Warrior

The final result was that Shizuka and Mitsunosuke swore loyalty to Ruri. Perhaps loyalty meant little to a ninja, but to a samurai who strictly upheld the bushido spirit, it was a matter of life and death. Of course, Ruri would not be so easily reassured; Takumigakure was critical to his plans, and even if the probability of the two betraying him was low, he dared not take the risk.

Ruri used the Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals to seal the Seven-Tails and a portion of his own chakra into Shizuka. For one, this chakra would enhance her self-preservation capabilities, and for another, it guaranteed his control over Takumigakure. Since it was a modified version of the Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals from the system, it was almost impossible for anyone to detect.

"Lord Musashi, when will you make your move? I can assist from the side..." Before Mitsunosuke could finish his sentence, Ruri struck him with a hand blade, knocking him unconscious. He then knocked out Shizuka, who was too terrified to move, and turned to leave the tent.

"Now," Ruri muttered to himself. "If you were present, it would be a bit troublesome, so it is better if you just sleep."

Meanwhile, by the lake near the camp, Fujiwara Shizume and Fujiwara Masatsune were conversing with four strangely dressed individuals.

"Have you brought the Cursed Blade Muramasa?" the middle-aged man among the four, who held a long sword, asked.

"We have." Shizume took out the box from his back but did not hand it over. "Have you brought that item?"

"You mean that? Of course we brought it, look!" As the long-sword-wielding man spoke, he swung his blade, and a dazzling light erupted as he lunged to snatch the box from Shizume's hands!

Not good! Shizume knew it wouldn't be that easy to obtain, but that item was too important to him—important enough that he had risked everything to bring his clan from the heart of the Land of Fire to Takumigakure!

Fortunately, he had prepared for this; the strength he had hidden along the way was his contingency! The four opponents were clearly samurai, at most of an intermediate level. With him as a superior samurai and Masatsune as a jonin, the two of them combined were absolutely confident they could escape safely before Seimei could react!

"Fire Style: Searing Migraine!" Masatsune's chakra erupted wildly. At this moment, he also realized that Seimei likely never intended to give them that item at all!

"Ninjutsu? Shouldn't the Fujiwara Clan be warriors?" The fat man in armor scratched his head and walked in front of the long-sword-wielding youth.

What is he trying to do? Block fire ninjutsu with his body? Masatsune quickly cast this ridiculous thought aside. In the entire ninja world, the only person capable of tanking ninjutsu with his bare body was the First Raikage, right?

However, the armored fat man shattered common sense with the truth: the flames of Searing Migraine, which were hot enough to melt rock, were completely absorbed by the tiger-head armor!

"The quality of this chakra is quite poor!" The armored fat man licked his lips and said with a look of disdain.

"Use sword techniques! Masatsune, let's attack together and stall them; we have reinforcements!" Fujiwara Shizume drew his sword; he was going to give it his all!

"Reinforcements?" Masatsune thought of that superior samurai who could force back three jonin. Although he didn't know what agreement his father had reached with him, this was their only hope!

"Taste my blade!" Perhaps because he had been a ninja for too long, even though Masatsune carried a sword on his back, he couldn't execute any decent sword techniques, relying mostly on brute force to hack and slash.

"A soft, limp blade. Truly useless, what a mongrel!" A youth holding a three-bladed sword stepped out and flicked his wrist; the three blades transformed into dragons and lunged to bite at Masatsune!

"Ah!" Masatsune cried out in pain. Caught off guard, one of the dragons bit into his shoulder, the force so great he couldn't break free!

"Damn it, useless fool!" Shizume was deeply disappointed in his incompetent son and slashed out to help him escape the dragon's maw.

"Old man! There are four of us!" The woman with dual swords saw the slash Shizume unleashed and realized he was a formidable opponent. She swung both swords, and a violent gust of wind blew forth!

"What is this? Wind Style ninjutsu? Why didn't he need to weave hand signs?" Masatsune's mental fortitude was clearly poor; in such a life-or-death moment, he could only think to provide commentary!

"Fujiwara Single Blade Slash!" Shizume shielded Masatsune and slashed out; the surging gale was actually cut in two!

"This... Fa-father..." Masatsune had just seen Ruri's blade slash through fire ninjutsu a few days ago and thought it divine, but he never expected his father to be hiding such depth, capable of doing the same?

"I told you long ago that samurai are no worse than ninjas. You didn't listen; otherwise, with your talent, you could have done this too."

"But isn't that, Father, you..."

"Shut up! Lord Mu, if you are willing to make a move, the Cursed Blade Muramasa shall be your reward!" Shizume forced the sword-dragons back with another slash, his face covered in dense beads of sweat. He had suffered internal injuries in the past, and he was old; his stamina was failing quickly.

Is it a sense of 'qi'? Ruri, hiding under a tree, thought to himself. Although he hadn't deliberately used secret techniques to hide his presence, it was impossible for an ordinary person to detect him. It was said that when a samurai reached a certain realm, they could perceive the direction of enemies through "qi." It seemed Fujiwara Shizume had reached that level.

It was a decent ability, but unfortunately, Ruri was not a traditional samurai and could not achieve this.

"When you are all dead, whether it is the Cursed Blade Muramasa in your hands or the strange ninja tools in theirs, won't they all belong to me?" Ruri revealed his figure and said softly.

"Who are you?" The combination of a black robe and mask was likely off-putting; the dual-sword woman raised her hand and sent a hurricane toward him.

Ruri did not dodge or parry, letting the hurricane blow over him. His robe was blown open, revealing the bandages on his body.

"These bandages? Is he the Tsuchikage's guard, that Particle Style user, Mu?"

"This..."

"Father, he is..."

"Who cares who he is! Anyone who hinders Lord Seimei's plan must die!" The three-bladed sword youth showed no fear; his blades transformed into dragons, and all three lunged at Ruri simultaneously!

"Attacking without a word? How ill-mannered," Ruri had intended to let them wear each other down to make things easier, but since the other side had already made the first move, continuing to watch from the sidelines would be beneath him.

"This sword can transform into dragons to attack others after coming into contact with chakra, right? Tsk tsk, what a fine ninja tool!" As he spoke, Ruri used a Body Flicker to appear behind the three-bladed sword youth and kicked him away; his life or death was unknown.

"The main body is too weak," Ruri mocked. Only samurai who couldn't use Body Flicker techniques would be countered by this.

"Got you! So what if you're a legendary ninja? Without chakra, you're not even as good as a samurai!" The armored fat man appeared behind Ruri, pinning him with both arms, the tiger head on his armor constantly absorbing his chakra!

However, the very next moment, the armored fat man let out a painful scream as Fujiwara Shizume slashed off the fat man's arms!

This move was quite stunning; even Ruri couldn't help but glance over.

"This is... Flash?" Fujiwara Masatsune, who had been slacking off, shouted loudly. This was one of the ultimate techniques of the samurai!

"Many thanks for your assistance, Lord Mu. This old man will surely reward you handsomely." Fujiwara Shizume panted heavily; this move had consumed too much of his energy as a man over seventy, but he needed to prove his value!