Ninjas are all high-attack, low-defense glass cannons

Aragaki Yasushi quickly pulled out a Poke Ball.

A flash of white light streaked by, and Samehada instantly appeared in his hand.

He gripped Samehada tight, and while the two Mist Anbu were caught off guard, he slashed down fiercely.

The barbs on Samehada's body instantly extended, piercing into one of the Mist Anbu in a dense cluster, and immediately began greedily devouring the man's chakra.

That Mist Anbu froze on the spot, his expression one of shock, muttering to himself, "This is... Samehada?!"

But as his chakra was frantically drained away by Samehada, his entire body went limp; he couldn't even muster the strength to form hand seals for ninjutsu, let alone channel any chakra at all.

Seeing his companion trapped, the other Mist Anbu drew the short blade at his waist and slashed viciously at Aragaki Yasushi.

Aragaki Yasushi let out a scoff and raised his hand to throw a punch.

Million Ton Punch!

With a thunderous boom.

The Anbu was sent flying away instantly.

As expected, ninjas were all glass cannons with high attack and low defense; not a single one of them could take a hit.

This Mist Anbu was no exception. After taking a punch amplified by the Horse Talisman, his body was blown apart, not even leaving a whole corpse behind.

Aragaki Yasushi didn't even blink. He grabbed the Mist Anbu who had been drained of all strength by Samehada, flapped his Paper Wings, and descended toward the woods outside the town.

He patted the Anbu's cheek, his tone gentle: "Come now, let's have a nice heart-to-heart. Don't be nervous."

"Rest assured, it's fine. No matter how badly you're injured, I can restore you perfectly."

"I know a thing or two about medical ninjutsu, after all."

The Mist Anbu was trembling with fear, his face deathly pale: "You... stay away from me!"

A series of shrill, miserable screams echoed through the woods.

When silence finally returned, Aragaki Yasushi looked at the Mist Anbu before him, whose limbs had been severed and who had long since passed out from the pain. Not bothering to use the Horse Talisman to heal him again, he simply finished him off.

As it turned out, the information extracted from this Anbu matched his suspicions.

Yoiichi Kumade was still alive.

That side character was surprisingly tough; he had already escaped to the nearby sea and gone into hiding.

These two Mist Anbu were just small fries ordered to search the island for his trail.

Beyond this key intelligence, Aragaki Yasushi dug up an extra harvest.

Among the Mist Anbu sent to hunt down Yoiichi Kumade, Momochi Zabuza was actually present.

However, upon second thought, Aragaki Yasushi found it only natural.

In the original story, Yoiichi Kumade died at the hands of Zabuza. Now that Zabuza had come to hunt him down, it was simply following the plot.

But the current Zabuza was vastly different from the one in the original story.

Not long ago, he had just blinded Kakashi, and he was the culprit behind Obito's unknown fate.

Obito would certainly hold a deep grudge for that.

Sooner or later, Zabuza would be taken out by Obito when the chance arose.

But for now, Obito was likely still recovering from his injuries and had no energy to seek revenge on Zabuza.

As for Uchiha Madara, he was a big shot; he wouldn't be keeping his eyes on a small fry like Zabuza.

In that case, if he went to take out Zabuza now, it probably wouldn't cause any major waves.

It could be considered avenging Team Kakashi; why not do it?

Besides, they were all enemies anyway.

Aragaki Yasushi wouldn't show mercy just because the other party was a supporting character.

On a certain stretch of sea.

A Mist Anbu bowed his body and reported to the figure in front of him: "Lord Zabuza, we have lost contact with Oshima Tsuyoshi and his partner. It is highly likely that something has happened to them."

"That Konoha spy must have fled in the direction they were searching."

Zabuza furrowed his brows, filled with doubt: "Impossible. That spy was slashed by me and was covered in wounds. How could he possibly have the strength to take out both Oshima Tsuyoshi and his partner?"

