[Fallen leaves return to their roots... the true Will of Fire!]
A system notification suddenly appeared on the retina of his right eye.
In the pitch-black underground, that line of text was incredibly conspicuous.
[Will of Fire System... Loading new function!]
[Loading complete!]
[Night Vision Module... Activated!]
The darkness before his eyes abruptly vanished.
Everything in his right field of vision suddenly became incomparably clear, as though it were daytime.
"Interesting."
Akira Sarutobi had a feeling that this Will of Fire System, despite being called a system, seemed more like... a piece of futuristic technology.
"Then..."
Buzz!
As all the runes on the stone coffin flickered faintly, the blackened curse markings suddenly vanished, and the barrier trap on the stone coffin was dispelled.
While Ino Yamanaka was still sensing the surroundings, she discovered that the young master had already left the side of the stone coffin and turned to walk outside.
In the pitch-black scene, the young master walked as though it were broad daylight, passing straight through the entrance to the burial chamber and heading outside.
"Young Master?"
It was not only the burial chamber that had fallen into darkness, but the corridor outside as well.
The Kirigakure ninjas in the darkness had no idea that danger was approaching.
Just as they were about to light the fire starters they carried, a black figure silently appeared before them.
A single glance swept over them.
The night vision ability in his right eye clearly revealed the number of enemies present.
Like a thermal imager, different objects and living creatures emitted different levels of heat.
Even the little mouse trembling in the corner bloomed into a rainbow-colored heat signature in Akira Sarutobi's vision.
"1, 2, 3..."
Akira Sarutobi's voice rang out in the narrow underground passage.
"?!"
The Kirigakure ninjas pulling out their fire starters felt their hair stand on end. Before they could react, Akira Sarutobi's right fist had already shot forth like an enraged dragon.
With a thunderous bang, the Kirigakure ninja at the front was sent flying by a single punch.
Yet the scene of a fist exploding through flesh did not appear.
"With my current strength, a casual punch should be enough to burst open an ordinary Chunin's chest... As expected of Kirigakure ninjas. Their overall physical qualities far surpass those of enemies from small Ninja Villages like Sky Hidden Village..."
After that lightning-fast thought flashed through his mind, Akira Sarutobi stamped his foot. This time... he held nothing back.
As he attacked with full force, a series of cracking sounds rang out from the bones in Akira Sarutobi's right arm.
His muscles abruptly swelled, tightening to their absolute limit.
His target was no longer the chest or similar areas, but... the temple on the side of the head!
Like a massive iron hammer, a swinging blow smashed viciously into the next man's temple.
That punch was so powerful that even a one-meter-wide boulder would have been shattered to pieces.
A boulder one meter in diameter falling from a height of roughly six to ten meters was enough to crush an ordinary Chunin to death.
Then came another bang.
The enemy's features trembled, his gaze shook, blood poured from his seven orifices, and his whole body flew sideways as though a bullet had struck him in the brain.
"!!"
However, the death of their comrade only further stimulated the savage natures of the remaining Kirigakure ninjas.
Taking advantage of the chaos, they had already lit their fire starters and inserted torches into the cracks in the walls. Firelight immediately illuminated the entire passage.
Then, they all gripped their blades tightly.
Akira Sarutobi, however, calmly retreated while forming hand seals with both hands.
"Water Release... Water Turbulent Wave!"
The most basic Water Release, the C-rank Water Turbulent Wave, had no offensive power whatsoever.
It was a basic technique every Water Release ninja had to practice.
Normally, this technique was only used for training and cultivation. At most, it could be used to put out fires or trigger certain mechanisms as a supporting technique.
Yet this seemingly harmless technique directly extinguished the torches on the walls.
As the passage fell into darkness once more, the underground became Akira Sarutobi's home ground again...
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen: Ringo Ameyuri!
Normally, ordinary ninjas did not possess night vision.
Only ninja clans with ocular techniques capable of directly capturing the Chakra Flow in the human body... such as the Uchiha's Sharingan and the Hyuga's Byakugan... could remain calm in such circumstances.
And now, Akira Sarutobi was added to that list.
Under the thermal imaging and night vision ability of his right eye, continuous explosions and cries of alarm erupted through the passage.
Coupled with his astonishing physical attributes and taijutsu skills, Akira Sarutobi quickly killed more than half of the enemies.
After all, his side could see everything clearly, while the enemies plunged into darkness were little different from blind men. The outcome was obvious.
"Konoha Great Whirlwind!"
Akira Sarutobi leaped into the air and swept out with his leg, striking three enemies in the temples in succession like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.
