"Lord Hokage, I know these opponents are no match for you, but entering enemy territory without an escort was a failure on our part."
Hyuga Hane's calm, even voice gradually settled Minato's spirits, which had lifted at the thought of a worthy successor.
It was that same feeling again. His temperament was the complete opposite of Kushina's; just his expression and voice alone could calm everyone around him.
Though that was an advantage on the battlefield, whenever Hane spoke in that tone, Minato couldn't help wanting to read more into his words.
Taken literally, Hane meant that when Minato went to face the enemy, the two of them hadn't been at his side, and he hadn't fulfilled his duty as part of the Shadow Guard. But Minato couldn't shake the feeling that Hane was telling him to reflect on going without an escort.
Was he imagining things?
There was no change in Hane's tone at all. Minato couldn't tell.
Minato shook his head, dismissing the trivial matter. He met Hane's gaze, and each of them produced a Flying Thunder God Kunai bearing his own mark and handed it to the other.
At the same time, Hane's quiet voice sounded in his ear.
"Seven o'clock, twenty-nine meters. Retreating at twenty-five meters per second."
Quickly calculating the best place to intercept, Minato produced four Flying Thunder God Kunai in each hand and hurled them in that direction.
Hane did the same, but toward another direction.
Whoosh...
With a brief, sharp whistle, the two vanished again.
In the mist-shrouded forest, faint explosions sounded now and then. Raiga Kurosuki stood atop a tree, carefully scanning the area. Only after confirming there were no enemies did he begin tending to his wounded arm.
After wrapping it in an emergency bandage, he hurriedly brought the bag on his back around to the front and opened it to check.
A young boy lay peacefully inside, fast asleep.
Seeing this, Raiga Kurosuki smiled.
"Thank goodness. That hit only knocked Ranmaru out."
Remembering Hyuga Hane's sudden appearance, Raiga furrowed his brow and looked at his Lightning Blade. Only after confirming that the one he'd kept bore no strange mark did he relax.
After the Fourth Hokage made a name for himself, the Mist Village had naturally studied every detail about the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Raiga Kurosuki knew that the Flying Thunder God required a special mark to teleport.
He'd figured it out by now. Hane's Shadow Clone had touched the blade he'd lost just before disappearing. That must have been when he'd left the Flying Thunder God Mark behind.
"Did he let me go because he wanted to help the Fourth Hokage?"
After all, he was a Konoha Ninja. Even knowing that the Fourth Hokage, who wielded the Flying Thunder God, would be fine, he couldn't simply stand by.
Raiga Kurosuki let out a breath, grateful to have escaped with his life.
As for the others... Ninjas from the Bloody Mist Village didn't care about their comrades.
Maybe they'd once held on to that naïve notion, but after countless missions of extermination, they'd abandoned it.
Now, the only person Raiga Kurosuki cared about was Ranmaru.
"I lost the Lightning Blade and deserted. I'd be the perfect scapegoat. I can't go back to the village..."
Raiga Kurosuki got to his feet, holding his severed arm, and slung the bag over his back again. "From now on, I'll be a wandering ninja with Ranmaru."
He picked a direction and hurried away.
A hundred meters behind him, a pair of Byakugan watched him in silence.
Suikazan Fuguki and Biwa Juzo stood back to back, alert to every sound around them.
"Damn it, those two just ran away, didn't they?"
"The screams from those two directions just told us what happened to them. Don't waste your thoughts on anything else," Biwa Juzo said coldly.
"I know. Just don't hold me back."
Cold sweat trickled down Suikazan Fuguki's face. He watched the surroundings nervously, trying to sound composed.
How many minutes had it been since they encountered the enemy?
One minute?
Three?
Whatever it was, it hadn't even been ten!
In such a short time, only two of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist remained?
A Kage... Could they really be that terrifying?
He could hardly imagine how frightening someone like that would be on the battlefield, cutting them down as easily as chopping vegetables.
The retreat of Iwagakure and Cloud Village suddenly seemed easier to understand.
The silent surroundings weighed on them. In the midst of that deathly waiting, two hazy figures emerged from the thick mist.
"So it was you?"
Seeing Hyuga Hane, Biwa Juzo immediately realized who had just warned the Fourth Hokage.
The Byakugan... It really was the Hidden Mist Technique's natural enemy.
But when Suikazan Fuguki saw Hane, he flashed an ugly, sinister grin and murmured, "I'll hold off that Byakugan brat. You use the Silent Killing Technique to keep the Fourth Hokage occupied. What do you think?"
"Without the Byakugan to support him, the Fourth Hokage won't be able to reach his full speed. We might even have a chance to escape."
Biwa Juzo glanced at Suikazan Fuguki but didn't call out his little scheme. Instead, he charged straight at Minato.
The other man's Flying Thunder God required those kunai as intermediaries. If they were careful enough, they might still be able to fight him.
Though their chances were slim...
As for escaping?
Unless they could take the Hokage hostage, it was impossible!
Meanwhile, although Suikazan Fuguki still looked grim, the sight of Hane's youthful, clearly underage face drew an ugly laugh from him.
"A genius of the Hyuga Clan? Let me see the Gentle Fist you're so proud of."
"Needle Jizo!"
Letting go of Samehada, Suikazan Fuguki quickly formed Hand Seals.
His hair hardened and shot toward Hyuga Hane in a torrential barrage of senbon.
Rotation!
A sphere of blue Chakra shielded Hane as it collided with the countless strands of hair flying at him.
Seeing that his technique had failed, Suikazan Fuguki didn't waste Chakra. He immediately used Water Release.
"Water Dragon Bullet!"
A water dragon dozens of meters long surged up from the ground and crashed down from the sky toward Rotation. At the same time, Fuguki vanished from where he stood, disappearing into the thick mist.
Hane had just used Rotation to deflect the water dragon when he thrust a fierce palm strike to his side.
The blow, packed with terrifying force, sank into a sea of mud and was blocked by Samehada.
With a cold laugh, Suikazan Fuguki swung his massive blade and forced him back.
"Gentle Fist? A Taijutsu fighter? Your attacks still use Chakra as their guide. That means they're useless against me."
Samehada was the most powerful of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen's blades. It could devour an enemy's Chakra, even their ninjutsu.
No one could use those techniques against him.
"Certainly worth studying."
Hane calmly acknowledged Samehada's strength. "But its wielder isn't."
As he spoke, green steam appeared around him once more.
Fuguki froze.
Was this some kind of Gentle Fist technique?
To die by this technique should be a fitting end for one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
As Fuguki watched in disbelief, Hyuga Hane used the Flying Thunder God just like the Fourth Hokage, appearing beside him out of thin air. His flaming fists hammered at the tenketsu all over Fuguki's body.
Eight Inner Gates, Sixth Gate: Open!
Morning Peacock!
Samehada, which could absorb Chakra, was completely useless against this technique. In the high-speed exchange, Hane even kicked away the sword Fuguki had been using as a shield.
Fuguki had no choice but to take the blows with his body. He was struck hard all over.
He staggered backward and tried to form Hand Seals to fight back with ninjutsu, giving up on using Taijutsu against Hane.
That Taijutsu was completely different from what ordinary Hyuga Ninjas used. It lacked the core principle of using softness to overcome hardness and was more like Konoha's Strong Fist Style.
Samehada couldn't absorb that.
But the moment he tried to use ninjutsu, he realized that his Chakra was moving incredibly slowly.
His movements grew stiff.
This was...
"Tenketsu Strike. You should be familiar with it."
The cold voice came from behind him. Fuguki couldn't turn around before his body went limp. He never got back up.
Before you continue