Cloud Style Swordsmanship

To wait for this opportunity, the ANBU had been lying in ambush inside the barrier for more than ten days.

At the moment when every force in Uzu Hidden Village was at its weakest, when both sides had suffered heavy losses, the ANBU charged down.

Behind his mask, Yagami frowned.

That old thief Danzo had not led the charge at all. He had cowered at the very back.

No wonder Second Hokage Tobirama Senju had not allowed Danzo to become Hokage. His Will of Fire was utterly lacking. He did not know the first thing about sacrificing himself for his comrades, only about sending them forward to test the enemy while he reaped the rewards at the end.

The Yellow Dog Squad Leader had charged first, placing Yagami near the front.

This night had been unbearably long. At last, the Uzumaki Ninja saw people from Konoha!

From their perspective, it looked as though the Konoha Ninja had just crested the mountain and charged down from above.

Inside the Ancestral Hall, the elderly and weak had cried until their eyes were red. At last, Konoha reinforcements had arrived.

But after watching for a while, they realized there were only as many Konoha Ninja as they had initially seen.

Where was everyone else?

Why had so few people come? Shouldn't there have been thousands of Konoha Ninja fighting a massive battle against the combined Mist Ninja and Cloud Ninja forces?

Yagami followed the Yellow Dog Squad Leader into Uzu Hidden Village. The ground was littered with corpses.

Some had suffocated to death in the Water Prison Technique, some had died beneath Cloud Ninja blades, and others had fallen to Mist Ninja Water Release.

As he passed a wall, Yagami saw someone flattened into a sheet.

It was a civilian who had been crushed into a meat patty by the pressure of Water Release.

The head had become a flat oval, the chest had been pressed against the back, and broken ribs jutted out from the sides.

Such powerful Water Release. The water had been condensed into an extremely solid form, similar to the Water Dragon Technique.

Many nearby houses had their roofs burned away, yet the ground was especially wet, with mud left behind by Water Release.

Fire Style on one side, Water Release on the other. It was utter chaos.

As they rushed across the central Great River, Yagami turned to look toward the Third Mizukage.

The Mizukage was dead. Three Mist Ninja squads guarded his corpse.

As for the Uzumaki Clan Head's body, the Mist Ninja had nailed it to the hull of a ship in the utmost humiliation.

Fall behind, and you would be beaten. Be weak, and you would be humiliated.

A Konoha squad charged toward the Mizukage's corpse, intending to eliminate the Mist Ninja squads and seize the body.

There might be clues to that powerful secret technique on the Mizukage's corpse.

The Uzumaki Clan Head's body was valuable as well. Perhaps they could uncover the Uzumaki Sealing Secret Technique.

Everywhere he looked, flesh and blood had turned into bloody water. It was terrifying.

Yagami followed the Kurozaru squad commander and continued charging forward.

After reaching the northern bank, there were more Uzumaki Ninja corpses on the ground.

Like the Konoha Ninja, these Uzumaki Ninja bore Uzumaki emblems on their backs.

So many redheads had died here. The Uzumaki Clan was a great clan of the Land of Whirlpools, numbering several thousand people.

The Konoha Anbu had already reached the northern bank, yet the Mist Ninja had not reacted. They were still madly hunting down Uzumaki Ninja.

Seeing this, the Cloud Ninja hurriedly changed direction, guarding against the Konoha Ninja while protecting their rear.

The Yellow Dog Squad Leader immediately formed Hand Seals and unleashed a Fire Style technique of enormous scale.

Massive Flame Bullets blanketed more than a dozen buildings.

Yagami suspected the Yellow Dog Squad Leader was from the Sarutobi Clan.

The Cloud Ninja in the middle leaped up, desperately dodging the Fire Style.

The two ANBU squads on either side swung around and pressed forward, leaving the Cloud Ninja no time to deal with the Yellow Dog Squad.

The Yellow Dog Squad continued charging, following the flaming bullets as they rushed through the Cloud Ninja ranks.

Yagami scanned both sides. They were moving too fast, already deep behind enemy lines.

Before long, the Yellow Dog Squad charged into the gap between the Cloud Ninja and Mist Ninja.

The Mist Ninja still ignored everything else as they slaughtered Uzumaki Ninja, intent only on avenging the Mizukage.

