Chapter 26: Where on Earth Did This Person Come From?

The chakra fluctuations radiating from Uzumaki Sishia did not diminish in the slightest.

Kisame dared not be negligent and immediately wielded his great sword, Samehada, to devour the remaining power of Sishia's ninjutsu. Samehada was insatiable when it came to consuming the chakra of other ninjas, but should it attempt to swallow the chakra of the Ten-Tails, it risked a "snake swallowing an elephant" scenario—it would likely be gorged to death. However, what Samehada was consuming now was not all of Sishia's chakra, but merely an insignificant fraction of his power.

"Lightning Style: Hell Stab, Four-Finger Nukite!"

While Samehada was still struggling to ingest the energy contained within the 60,000-volt Lightning Dragon, Sishia’s figure had already materialized before Kisame.

*Boom!*

This time, Kisame was unable to make any move at all before being sent flying by Sishia’s strike. Had Sishia not avoided his vital points, held back his full strength, and refrained from using the even more powerful One-Finger Nukite, Kisame would not be merely severely injured—he would have been torn to pieces.

*Thud.*

Kisame soared high into the air before crashing heavily to the ground, completely subdued. If Sishia had not held back at the final moment, Kisame would have been cleaved in two.

"Samehada," Kisame wheezed, his voice weak. He gripped his sword, his gaze fixed on Sishia in mid-air with lingering fear. "Too strong... This guy is simply too strong! His power is beyond all reason! He only used the Four-Finger Nukite, not the One-Finger version! At the very last second, he even avoided my vitals and pulled his punch. Otherwise, I would already be dead."

Kisame was left traumatized by Sishia. Meanwhile, Sishia drifted slowly down from the air, showing no signs of exhaustion after the battle. During the fight, he had been relaxed and in total control. It was evident that while Kisame had fought with everything he had, Sishia was merely testing the waters, acting with casual ease.

Mei Terumi had by then helped Chojuro escape from the Water Prison Technique. She, along with Chojuro, Ao, and Gonbei, stared in shock at Sishia as he descended to land on the water’s surface. Kisame, who had almost single-handedly dominated the four of them, had been effortlessly and utterly crushed by Sishia.

After staring at Sishia for a long moment, Mei’s beautiful eyes narrowed. Sishia’s appearance matched a key figure from their intelligence reports: the bounty hunter of the Amegakure black market, the "Mission Perpetual Motion Machine," the "Mission Killing Machine." Since Elder Gengetsu was advanced in age, Mei was currently handling most of Kirigakure’s affairs. While others in the village might not know much about him, she did.

"Uzumaki Sishia, the rising star of the Amegakure black market. Possessor of an incredible talent for Lightning Style, having mastered nearly every lightning jutsu in the ninja world. Highly efficient, with a one-hundred-percent mission completion rate. He has defeated numerous powerful ninjas during his assignments. Kakuzu, Orochimaru, and now Kisame—all S-rank rogue ninjas have crossed paths with him and suffered defeat."

As Mei quickly recalled the intelligence, she, the future Fifth Mizukage, couldn't help but feel a deep sense of shock at Sishia's terrifying strength. In the history of the ninja world, ninjas who maintained an undefeated record could be counted on one hand. Yet, the incredibly young Sishia was one of them! What terrifying strength, what monstrous talent!

Mei quickly gathered her thoughts and, along with Chojuro, Ao, and Gonbei, expressed her gratitude to Sishia. Though she wasn't sure why he had chosen to save them, she knew that without his intervention, they would have certainly suffered casualties. Kisame, an S-rank rogue ninja of Kirigakure, was formidable—gifted with innate physical strength and a terrifying amount of chakra. His Water Style reached a level of mastery that bordered on the supernatural, and with Samehada in hand, he was unstoppable. Under such circumstances, the four of them combined had been no match for him. Especially when Kisame’s Water Style: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave descended from above; it would have pinned her down, making it impossible to escape the lake. Chojuro, trapped in the water prison, and the already injured Gonbei and Ao would surely have been quickly routed. Without their support to distract Kisame, she wouldn't have been able to defeat him or escape his clutches.

Thinking of this, Mei felt even more grateful. It was precisely because Sishia had intervened with such overwhelming power that they were spared.

"Sir, thank you for saving us just now. I am—"

Mei could not finish her sentence. She suddenly discovered something that left her utterly bewildered. While Sishia’s sudden appearance to save them was already hard to believe, what happened next was truly absurd. After saving them, Sishia calmly pulled out a stack of bounty scrolls and began to compare them with the people before him, calculating with professional focus.

Sishia first pulled out a scroll, looked at the photo, and carefully compared it to Mei. From her dark blue robe and brown hair to her long bangs and tall stature, everything matched perfectly. This ninja was indeed the Mei Terumi from the scroll.

Satisfied that he hadn't found the wrong person, Sishia nodded and stated, "Mei Terumi, bounty: 20 million ryo."

With Mei’s identity confirmed, Sishia pulled out a second scroll depicting a middle-aged man with short hair and a stern expression. He confirmed this was Gonbei, one of the Mizukage’s guards. Sishia glanced at Gonbei, then back at the scroll, muttering to himself, "Gonbei, bounty: 8 million ryo. Tsk tsk, that’s a pretty high bounty." He didn't have a strong impression of Gonbei, as the man usually stayed by the Elder's side. If not for the clear photo and description, he might not have recognized him.

Next, Sishia looked at the third person—a man with a very distinct feature: an eye patch covering his Byakugan. He had revealed his ocular prowess during the fight with Kisame. This was the Kirigakure Jonin, Ao.

"Ao, bounty: 15 million ryo," Sishia said casually.

He flipped past that scroll and searched through his stack for the final one. He looked toward the bespectacled boy wielding the twin-bladed Hiramekarei. After comparing him to the description and photo, he confirmed: Chojuro.

"Chojuro, bounty: 10 million ryo. Tsk tsk tsk, Chojuro, you need to work harder. They only think you're worth 10 million!"

After confirming all four identities, Sishia wore a very pleasant smile. He surveyed them with the gaze of someone appraising loot. "Excellent. That means if I pack all four of you up, I’ll earn a 53 million ryo bounty! Although you aren't particularly strong, I am very satisfied with your price tags."

Sishia slapped the stack of scrolls excitedly, his face beaming. These four were incredibly valuable! He wondered how many ordinary mercenary missions this would be worth. Many of the missions he had his Wood Clones complete paid only 10,000 ryo or less. If not for the system rewards, he would have had to complete thousands of missions to earn this much. Fortunately, his chakra was inexhaustible, allowing his Wood Clones to handle the vast majority of tasks while he cleared the black market's mission boards with ease.

Though he had never received such high bounties before, his wealth had accumulated to massive proportions. If not for his system storage space, he wouldn't even know where to put the money! His assets were constantly growing; even now, he had numerous Wood Clones out executing various low-difficulty missions.

Mei, Gonbei, Ao, and Chojuro were unaware of Sishia's internal monologue, but his words made them tense up to the extreme.

"We’re in trouble!" Ao thought, his voice filled with caution, anger, and a touch of helplessness. "His target is us! This guy’s strength is unfathomable. Everyone, be careful!"

The four of them together couldn't even handle Kisame, yet this man had dismantled Kisame in an instant. He was even more terrifying than the rogue ninja. Knowing Sishia might be hostile, Ao didn't even know how they were supposed to fight him. Beside him, Gonbei remained silent, bracing himself for death. He was filled with confusion: "Where did such a powerful ninja even come from? Even among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, such a young genius is rare, isn't it?"