Chapter 159: Kamigami vs. Akatsuki

Chapter 159: Chapter 159: Kamigami vs. Akatsuki

Standing atop a large tree that had been half-charred black by a Lightning Release jutsu, Uchiha Shinichi rested one hand on his hip and grumbled, "Hey, hey, Kakuzu. You can’t even deal with a guy like this?"

At that moment, Kakuzu calmly emerged from underground and said in a deep voice, "This guy isn’t so simple."

With the Kubikiribōchō strapped to his back, Biwa Jūzō surveyed the battlefield and remarked, "Water Release of this caliber... even in the entirety of Kirigakure, there aren’t many who could pull it off!"

Sasori slipped both hands into his ninja tool pouches and smiled.

"Let me handle him. I’m quite interested in this guy."

Orochimaru stood leaning against a large tree with his arms crossed. His gaze lingered on Hyuga Kagami for only a brief moment before shifting toward Uchiha Shinichi on the opposite side.

To Orochimaru, ordinary shinobi could no longer arouse even the slightest bit of interest.

The one he truly cared about was Uchiha Shinichi, who possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan.

"Orochimaru, Sasori, Biwa Jūzō, Uchiha Shinichi..."

Surrounded in the center, Hyuga Kagami swept his gaze across the four Akatsuki members who had suddenly appeared.

His expression darkened.

Not liking the feeling of being looked down upon from above, Hyuga Kagami leapt onto a large tree and addressed the Akatsuki members surrounding him, all of whom seemed convinced they already had him in the bag.

"You sure have a lot of people in your organization!"

Uchiha Shinichi said, "Hey, you’d better not resist. Wouldn’t want us to accidentally kill you or something."

Hyuga Kagami shot Uchiha Shinichi a glare and cursed inwardly, "This idiot!"

At that moment, Biwa Jūzō swung the Kubikiribōchō around and pointed it at Hyuga Kagami from afar.

"What organization do you belong to? And who is that bounty hunter called Yama?"

Hyuga Kagami thought for a moment before smiling.

"You tell me the name of your organization, and I’ll tell you the name of mine!"

Earlier, he had used a large amount of the Dragon Vein’s chakra, causing quite a bit of natural energy to accumulate inside his body. He needed some time to recover and allow his body to naturally expel the excess natural energy that had dispersed throughout it.

Otherwise, if too much natural energy accumulated inside his body, the same thing that happened last time would occur again—his body would begin to petrify.

Biwa Jūzō seemed to have developed the idea of recruiting Hyuga Kagami.

"Our organization is called ’Akatsuki.’ You’re pretty strong. Why don’t you join us?"

"Akatsuki, huh..."

Hyuga Kagami smiled.

"My organization is called ’Kamigami.’ I think you guys are pretty strong too. Why don’t you join my organization instead?"

"Kamigami!?"

As Sasori pulled a scroll from his ninja tool pouch, he said, "That’s quite the grand name!"

At this point, even Orochimaru began to show a little interest in Hyuga Kagami, who was currently operating under his Kawa persona.

In Orochimaru’s eyes, with the five Akatsuki members currently present joining forces, even the powerful shinobi of the Five Great Shinobi Villages who bore the title of Kage would meet their downfall if they came here.

And yet Kawa of Kamigami, despite finding himself in such a situation, was still able to remain this calm.

That alone was enough to draw Orochimaru’s attention.

Hyuga Kagami’s gaze swept across the five Akatsuki members as he secretly calculated his options.

The reason he wasn’t panicking was simple.

His current body was nothing more than a clone.

There was still a spare Type-B clone waiting back in the laboratory, so if he had to abandon this Type-A clone, then so be it.

The only thing he truly needed to worry about was the gourd artifact on his body that contained the sealed Dragon Vein.

But even that wasn’t an unsolvable problem.

All he needed to do was find an opportunity to summon the boar, store the gourd artifact inside its mouth, and then release the Summoning Technique. That would safely send the gourd artifact away.