This allowed the Yellow Dog Squad to swiftly approach the Four Violet Flames Formation.

"Fox! Cover our retreat!"

Hearing Kurozaru's order, Yagami had no choice but to slow down and fall to the rear of the squad.

The Cloud Ninja behind them pursued closely.

Thanks to his decent swordsmanship, whenever the Cloud Ninja attacked, Yagami could always read their movements and respond.

After cutting down two Cloud Ninja in succession, Yagami's performance caught a squad leader's attention.

He had not expected Konoha to possess a ninja with such solid swordsmanship fundamentals.

The Cloud Ninja squad leader suddenly rushed forward and brought his blade down in a vicious chop.

Yagami hurriedly raised his sword to block.

Yet the expected clang of metal never came.

The Cloud Ninja's shoulder, elbow, and wrist twisted at extreme speed, forcibly turning the downward chop into a horizontal slash!

Yagami drew in his lower abdomen.

His iron vest was sliced open, and the flesh of his abdomen was cut apart!

Blood flowed from his lower abdomen, and even his abdominal muscles had been severed.

What terrifying swordsmanship.

This Cloud Ninja squad leader's blade was exceedingly strange.

It was no longer beginner-level swordsmanship. He had mastered some powerful technique.

The Cloud Ninja squad leader swept his blade across again.

Yagami hurriedly raised his ninja sword to block.

Once again, the Cloud Ninja's joints and muscles forcibly altered the blade's trajectory, changing the horizontal sweep into a downward thrust.

Yagami's thigh was pierced. Blood gushed out, spraying more than a meter away.

After three consecutive exchanges, Yagami realized miserably that he could not even touch the Cloud Ninja's blade.

At last, his throat was pierced, and Yagami died atop the roof.

Lying on his back, his waist pressed against the roof ridge, Yagami saw an upside-down world.

The shattered Uzu Hidden Village, the Four Violet Flames Formation trembling in the wind and rain, and corpses of every age scattered through the streets...

He was a corpse too...

Danzo strolled unhurriedly through the streets, completely unaware that an ANBU subordinate wearing a fox mask had just died off to the side.

--

Darkness filled his vision. Then the scene shifted. The full moon shone into Yagami's eyes, and his gaze changed from muddled to clear.

His consciousness returned, and Yagami found himself back inside the Invisibility Barrier atop the mountain near Uzu Hidden Village.

In his previous life, he had lain in ambush for nearly ten days, only to be cut down by a Cloud Ninja squad leader within seconds of the final charge.

Arc of the Crescent Moon activated!

The host has one resurrection opportunity each month. After death, the host will resurrect on the previous night of the full moon.

Reward: one drawing opportunity.

1—Lightning Release Chakra;

2—Chunin-level Chakra (stackable);

3—Cloud Style Swordsmanship (Beginner).

Lightning Release Chakra was not worth considering. The remaining two choices were both highly tempting.

Chunin-level Chakra was what Yagami desperately needed right now.

If he could gain Chunin-level Chakra, combat would become much smoother.

Cloud Style Swordsmanship... Yagami remembered that the original story seemed to have mentioned it. It was the swordsmanship Omoi used, a style centered on deception.

When the Cloud Ninja had killed him in his previous life, Yagami had not even been able to touch his blade. Every strike had landed squarely in his flesh.

After thinking it over, Yagami still chose Cloud Style Swordsmanship.

In an instant, Yagami mastered the style.

He was currently lying on the ground, observing Uzu Hidden Village through a telescope, when every muscle and joint in his body changed.

Cloud Style Swordsmanship was much as Yagami had guessed: a special set of blade-handling techniques.

During a swing, the waist, shoulders, elbows, and wrists twisted to alter the blade's trajectory, deceive the opponent, evade their block, and strike their weak points.

Once trained to the extreme, the arm would extend and flow like a cloud. That was why the Cloud Ninja called it Cloud Style Swordsmanship.

With this swordsmanship, he would at least not die so quickly on the battlefield.

After learning this swordsmanship, Yagami's joints became far more flexible.

The editors had not offered a contract after thirty thousand words, and it had not been contracted after cross-review either. Sigh... If any readers made it this far, could you tell me what exactly went wrong?