"You—"
For some reason, merely being watched by Kokushibo made the Kirigakure ninja who had plunged his long blade through Kokushibo's heart feel a chill of dread.
It was like an animal encountering its natural enemy!
Whoosh!
In an instant, a flash of steel streaked past, impossibly fast!
Kokushibo had drawn his blade.
He drew, turned, and slashed in one fluid motion. There was nothing fancy about it, yet it gave the impression that it was utterly impossible to defend against.
In a single instant, he cut the Kirigakure ninja in half at the waist.
With a splash, the severed body of the Kirigakure ninja turned into a mass of water and fell to the ground.
Kokushibo wasn't surprised. His gaze shifted toward a certain direction.
Through the thick fog, the Kirigakure ninja who had ambushed Kokushibo earlier watched his hand tremble around his sword.
Knowing his opponent was strong, he hadn't risked making the attack with his real body this time. Instead, he'd sent a Water Clone to test the waters.
"This guy..."
He gritted his teeth as a chill spread through his heart.
Judging from the information returned when the Water Clone was destroyed, it really had pierced the opponent's heart. With an injury like that, even a Kage couldn't possibly be completely unaffected!
But the other man hadn't cared in the slightest, as if a pierced heart were nothing more than a flesh wound.
Is it some kind of secret technique? Or is his heart different from other people's, located somewhere else in his body?
One guess after another crossed the Kirigakure ninja's mind. He felt he had to get this information to his comrades as soon as possible, but they were in the middle of a Silent Killing Technique operation, and the thick fog obscuring their