He paused, then waved his hand: "Forget it. I will go to the area they were searching to see what exactly went wrong."

"There is no need to call the others back. Have them continue searching the vicinity; this might be a diversionary tactic by the enemy."

The Mist Anbu quickly bowed and replied: "Yes, Lord Zabuza!"

Zabuza held a high position among the Mist Anbu and was a squad leader-level figure.

After all, in Kirigakure, he was a well-known expert who held the title of the Demon of the Mist.

This mission to hunt down the Konoha spy Yoiichi Kumade was being directed by him personally.

Yet at this moment, Zabuza gazed toward the direction of the Land of Whirlpools, his mind no longer on that Konoha spy.

In his eyes, hunting down an injured spy was merely a routine task that could be completed with a flick of the wrist; it was not worth any extra thought.

But if he could infiltrate the Konoha Camp and retrieve the village's lost ninja sword, that would be an entirely different matter.

As long as he could reclaim the blade, he could become one of the new generation of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and from there, climb step by step into the village's upper echelons.

Perhaps he could even put an end to the village's suffocating Bloody Mist Policy.

Just as Zabuza was envisioning the future, his expression suddenly shifted, and the hair on his body stood on end.

Under the moonlight, a large white bird was flying toward him, the sound of its flapping wings growing closer and closer.

"No, that's not a bird!"

Zabuza narrowed his eyes, and upon closer inspection, his pupils instantly constricted.

It was a person with wings!

As the figure flew closer, Zabuza finally made out the stranger's features, and his heart sank heavily.

It was the Konoha Paper Style ninja, Aragaki Yasushi!

The name Aragaki Yasushi had been thunderous in Kirigakure lately; there was no one who did not know it.

After all, the infamous Seven Ninja Swordsmen had been wiped out in one fell swoop by this kid; it was no exaggeration to call him the bane of the ninja swords.

The moment he recognized Aragaki Yasushi, Zabuza didn't even hesitate, his hands moving in a blur to form seals.

Hidden Mist Technique!

The Mist Anbu beside him also reacted, hurriedly following suit with seals, preparing to unleash a Water Style jutsu.

But Aragaki Yasushi's speed was far greater than theirs, giving them no chance to prepare.

Leech Seed!

Two brown seeds appeared out of thin air, flying rapidly toward Zabuza and the Mist Anbu.

Zabuza reacted with lightning speed, throwing his body to the side and narrowly dodging the attack.

The brown seed splashed into the sea, sending up a spray of water.

However, the Mist Anbu beside him was not so lucky.

The seed landed on his shoulder, instantly sprouting emerald green vines that coiled around him like an octopus, binding him tightly like a rice dumpling.

The thorns on the vines pierced his skin, greedily sucking his blood, causing him to convulse in agony.

"Wo... Wood Style?!"

The Anbu ninja was terrified out of his wits, his voice trembling as he screamed in horror.

But that was the jutsu of the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama!

Zabuza was also stunned, staring at Aragaki Yasushi in shock, his mind filled with questions.

Wasn't this kid a Konoha Paper Style ninja?

How could he also master Wood Style?

Could the village's intelligence be wrong?

Or was paper made of wood, and therefore Paper Style was actually Wood Style?

Thinking about it, did that actually make sense?

But now was not the time to dwell on such things, and Zabuza suppressed his doubts.

By now, the Hidden Mist Technique he had unleashed had taken effect, and dense fog rose rapidly from the sea, instantly shrouding the surroundings.

Zabuza and the struggling Anbu hid within the mist, not daring to breathe, hoping to use the cover to escape.

Yet Aragaki Yasushi stood aloft in the sky, letting out a light chuckle.

Although the mist blocked his vision, preventing him from seeing the movements inside, he had been the one to cast the Leech Seed. He knew the exact position of the seeds; he didn't need his eyes to see them, for he could sense them.

Thus, a smile curled at the corners of Aragaki Yasushi's mouth.

Thunderbolt!