It was precisely because he had a way out that he wanted to give it a try and see whether he could preserve this Type-A clone.

After all, following the intense battle just now, he could clearly feel that this Type-A clone had begun to resonate with his soul to a certain degree.

And such resonance was undoubtedly the most direct sign that their compatibility was increasing!

Suddenly, Hyuga Kagami’s gaze settled on Uchiha Shinichi.

A bold idea occurred to him.

If it worked...

Perhaps he could save this clone after all.

Rustle...

On the tree opposite him, Sasori unfurled the scroll in his hand.

Written upon the scroll was a single character—

"Ice."

With a burst of white smoke, a human puppet appeared before everyone.

Hyuga Kagami immediately turned his gaze toward it and discovered that the human puppet controlled by Sasori was dressed like a Kirigakure shinobi. It even wore a Kirigakure forehead protector, making it obvious that it had been a Mist shinobi while alive.

"An Ice Style shinobi?"

Combined with the puppet’s identity as a Kirigakure shinobi and the character "Ice" written on the scroll earlier, Hyuga Kagami quickly deduced that this human puppet must have possessed the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai while it was alive.

Ice Release naturally countered Water Release, so Hyuga Kagami didn’t dare delay any longer. He immediately formed hand seals and shouted,

"Water Style: Water Colliding Wave!"

In an instant, a massive volume of water surged upward from the ground like a tornado, forming an enormous waterspout.

When the waterspout reached its peak, with Hyuga Kagami at its center, raging waves swept outward in every direction!

Faced with the enormous wave that had suddenly erupted before them, none of the five Akatsuki members wasted chakra trying to withstand it head-on. Instead, they scattered, each landing atop the surrounding trees.

Then, to everyone’s surprise, Hyuga Kagami used the raging waves as cover and suddenly closed in on Orochimaru!

"Water Style: Water Flow Wave!"

A thin, elongated blade of water shot from Hyuga Kagami’s mouth, carving an arc through the air as it slashed toward Orochimaru.

Licking his lips, Orochimaru abruptly lowered his body with a serpentine motion, effortlessly evading Hyuga Kagami’s Water Flow Wave.

Then he thrust his right hand toward Hyuga Kagami.

Several venomous snakes immediately shot from his sleeve with lightning-fast speed!

Having anticipated this, Hyuga Kagami had already completed his hand seals beforehand.

"Water Style: Water Wall Jutsu!"

The venomous snakes shooting from Orochimaru’s sleeve were instantly swept away by the wall of water.

Hyuga Kagami then vaulted over the water wall and charged straight toward Orochimaru, taunting him as he went,

"I’ll deal with the weakest one first!"

"...The weakest?"

Orochimaru smiled faintly and moved forward to meet Hyuga Kagami.

Anyone familiar with Orochimaru would have known that although there was a smile on his face, the vicious gleam flashing through his eyes already betrayed the chilling killing intent rising within him.

Seeing Hyuga Kagami and Orochimaru become locked in close combat, Sasori made no move to activate his Ice Release human puppet. Instead, he simply stood to the side and watched the show.

Kakuzu, Biwa Jūzō, and Uchiha Shinichi had also heard Hyuga Kagami’s taunt toward Orochimaru. None of them were in any hurry to interfere either. Like Sasori, they stood aside and watched with interest.

After exchanging blows with Orochimaru for a while, Hyuga Kagami suddenly disengaged and fled in Uchiha Shinichi’s direction.

Naturally, Orochimaru had no intention of letting him escape and immediately pursued him.

Watching Hyuga Kagami draw closer and closer, Uchiha Shinichi chuckled.

"Hey, you’re thinking of escaping through my side? Heh... you’ve picked the wrong person!"

Orochimaru, who was chasing closely behind Hyuga Kagami, saw that Uchiha Shinichi’s attention was completely focused on Hyuga Kagami ahead of him.

And now, with the Mangekyō Sharingan practically within arm’s reach...

A mad idea suddenly emerged in Orochimaru’s mind...