With a full-force strike, he directly knocked down the final three men.
Akira Sarutobi then retreated.
"Huff... huff..."
Continuously using taijutsu at full strength alone was extremely taxing on one's stamina.
Akira Sarutobi was no exception.
Before long, sweat beaded on his forehead, and Akira Sarutobi had already withdrawn back into the tomb.
Shirakumo Hayama had only just lit his fire starter and had not yet recovered from his shock when Akira Sarutobi began gathering the remains.
After sealing Dan Katō's skeletal remains into the scroll he carried with him using storage Fuinjutsu, Akira Sarutobi turned around again.
"Go!"
With night vision that feared no darkness, Akira Sarutobi moved freely through the underground passages. Getting out was only a matter of time.
When Shirakumo Hayama clearly saw the corpses strewn across the ground, his eyes filled with surprise. "Were these Kirigakure bastards... all taken down by Young Master Akira Sarutobi?"
He recalled the sounds of fighting and low shouts from the tomb just now. In such a short time, Young Master Akira Sarutobi had dealt with everyone.
As expected of the Third Hokage's son. A tiger father truly had no dog son.
At that moment, Ino Yamanaka suddenly stopped. After sensing for a moment, she immediately cried out, "Young Master! The other Kirigakure enemies are rushing here through the other passages!"
Clearly, the enemy also had sensory-type ninjas who could clearly detect what had happened here.
At this moment, all the Kirigakure ninjas blocking the other passages had received the news and were preparing to completely surround them.
"About how many?"
Akira Sarutobi quickened his pace without looking back.
Ino Yamanaka said, "6, 12... and another 18!"
"Eighteen..."
He thought of the six Kirigakure ninjas who had died here.
That meant the other side had split into four six-man squads, for a total of twenty-four people originally.
"What are the odds of getting out?"
Akira Sarutobi accelerated again.
Ino Yamanaka said, "Even in the best-case scenario, we'll run into one of their groups."
"Then that's how it'll be."
Akira Sarutobi gestured for everyone to follow before breaking into a full sprint.
Not long afterward, everyone saw the light again, emerging from underground onto the surface.
The moment they stepped out, they saw eight hostile Kirigakure ninjas staring at them with bloodthirsty expressions.
The female ninja leading them was short, with reddish-brown hair styled upward like rabbit ears, making her especially eye-catching.
Even more conspicuous were the two fanged blades on her back.
Shirakumo Hayama's pupils contracted, and he blurted out, "One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen... wielder of the Thunder Sword Fang... Kirigakure's genius girl, Ringo Ameyuri!"
The name of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen was renowned throughout the ninja world.
In Kirigakure, their combat strength stood at the very top.
Perhaps only the Mizukage, the two Jinchuriki, the clan heads of the major Kekkei Genkai clans... and other special figures could contend with them.
To encounter one of the most formidable figures during a Jonin examination mission made Shirakumo Hayama's expression turn extremely grave.
As the youngest and latest member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Ringo Ameyuri was known as a genius girl.
But that did not diminish her strength in the slightest.
It was said that among all wielders of the Thunder Sword Fang throughout history, she was the strongest, her talent surpassing every previous master of the blade.
What was even more interesting was...
"Oh? Isn't this the Third Hokage's son... Young Master Akira Sarutobi?"
Ringo Ameyuri sized up the group from head to toe before finally fixing her gaze on Akira Sarutobi.
Naturally, he wore a Konoha Forehead Protector.
The whirlpool pattern on the back of his ninja uniform represented Konoha's commemoration of its Uzumaki allies.
The clan emblem printed on his sleeves confirmed that he belonged to the Sarutobi Clan.
And that remarkably handsome face, bearing a seventy to eighty percent resemblance to Hiruzen Sarutobi in his youth, allowed Ringo Ameyuri to completely confirm his identity.
As a peer of the same age as Akira Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze.
Ringo Ameyuri's name as a genius resounded throughout Kirigakure.
The ninja world had never lacked geniuses.
Every Ninja Village produced exceptional talents in abundance, like stars glittering across the sky.
Upon first seeing Akira Sarutobi, Ringo Ameyuri's tone carried a hint of mockery.
Because she had seen far too many disappointing second-generation heirs.
Although this world embraced Bloodline Supremacy—the belief that dragons bore dragons, phoenixes bore phoenixes, and rats' sons knew how to dig holes.
There were indeed some contemptible second-generation heirs who failed to inherit their predecessors' talent... or even their character.
That naturally drew much criticism.
In Ringo Ameyuri's eyes, among people their age, only the Golden Flash was truly famous.
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