Leech Seed

Aragaki Yasushi stroked his chin and pondered for a moment before finally coming up with an idea.

He decided to pull from the Pokemon Limited Pool after all!

The Jackie Chan Adventures pool was already a Permanent Pool, so he could draw from it whenever he wanted.

The Pokemon Limited Pool, on the other hand, would disappear for good in less than a month. If he missed his chance, he'd never get another one.

Besides, he urgently needed the Master Ball from the Pokemon pool. That thing was amazing!

The Master Ball could catch Pokemon with a hundred percent success rate. If it worked on Tailed Beasts too, then the Three-Tails was as good as guaranteed to become his Pokemon!

And there was one other crucial point.

The Pokemon pool was cheaper!

It cost a full 100 points less than the other pools. What a bargain!

Aragaki Yasushi hesitated no longer. A resolute glint flashed in his eyes as he shouted inwardly, "Draw! Ten-pull!"

The system panel instantly displayed the draw animation. Beams of light flashed, and ten items appeared one after another.

[Million Ton Punch]

[Magnemite]

[Leek]

[Yogurt]

[Leech Seed]

[Sport Ball]

[Whipped Cream]

[Boulder Badge]

[Harden]

[Bug Spray]

Aragaki Yasushi's eyes lit up.

The drop rate was pretty good! He'd gotten three moves this time!

He hurriedly tapped on the move descriptions and checked them one by one.

[Mega Kick: Delivers a powerful kick to send the opponent flying.]

Wasn't this a perfect match for his Million Ton Punch?

Only this time, he'd be kicking instead of punching.

Not bad, not bad. From now on, he could knock out a kid with one punch and kick some piece of trash away with one foot!

[Leech Seed: After a Leech Seed is planted, it drains the opponent's HP a little at a time each turn.]

Leech Seed?!

Aragaki Yasushi's eyes widened as he grew excited.

This thing was a little like Wood Style. It could take root in someone else's body, but unlike Wood Style, it didn't absorb chakra—it drained pure HP!

Bloodsucking. Sweet!

Draining someone's life force directly was way more ruthless than absorbing chakra.

It was a pretty good move. He could pretend to use Wood Style with it in the future.

[Harden: Hardens the body to raise its defense.]

Aragaki Yasushi rubbed his chin, a sly grin curling his lips.

This move was great!

To be honest, he didn't care about raising his defense at all.

After all, he had the Horse Talisman as a safety net. Even if he got hurt, he could recover completely in a matter of minutes.

The key was the word "harden." It had all sorts of wonderful uses.

Let's just say, if you know, you know!

As for the other things he'd drawn this time...

Aside from the three useful moves, most of the rest was junk. A Magnemite, a leek, yogurt—it was ridiculous.

Still, there were a few decent items, like the Sport Ball.

[Sport Ball: A special ball used in Bug-Catching Contests.]

Aragaki Yasushi nodded to himself.

Not bad. It counted as a fairly advanced Poke Ball.

Its catch rate wasn't a hundred percent. It was about the same as a Great Ball's, so it couldn't compare to the Master Ball he'd been dreaming of.

But you could never have too many Poke Balls. Stocking up on more was always a good idea.

He could use them to catch Tailed Beasts or capture enemies in the future!

Aragaki Yasushi summed it up: getting three moves in this ten-pull had already left him quite satisfied.

The drop rate in this Limited Pool was much better than in the Jackie Chan Adventures Permanent Pool. This draw hadn't been a waste!

Despite his satisfaction, Aragaki Yasushi quickly regained his composure.

He said to Might Guy and the other two, "Don't get carried away celebrating. Kirigakure wouldn't send the Seven Ninja Swordsmen here just to get themselves killed."

"I'm guessing the Hidden Mist forces are right behind them. They could show up at any moment."

"We need to get back to camp and report the situation to the village right away, or we'll be in trouble."

After a pause, he added, "And we can't leave the bodies of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen behind."

