"How could this be? Kirigakure's..."
"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist!"
"Why are they here?"
Everyone stared in shock and cried out.
The Land of Water lay east of the Land of Fire, while the Land of Wind lay west of the Land of Fire. Yet the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had circled around most of the Land of Fire to reach the west?
Because the Hyuga Clan's reconnaissance had all been focused westward, there were practically no sentries stationed in the east.
That was why the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had only been discovered when they got so close to the unit.
And they had only been discovered because they had revealed themselves!
At the front of the convoy, the Hyuga brothers blocked the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
"You invaded the Land of Fire. Are you trying to start a war?" Hyuga Hiashi's face darkened as he angrily rebuked the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Suikazan Fuguki stepped forward with his huge belly, a strange grin on his face.
"A war? Heh heh, hasn't the war already begun?"
"Samehada? You're Suikazan Fuguki!" Hyuga Hiashi gritted his teeth and shouted, though he had no real desire to fight this group.
Every member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist was a Jonin, though their strengths varied.
But once they wielded Kirigakure's seven special ninja swords, their strength surged to the level of elite Jonin.
Perhaps even... Kage-level!
Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga were both genuine Jonin. With the Hyuga Clan's unique Byakugan, they could contend with elite Jonin.
But the others might not be able to gain any advantage against the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Although the unit numbered nearly three thousand, more than ninety percent were Chunin and elite Chunin.
There were only several dozen Jonin, fewer than a hundred.
And quite a few of them were Special Jonin.
A single rank apart, yet worlds apart in strength.
A Special Jonin would not be instantly slaughtered before an elite Jonin.
But it was basically impossible for a Special Jonin to defeat an elite Jonin.
There was an even more important reason: this unit was fresh reinforcements headed for Konoha Main Camp in the west to help defend against Sunagakure.
They were not here to fight the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist to the death.
If their losses were too severe, Hyuga Hiashi, as the unit commander, would be in serious trouble even as the head of one of Konoha's great clans.
"Chunin, fall back! Jonin, assemble! Prepare for battle!" After hesitating for a moment, Hyuga Hiashi finally made his decision.
If they used the Chunin as cannon fodder, they might be able to leave these seven behind.
But he was not confident enough, so he could only abandon that idea.
"Trying to run away?" Jūzō Biwa carried the Kubikiribōchō on his back and bared a mouthful of fangs in a sinister grin.
"Don't get too cocky!" Hizashi Hyuga snapped and fired an Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm.
Suikazan Fuguki grinned, leaped forward, and raised the massive Samehada in his hand before bringing it down in a fierce vertical slash.
The immense force split Hizashi Hyuga's Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm in two.
Bang!!
The Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm split apart and slammed into a nearby boulder with a dull boom.
Only then did they see that the hard stone had been shattered into powder!
"What terrifying power!~" Kushimaru Kuriarare cackled. There was not the slightest tremble of fear in his voice; instead, a trace of disdain curled across his lips.
"Damn it!" The veins around Hizashi Hyuga's eyes bulged grotesquely.
"Don't be rash, Hizashi!" Hyuga Hiashi grabbed Hizashi Hyuga's arm. They only needed to wait until the unit had withdrawn safely.
Stalling for time was the most important thing right now.
The Chunin hurriedly escorted the supplies away, while nearly a hundred Jonin remained behind.
One hundred against seven gave them a tremendous numerical advantage.
But a man's reputation was like a tree's shadow. The might of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had been carved out one sword at a time.
Still, Konoha's shinobi were no pushovers!
The atmosphere was stifling, and dark clouds filled the sky.
It felt as though a torrential downpour could come at any moment.
An invisible hand seemed to be squeezing the entire space, and the eerie tension made even the air freeze.
Suddenly!
"Attack!" Jūzō Biwa roared, swinging his thick arm as the Kubikiribōchō dropped into his palm.
He immediately charged alone into Konoha's formation.
Hizashi Hyuga's face darkened. This was far too arrogant!
They were completely disregarding their hundred Jonin!
Even Special Jonin were still Jonin. Did these seven bastards think they were all made of vegetables and tofu?
"They're too arrogant! Take them down!"
"Take their ninja swords, and they'll be useless!"
"It's time for Kirigakure to hand over those ninja swords!"
Konoha's shinobi were roused to fury. With a sweep of Hyuga Hiashi's hand, everyone surged madly toward the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Battle was about to erupt!
