Retreat

Beichen Haotian licked his lips. The Chakra within him transformed into Lightning Chakra and coated the Tang Saber, which was covered in Armament Haki. The violent Lightning Chakra was subdued by Beichen Haotian's powerful spiritual force. The thunderous rumble vanished, leaving only a blue glow on the blade, its terrifying power hidden within silence.

Shave!

Monstrous Strength!

Fight to the Death!

Using the immense recoil, Beichen Haotian instantly closed the distance and leaped high into the air. Gripping the saber with both hands, he brought it down upon Juzo Biwa with terrifying Monstrous Strength. At the same time, he unleashed a unique technique he had created in his previous life, one containing sharp, tragic, and domineering Blade Intent.

Most of the techniques Beichen Haotian had created after becoming a Great Swordmaster in his previous life were based on Blade Intent. Their moves were simple and uncomplicated, yet immensely powerful. They followed the path of overwhelming opponents with sheer momentum, of One Slash Breaks All Techniques. Even if others could clearly see Beichen Haotian's saber techniques, the power they displayed would be worlds apart.

Seeing the power of Beichen Haotian's attack, Juzo Biwa did not dare meet it head-on. He hurriedly gathered all his strength and Chakra, raising his blade sideways to block it. As long as he could withstand this strike, the others would support him, and he would be safe.

Yet to his utter horror, a crisp crack rang out, and the Kubikiribōchō in his hands was cleaved in half. Fortunately, Beichen Haotian's Tang Saber had not yet been reforged and was slightly shorter than before. Otherwise, that slash would have descended straight from Juzo Biwa's brow, and he would have been dead for sure!

Even so, Juzo Biwa did not fare well. He was struck hard by a kick from Beichen Haotian, whose foot was covered in Armament Haki, and sent flying. He crashed to the ground, spat out a mouthful of blood, and suffered internal injuries.

The other three had originally intended to seize the chance to attack Beichen Haotian, but they had not expected the Kubikiribōchō to be cut apart by him. Over all these years, the Kubikiribōchō had at most suffered a few chips; it had never been broken. They were instantly intimidated.

Beichen Haotian shifted his attention to the Lightning Blade: Kiba in Ringo Ameyuri's hands. He was just about to attack, intending to break the Lightning Blade: Kiba or even seize it outright. Yet the four Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were remarkably decisive. After fighting for so long without any hope of defeating Beichen Haotian, and with the Kubikiribōchō already broken, they saw no reason to continue and decided to retreat.

Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique.

Water Style: Exploding Water Shock Wave.

Lightning Style: Lightning Serpent Strike.

Munashi Jinpachi and the other two used ninjutsu simultaneously to stop Beichen Haotian. A water dragon over ten meters long, enormous waves five or six meters high, and dozens of Lightning Serpents one or two meters long crawled across the water's surface. Electric currents spread into every corner of the water as they all surged toward Beichen Haotian.

Nine Heavens Wave Roll!

Nine blood-red saber lights, each several meters long, shot forth with incomparably sharp saber force toward the water dragon, the waves, and the Lightning Serpents. Then, under Beichen Haotian's deliberate control, the nine saber lights exploded. Countless tiny blood-red saber lights instantly shredded the water dragon, waves, and Lightning Serpents, leaving behind only harmless water that had lost all impact.

By then, Juzo Biwa and the others had already retreated several hundred meters. They had also thrown down many smoke bombs along the way to obstruct Beichen Haotian's vision and pursuit.

"Forget it. I can handle one against four, but I'm still not strong enough to kill all four. Fortunately, this battle was not without gains. Half a Kubikiribōchō forged from Regenerative Iron is not bad. Life really cannot be perfect. The Lightning Blade: Kiba simply isn't fated to be mine. Have Root keep investigating whether there are any traces of the Sky Thunder Stone." Watching the four retreat, Beichen Haotian sighed.

He then sheathed his Tang Saber and took out a scroll, opening it to reveal that it was covered in formulas. He bit his thumb, drawing blood, and swiftly wrote in the center of the scroll. A powerful suction force appeared at its center and drew in half of the Kubikiribōchō. The character "Break" appeared on it.

After putting away the scroll, Beichen Haotian quickly left the area and headed for Wave Crest City.

After returning to Wave Crest City, he went to the general store again and summoned Root's local person in charge, the general store's shopkeeper. He asked, "Have you found any trace of Tsunade?"

"Lord Haotian, Lady Tsunade's whereabouts are erratic and unpredictable. Even Root finds it difficult to determine her exact movements. We can only infer her approximate location based on where she last appeared, but it is highly inaccurate," the shopkeeper answered nervously, afraid that he might anger Beichen Haotian and bring disaster upon himself.

Beichen Haotian was not angry. This was perfectly normal. Tsunade was extremely powerful; if she deliberately concealed her tracks, Root might not find even the slightest trace of her.

