As he spoke, Chiba slowly drew his cane sword.
It was an unremarkable draw.
With a light flick,
a flash of cold light streaked through the air.
"Can you really see through the ambition hidden in this blade?"
"And can you really bear the weight contained within it?"
In that instant, Chiba raised his head,
meeting the purple-haired girl's gaze.
And in the moment he looked up, a devilish brilliance bloomed.
Uzuki Yugao had never felt anything like this before.
The person before her was clearly a boy five years younger than her. She couldn't even see his eyes.
And yet—
The sensation of being watched made every hair on her body stand on end.
Like a fawn sensing a lion, she trembled all over in an instant.
The flash of cold light made Uzuki Yugao's pupils contract.
In that moment,
she seemed to see countless slashes flying toward her.
The next second, she was dismembered by those unstoppable strikes, lying in a pool of blood.
Was this genjutsu?
No, it was an illusion.
Uzuki Yugao's right hand had been resting on the hilt at her waist the whole time.
She wanted to draw her sword.
But—
now it was as if the blade had frozen in its sheath.
The sword at her waist felt terrifyingly heavy.
Was she unable to draw it?
No, she didn't dare draw it.
She didn't have the courage to face the boy wielding the sword before her.
Chiba was standing right in front of her.
He hadn't done anything at all.
He was simply standing there quietly, holding his cane sword.
And yet she couldn't move.
She couldn't understand.
Why?
Was this—
the opponent I just provoked?
Who was he?
Who was he, really?
Where exactly did I fall short compared to him?
At that moment, she didn't even have the courage to raise a hand and wipe the sweat from her forehead.
"This kind of gap is called a difference in caliber!"
Chiba eventually sheathed his sword.
After speaking, he turned around and picked up the dango he had set aside.
He touched them and found they were still warm.
Then he smiled.
"Mm, they should still taste just as good!"
Leaning on his cane, Chiba's figure gradually receded into the distance.
Only after Chiba had gone far away
did the trembling finally subside from Uzuki Yugao's body.
—This kind of gap is called a difference in caliber!
Chiba's words seemed to echo in her ears.
Who was he, really?
He was only a five-year-old boy.
How could he release such an overwhelming aura?
It was as if that aura had been tempered through countless trials.
Uzuki Yugao couldn't understand it yet.
In the world of One Piece, that pressure she had just felt from Fujitora Issho had a name.
—Great Swordsman!
Chapter 26
Fujitora Issho was undoubtedly a Great Swordsman.
Perhaps he couldn't match the prestige of Mihawk, the world's greatest swordsman.
But his mastery and swordsmanship were the real deal.
He was a civilian expert, yet the World Government had made an exception and promoted him to Marine Admiral. There was a reason for that.
Was it because the Marines had no other capable fighters in reserve?
The Admiral candidates were no weaklings.
There was only one reason Fujitora Issho had been promoted to Admiral despite his lack of status or connections and without regard for his military record.
It was his monstrous strength.
It was the kind of strength that could silence even Admiral candidates.
And what Uzuki Yugao had felt just then was Fujitora Issho's Great Swordsman aura, tempered through countless trials.
Even first-rate swordsmen would be intimidated by it.
That was even more true in the Naruto world, where swordsmanship was not particularly advanced.
For Uzuki Yugao, whose primary discipline was Konoha-Style Swordsmanship, it was like being crushed from a higher dimension.
Just then, Chiba had demonstrated the meaning of "defeating an enemy without drawing blood" to perfection.
Just as Chiba had said from the start,
he didn't know how to go easy on a woman.
Nor did he need to.
His opponent had come to provoke him with malice, so Chiba had no reason to hold back.
That was cruel to Uzuki Yugao.
But at the same time, it was an opportunity.
Chiba could see the ambition in Uzuki Yugao's blade.
This sort of pressure was also a test of her resolve.
If she got through this, she would rise to a new level.
If she couldn't, it would haunt her forever.
If she overcame it, she would break through her bottleneck.
This was different from the humiliating attack Asuma Sarutobi had used.
Leaving that aside,
inside the office in the Hokage Building,
an Anbu knelt on one knee before Sarutobi Hiruzen, reporting the intelligence.
However, it wasn't about the war on the front lines.
It was news about his son, Asuma Sarutobi.
"Reporting to you, Lord Hokage!"
"After leaving Konoha, Asuma headed to the Daimyo Palace in the Land of Fire overnight."
"He also applied for and took a position as a guard to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire!"
This Anbu was someone Sarutobi Hiruzen had assigned to protect Asuma.
After all, Sarutobi Hiruzen knew his son well.
He was rebellious and did whatever he pleased.
That was how he had turned out after being spoiled all these years.
Asuma was still his youngest son, after all.
And after taking such a heavy loss at Chiba's hands, who knew what he might do?
Hearing his subordinate say that Asuma had gone to the Daimyo Palace in the Land of Fire, he finally felt a little relieved.
That was good.
At least,
there was little danger at the Daimyo Palace. Away from Kurenai Yuhi and Chiba, Asuma probably wouldn't do anything foolish.
More importantly, Asuma serving as a guard for the Land of Fire's Daimyo as the Hokage's son
would, at the very least, help consolidate his position as Hokage.
The development of a ninja village depended on the Daimyo's financial support.
And the Daimyo also held significant sway in the choice of a Kage.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was all the more confident about the election of the Fourth Hokage.
He was getting on in years, after all.
He couldn't hold on to the position of Hokage forever.
This would give the new generation a chance, and it would also make the Daimyo value Konoha more.
Only with a better Hokage would the Daimyo see the value of the ninja more clearly.
That would mean more funding.
But Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't want to give up the position of Hokage.
He enjoyed the feeling of holding great power.