Mist Village's Tragic Seven Ninja Swordsmen (Part 2)

"Lord Hokage, I know these opponents are beneath your notice, but entering enemy lines without guards is a dereliction of our duty."

The calm, water-like words of Hyuga Hane caused Minato's mood, which had been brightened by the prospect of his future child, to gradually settle.

It was exactly this feeling; a personality completely opposite to Kushina's, where a mere expression and tone could soothe everyone around him.

While beneficial on the battlefield, Minato always felt the urge to overanalyze words spoken in such a tone.

Literally, it meant that they were not by his side when he came to face the enemy, and that they had failed their duties as the Shadow Guard, but Minato always had the nagging suspicion that the other party was telling him to reflect on his own failure to bring protection.

An illusion?

There was no fluctuation in his tone; it was completely impossible to tell...

Minato shook his head, dismissing the trivial matter. He exchanged a glance with Hyuga Hane, and each produced a Flying Thunder God kunai marked with their own signature, handing them to one another.

At the same time, Hyuga Hane's whisper reached his ears.

"Seven o'clock, 29 meters, retreating, speed 25 meters per second."

Quickly calculating the optimal interception point, Minato produced four Flying Thunder God kunai in each hand and threw them in that direction.

Hane performed a similar action, though toward a different direction.

Whoosh...

With a sharp, brief whistle, both figures vanished once more.

In the forest shrouded by thick mist, low explosions echoed from time to time. Raiga Kurosuki stood on a tree branch, carefully scanning his surroundings. Only after confirming there were no enemies did he begin to treat the wound on his arm.

After bandaging it with an emergency kit, he hurriedly brought the bag on his back to his front and opened it to check.

A young boy was lying peacefully inside, fast asleep.

Seeing this, Raiga Kurosuki smiled.

"Good, that strike only knocked Ranmaru unconscious."

Recalling the sudden appearance of Hyuga Hane, Raiga Kurosuki frowned and looked at his Lightning Blade, feeling relieved only after confirming there were no strange marks left on the remaining blade.

After the Fourth Hokage rose to fame, intelligence regarding the Flying Thunder God had naturally been studied repeatedly by their Mist Village.

Raiga Kurosuki was well aware that the Flying Thunder God transfer required a special mark.

He had already realized that when Hyuga Hane's Shadow Clone made contact with his lost blade, that was likely when the Flying Thunder God mark had been placed.

"Did he let me go because he wanted to support the Fourth Hokage?"

After all, he was a Konoha ninja; even if he knew the Fourth Hokage, who mastered the Flying Thunder God, would not be in danger, he could not remain indifferent.

Raiga Kurosuki let out a sigh of relief, feeling fortunate to have escaped with his life.

As for the others... ninjas from the Village of the Bloody Mist did not care about their comrades.

Perhaps they had held such naive thoughts at the beginning, but after experiencing various assassination missions, they had long since abandoned them.

Now, for Raiga Kurosuki, the only person who mattered was Ranmaru.

"I lost the Lightning Blade and deserted; I'm sure I'll be the perfect scapegoat for them to shift the blame onto. I can't go back to the village..."

Raiga Kurosuki stood up, supporting his severed arm, and slung the bag back onto his back. "From now on, I'll just be a wandering ninja with Ranmaru."

He discerned his bearings and quickly departed in a certain direction.

And a hundred meters behind him, a pair of Byakugan eyes watched him silently.

Suikazan Fuguki and Biwa Juzo stood back-to-back, wary of every movement in their surroundings.

"Damn it, those two just ran away, didn't they?"

"The screams from those two directions already tell us their fate. Don't think about useless things," Biwa Juzo said coldly.

"I understand. Just don't drag me down."

Cold sweat slowly trickled down Suikazan Fuguki's face. He observed his surroundings nervously while pretending to be calm.

How many minutes had it been since they encountered the enemy?

One minute?

Three minutes?

In any case, it hadn't been ten minutes!

In such a short time, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were reduced to only two?

Was a Kage... really this terrifying?