On the other side, Tōka withdrew swiftly alongside the Chunin unit.
Fighting elite Jonin and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist was still too early for him.
Though unwilling, Tōka was not an impulsive person.
Compared to hot-blooded battles, he preferred using his brain.
"I have a feeling this isn't so simple." Tōka walked in the middle of the formation and spoke quietly to Might Duy beside him.
"Did you notice something?" Might Duy knew Tōka's intelligence could not be judged by his young appearance.
Tōka remained silent, but his mind raced.
He was thinking...
Since Kirigakure dared to target their unit, they would definitely not send only the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were powerful enough to fight two or three Kage-level opponents.
But this time, Konoha had dispatched three thousand elite shinobi to reinforce the border!
There was no shortage of powerful figures like elite Jonin in the unit.
Only an idiot would think the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist could wipe out three thousand people with just the seven of them.
Just taking down the Hyuga brothers would be impossible for the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist without paying a price.
That left only one explanation!
"There's probably an ambush here!"
The moment Tōka's words fell—
Boom!!
A massive explosion erupted.
It was followed by a continuous series of blasts and flames that filled the sky.
Dust and sand blasted into the air, sweeping across the entire land.
As far as the eye could see, everything was consumed by blazing fire.
Nearly half the unit at the front was completely swallowed by flames triggered by Explosive Tags.
"An ambush! Retreat!"
A Chunin screamed, but his voice was completely drowned out by the endless detonations of Explosive Tags.
Rumble rumble rumble!!
As if the heavens and earth were collapsing, an enormous mushroom cloud rose into the sky, and terrifying shockwaves crashed toward them like tidal waves.
The massive trees of Konoha's forest were violently crushed to the ground.
Everyone stared in horror at the hellish scene ahead.
"How did this happen..."
"They're dead, they're all dead!"
In an instant, more than half the unit had been killed or wounded. Over a hundred had been blown to death directly by the Explosive Tags.
Countless others had been wounded or maimed by the blasts.
While Tōka and Dai had been talking, they had deliberately slowed down, leaving them at the rear of the formation.
The explosion from the trap ahead had not reached the two of them.
Before one wave had settled, another rose!
Creak, creak!!
A strange sound of joints suddenly rang out from the forest—wooden joints creaking.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!
Several hundred black shadows rushed out from hiding.
Senbon rained from the sky like a drizzle, and an icy aura of death spread through the entire forest.
"Fall back! It's Sunagakure's Puppet Unit!!"
"This is a trap! Send the signal!"
After several sudden twists, everyone had yet to recover from the previous explosions.
Then the puppet army descended upon them, and another large group of Chunin were instantly wounded and poisoned.
The deadliest weapon of Sunagakure's Puppet Unit was poison, and they had been equipped with toxins personally formulated by the Kage-level Grandmother Chiyo.
Even a scratch from a single senbon could be fatal!
Suddenly!!
A green figure burst through the layers of smoke and appeared directly at the front line.
"Stop! I won't let you lay a hand on my comrades!" Might Duy shouted as he leaped into the air, his body spinning three hundred and sixty degrees.
Konoha Strong Gale!
Bang!!
One man, one kick—an entire group of puppets rushing in to surround them was blasted away.
The wooden puppets were completely unable to withstand Might Duy's attack.
The powerful shockwave forcibly drove back the Sand Puppet Force.
"A kappa?"
"A bowl cut?"
"What's that green glow around his body?"
The Sunagakure Puppet Masters hiding in the rear stared in shock at Might Duy, who had single-handedly split the battlefield apart.
The wounded Konoha shinobi retreating behind him were equally dumbfounded.
Wasn't Might Duy just the Genin responsible for hauling supplies in the unit?
In the end, they were actually relying on him to protect everyone?
Konoha's shinobi's expressions changed as disbelief filled their faces.
Half a day earlier, outside Konoha's gates, three thousand elite shinobi had assembled.
Chunin made up ninety-nine percent of the force, while there were around a hundred Jonin. Strangely, two Genin were among them.
One was a seven-year-old brat, and the other was the eternal Genin—Might Duy.
Might Duy was someone with no talent for ninjutsu or genjutsu, a person who had become a Genin through taijutsu alone.
A person like that held the rank of Genin and did only the most basic missions.
Twenty years!!
He had trained in taijutsu for twenty years.
Yet he had still not become a Chunin.
In everyone's eyes, Might Duy was a complete failure with no talent for being a shinobi.
