Obito originally thought Takayama Haru was just messing with him. Add in the fact that Kisame Hoshigaki looked utterly terrifying—there was no way he wanted to fight someone like that!
But Takayama Haru immediately retreated ten meters, leaving Obito right at the front.
"Haha, how interesting. Are you training rookies?" Kisame laughed cruelly. "I'll make sure you all die here, cut off your legs, and feed you to the sharks!"
Takayama Haru smiled calmly. "Feed them too much and someday, you'll be the one the sharks are eating."
"You're asking for it!"
Kisame erupted in chakra.
Kakashi's eyes widened. He hurled his kunai straight at Kisame.
Kisame swung his large sword effortlessly, slashing the kunai aside midair and then charged at Obito.
"Ahhh!"
Obito screamed and fell backward onto the ground, narrowly dodging the attack.
Turns out, some vines had emerged from Kisame's feet and slightly delayed him, giving Obito just enough time.
Just barely.
The sword still clipped his scalp, slicing off a clump of hair rooted in dirt.
Instant bald spot.
Takayama Haru couldn't help but laugh.
Obito burst into tears.
His face was full of panic—he realized now that Haru truly wasn't going to save him.
This was horrifying!
"Obito, attack now!" Kakashi shouted.
Kisame laughed maniacally. "You cry like a baby—die already! Blame your worthless teacher for not saving you!"
But faced with the imminent threat, Obito's Sharingan snapped into focus. He blocked Kisame's giant sword with his kunai, barely holding it back.
Then—boom—Takayama Haru suddenly appeared in front of Kisame, halting his advance.
Kisame's blade, still swinging forward with momentum, drove into the dirt instead.
CRACK!
Obito was sent flying backward, his arm numb and useless.
"Obito, not bad. You just blocked a blow from a Jōnin. That's worth praising."
Obito froze. He turned—his teacher?
Looking again, he realized the Takayama Haru fighting Kisame was a clone.
"A clone?!"
"Obito, I'll heal you!" Rin rushed forward, her hands glowing with medical chakra as she began healing his arm.
Obito stared at Rin, mesmerized. A warm sensation spread through his arm and his heart.
"Alright," Rin pouted. "Sensei, isn't this way too dangerous? Obito's arm almost got shattered."
Obito heard Rin's concern and melted with warmth, imagining himself one day as Hokage, married to Rin.
Of course, that was just the fantasy of a shy nerd.
Takayama Haru chuckled. "Not dangerous. How else will he grow?"
Meanwhile, Kisame was totally shaken.
A clone had just overpowered him effortlessly?!
Just as he was about to use his signature move—Water Style: Exploding Water Colliding Wave—to flood the entire area, Takayama Haru suddenly backed off.
"Kakashi, your turn. This is a great opportunity to test your skills," he said.
Kisame's shark-like face twisted in fury. This guy was using him as a training dummy for three kids?!
Kakashi nodded seriously. "Yes, sensei. I wanted to test my latest jutsu!"
"Lightning Blade!"
With a deep breath, Kakashi activated his technique. Sparks burst from his short sword, creating a dazzling light accompanied by the sound of a thousand chirping birds.
Takayama Haru's eyes gleamed. So young—and he already created Chidori?
"Kid's got guts," Kisame smirked.
Then—WHAM!—he vanished and appeared in front of Kakashi, kicking him into the ground.
Kakashi looked cool for all of three seconds before crashing down, blood spraying from his mouth.
Takayama Haru winced.
The move looked cool—but the startup time was too long. He hadn't even launched it before being interrupted.
"Kakashi!"
Rin quickly began healing him.
Obito, learning his lesson, didn't stand idle this time. He threw his shuriken at Kisame—not so clueless anymore.
Takayama Haru nodded in satisfaction.
Thanks to his earlier training, the three of them were finally reacting like real shinobi in battle—not just flailing around.
Though... Obito's hair was still hilarious. It had been flattened, muddy, and looked like a patch of moss.
Obito threw more shuriken and kunai through tears.
He'd seen himself in Rin's mirror. Bald. Hideous. Rin must hate how he looked.
"Aaagh!"
Kisame roared in anger.
"Water Style: Exploding Water Shockwave!"
Water burst from Kisame's mouth in massive torrents, flooding the forest.
In seconds, a huge lake formed around them, like a stadium-sized swimming pool.
Obito, Rin, and Kakashi all froze and looked to Takayama Haru.
They had never faced anything like this before.
Takayama Haru was equally surprised. Kisame was this powerful already?
Kisame sneered, "Now you're dead. This is my battlefield. Just wait here to die, struggling in the depths of this sea."
He laughed wildly.
"Water Style: Water Shark Bullet Technique!"
Chakra surged as Kisame formed a shark-shaped missile of water and hurled it at the trio.
"Wood Style: Domed Wall of Trees!"
Takayama Haru made a series of hand signs. Behind him, curved wooden pillars sprang from the ground and arched overhead, shielding Team 7.
THOOM!
The water shark slammed into the wooden dome and vanished.
Kisame, however, didn't seem worried.
In the water, his chakra was endless.
To him, that wooden barrier was just a matter of time.
"Sensei, he's powering up!" Rin cried. "His chakra shark regenerates endlessly in the water!"
Obito, Sharingan activated, nodded. "Sensei, his chakra isn't decreasing. It's increasing!"
Kakashi groaned. "Sensei, this is serious! Can you stop playing around?"
Takayama Haru shook his head. "I'm not playing. I'm just figuring out how to break his water prison."
"Wood Style—Birth of the Tree World!"
With a thunderous rumble, the ground cracked open in spiderweb patterns. It shook violently.
Tiny saplings burst from the earth, growing at lightning speed into a dense forest.
Tree branches twisted and extended like living arms, snarling with primal force.
Kisame's eyes nearly popped out.
The entire lake formed by his water jutsu disappeared—soaked up into the cracked earth and vanishing without a trace.
"What kind of monster is this?!"
"When did Konoha grow such a freak?!"
Kisame's first instinct was to run.
He couldn't win against this man!