What the Kiri jonin mistook for Yagura was, in reality, Suiren stepping onto the battlefield. The mont she unleashed her power, an overwhelming pressure settled over the area. It wasn’t just the chunin who felt intimidated, even the jonin struggled under the sheer force radiating from her. Chakra coated her entire body, distorting the air and cracking the ground beneath her feet. But it wasn’t her own.
The source of this imnse power was the unsealed Suijingan.
By design, the Suijingan was bound by an innate restriction, preventing it from unleashing its hidden potential, the absorption of chakra. Since chakra could manifest in various forms, including elental nature, the Suijingan, with its absolute control over water, had the power to convert it directly into chakra. However, the Taki clan’s dojutsu exacted a devastating toll.
It consud the user’s chakra at an insatiable rate, then drained their very life force to sustain itself. And once unsealed, the process was irreversible.
For those born with the Suijingan, it was an ultimate trump card capable of turning the tide of almost any battle. But activating it brought a grim certainty - death. That was why the unsealing technique was considered forbidden and passed down only to the clan heads and their heirs.
For Suiren, whose own chakra reserves were abysmally low, the price would be imdiate. She would be burning through her life force from the very first mont. Her ti was limited.
The instant the Suijingan was unsealed, her irises shifted. What once resembled calmly flowing water now swirled violently, a whirlpool in constant motion. The soft cyan hue at the center darkened, tinged with streaks of crimson as the eye began feeding on her very existence.
‘It’s… much less painful than I expected.’ Suiren flexed her fingers, feeling the raw, unrestrained power flooding into her. The loss of her own chakra no longer mattered as external energy surged toward her in waves, filling the void.
“What is happening?!”
“Is this the true power of the Taki clan?!”
“Is that… Lady Suiren?!”
“What a monstrous presence…”
The battlefield fell silent. Stunned and terrified, both allies and enemies alike stood frozen, unable to look away.
“Such a monster… she won’t fight us, will she?” a Kiri-nin muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. It wasn’t a question, it was a plea, a desperate hope that fate would spare them from the impending slaughter. Because if Suiren turned her attention to them, there would be no survivors.
Even the fresh reinforcents, Kiri nins who had already cut down nurous Takimura shinobi, stood trembling. Their numbers, their skill, their experience none of it offered even the illusion of survival. They needed soone just as strong to stand against her.
Only one na ca to mind.
Yagura.
If there was anyone in Kiri who could match this terrifying force, it was him. Yet there was no sign of the Mizukage. And Suiren, now radiating an eerie calm, had already finished adjusting to her power. The violent storm of chakra around her settled, now it was refined and controlled, but in no way less oppressive.
Her gaze swept across the battlefield, searching for her first target.
Then she saw a cluster of Kiri-nin standing together, they were about ten.
“Perfect!” Suiren reached out.
She did not speak. She did not move.
She rely extended her hand.
The water obeyed.
A massive wave rose from the ground within seconds, crashing toward the Kiri-nin with devastating force. Those who could escape flickered away in desperation, but the ones caught in Suiren’s direct path had no such chance. The wave was simply too vast to evade. So braced themselves, a few hastily ford earth walls, and one, lacking earth affinity, even attempted a water wall. All of them were futile efforts against the sheer scale of Suiren’s technique.
The colossal wave crashed down, obliterating the feeble blockades like they were child’s play. Even if the initial impact didn’t kill the ninja outright, the force knocked them unconscious, leaving them to drown in the churning waters.
‘I’ll keep my ability to extract water a secret until the Mizukage arrives,’ Suiren thought.
The full extent of the Suijingan’s power was unknown to most, intentionally so. The Taki clan had guarded its abilities closely, knowing that revealing too much would paint an even larger target on their backs. Even her own son had died without using it during his final battle. Since survival had been impossible for him regardless, he chose not to give Kiri another reason to hunt their clan. Even if Kiri knew about his ability to extract the water from living beings, doing that to one shinobi and doing that to an entire squad was very different. The Taki clan had the potential to be one of the strongest, but they did not possess the power to protect themselves while growing, so their only option was to hide and wait.
Suiren struck again, this ti targeting another cluster of Kiri-nin. Those who had witnessed the first attack firsthand now understood the futility of trying to block it.
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Kiri’s shinobi were not known for their defensive capabilities. They had no access to Rashomon, nor did they possess strong earth release affinities. Their strength lay in their speed. And so, they ran.
The wave chased them relentlessly, closing in as they scrambled in desperation. But as their comrades struggled against the overwhelming force, the remaining Kiri shinobi realized sothing horrifying. Simply standing there, watching, ant waiting for a guaranteed death.
Even the Takimura forces had begun gathering, ensuring that they would not stand in Suiren’s way so that she could strike their enemies with greater efficiency.
Kiri had only one option left.
Attack.
All of them. At once.
No matter how powerful Suiren was, she was still just one person. How could she possibly stand against an entire squad?
However, that was a naive thought. They lived in a world where powerful shinobi had defeated not just small squads but entire armies, where one man would one day stand against the combined forces of four great villages. But the Kiri-nin neither knew nor cared about such things.
All that mattered was the present.
Suiren had to die, and she had to die now. If she finished her current targets, they would be next.
Led by a master jonin who had already cut down over a dozen Takimura shinobi, the Kiri forces launched their assault. They unleashed an array of techniques - water and wind jutsu, a barrage of shuriken, kunai laced with explosive tags. But none of it reached her.