Yet the opinions of the world seemed unable to affect him.
Might Duy always greeted others with a smile and treated every word they said as encouragement.
He also always wore a strange green jumpsuit and sported a bowl cut, looking exactly like a kappa.
Among Konoha's shinobi, Might Duy was quite famous.
The title of failure, the title of eternal Genin, the title of someone who could only use taijutsu and possessed no shinobi talent whatsoever.
It formed a stark contrast with Kakashi's title as a genius who graduated from the Ninja Academy at five and became a Chunin at six.
How could someone like that appear with them in an elite force sent to reinforce the western battlefield?!
"Why is that failure in the unit?"
"And what's with that brat? Are we supposed to babysit him?"
"Looks like he pulled some strings to tag along and coast through an escort mission!"
"As long as he doesn't hold us back, nothing else matters."
One harsh remark after another rang through the unit, their words filled with contempt for Might Duy.
Even Tōka beside him was ignored.
Hyuga Hiashi, the unit's highest commander, noticed the commotion, but merely glanced at Might Duy before turning away.
Hizashi Hyuga tried to speak several times, but Hyuga Hiashi glared him into silence each time.
Tōka's face darkened. He said nothing, but a chilling coldness filled his eyes.
When it came to other people's affairs, Tōka could remain aloof.
But when it came to matters concerning himself, Tōka absolutely could not tolerate it!
In Konoha, Might Duy and Might Guy were the only two people Tōka truly acknowledged.
To earn recognition for the ninja way they upheld, Might Duy had spent twenty years mastering the Forbidden Jutsu, the Eight Inner Gates.
Day after day, year after year, rain or shine.
The tree stumps in the woods bore countless marks from fists and kicks.
The calluses on their palms and the scars of all sizes left across their bodies by training.
Their perseverance, their ninja way, deserved respect.
A bunch of idiots who knew nothing!
They were nothing more than a handful of Chunin!!
Yet they had the nerve to judge others!!!
It was truly disgusting!
Crack!
A section of decayed gray bone extended from Tōka's fingertips.
The thought of killing these disgusting humans surfaced in Tōka's mind and lingered there, refusing to fade.
Suddenly!
A large hand landed on Tōka's shoulder.
Might Duy raised a thumbs-up and flashed his gleaming white teeth at the people mocking him.
"Thank you all for your encouragement. I'll keep working hard in the future!"
Clang!!
His sparkling teeth, overflowing confidence, reflective bowl cut, and skintight green jumpsuit outlining every curve.
He successfully blinded everyone around him, and the surrounding Chunin stiffly turned their heads away.
"If we run into enemies, we should look after him."
"That's true. He is a companion, after all."
"I doubt any enemy would dare get close to him."
"That's true too. That green jumpsuit is practically evil-repellent."
The killing intent gathered in Tōka's eyes vanished in an instant.
He gave Might Duy a strange look, clenched his fist, and turned away.
That had truly been impulsive. He had lived peacefully for too long and seemed to have forgotten that this was an extremely dangerous place.
Tōka secretly let out a breath. Luckily, Might Duy had stopped him.
Before obtaining absolute power, one had to know one's limits in everything.
For a time, the group returned to calm.
Standing behind Tōka, Might Duy looked at the small figure's back, warmth welling up in his eyes.
"Gai, did you see that?"
Twenty years of effort had not been in vain. At least one person sincerely acknowledged him.
"Thank you, Tōka. Thank you for recognizing me!"
"The Sixth Gate, Gate of View, open!!"
"It's not over yet!"
Might Duy settled into a horse stance and clasped his hands into fists. On his forehead and neck,
veins as grotesque as centipedes bulged one after another.
"The Seventh Gate..."
"Gate of Wonder, open!!"
With Might Duy's explosive shout, blue vapor began pouring from his body.
Blue steam produced by evaporating sweat!
"If you want to hurt my companions, you'll have to step over my corpse first!"
Might Duy's skin turned crimson, and his pupils seemed to vanish.
The fists he had held together suddenly shot forward.
A straightforward punch, without a trace of flourish.
The heavens crumbled and the earth split as exaggerated shockwaves took the form of tangible blasts.
Every patch of ground they touched was overturned.
The earth cracked, and space trembled.
A powerful pillar of air shot straight toward the Sand Puppet Force formation.
Rumble rumble rumble!!
In no more than a few breaths, a deafening explosion rang out.
...To be continued.
Before you continue