The Seven Ninja Swordsmen

"It, it's a corpse!"

Gekko Hayate nearly split his eye sockets wide open, staring at the Konoha ninja who was mere inches away, locked in a gaze with him, and dead beyond any hope of revival.

With a tremor in his legs, a strange, scalding wetness instantly soaked his trousers.

The stench of urine caused the surrounding Konoha ninja to spring into a defensive stance, while the looks they cast toward Gekko Hayate were laced with a hint of disgust.

Of course, one could hardly blame Gekko Hayate.

This was his first time on the battlefield, and he had already endured an Anbu pursuit, the intimidation and mockery of Qin Yu, and now, a face-to-face encounter with a corpse.

The fact that he hadn't been scared to death on the spot was already quite an achievement.

Figures flickered in every direction.

Upon learning that the Cloud Ninja had failed to capture the pass, Kirigakure immediately mobilized its forces, intending to launch a second wave of attacks.

In their eyes, there were only two possibilities for the Konoha ninja to have withstood the first wave of the offensive.

First, they had paid a heavy price.

Second, they possessed powerful ninja as their backbone.

When they saw that Minato Namikaze, hailed as the Yellow Flash, had departed from the Konoha ranks, the so-called vital pass was left with a mere dozen or so Konoha ninja.

To the Kirigakure forces, this was completely undefended.

Therefore, from the very beginning, they had employed a strategy to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

They used ordinary ninja as bait to draw Minato Namikaze away.

Then, they mobilized their elite forces to launch a surprise attack on the pass.

They had considered the possibility that Minato Namikaze might not be easily lured away.

However, the current outcome had far exceeded their expectations.

As long as they breached this pass, they, the Kirigakure forces, could drive straight in and strike at the rear of Konoha.

By that time, with Konoha caught in a pincer attack, their formation would surely collapse, and the balance of the three major battlefields would be the first to be shattered.

Most importantly, this time, to ensure the mission proceeded smoothly, the ninja dispatched by Kirigakure were not as overwhelmingly powerful as the AB Duo of the Cloud Ninja.

But the leaders were, shockingly, two members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, who struck fear into the hearts of the ninja world.

As products of the Blood Mist Realm, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were all vicious elites who had carved their way out of a Sea of Blood.

Facing a pass with only a dozen or so men left, it was nothing more than a simple task.

"Defensive positions! Everyone, stay on high alert; we are facing someone truly formidable this time." Uzuki Cangwu looked at the two ninja landing at the front, his face turning pale.

"Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Suikazan Fuguki of the Samehada."

"Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Raiga Kurosuki."

As these two names were dropped, all the Konoha ninja couldn't help but gasp in unison.

Behind them followed fifty Kirigakure elites.

Suikazan stood over two meters tall, with a massive frame and a deceptively honest appearance.

However, in Kirigakure, among the ninja who had emerged from the era of the Blood Mist Realm, there was not a single one whose psyche hadn't been twisted.

This was a ruthless character who would betray even his own comrades for the sake of profit.

As for Raiga Kurosuki, he was lean and gaunt, with black hair and a black robe, the two blades in his hands crackling with flowing electricity.

Scarlet blood dripped from the edges of his blades.

The sentries from earlier had clearly been killed by his hand.

"Heh, they're all trash, especially that brat over there who even wet his pants." Raiga laughed mockingly.

Facing such opponents, for those who were always bloodthirsty, there was absolutely no challenge to be found.

"Enough. Don't forget there is still the troublesome Minato Namikaze. Let's destroy this pass as quickly as possible; even if he rushes back later, it will be of no use." Suikazan scanned his surroundings with a cold, eerie gaze.