The vast ruins were surrounded by Mist Ninja, outnumbering the Konoha Ninja several times over, all watching the scene before them with predatory eyes.
Their presence made the atmosphere around them feel all the more oppressively tense.
Especially the two leading the group: Suikazan and Raiya of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
It felt as if an invisible hand had clenched their hearts in its grip.
"Hurry, hurry and get Qin Yu to deal with them, or we're all going to die!" Gekko Hayate scrambled to his feet.
"Qin Yu?" Raiya raised an eyebrow and gave a mocking laugh. "Who's that supposed to be? I've never heard of him."
"You're not so desperate that you'd drag out some random person to bluff us, are you?"
"But we Mist Ninja aren't like the Cloud Ninja. We were raised on fear."
As soon as he finished speaking, brazen laughter rang out across the scene.
A playful smile appeared on Suikazan's broad, honest-looking face. "All right, let's stop frightening them and finish them off already."
"Still, I'm surprised to find such a pretty little thing on a front line like this. Leave her to me later; the rest of you can handle the others."
Uzuki Yugao's pretty face turned pale.
She had never expected Suikazan to say something like that.
"Yugao, I'll hold them off. Get to the cave and alert Qin Yu. Lord Minato isn't here, and he's the only one who can save us now!" Uzuki Cangwu shouted.
"Everyone, activate the barrier at once!"
The remaining Konoha Ninja were already on edge.
At Uzuki Cangwu's command, they didn't hesitate for a moment, immediately forming Hand Seals to activate the barrier.
"It's too late to make a move now." Suikazan grinned viciously.
A blanket of white mist swept up without warning, engulfing the entire battlefield in an instant.
With no wasted movement, Suikazan was the first to attack.
His bulky frame moved with surprising agility. In the blink of an eye, he covered more than a dozen meters and appeared in front of Uzuki Yugao.
"It's Kirigakure's specialty—the Silent Killing Technique!" Uzuki Cangwu's expression changed dramatically. Sensing the movement of the air around him, he shouted urgently, "Yugao, be careful!"
"Haha, it's too late to be careful now!" Suikazan laughed without restraint.
"I'm taking that woman."
In the mist, Uzuki Yugao's face blanched as she hurriedly tried to dodge.
Unfortunately, she couldn't see her hand in front of her face, and there was nowhere to run.
Just as despair began to spread across her face, a dazzling blue sphere, brilliant as a starry sky, flashed past her side.
A faint gust of air swept through the dense mist, scattering it and revealing Suikazan's mocking expression.
But when he saw the Rasengan hurtling toward him, his smile froze.
With no time to think, he hurriedly drew Samehada from his back and held it across his chest without the slightest hesitation.
Bang!
The Rasengan slammed into Samehada.
A tremendous force surged out like a raging tide.
Boom!
An explosion like thunder suddenly echoed through the area.
The resulting gale scattered the surrounding mist in an instant.
Suikazan's massive body flew backward like a cannonball.
Several Mist Ninja who rushed forward along his path were sent flying by the impact.
He finally slammed into a large tree a hundred meters away, barely bringing himself to a stop.
But under the tremendous force, the tree snapped in half.
The sudden turn of events left everyone frozen in shock—even Raiya.
He knew Suikazan's strength very well.
And with the Silent Killing Technique, the Mist Ninja were even more in their element.
Yet Suikazan had been successfully ambushed at the crucial moment.
It was far beyond anything Raiya had expected.
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