

Pivoting smoothly on one leg, Shisui jumped and roundhouse-kicked the falling head directly at the next approaching combatant with such fluidity that it looked slow. The enemy froze in absolute panic, catching the bloody, severed head of his friend who had been alive just a moment ago.

By the time he snapped out of his shock, Shisui was already there. The Uchiha drove his sword straight through the man’s heart, then violently ripped it back out. The lifeless body crumpled to the ground.

The other four tried to surround him. Shisui moved fast, almost skipping backward as his footwork kicked up a thick storm of dust. The remaining fighters charged blindly into the dirt cloud.

”Stay together...” their old leader shouted. Before he could say another word, he suddenly lost his balance and fell hard to the ground. He looked down, only to realize in horror that his left leg had been cleanly severed right above the ankle.

He screamed, the pain finally catching up to him, but his men did not have time to react. Shisui parried the first enemy’s clumsy strike, causing his hand and weapon to go wide. With incredible speed and not a single wasted movement, Shisui slashed across the guard’s chest with one sword and then kicked the bottom of the second incoming blade’s hilt, knocking it upward. With flawless form, he lunged forward with a piercing thrust, driving his steel straight through the third man’s throat.

Shisui wrenched the sword free with a wide swing, casting a thick spray of blood directly into the final thug’s face. The blinded man stumbled and lost his balance just an instant before Shisui cleanly slashed his head off.

Shisui then approached the old leader. The crippled man was desperately crawling toward Gato’s residence, screaming for help as a trail of blood followed him, drawing a grim line in the dirt. He looked back over his shoulder, his eyes brimming with terrified tears. ”Stay away from me, you monster!”

Before he could scream again, Shisui drove his sword straight through the man’s mouth and deep into his throat. Shisui casually pulled the weapon back, letting the leader’s lifeless head thud against the bloody earth.

The dust finally settled on a scene of absolute slaughter. Shisui stood motionless in a garden of corpses. Trails of blood and severed human limbs surrounded him, spreading outward from his feet like the petals of a blooming red flower.

”Those poor souls never had a chance. To fight a jonin as a normal human is beyond unfair. Not to mention Shisui’s talent when it comes to speed and incredible reflexes,” I whispered to myself, observing the bloody aftermath.

I summoned my spear into my hand and immediately started charging it with lightning chakra. The seal symbols engraved on the weapon shone black at first, then shifted into a harsh, glowing dark blue. As I locked my focus on the entrance, volatile arcs of lightning began to crackle and flow violently around the entire spear.

A moment later, a powerful, echoing voice rumbled from within the compound, growing louder as heavy footsteps approached. ”You weaklings, stay back! You will only get in my way, and I will be the one who gets his pay docked for killing you all!”

Kakuzu appeared in the large entranceway. His pupilless green gaze swept over the scene of absolute slaughter before landing squarely on Shisui. His eyes widened slightly, and his muffled voice dripped with raw, unfiltered greed.

”Shisui of the Body Flicker. One of the highest bounties in the Bingo Book. Today is my lucky...”

Before he could finish his sentence, he sensed an incoming attack, but he was a fraction of a second too late to react.

I launched the spear.

It vanished from my grip in a deafening crack, crossing the open courtyard in a heartbeat. It was nothing but a singular, violent streak of blinding blue light before it struck Kakuzu dead in the center of his chest with the devastating force of a cannon shell. The sheer, overwhelming kinetic energy did not just rip him off his feet. It launched him backward like a missile. The momentum blasted him straight through the heavy stone walls in an explosion of rock and dust, leaving a gaping crater as he crashed deep into the darkness inside. Then, the violent lightning condensed around the spear detonated.

The deafening explosion shattered the entryway, completely obliterating the supporting pillars and bringing the entire heavy facade of the building crashing down. Thick clouds of dust erupted into the air as Kakuzu was buried beneath tons of jagged rubble.