The Fastest Blade in the Shinobi World

The sailor gave an awkward laugh, then raised a hand at Li Mingyuan as if greeting him.

"Interesting."

The corners of Li Mingyuan's mouth lifted slightly.

He recognized him. This was the sailor he had exchanged a few words with a few days ago. His unkempt appearance rivaled that of the bearded captain, and his hair had a slightly more purplish tint than ordinary black hair, so Li Mingyuan had remembered him.

Of course, that was not the important part right now.

He did not know where this fellow had found the courage not to flee with the other sailors, but Li Mingyuan noticed the saber tucked at his waist. It was the closest weapon available to him.

In a straight line, he could grab it with an explosive burst in less than a second.

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"--So, just how far can I take this?"

Li Mingyuan shifted his attention back to the four Fish-Men not far away. Without the slightest hesitation, he activated his Sharingan.

Speed that surpassed the limits of his own reactions had to be controlled by eyes that surpassed the ultimate limit. Otherwise, he would run into the same issue early Kakashi had, unable to keep up with the speed of Lightning Cutter.

Everything would be decided by the next strike.

Li Mingyuan lowered himself slightly. At the same time, he mobilized nearly all the chakra remaining in his body. Like a powerful bow drawn taut, every muscle in his body was primed to burst forth.

Seeing Li Mingyuan change his stance, the four Fish-Men immediately became alert.

Though they were still shouting threats at Li Mingyuan on the surface, the instant Kuroobi had been knocked down, they had already realized that there was no way they could defeat him.

Fear and the urge to retreat had long since arisen in their hearts. When they saw Li Mingyuan seemingly preparing to attack again, all four unconsciously took a step back, edging closer to the sea beyond the ship's rail.

The instant their footsteps landed.

"Flash Slash!"

Li Mingyuan's explosive shout rang out!

Everyone present only saw a blade flash.

Before anyone could make out what had happened, Li Mingyuan appeared again behind the four Fish-Men, holding a sword in both hands, his body still in the posture of a drawing slash.

"Senju Tobirama's Secret Sword Technique."

"To die beneath this move, your lives have not been wasted."

Li Mingyuan spoke slowly.

He flicked the blood from the saber in his hand and turned to look behind him.

The four Fish-Men, who had been alive and kicking just moments ago, stood frozen in place like wax figures.

Then.

A line of blood appeared across each of the Fish-Men's abdomens.

Under the horrified gazes of those around them, their upper bodies suddenly slid off and hit the deck with dull thuds.

Blood spraying from the Fish-Men's waists almost instantly dyed more than half the deck red.

"Ahhhhhhh--!!!"

The four bisected Fish-Men did not react, but the sailors around them, their limbs injured and unable to move, went mad at the sight. They screamed hysterically and writhed across the ground, desperately trying to get as far away from Li Mingyuan as possible.

There was nothing to say.

Li Mingyuan's eyes returned to black. His chest rose and fell faintly, and a rare trace of exhaustion appeared on his face.

After that slash, only around one-tenth of his chakra remained.

Out of humanitarian concern, his Flash Slash had also passed through several fatal points on the Fish-Men, sparing them the agony of being cut in half and allowing them to die swiftly. However, those extra movements had greatly increased his consumption.

No matter how powerful his spiritual energy was, if his physical energy could not keep up, the chakra he could refine would ultimately remain limited.

"Fortunately, I haven't lost my touch."

Li Mingyuan lowered his head, looked at the saber in his hand, and muttered, "Unfortunately, my skill with a blade is still quite ordinary."

The moment Li Mingyuan finished speaking.

Crack.

With a crisp sound, the blade of the saber in his hand shattered into fragments and fell all over the ground.

The weapon was something sailors ordinarily used only for decoration and self-defense. Naturally, it was not of high quality, nor had it been properly maintained. It was only natural that it would crack apart after bearing the force of Li Mingyuan's high-speed slash.

Still, Li Mingyuan's swordsmanship was only what he had learned halfway from Senju Tobirama. He was far from truly proficient with swords. If a genuine master swordsman had used this saber, it probably would not have shattered so completely.

Li Mingyuan closed his eyes.

He adjusted his breathing and chakra as waves of stabbing pain continued to shoot through both arms.

"Tobirama's sword technique is truly at its strongest when combined with Flying Thunder God to unleash Flying Thunder God Slash. The Flash Slash I imitated isn't bad either, but it puts too great a burden on the body. If I use it several times in a row, these arms of mine will probably be ruined."

Li Mingyuan knew perfectly well that this move was still somewhat too early for him. If not for the Sharingan supporting him, with his current body, he would not even have been capable of using it.

Perhaps once his Kamui had developed further, combining it with swordsmanship would let him create a Kamui Slash of his own?

At this point, the battle came to a temporary end.

The chaos on the deck also returned to silence beneath Li Mingyuan's violent suppression.

The sailor beside him looked at Li Mingyuan, covered in blood, then at the sword that had originally belonged to him, which now had only its hilt left. He shuddered as a chill raced from his spine straight to his brain.

Before this, even he had not known that his lousy sword could be used to cut people down. He struggled to slice roasted meat with it on ordinary days, yet after merely changing owners, it had cut down four Fish-Men in a row.

Was this really something a human could do?

If he became enemies with someone like this, was he... doomed?

The sailor gave a dry laugh. His hands and feet were ice-cold, and he felt his legs beginning to go weak.

Just as fear made his scalp tingle.

"The bottom two levels have been flooded! There's nowhere left to go!!"

"From the very beginning, these Fish-Men intended to wipe us all out!"

Without warning, the deck hatch behind them opened again, and a large number of crew members suddenly rushed out.

Noisy shouts mixed with chaotic footsteps and echoed across the entire deck.

Li Mingyuan, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them again and swept his gaze over the scene.

Only then did the crew members emerging from the cabin finally notice the state of the deck.

The heart-rending wails, which had sounded like a final cry, stopped abruptly, like a rooster seized by the neck.

The sailors stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

Blood covered the ground. Crater-like holes and shattered wreckage were everywhere, leaving the entire deck looking as though it had been bombarded by cannon fire. But even more striking than that... were the Fish-Men's corpses lying all over the place.

If they remembered correctly, had they not only gone below for a short while? How had all these Fish-Men been killed by the time they turned around?