Mist Village's Tragic Seven Ninja Swordsmen (Part 1)

"Just a clone?"

Raiga Kurosuki watched the figure before him dissolve into white smoke, his expression turning grim.

Throughout their journey, the Kurenai Eye of Ranmaru had been infallible.

The combination of x-ray vision and danger perception had made it impossible for the ninjas of the Konoha Hyuga Clan to track their movements.

But now, there was an exception.

"Ranmaru, when did you first sense him?"

"Two kilometers away," came the faint voice of the child from the bag on Raiga Kurosuki's back.

"The limit of your x-ray vision?" Raiga Kurosuki nodded. "He was heading straight for us, wasn't he?"

"That's right. Unless we triggered some kind of alarm, his Byakugan's observation range might be even greater than mine," Ranmaru replied softly.

"Then he is a threat that must be eliminated!"

Raiga Kurosuki frowned.

An observation range exceeding two kilometers was no joke on the battlefield; it meant the enemy would seize every tactical advantage.

"Since he sent a Shadow Clone to scout, his main body is likely observing us from beyond your field of vision. We must be careful from here on out."

At this moment, the other members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen arrived.

Kushimaru Kuriarare looked around, and seeing no corpse, mocked, "What, did the enemy get away?"

"It was a Shadow Clone of a Hyuga ninja. His field of vision might be even further than Ranmaru's."

Ignoring the provocation, Raiga Kurosuki explained to the others, "We need to proceed with caution."

"Further than Ranmaru?" Biwa Juzo's eyes narrowed, and the others shed their relaxed expressions.

Because the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were all powerful ninjas, they had no medical ninjas among them, nor did they need any.

But to perfectly execute an assassination mission, one could not do without a sensory ninja.

Raiga Kurosuki was able to join the Seven Ninja Swordsmen not only because of his Lightning Blade and Jonin-level strength, but most importantly, because of the Kekkei Genkai of Ranmaru's eyes.

In the eyes of the others, Raiga Kurosuki's value was perhaps not even equal to Ranmaru's, yet Ranmaru insisted on being Raiga Kurosuki's eyes and refused to listen to anyone else.

If it weren't for the fact that the Kurenai Eye was undocumented and the consequences of transplantation were unknown, the eyes would have long since been harvested for other Mist Village ninjas given Ranmaru's performance.

Now, they could only act with the two of them as members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.

As beneficiaries of Ranmaru's assistance, they naturally understood the severity of the situation.

However, before they could react, Ranmaru in the bag suddenly shouted urgently:

"Run! A powerful Chakra is approaching at high speed!"

"It's fast, really fast! My eyes can't keep up with him! He stopped exactly where we were just standing. Take this chance and go, Raiga!"

The group's expressions darkened.

"Sorry, I'm late."

Namikaze Minato placed the Konoha ninjas hanging from the trees onto the ground one by one, closed their eyes, looked coldly in a certain direction, and used the Flying Thunder God again.

"So fast. Is that the Fourth Hokage? He actually came alone without guards?"

Biwa Juzo muttered.

"Isn't that perfect?" Kushimaru Kuriarare revealed a cruel smile. "Let's kill him together!"

Ignoring the others, Ranmaru continued to urge Raiga Kurosuki, "Run! At that speed, Raiga, you are no match for him..."

Before the anxious words could fade, the sound of several Kunai piercing the air echoed all around, aimed directly at Kushimaru Kuriarare.

He instinctively used the long blade in his hand to deflect these strange Kunai, exposing a flaw in his defense.

--Bang!

"Ah!!!"

A golden flash appeared in everyone's field of vision, accompanied by a violent explosion and Kushimaru Kuriarare's uncontrollable, agonizing scream.

In the spiral-shaped crater, Kushimaru Kuriarare coughed up blood mixed with visceral fragments, his body wracked with pain.

His fading pupils stared at his companions, wanting to reach out for help, but he lacked the strength to even lift his hand.