A towering wall of water surged up in an instant, swallowing the incoming attacks before surging forward, crashing into the Kiri forces with devastating force. Most were swept away before they could react.
‘If ranged attacks won’t work, we’ll try close combat,’ the master jonin decided.
In a blur, he flickered behind Suiren. For a mont, she was distracted, her focus split between controlling the wave and the sudden threat. The master jonin’s blade closed in, its edge gleaming with lethal intent.
But before his strike could land, a figure intercepted him - twin blades flashing in the light.
The Kiri-nin’s eyes widened.
The man standing before him wielded the unmistakable Kiba blades, their jagged edges crackling with lightning. But it wasn’t just the weapons, lightning coated his entire body.
‘There was no intel on this technique.’ Shin's possession of the Kiba blades was well-known, but this jutsu… was different. This was sothing eerily similar to the Raikage’s Lightning Armor.
‘I’ll deal with him first.’
The Kiri jonin shifted, swinging his leg in a powerful kick aid at Shin’s head, but Shin vanished in a blur of lightning, ducking under the attack. As the jonin’s leg passed harmlessly overhead, Shin countered, slashing upward in a lethal arc, aiming to carve through his chest and up to his face.
The Kiri jonin leaned back, narrowly evading the worst of it, but the strike still grazed his chest, cutting through fabric and flesh.
Off balance now, his defenses were wide open.
Shin moved to finish him, but the Kiri-nin was a master jonin for a reason.
“Water Release: Water Wall!”
A mass of water erupted from the ground, forming a thick barrier between them.
‘He’s trying to buy ti,’ Shin analyzed. The jonin was creating a breather, a mont to recover. But with the water wall blocking his path, Shin had no choice but to circle around, his lightning-clad body crackling with impatience.
The Kiri jonin now realized he had gravely underestimated his opponent. Even if he managed to defeat Shin, it would be too late. The few monts he’d spent locked in combat had given Suiren the opening she needed to eliminate half of the remaining shinobi.
‘This fight is unwinnable. Survival is the best I can hope for,’ he thought, his mind racing. No longer focused on victory, he searched for an escape route. His eyes darted to the dense forest on his left, it was the only potential path to freedom.
‘I’m not dying for a lunatic Mizukage in a senseless battle,’ he decided, turning to flee. But Shin was already there, his lightning-clad body crackling with energy as he swung his blade in a precise, calculated arc.
‘He’s not aiming to kill , he’s cutting off my escape,’ the jonin realized, clicking his tongue in frustration. The only way to dodge was backward, but that direction led straight toward Suiren and she was a death sentence. ‘If I can survive the initial hit, I might still escape.’ Despite Shin’s speed, the jonin was confident in his own. He gritted his teeth and surged forward, bracing for the inevitable strike.
He twisted his body, trying to minimize the damage, but Shin’s blade still found its mark. The electrified edge sliced through his arm, sending a jolt of pain coursing through his body. Yet, despite the agony, he didn’t stop.
he catches now, I’m dead.’
He ran. Flickering through the terrain with all the speed he could muster, he made a desperate dash for the dense forest. After a few monts, he glanced back, surprised to find Shin wasn’t pursuing him.
‘Sothing’s off. Why is he letting go?’ No matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t find an answer. Why would Shin allow a master jonin to escape?
The answer was simple: he hadn’t.
‘There’s a surprise waiting for you there,’ Shin thought, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. But then he paused, struck by the change in his own deanor. Just a few years ago, it would have been unthinkable for him to trust others, especially soone as young as his students. Yet now, he trusted all three of them implicitly. Akane, Mizuki, and Kaoru were exceptional as each had already developed their own signature techniques, a feat almost unheard of at their age. And the Kiri jonin was about to experience one of those techniques firsthand.
‘He’s missing an arm. She should be more than capable of handling him,’ Shin mused. But just to be safe, he sent a shadow clone after them. After all, even a wounded master jonin was a dangerous foe.
Shin, like nearly everyone close to Kaoru, had received a scroll to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu. So far, not many had mastered it. Most were preoccupied with other techniques, deeming the jutsu less useful for their current goals. But Shin, with his free ti and curiosity, had gladly accepted the gift from his student.
‘Itachi won’t be upset that I used this scroll to teach everyone, will he?’ Kaoru wondered briefly. But he quickly dismissed the thought. Itachi wouldn’t care, and neither would Konoha. The Shadow Clone Jutsu wasn’t as overpowered as the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu, after all, and few shinobi could use it effectively anyway.
After sending his clone to assist his student, Shin turned to Suiren, who had already wiped out the remaining Kiri nin in the area. The battlefield was eerily quiet, save for the faint crackle of dying flas and the groans of the wounded.
“Lady Suiren,” Shin called his voice laced with quiet respect. “What are your orders? Should we follow you, or stick to the initial plan?”
Most of Shin’s group was badly injured, so barely standing. They needed dical attention, but Shin knew better than to complain. From Maki, he’d learned the price Suiren was willing to pay in this war. She was burning through her life force to fight for them. Bruises and wounds were trivial in comparison.
“It’s alr…” Suiren’s words were cut short as she froze, her senses sharpening. A suffocating, domineering presence washed over the battlefield, silencing even the wind.
“He’s here,” she said, her voice low but urgent. “Retreat. Now.”
Before anyone could react, Suiren turned toward the source of the oppressive aura. Yagura had co.
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