The End (Continued)

Naturally, she had come here with a purpose.

That purpose was what Hinata had learned from Elder Ku at the end—how to reveal this sword's true qualities.

Hinata could no longer suppress the primal force within her. As soon as she left, she headed straight for this secluded corner.

Hinata drew the longsword from its sheath. Ziyuan clearly had a sheath as well,

but it had obviously been fitted later by the people of the Artisan Ninja Village.

After all, if you carried a weapon like this around without a sheath to conceal it, it would be easy to stir up trouble.

And a mere sheath was nowhere near enough to make a Kusanagi Sword lose its luster.

Hinata did not want to speak. Now that she was here, it was time to truly begin her attempt.

The others were naturally very curious about this as well.

A Kusanagi Sword—this was good stuff.

Hinata took a deep breath and looked around once more.

Then, without any hesitation, she drew Ziyuan.

She raised her right hand, seemingly pondering and recalling something.

After Ziyuan lingered in the air for a moment, Hinata finally made her move.

Holding the sword in her right hand, she made a downward slashing motion, then raised it and slashed down again from her left shoulder.

Then from the right side. After repeating this several times, it looked as though Hinata was merely getting a feel for the sword, yet her swinging motions did not stop.

Instead, with this downward swing, Ziyuan underwent an obvious change.

Its originally purple blade had been utterly unremarkable in the night, impossible to see clearly.

But with Hinata's swing, Ziyuan suddenly began to emit a soft purple glow.

Yet the slashes did not stop.

Instead, Hinata swung down once more.

At last,