Might Guy, Shiranui Genma, and Ebisu all nodded firmly. None of them dared to waste a moment.

The four of them swiftly took out sealing scrolls and sealed the bodies of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen one by one.

Once they were done, Might Guy immediately bent down, hoisted the unconscious Might Duy onto his back, and took off at a full sprint toward Konoha Camp.

Aragaki Yasushi flapped his Paper Wings and followed behind them, keeping watch over their rear.

On the sea, aboard a Hidden Mist ship anchored near the shore, the atmosphere was especially tense.

Ao stood on deck with a stern expression, having yet to receive the signal to attack.

Suddenly, he swiftly formed Hand Seals and called out, "Summoning Technique!"

A puff of white smoke appeared, and a sizable shark materialized out of nowhere. It flicked its tail and spat out a scroll.

Ao hurried over, picked up the scroll, and opened it at once. The more he read, the worse his expression became, until his face changed completely.

Seeing this, Terumi Mei asked with a hint of confusion, "What happened?"

Ao took a deep breath, his voice heavy. "The Seven Ninja Swordsmen... have gone missing. We've lost all contact with them."

Terumi Mei paused, then asked without much concern, "Could they have infiltrated Konoha's defenses and deliberately concealed their movements?"

Ao shook his head again and again, his expression growing even more serious. His voice was full of disbelief. "Impossible! That doesn't make sense!"

"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen's mission this time wasn't to infiltrate. They were supposed to break through Konoha's defenses head-on!"

"With Konoha's current defensive line in the Land of Whirlpools, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen working together could easily punch a hole through it."

He paused, then continued, "According to reliable intelligence, quite a few elite Hyuga Clan ninja have returned to the village."

"The Uchiha Clan only sent a few elite ninja, and their main force hasn't even reached the Land of Whirlpools yet."

"This is when Konoha's defenses are at their weakest."

"And even if they were infiltrating, they wouldn't have stopped sending their regular reports. There's only one explanation for why we've lost contact."

"Something happened to them!"

Terumi Mei furrowed her brow slightly. Her voice turned grave. "In that case, should we still lead the main force into battle?"

She knew the original plan: the Seven Ninja Swordsmen would first break through the defensive line, then she would lead the main force in a charge and seize the opportunity to invade the Land of Fire.

But now the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had vanished without a trace, throwing the whole plan into disarray. The risk of launching an attack without them was too high.

Ao pondered for a moment. They couldn't afford to rush in right now, so he decided they should hold back. "Don't worry. Let's wait a few days and see what happens."

He muttered to himself.

Hopefully, those seven idiots had simply gone off on their own and delayed their report.

Otherwise, this was going to be bad.

Inside Konoha Camp.

Uchiha Yashiro crouched on the ground, staring at the body that had been unsealed from the scroll in front of him. His eyes were wide, his expression full of disbelief.

He pointed at the corpse, his voice trembling. "Th-this is the Seven Ninja Swordsmen?!"

Aragaki Yasushi leaned to one side and pointed at the Ninja Blades piled nearby. "The swords are right there. How could they be fake?"

Uchiha Yashiro followed his gesture. Seven Ninja Blades lay neatly in a row, and he was instantly speechless.

That was true. The swords were right there. It wasn't as if they could have been faked, right?

Besides, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had been extremely active on the Mist Battlefield. Most Konoha Ninja had a clear impression of what they looked like.

Except Munashi Jinpachi's corpse had been blown apart by the Explosive Blade, leaving it so mangled even his own mother wouldn't have recognized him.

And Suikazan Fuguki had been beaten to a pulp by Aragaki Yasushi, reduced to a heap of flesh that was impossible to identify.

The remaining five corpses, however, were recognizable at a glance.

Uchiha Yashiro sprang to his feet and stared at Aragaki Yasushi. The shock in his voice hadn't faded at all. "You... you took down the Seven Ninja Swordsmen all by yourself?!"