The others clearly had no time to worry about a dead man whose internal organs had been destroyed.

How could he be so fast? In just an instant, Kushimaru Kuriarare was actually...

Munashi Jinpachi broke into a cold sweat, looking at Namikaze Minato at the edge of the crater. When the latter turned his gaze toward him, a wave of terror instantly took root.

Without a second thought, he aimed his Blastsword at the ground and swung.

Boom!

As the Blastsword made contact with the ground, the Explosive Tags instantly shattered the earth, sending stone debris flying and dust billowing everywhere.

"Those who know the Hidden Mist Technique, use it now! If we let this guy get going, we're finished!"

Suikazan Fuguki and Biwa Juzo both raised their fingers with grave expressions, joining forces to cast the Hidden Mist Technique.

Thick fog rapidly blanketed the battlefield.

"Attack!"

The five members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen displayed unprecedented coordination, launching an offensive against Minato from within the dense mist.

Given the opponent's speed, they couldn't even flee separately; they had to ensure Minato was incapacitated before they could hope to escape.

Only Raiga Kurosuki lagged a step behind the others, hesitating, but at that moment, a figure wreathed in burning green steam—at once familiar and strange—suddenly appeared before him.

A palm strike containing terrifying power, seemingly charged before the teleportation even finished, slammed directly toward his chest.

Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!

His pupils constricted. Raiga Kurosuki had no time for a more effective reaction and could only tilt his body slightly to avoid a fatal blow.

Boom!

As flesh met palm, he took the brunt of Hyuga Hane's strike—a blow that transcended the standard Vacuum Palm and approached the level of a Divine Air Strike—at point-blank range. A horrific explosion erupted from his body, his left shoulder and arm were blown apart, and one of his two Lightning Blades clattered to the ground.

Yet, Raiga Kurosuki had no time to care about such things. Using the force of the blow to retreat dozens of meters, he didn't even warn his companions, instead transforming into lightning and fleeing the battlefield as fast as he could.

The space-time ninjutsu, Flying Thunder God, was far more terrifying than they had previously known.

Not to mention there were now two users, one of whom even possessed the Byakugan, which rendered the Hidden Mist Technique useless.

Winning was simply impossible!

Ignoring Raiga Kurosuki, whom he had severely wounded with a single strike, Hyuga Hane's cold, clear voice rang out over the battlefield.

"Seven o'clock direction, twenty-five meters."

The expressions of the five men who had quietly surrounded Minato changed drastically.

A cold smile appeared on Minato's face as he took the initiative, drawing a Flying Thunder God Kunai from his pouch and hurling it toward that position.

The Hidden Mist Technique could indeed restrict his speed.

In such an environment, it was impossible to quickly reap these people's lives using the Flying Thunder God alone, but that only applied if he were without an ally.

He retracted his previous statement; his fighting style still required a partner.

However, it had to be a partner who could keep up with him!

When he first dropped into the battlefield, his keen observation skills had noticed the mark on the Lightning Blade, which had initially surprised him.

That was because it was a Flying Thunder God mark designed by Hyuga Hane, and the boy should have been training at the practice grounds.

Regardless of the cause, the muffled sound that had faintly drifted from nearby just moments ago made Minato understand.

"Have you already mastered the Flying Thunder God?"

Minato's lips curled upward slightly. His figure teleported to the Kunai that had just zipped past Munashi Jinpachi, his right-hand Rasengan colliding instantly with the Blastsword the man had raised.

The Explosive Tags on the Blastsword detonated with a roar.

Bang, bang, bang!

The violent, continuous explosions masked the sound of a Kunai flying through the air. A figure appeared silently behind Munashi Jinpachi, and while the man's attention was focused entirely on Minato, the newcomer delivered a punch that shattered his heart.

Seeing his enemy fall with lingering resentment, Minato offered Hane a gentle smile.

Is this what it feels like to have a successor?

He suddenly understood how Jiraiya must have felt when showing him off to others.