"The Third is dead?"
As Ye Ning read the intelligence report sent back from the front, a hint of disbelief appeared in his eyes.
Ye Ning had never expected Sarutobi Hiruzen to die on the battlefield.
It ran completely counter to his usual way of doing things. And yet, before he died, Sarutobi Hiruzen had made exactly that choice.
Running his fingers over the intelligence scroll, Ye Ning fell into thought.
Only Suikazan Fuguki and Biwa Juzo were left of this generation's Seven Ninja Swordsmen...
He hadn't expected the Third to deal Kirigakure such a devastating blow before his death.
More than a hundred Kirigakure elites, along with a full five of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen...
Although a hundred or so elite shinobi might not seem like much compared with armies numbering in the thousands, a loss like this could determine the true outcome of a war.
What's more, Kirigakure's morale had also taken a heavy blow.
And then there were this generation's Seven Ninja Swordsmen...
Ye Ning clicked his tongue, suddenly feeling a little sorry for those guys.
They were Kirigakure's absolute elite, a trump-card squad forged by the Bloody Mist Era, and yet their end had been so miserable.
If he remembered correctly, in the original story's Battle of Kikyo Pass, those guys had been ordered to seize a stronghold. They happened to surround the squad Might Guy was in, only to run into Might Duy with the Eight Gates open—
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen had been kicked down to the Lucky Three.
Now, instead of running into Might Duy, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had faced the Third, and the result had been almost the same.
The two survivors could make up the Heng and Ha Generals—or the Haier Brothers.
The two elders, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura,