Naruto: Kage of Kages

“Kiri!” The Mizukage’s voice resounded as he called out to his forces, reaching all of his subordinates’ ears with perfect clarity.

“Shingetsu! Lead our forces to charge forwards.” He commanded.

The Hozuki shinobi looked at his Kage with incredulity but immediately, he realized the plan and, since attacking had been what he wanted to do in the first place, he was most willing to go for it.

Not to mention that he would be getting command of the entirety of his village’s forces excluding the Three Tails.

A massive opportunity to win glory and support from his fellow shinobi.

Which was why the Mizukage was so sure he’d accept.

‘Let’s see if he’ll get the recognition he craves when the troops start suffering from his leadership.’ The Mizukage internally plotted, callous towards his own loyal subordinates that he was putting in the line of fire.

On Shiki’s end though . . .

*

‘Damn that wily old man!’ The boy internally cursed.

Things kept exceeding his predictions.

Regarding Konoha, the series had less a pretty detailed characterisation but the other villages did not get the same treatment so Shiki’s advantages as a reincarnator were somewhat diminished.

Worse still, there was a bit of underestimation on his part regarding characters that were never mentioned or not really emphasized in the original series, the Third Mizukage being one such underrepresented character.

‘Shiki-sama!’ Benihime called out with a mental transmission.

‘The Mizukage is baiting me in while leaving me no choice but to bite.’ Shiki transmitted back.

‘Leave and he’ll go after the Three Tails and the Elder suppressing it, stay behind and you’ll be facing him while letting a huge force led by a Kage level shinobi enter the other battlefield unimpeded.’ The girl broke it down in her own head, realizing the problem set by the enemy.

‘Alright Beni-chan. Follow the Kiri forces, try to harass them but with your safety as the top priority, avoid getting entangled and stay away from that Hozuki shinobi like he’s the plague.’ The boy mentally commanded.

‘Shiki-sama, d-’ Benihime began to plead but he just cut her off.

‘Now, Beni.’ Shiki declared with finality.

‘As you wish.’ Though a bit conflicted, the girl still complied with his orders.

And so, the boy was left to face off against the Mizukage alone.

That was the original plan but now, there would be no chaos of battle to use as cover and no allies to save him in a pinch.

An isolated one on one battle against an enemy Kage.

*

All the Kiri forces departed with Benihime trailing after them.

Shiki remained behind, hidden using his counter sensory abilities.

As for the Mizukage, he stood still, arms crossed in front of him, like a statue set on the surface of the sea.

A full minute trickled by . . .

And then another.

Once the Kiri forces had moved far enough away though, the man spoke towards nowhere in particular.

“Not coming out? I know you’re out there brat.”

His closed eyes and emotionless voice were unsettling for sure.

The Mizukage acted as if everything was now under his control and progressing according to his design.

Well, he did force Shiki into making the decisions he was currently making so he was not wrong exactly.

Who would come out on top however, that remained to be seen.

Slowly, the tall for his age, but still short figure of the white haired boy coalesced a measured distance away from the Mizukage.

The corners of the man’s mouth subtly twitched up.

“So you finally show yourself, Ryumon Shiki.” He commented, seemingly casual.

Shiki did not respond with anything but a glare, something which only made the man more pleased if anything.

In an instant though, everything changed.

The Mizukage suddenly turned, a blade of hardened water covering his hand from the Water Spike Jutsu flashed out in a wide cutting slash.

Most frighteningly, as if delivering himself straight into the slash’s path, a second Shiki materialized there, at that exact moment.

A massive diagonal cut ripped the boy’s figure apart however . . .

It was never that simple was it?

Shiki’s figure, just as before, exploded with a thunderous boom, swallowing the figure of the counterattacking Mizukage.

But suddenly, the sound of a blade tearing through flesh rang out.

The boy looked down to see a hand shrouded in hardened water jutting out from his chest.

He struggled to twist his head and look behind him, only to see a cold faced Third Mizukage looking down on him.

“Did you think I would fall for that little trick again?” The Man questioned, disdain creeping into his tone.

Shiki coughed as blood began to flow from his mouth but, as his eyes met the Mizukage’s he gave him a bloody smile . . . And then . . . he exploded.

The man was sent flying but a thin film of water surrounding him proved to have far greater defensive abilities than its appearance would suggest, blocking the heat of the blast entirely as well as most of its force.

Keyword, “most”.

The Third Mizukage flipped through the air, regaining his balance with a slight grimace of pain as he felt his rattled bones and lightly injured internal organs.

Landing back on the sea surface, he found a perfectly uninjured Shiki looking at him, a smile full of mockery stamped on his young face.

“You were saying?” The boy questioned with sick delight in his tone.

“Something about not falling for my tricks?” He added,, his smile growing wider as the frown on the Mizukage’s face deepened.

‘That was not the feeling of striking a clone . . . It did not feel like genjutsu either.’ The Man thought to himself with suspicion.

Shiki’s mockery certainly infuriated him but, as an old man that fought in the Warring States and across the First Great Shinobi War, he was so undisciplined as to lose his focus mid battle.

In truth, it was Shiki’s Shadow Substitution Jutsu which created a powerless but very realistic shadow clone that would not vanish from being harmed.

Combining that with the Clone Great Explosion, a perfect trap jutsu was created, the Exploding Shadow Substitution.

There was no way the Mizukage was going to figure all that out now though, especially since Shiki had no intention of giving him the time to do so.

‘Lightning Release. Discharge’

With a quick one handed hand seal, a large bolt of lightning leapt from the boy’s outstretched hand.

A jutsu favoring speed and rudeness over power.

The Mizukage’s defensive water armor had more than enough power to deal with an attack of that level, however . . .

Water conducts electricity.

The lightning blasted the Mizukage’s figure into liquid as the man escaped with the Water substitution jutsu.

‘And this my friends, is why you don’t over-specialize.’ Shiki’s expression turned vicious.

Without a boat to isolate himself from the water, the Mizukage had to be far more deliberate as to how he defended.

‘Lightning Release: Heavenly Formation Lightning’

Countless lightning bolts rained down from the previously clear sky as clouds began to form.

‘Water Release: Water Formation Wall’

The Mizukage raised a dome of water fast but had to lift it up extra high to avoid contact with the sea, else the electricity might travel along the dome, into the water and then up his body through his feet.

Shiki pinned the Kage under a relentless barrage of lightning strikes and a stalemate appeared to have formed . . . But was it really like that?

+++++

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