Jinpachi Munashi

"What is this?!"

A Mist Ninja who was in the middle of attacking Might Guy hadn't even had time to react.

His entire body was instantly sliced in half by the Overheat Whip released from Yu's hand, and a pungent mist of blood sprayed into the air, creating a scene of incomparable carnage.

"What's going on?!"

Seeing Yu's incredibly brutal technique, the remaining Mist Ninja were shocked and instinctively scattered in all directions to flee.

"Thinking of running now? Don't you think it's a bit too late!"

Watching the actions of the Mist Ninja before him, Yu let out a sneer of disdain and suddenly raised his arm.

The terrifying threads, extending over a hundred meters in length, danced flexibly through the air, erupting with immense power and slicing the few Mist Ninja who couldn't dodge in time into fragments.

"Such... such an overbearing technique..."

Watching Yu harvest the Mist Ninja like he was slaughtering chickens and dogs with the Overheat Whip, Might Guy, Genma Shiranui, and the others, who had already ceased their own fighting, couldn't help but widen their eyes, their voices sounding like delirious murmurs.

"Is that Yu's Kekkei Genkai?"

Overheat Whip—this was the strongest technique Yu could currently achieve using the abilities of the String-String Fruit.

Although it couldn't strike targets several kilometers away like the thousand-meter-long Super Impact Whip Thread, the smaller version of the Overheat Whip could be swung with agility, forming a multi-directional, integrated cutting and whipping attack.

"You Konoha brats!"

Looking at the white-haired youth who stood before them like a demon, the last remaining Mist Ninja on the grass let out the deepest, most venomous curse, "The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist will not let you off!!"

"Bang!!"

A spray of blood mist erupted. Before he could even finish his sentence, the sharp Overheat Whip in the air sliced him clean in two at the waist.

Fresh blood soaked the verdant grass.

"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen, huh..."

"Hmph, I imagine they have their hands full just trying to survive themselves right now..."

Hearing the words left behind by the last Mist Ninja before his death, a look of disdain appeared on the corner of Yu's mouth.

The power of the Gate of Death was not something to be taken lightly; in the face of such power that transcended the Kage level, it was questionable how many of the seven members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen would even survive.

Finally.

With Yu's unimaginable strength and the combined efforts of Might Guy and the others, the five young Konoha ninja had actually wiped out this elite unit of Mist Ninja.

"We won..."

"We finally survived..."

Seeing that the enemies before them had all finally fallen, Genma Shiranui collapsed to the ground as if completely drained of energy.

For these youths of only eleven or twelve, today's true ninja battle was undoubtedly a trial akin to purgatory.

"That was so dangerous today..."

"It's a good thing we had Yu, otherwise we would have all been finished."

Might Guy, sitting on the side, plopped down onto the ground as well.

What was supposed to be a simple reconnaissance mission had unexpectedly led to an encounter with the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, followed by being surrounded by an elite Mist unit.

If not for Yu erupting with such shocking strength, they likely would have been completely wiped out long ago.

However, looking at the forest that had been almost entirely destroyed, and the silence that had settled over it, remembering the sacrifice of his father, Might Duy, the young Guy still couldn't help but shed tears.

"While I still have a little chakra left... let me heal everyone so we can leave here quickly."

"I don't know if the Mist Ninja have any other reinforcements..."

Using medical ninjutsu to perform a simple treatment on himself, and feeling the meager amount of chakra and stamina he had left, Yu urged them to move.

"Yu is right, we should leave quickly, otherwise..."

Hearing Yu's words, Ebisu supported his body and stood up from the ground.

A sudden change occurred.

Before Ebisu could finish his sentence, Yu, who was walking toward him, suddenly felt a surge of warning in his heart.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Accompanied by a series of intense explosions, everyone, including Yu, was caught off guard and blown away by the sudden blasts.

Damn it... there are still enemies...?!

I was too careless...

Thrown several meters away by the sudden explosion and lying on the grass, Yu didn't even have time to check his own heavy injuries before he lifted his head, his gaze locked firmly on the figure emerging from the dust and mist ahead.

"Are those explosive tags? It hurts... I can't move my body."

On the other side, the situation for Might Guy, Kurenai Yuhi, and the other two was even more dire; they lay flat on the grass, unable to get up, and the situation before them once again pushed them toward the abyss.

"A madman..."

"What an absolute madman! That kind of taijutsu..."

"That idiot genin... he's actually throwing his own life away!!"

As the unfamiliar voice rang out, the silhouette within the dust finally revealed its outline.

He wore a Kirigakure forehead protector, white bandages wrapped around his head, a black eyepatch over his left eye, and held a bizarre, massive blade that resembled a giant scroll, densely covered in explosive tag seals.

Jinpachi Munashi!!

Instantly recognizing the man before him, Yu, who lay on the grass, felt his heart sink.

This guy was actually Jinpachi Munashi, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist they had encountered in the forest just moments ago!

The Blastsword: Splash in his hand was a ninja sword perfectly combined with explosions; it possessed an endless supply of explosive scrolls, boasting immense lethality. By using the Blastsword Technique to hurl the explosive scrolls around an enemy, he could trigger an inescapable, wide-range explosion.

In the original story, it was learned from another of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Kushimaru Kuriarare, that if Jinpachi Munashi used his strongest explosive technique to destroy the blade itself, the resulting massive blast could even kill a ninja with an immortal body.

Just as they were about to escape to safety, they never expected Jinpachi Munashi to have escaped from the forest at this very moment.

Lying on the grass, unable to move, the five of them, including Yu, all wore expressions of deep unwillingness.

"Dead... so many of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were actually killed..."

"That red steam... that guy is simply a monster!"

Muttering as if in disbelief, it was clear that Jinpachi Munashi was not in good shape either; his body was covered in wounds of all sizes, and he looked utterly wretched.

Clearly, in the forest just now, he had witnessed the most terrifying side of the Eight Inner Gates with his own eyes.

Damn it... wasn't this guy supposed to have been finished off by Might Duy in the original story?!

Staring at the suddenly appearing Jinpachi Munashi and calculating his own dwindling chakra and stamina, Yu, who lay paralyzed on the ground, began to anxiously search for a countermeasure.

"And these corpses are?"

Lost in the memories of that terrifying battle, Jinpachi Munashi finally brought his focus back to reality.

Glancing at the five brats lying on the ground, as well as the dozens of elite Mist Ninja corpses surrounding them, a look of astonishment appeared on his face.

"Just by you few brats... you actually wiped out the entire elite Mist Ninja unit led by Suikyo?!"