To be cut down like vegetables—he found it hard to imagine how terrifying such a person would be on a full-scale battlefield.

The Iwagakure and Cloud Village retreating... it didn't seem so hard to understand anymore.

The silent, soundless environment weighed heavily on their hearts. Just as they were in the midst of this process of waiting for death, two blurred figures emerged from the thick fog.

"So it was you?"

Seeing Hyuga Hane appear, Biwa Juzo instantly understood who had just warned the Fourth Hokage.

Byakugan... it truly was the bane of the Hidden Mist Technique.

Upon seeing Hane, Suikazan Fuguki revealed a hideous, sinister grin and whispered, "I will go intercept that Byakugan brat. You use the Silent Killing Technique to pin down the Fourth, how about that?"

"Without the Byakugan's assistance, the Fourth Hokage will find it difficult to reach his full speed. You and I might just have a chance to escape."

Glancing at Suikazan Fuguki, Biwa Juzo did not expose his petty schemes and charged straight toward Minato.

The opponent's Flying Thunder God required those kunai as mediums; if they were careful enough, a battle might not be impossible.

Although the hope was slim...

As for escaping?

Unless they could take the Hokage hostage, it was simply impossible!

On the other side, although Suikazan Fuguki's expression remained grave, he couldn't help but let out a malicious laugh as he looked at Hyuga Hane's slightly immature, underage face.

"A genius of the Hyuga Clan? Let me experience the Gentle Fist you are all so proud of."

"Needle Jizo!"

Releasing Samehada from his grip, Suikazan Fuguki quickly formed hand seals.

His hair became incredibly hard, launching toward Hyuga Hane like a violent storm of needles.

Rotation!

A sphere of blue chakra protected Hyuga Hane from within, colliding with the continuous barrage of hair-needles.

Seeing the technique was useless, Suikazan Fuguki did not waste chakra and immediately unleashed a Water Release.

"Water Dragon Bullet!"

A water dragon dozens of meters long rose from the ground, crashing down from the sky toward the Rotation, while Fuguki's figure vanished from his spot, hiding within the thick mist.

Just as Hane used Rotation to neutralize the water dragon, he swiftly struck out with a palm toward his side.

The strike, containing terrifying power, was like a stone sinking into the ocean as it was blocked by Samehada.

With a cold sneer, Suikazan Fuguki swung the great sword to force him back.

"Gentle Fist? A taijutsu ninja? Your attacks still rely on chakra as a guide, so they are useless against me."

His Samehada was the most powerful of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, capable of devouring an enemy's chakra and even their ninjutsu.

In front of him, no one could unleash their full potential.

"It is indeed worth studying."

Nodding to acknowledge the power of Samehada, Hyuga Hane said calmly, "But the master is incompetent."

As he finished speaking, green steam erupted from his body once again.

Fuguki was stunned.

Does the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist have a move like this?

Dying at the hands of this technique should be a fitting end for you Seven Ninja Swordsmen.

In Fuguki's incredulous gaze, Hyuga Hane appeared beside him out of thin air, as if he had used the Flying Thunder God like the Fourth Hokage, his flaming fists raining down upon all of his pressure points.

Eight Inner Gates, Sixth Gate, Open!

Morning Peacock!

Facing this technique, Samehada, which could absorb chakra, was completely useless; even during the high-speed offensive, Samehada, which Fuguki used as a shield, was kicked aside by Hane.

Fuguki could only take the brunt of the attack with his own body, suffering heavy blows all over.

He jumped back in a sorry state, wanting to form seals to use ninjutsu to fight back, having abandoned any thought of using taijutsu against his opponent.

This guy's taijutsu was completely different from a typical Hyuga ninja; it lacked the core of using softness to overcome hardness, resembling Konoha's Strong Fist Style instead.

Samehada could not absorb that.

However, just as he tried to initiate a ninjutsu, he discovered that his chakra circulation had become incredibly sluggish.

His movements inevitably stiffened.

This is...

"Pressure point strikes—you should be very familiar with them."

The cold voice came from behind him. Before Fuguki could turn around, his body went limp, and he never stood up again.