The Kurenai Eye, Ranmaru!

Chapter 25: Red Eye—Ranmaru!

Hearing the boastful words of the wielder of the Exploding Blade Shibuki, Munashi Jinpachi, the others chuckled softly.

The Fourth Hokage?

If he encountered them, he would only end up a corpse.

"Don't even think about it." A Konoha Jonin, covered in blood and lying prone on the ground, glared at them with a face full of fury and shock.

"Lord Hokage will absolutely make sure you never return, leaving you without a place to be buried!"

"Haha, we'll be waiting."

Longsword Nuibari wielder, Kurare Kushimaru, grinned hideously as he pierced the Jonin's body with his blade, hoisting him onto a tree with thin wires while savoring the man's pained groans.

Among the surrounding trees, several other corpses could be vaguely seen hanging from wires that were difficult to spot.

Clearly, they had all been tortured to death by Kurare Kushimaru.

"Alright, you've had your fun. Don't forget our mission." Biwa Juzo, wielder of the Kubikiribōchō, leaned against a tree trunk and gave a cold reminder.

"Isn't it just to cause destruction and reduce the pressure on the front lines?"

Munashi Jinpachi snorted, "Those trash from Iwagakure and Kumogakure actually withdrew their troops, leaving only a few ninja at the border to pressure Konoha. Did they never consider the consequences of defeat?"

"I don't think that so-called Fourth Hokage will give up on war reparations."

Mist Village had already suffered heavy losses in this war; if they couldn't extract enough benefits from Konoha, those of them in the war faction would have to pay the price.

"We came here precisely because we don't want to lose."

Biwa Juzo's tone was indifferent.

"If we can take this opportunity to kill the Fourth Hokage, Konoha will fall into chaos. The other three hidden villages, even Sunagakure, which is an ally of Konoha, won't pass up the chance to take a bite out of them. Mist Village will be able to seize the greatest profit."

"Tch, you don't have to spell it out so clearly."

Kurare Kushimaru raised his longsword in annoyance, intending to finish off the Jonin, but a bolt of lightning solved the problem faster than he could.

"Raiga, what is the meaning of this?" Kurare Kushimaru frowned.

Raiga Kurosuki, with his long green hair and sharp teeth, said coldly, "An enemy is coming."

The other six members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen instantly became alert.

Although they spoke with disdain for Konoha ninja, this was the Konoha that had held off three hidden villages by its own strength.

Even they had to be cautious while infiltrating the vicinity of Konoha.

Kurare Kushimaru glanced at the bag on Raiga Kurosuki's back, raising his blade in defense as he spoke:

"That brat on your back is quite useful. Can you lend him to me after this?"

"Ranmaru is my tool." A chill flashed in Raiga Kurosuki's eyes. "Don't you dare set your sights on him!"

"A dōjutsu Kekkei Genkai is quite rare..."

Several kunai attached to explosive tags flew in from the distance, cutting off Kurare Kushimaru's playful tone.

However, this clearly wasn't enough to injure them.

"What is this, a brat from the Hyuga clan?"

Casually batting away the kunai and ignoring the explosions behind him, Suikazan Fuguki looked at the figure flashing by in the distance and grinned hideously, "Who wants to go?"

"Hurry up and deal with it." Seeing Hyuga Hane's Shadow Clone lingering a hundred meters away and even moving further off, Biwa Juzo's expression changed, "If we let him observe with the Byakugan, we'll be waiting to be surrounded by Konoha ninja!"

His words made Suikazan Fuguki raise an eyebrow, "He's clearly trying to lure us away; there should be other Konoha ninja ahead."

"We've already come this far, being discovered doesn't matter. As long as we aren't surrounded, what do we have to worry about?"

With that, Raiga Kurosuki transformed into white lightning, closing in on Hyuga Hane's Shadow Clone at high speed.

Seeing this, Hyuga Hane's Shadow Clone didn't change his expression, but he took a deep look at the bag on Raiga Kurosuki's back, trying his best to maintain distance and stall for time.

No wonder they hadn't attracted attention despite deep infiltration; it was because of the eighth person...

The wielder of the Red Eye Kekkei Genkai—Ranmaru, was it?

He truly lived up to being a dōjutsu that countered the Byakugan; he had almost missed the opponent entirely just now.

This dōjutsu could see through objects and sense power and danger, similar to the Byakugan, but it surpassed the Byakugan in certain capabilities and could even create chakra illusions that the Byakugan couldn't distinguish.

The fact that three of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen managed to escape after encountering Master Dai, who had opened the Eight Gates, was likely due to his influence.

However, you might have escaped Master Dai's outburst, but can you escape the Flying Thunder God?

As the Shadow Clone was caught and destroyed, a mark was silently placed on Raiga Kurosuki's Lightning Blade.

While Hyuga Hane's Shadow Clone faced the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, warning and distress signal flares were fired by Ebisu, who had moved slightly away from the battlefield.

They exploded into the sky on the outskirts of Konoha!

Namikaze Minato, who was discussing matters with the advisors in the Hokage Office, and Hyuga Hane, who had just stepped out of the basement, both paused, looked toward the location, and vanished from their spots in an instant.

"Is it Mist Village?"

In the conference room, seeing Minato suddenly depart, the advisor Utatane Koharu frowned.

"That should be the case, but didn't Minato set up a barrier around the village perimeter? He even arranged for Hyuga ninjas to keep watch, so how did the Seven Ninja Swordsmen manage to bypass them?"

Mitokado Homura replied.

The Mist Village's attack plan was no secret to them; even without spies exposing it, they could have guessed the intentions of the Mist.

Currently, the Mist Village's only enemy was Konoha, so it was already strange for a combat force like the Seven Ninja Swordsmen to leave the battlefield.

The two of them pondered in confusion, only to see Danzo stand up without a word and walk toward the door.

"Danzo, what are you doing? They are just the Seven Ninja Swordsmen; it won't take Minato much time to deal with them."

"Discuss it with the Fourth; Tsunade teaching the Medical Corps has nothing to do with the matters I am responsible for."

Mitokado Homura frowned and sighed, "Hiruzen told us to keep an eye on you; don't do anything that makes things difficult for us."

"Heh, he is no longer the Hokage."

Danzo revealed a smile that was hard to tell if it was mocking or complex, then opened the door and left.

Hiruzen was no longer the Hokage, and Minato did not yet have sufficient authority; in the current Konoha, no one could restrain him.

Watching the door close, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura exchanged a glance, their expressions revealing a hint of worry.

"Does the Kurenai Eye have a longer clairvoyant range than the Byakugan?"

Moving rapidly through the alleys of Konoha, Hyuga Hane sorted through the memories brought back after his shadow clone vanished.

He was aware that Minato had deployed Hyuga ninjas around Konoha; the only way the Seven Ninja Swordsmen could have slipped past them undetected was if the Kurenai Eye had played a role.

"More than one kilometer, but less than five kilometers?"

Hyuga Hane's eyes flickered.

After his Byakugan evolved, his observation range had more than doubled, reaching two kilometers.

Therefore, the position of Guy and his team at that time was actually still some distance away from the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.

"Dojutsu bloodline limits outside of the Three Great Dojutsu are all worth studying; I must capture Ranmaru before the Fourth kills him offhand."

Thinking of this, Hyuga Hane sensed the Flying Thunder God mark left behind by his clone, and his figure blurred and vanished.