121. Passing Off the False as True: Kisame and Rin

"Kisame Hoshigaki is a ninja from the Hidden Mist Village. He once came to the Hidden Leaf for the Chunin Exams and was the top student of his class. Damn it, I accidentally lost to him back then. If I could do it over again, I’d definitely beat him until his teeth were scattered all over the ground..." Obito clenched his fists, gritting his teeth in frustration.

Although nearly a year had passed since the exams, he still hadn't forgotten the humiliation Kisame had dealt him.

"By the way, old man, why did you suddenly mention the name Kisame? Do you know him too?" After a moment of grumbling, Obito turned to look at Madara Uchiha, asking with a puzzled expression.

"You mean to tell me that this Kisame Hoshigaki is a ninja from your own generation?" Madara was taken aback by Obito's words and couldn't help but ask in disbelief. He found it hard to fathom that someone with such an absurdly muscular physique and terrifying strength was merely a teenager in his early teens.

"Yeah, that guy might look tall and burly with an ugly shark face, but he’s about the same age as me," Obito nodded.

Madara fell silent. The thought that his Flame Fan had been snatched away by a teenager was a source of profound shame.

Just then, a White Zetsu emerged from the nearby wall. It glanced at Madara briefly before putting on a panicked act, speaking urgently to Obito: "This is bad! I just went outside. That Rin girl and the idiot Kakashi are in trouble—they’ve been surrounded by Hidden Mist ninjas!"

"What?!" Hearing this, Obito lost all interest in discussing Kisame. He rushed toward the stone gate and punched it in a frantic hurry. His first instinct upon hearing that his companions were in danger was to leave and save them.

However, Obito’s body was still in a period of recovery. Instead of shattering the stone gate, he only succeeded in breaking his own arm. Seeing this, Madara signaled the swirling White Zetsu, Tobi, who understood and leaped to Obito’s side.

"Wear my body. I can help you." As Tobi spoke, its body rapidly expanded into a suit of armor, attaching itself to Obito’s frame.

"Thank you, Tobi." Obito felt a surge of energy throughout his body. He took a deep breath and threw another punch. With a thunderous boom, the stone gate, several meters high, instantly crumbled into countless fragments, revealing the path to the outside world.

"Are you leaving?" Madara asked slowly.

"Old man, you saved my life, and I am grateful. But I have to go. I must." Without looking back, Obito rushed out of the gate. Madara didn't stop him, watching him go. After all, this was part of his plan.

At dusk, in a dense forest, Obito emerged from a secret tunnel, seeing the light of day once again. "What is the situation with Rin and Kakashi?" he asked Tobi, who was still attached to him, as he sprinted forward. All White Zetsu could communicate with their clones telepathically, so Tobi knew the intelligence regarding Rin and Kakashi and could guide Obito.

"It’s quite bad! Rin and Kakashi are surrounded by dozens of Mist ninjas. They’re all Chunin and Anbu—it seems to have something to do with some kind of test subject, though I don’t quite understand it," Tobi replied quickly, having rehearsed his lines.

"Damn it! Kakashi, you have to hold on, I’m coming!" Obito muttered, picking up speed and racing desperately toward the site of the battle.

"Obito, you now possess Hashirama’s artificial body. The combination of the Senju and Uchiha powers might allow you to display power unlike anything seen before..." On the way, Tobi followed Madara’s instructions, guiding Obito to familiarize himself with the two powers within him and attempt to fuse them into one.

Meanwhile, in a cave on the border of the Land of Water, a group of Hidden Mist Anbu followed the Fourth Mizukage's orders. After bringing Rin Nohara there, they tied her to a stone pillar deep in the cave to use as bait. Their mission was to wait for Kakashi to arrive, let him "rescue" Rin, and then drive them both back to the Hidden Leaf to release the Three-Tails sealed within her, thereby achieving the goal of destroying the village.

After setting the scene, an Anbu captain ordered a few ninjas to stay outside and pretend to stand guard, while the rest went into hiding. These people were unaware that the Fourth Mizukage had already been killed. They were even more unaware that, before Kakashi arrived to save the day, a figure had already quietly infiltrated the cave and stood before Rin.

That figure was, of course, Kisame Hoshigaki.

Noticing that Rin was under a genjutsu, Kisame stepped forward and channeled chakra into her, breaking the illusion. Rin woke up slowly. "Who... are you?" she asked, looking up in confusion at Kisame, who was dressed in a black suit.

"Don't be afraid. I’m here to save you. Take off your clothes, quickly." Kisame wore a smile, and before his voice had even faded, he reached out to strip her.

"What are you doing?! Stop!" Rin was horrified and instinctively tried to resist, but Kisame immediately controlled her with chakra threads and forcibly removed her clothes. Her black outer jacket, pale pink skirt, dark red thigh-high socks, and shoes were all taken by Kisame. Soon, Rin was left in only her undergarments.

"Please, don't..." She slumped to the ground, pulling her knees to her chest, curling into a ball as tears of humiliation streamed down her face.

"What are you thinking? I only need your scent to achieve a perfect disguise," Kisame glanced at her with surprise, then took off his suit jacket and tossed it to her to cover her shoulders. He then performed a hand seal in front of her, activating the "Change" character tattoo on his right shoulder. With a "poof," he transformed into Rin's likeness. Amidst the rustling sounds, Kisame put on her clothes.

"Who are you, and what are you doing?" Rin stared blankly at his actions.

"Time is short; I'll explain later. You just need to know that you have fallen into a lethal trap. Only by letting me 'die' in your place can I save your life." Kisame said this as he reached out and pressed his hand onto Rin's shoulder. Before she could ask anything else, she felt a powerful suction. With a gasp, she was drawn into Kisame’s body and into the Box of Ultimate Bliss.

Kisame caught