Samurai

The final outcome was that Shizuka and Mitsunosuke swore loyalty to Ruri. Perhaps loyalty meant little to shinobi, but to a samurai who strictly adhered to the spirit of Bushido, it meant serving with their lives. Of course, Ruri would not simply put his mind at ease over this. Takumigakure was crucial to his plans. Even if the chances of the two betraying him were low, he did not dare take that risk.

Ruri used Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals to seal a portion of the Seven-Tails and some of his own chakra within Shizuka. On one hand, this chakra could improve her ability to protect herself. On the other, it ensured his control over Takumigakure. Since it was an improved version of Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals created by the system, it was nearly impossible for anyone to detect.

"Lord Musashi, when will you make your move? I can help from the side as well—" Before Mitsunosuke could finish, Ruri chopped him unconscious with the side of his hand. Then he knocked out the terrified, motionless Shizuka as well before turning and leaving the tent.

"Now," Ruri murmured. "It would be a little troublesome if you were present, so you should just sleep."

Meanwhile, by a lake near the camp, Fujiwara Shizume and Fujiwara Masatsune were speaking with four strangely dressed people.

"Did you bring Cursed Blade Muramasa?" asked the middle-aged man holding a longsword.

"I brought it." Shizume took the case from his back but did not hand it over. "Did you bring that item?"

"You mean this? Of course I did. Look!" As the longsword-wielding man spoke, he swung his sword. A burst of dazzling light shot forth as he lunged to seize the case from Shizume's hands!

Not good! Shizume knew it would not be so easy. Yet that item was too important to him, important enough that he had been willing to bring his entire clan from the heartland of the Land of Fire to Takumigakure at any cost!

Fortunately, he had prepared for this. The strength he had concealed along the way was his backup plan! The other four were clearly samurai, at most intermediate-level samurai. As a high-level samurai, together with Masatsune, a Jonin, they could certainly escape safely before Seimei reacted!

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

"Ninjutsu? Shouldn't the Fujiwara Clan be warriors?" The fat man in armor scratched his head and stepped in front of the young man with the longsword.

"What is he trying to do? Block Fire Style with his body?" Masatsune quickly dismissed the absurd thought. In the entire Shinobi World, the only one capable of resisting ninjutsu head-on with his body was probably the First Raikage, wasn't it?

Yet the armored fat man shattered common sense with facts. The flames of Searing Migraine, hot enough to melt rock, were completely absorbed by that tiger-headed armor!

"The chakra quality is terrible!" the armored fat man said with disgust, licking his lips.

"Use Kenjutsu! Masatsune, attack with me. Hold them back—we have reinforcements!" Fujiwara Shizume drew his sword. He was about to go all out!

"Reinforcements?" Masatsune thought of that high-level samurai who had forced back three Jonin. Though he did not know what agreement his father had reached with him, this was their only hope!

"Take this!" Perhaps because he had spent too long as a shinobi, although Masatsune carried a sword on his back, he could not use any decent Kenjutsu. He mostly relied on brute force to slash and hack.

"What a limp sword. Useless. You're neither one thing nor the other!" A young man wielding a three-pronged sword stepped forward and flicked his wrist. The three blades transformed into dragons and lunged at Masatsune!

"Argh!" Masatsune cried out in pain. Caught off guard, one of the dragons bit down on his shoulder. Its force was so great that he could not break free at all!

"Damn it, you useless fool!" Shizume was deeply disappointed in his worthless son. He slashed with his sword, helping him escape the dragon's jaws.

"Old man! There are four of us!" The woman with twin swords knew from Shizume's slash that he would not be easy to deal with. She swung both swords, and a fierce gale swept in!

"What is this? Wind Style ninjutsu? Why doesn't it need hand seals?" Masatsune's mental fortitude was clearly poor. At such a life-or-death moment, he actually only knew how to commentate?!

"Fujiwara Single Blade Slash!" Shizume shielded Masatsune and swung his sword. The roaring gale was actually split in two!

"This... F-Father..." Masatsune had seen Ruri cleave Fire Style apart with his sword just days ago, and had been utterly astonished. He never expected his father to have hidden himself so deeply, to be capable of the same thing!

"I told you long ago that samurai are no worse than shinobi, but you wouldn't listen. Otherwise, with your talent, you could do this too."

"But wasn't that Father's—"

"Shut up! Lord Mu, if you are willing to intervene, Cursed Blade Muramasa will be your reward!" Shizume slashed again, forcing back the sword dragons. Dense beads of sweat covered his face. He had old injuries and was advanced in years; his stamina was rapidly failing.

Is that sensing through qi? Ruri wondered from beneath a tree. Although he had not deliberately used a secret technique to conceal his presence, ordinary people should never have been able to notice him. It was said that samurai who trained to a certain realm could use "qi" to sense an enemy's direction. Fujiwara Shizume must have done so.

It was quite a useful ability, but Ruri was not a traditional samurai and could not accomplish it.

"Once you are all dead, won't both the Cursed Blade Muramasa in your hands and those strange ninja tools in theirs belong to me?" Ruri revealed himself and spoke quietly.

"Who are you?" The combination of a black robe and mask was apparently irritating to look at. The woman with twin swords raised her hand and sent a hurricane hurtling toward him.

Ruri neither dodged nor moved, allowing the hurricane to strike him. His robe was blown open, revealing the bandages wrapped around his body.

"Those bandages? That's the Tsuchikage's guard—the Mu of Dust Release?"

"This..."

"Father, he is..."

"Who cares who he is?! Anyone who obstructs Lord Seimei's plan must die!" The young man with the three-pronged sword showed no fear. His blades transformed into dragons, and all three lunged at Ruri!

"Attacking without a word? Were you raised with no manners?" Ruri had intended to let them wear each other down first, making them easier to deal with. But since they had attacked first, continuing to watch would be beneath him.

"This sword turns into dragons to attack people once it comes into contact with chakra, right? Tsk, tsk. What a fine ninja tool!" As he spoke, Ruri used the Body Flicker Technique to appear behind the young man with the three-pronged sword. He raised a leg and kicked him flying, his fate unknown.

"The main body is too weak." Ruri sneered. Only samurai who could not use the Body Flicker Technique would be so thoroughly countered.

"Got you! So what if you're a legendary shinobi? Without chakra, you're inferior even to a samurai!" The armored fat man appeared behind Ruri and locked him in his grasp. The tiger heads on his armor began continuously draining Ruri's chakra!

Yet in the next instant, the armored fat man let out a painful scream. Fujiwara Shizume severed both of his arms with a single slash!

That move was rather stunning, and even Ruri could not help giving him a second look.

"Was that... Flash?" Fujiwara Masatsune, who had been idling all this time, shouted. This was one of the ultimate techniques of samurai!

"Thank you for helping us, Lord Mu. This old man will surely repay you generously." Fujiwara Shizume panted without pause. This move had consumed far too much strength for an old man past seventy, but he needed to use it to prove his worth!