"It's fine. Give me the intelligence."

"Yes."

"Her most recent appearance was in the Land of Rice? Fine. It has been three or four years since I last saw her. I do miss her somewhat. I'll go try my luck."

Beichen Haotian left Wave Crest City that very day and headed toward the Land of Rice. The Land of Rice was extremely far from Wave Crest City, but Beichen Haotian had no urgent matters to attend to, so he was in no rush, traveling at an unhurried pace.

He sampled the local delicacies, admired the local scenery, and made his way toward the Land of Rice without haste. Along the way, Beichen Haotian also acted as a righteous hero on many occasions. Whenever he encountered bandit dens, gangs of thugs, or Rogue Ninja who plagued the locals, he took action and wiped them all out.

It was not because Beichen Haotian had suddenly become kind-hearted and wanted to rid the world of injustice. It was because he needed to kill people in order to use the special ability he had gained upon entering the Slay All Life realm.

A thousand people? That was still far from fulfilling the prerequisite for using that ability. If Beichen Haotian went on a killing spree and slaughtered civilians, he could quickly meet the requirement. But he could not bring himself to do that. A person could not lose their humanity. Killing evil people was one thing; even if some of them did not deserve death, Beichen Haotian could still get past that hurdle in his heart. But slaughtering civilians would likely burden him with enough guilt to drive him into deviation.

He traveled for half a month. One day, Beichen Haotian arrived at a small town called Tianya Town. While drinking and eating at a tavern in town, he heard something that caught his interest.

"Have you heard? The mayor is secretly recruiting warriors and ninja," said a man who appeared fairly well dressed.

"I haven't. What does the mayor need them for?" asked a middle-aged man with a small mustache, his interest piqued.

"You don't know, do you? My brother-in-law is the captain of the mayor's guards, so he knows some inside information. A few days ago, I invited him to drink at my home. He got drunk and accidentally let it slip." At that point, the man deliberately paused, stopped talking, and began eating.

"Koizumi, I'll treat you to this meal. Tell me about it," the mustached man said knowingly.

"All right, but don't tell anyone else. Not many people know about this yet. If word gets around and affects the mayor's plans, we'll all be in serious trouble."

"I know. I'll be discreet."

Thus, the middle-aged man lowered his voice and began speaking. Though his voice was quiet, the tavern in such a small town was too small to hide it from Beichen Haotian's sharp hearing.

"My brother-in-law said they discovered a bird on Tianya Mountain with the potential to become a ninja's Summoned Beast. They don't know exactly what kind of bird it is. The person who discovered it only caught a glimpse of its outline before fleeing in a panic. And this bird is still very young, still in its juvenile stage. But it is quite capable."

"What can that bird do? The mayor's guards include several warriors, and I heard they even have a Chunin. They still couldn't capture it?"

"Of course they couldn't. Otherwise, they would not be recruiting more warriors and ninja. You know there are plenty of hawks and falcons on Tianya Mountain, right?"

"Yeah, those are fierce birds of prey. Ordinary people can only run for their lives if they encounter them."

"The young Summoned Beast's first ability is commanding those hawks and falcons. Before the warrior who found it could even get a good look, he was besieged by dozens of hawks and falcons and chased all over the place. When he came back, he was in such a miserable state it was unbearable to look at. He was covered in blood and had lost several pounds of flesh."

"Damn, that bad? This Summoned Beast is really strong. If they caught it and sold it to a major ninja village, wouldn't they make a fortune? They could even establish ties with one of the major ninja villages."

"Exactly. If they truly catch it, they'll make a killing."

"By the way, aside from commanding hawks and falcons, does it have any other abilities?"

"Yes. The deepest wound on the warrior who returned was inflicted by that Summoned Beast."

"From dozens of meters away, an invisible wind blade flew over. If that warrior had not reacted quickly and dodged his vital points, he would never have made it back."

"It can even use wind blades, a method only ninja masters can use. That really is impressive."

Upon hearing this, Beichen Haotian stood up, settled his bill, and went out onto the town streets. He casually stopped someone to ask for Tianya Mountain's location, then headed there.

Tianya Mountain had a very imposing name, but it was not particularly tall, only a little over five hundred meters. Still, it was somewhat treacherous, with steep slopes and barely any level ground. Towering trees, jagged rocks, and dense shrubs covered the mountain. Handsome hawks and falcons occasionally soared into the sky, their cries sharp enough to pierce gold and split stone.

At the foot of the mountain, five people stood guard at the entrance to the mountain path to prevent others from entering. However, they were only slightly stronger than ordinary people and naturally could not detect Beichen Haotian. He easily slipped into the mountain.

Thanks to Yong, Giant Salamander1, Qiushui Qinghe, Zhuhán Wàndāndàn, feelscorpio, and Atomic Bomb Bullet Shell for their recommendation votes.