Youth Arc: Resolve

Facing Jinin Akebino's sudden attack, I instinctively tried to raise my sword to block.

No, he was using Kabutowari, said to be capable of shattering any defense. If the axe struck me and the hammer followed, my sword would definitely break.

Realizing that, I immediately swung my sword to cleverly deflect the steel axe, then lowered my center of gravity and slid sideways, barely avoiding the follow-up smash.

However, Raiga Kurosuki seemed to have calculated the timing and position perfectly. His pair of Lightning Blade: Kiba, infused with Lightning Release chakra, swung at me like chainsaws.

With barely any distance between us, I recalled Sakumo's teachings in that instant and thought over the method of chakra infusion...

I succeeded!

After coating my ninja sword with a layer of chakra, I met Lightning Blade: Kiba head-on. But since it had been rushed preparation, I naturally could not overpower him directly.

To avoid being surrounded and killed, I did not dare struggle against him. The moment I disengaged my sword, I dodged aside, but my shoulder was cut.

Compared to losing my life in a siege, this wound was nothing.

Before I could catch my breath, Suikazan Fuguki, who had not made a move until then, swung Sharkskin at me.

To keep him from draining my chakra, I dispelled the chakra infusion at the instant our blades collided and blocked Sharkskin head-on.

"Hmm?"

Ignoring Suikazan Fuguki's surprised expression, I immediately withdrew after dispersing the force, lest Sharkskin's barbs slice me open.

At the same time, Observation Haki warned me. Hōzuki Chiba rushed before me with Twin Blades: Hōkiboshi in hand.

After being attacked repeatedly, even though I reacted, I had no strength left to spare. I raised my ninja sword horizontally to block, but he still sent me flying into a reef.

A tremendous impact struck my lumbar spine, and searing pain surged through me. With my chest aching, I spat out a mouthful of blood.

"This brat... has some issues!" Raiga Kurosuki said as he squatted on the reef.

"Isn't that obvious? This guy knows the abilities of every one of our ninja swords, and he can even predict our movements in advance."

It seemed this Hōzuki Chiba was their leader. He had already analyzed my abilities.

Honestly, it was fortunate that I was reincarnated. Otherwise, I probably would have died long ago.

The abilities of these ninja swords were simply too bizarre. Without intelligence on them, I might have died the moment we met.

By the way, had Konoha's reinforcements not arrived yet? If they did not come soon, I was seriously going to die here!

Without question, this was the most critical situation I had faced since coming to this world.

If it came down to it, I could only use my Devil Fruit ability, then use the Power of Fate to buy something to deal with this.

"I heard from those useless fools in the village that there's been a very arrogant Konoha ninja lately, someone who cracked the assassination technique alone. Looking at you now, that person must be you, brat?"

"That's right. I thought Hidden Mist was full of people who were overly confident, but I didn't expect there to be people like you..."

No matter what, I should flatter them first. That would drag out the conversation a little longer.

"Where did you learn the intelligence on our Seven Ninja Swordsmen? What you said is contradictory. You supposedly didn't know Hidden Mist had the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, yet you know the abilities of every ninja sword we carry."

Good. Keep stalling like this until reinforcements arrived! Kirigakure probably had no ability to extract intelligence from corpses, so they should want to pry information out of me.

"Well... your information was exposed long ago. I just didn't expect your personal strength to be this formidable too."

"Our ninja sword information was exposed? What nonsense are you spouting? Besides, those people earlier were terrified when they saw us. How could anyone not know how strong we are?"

Thanks, Juzo Biwa. Thank you for that idiotic remark!

"Who knows? Those were just Genin and Chunin. They'd probably be scared of anyone they met, right?"

"Juzo, stop wasting words on him. He's obviously making things up to stall for time. Since we can't get any intelligence out of him, kill him and leave. We can't let someone like this live!"

Hōzuki Chiba... he was disrupting my rhythm again. He had been the same when he blocked my Silent Sword earlier.

He was the only one here about whom I had no information at all. After all, he had not been introduced in the original plot; this was even the first time I had learned his name.

The stalling tactic could not continue. From here on, I would hold out for as long as I could.

Facing the six men's relentless attacks, everyone except Raiga and Exploding Blade Shibuki, whose attacks I absolutely could not afford to take, left quite a few wounds on me.

Knowing they could not defeat me in close combat, Juzo Biwa began using Water Release ninjutsu from the rear to restrict my positioning.

Raiga also shifted to a mid-range position, attacking with Lightning Release and Lightning Blade: Kiba. Close combat was left to Exploding Blade Shibuki, Twin Blades: Hōkiboshi, Kabutowari, and Sharkskin.

Among them, Hōzuki Chiba was the most troublesome. Whenever I tried to use Silent Sword to take one of them down first, he would stop me.

Then there was Jinin Akebino, whose attacks I absolutely could not be hit by. My ninja sword definitely could not withstand them.

And then there were Munashi Jinpachi and Suikazan Fuguki.

Dragon Saint Battle Aura could not withstand Exploding Blade Shibuki's close-range assault. Sharkskin posed no threat to me, but I could not resist it in a direct contest of strength.

During the bitter battle, I could clearly feel the Dragon Saint Battle Aura inside me growing stronger. In that critical moment, I also successfully used Armament Haki to protect myself.

I did not know how much time had passed. I was covered in blood and wounds, and my left leg trembled constantly as though I could collapse at any moment.

The feeling in my right hand had faded, my vision was blurred, my head was spinning, and my ears kept ringing.

Was I... going to die?

The ninja sword my father had given me had broken into two pieces, severed by a sudden burst from Twin Blades: Hōkiboshi.

"Have you finally reached your limit? You're a tough one, brat!"

Juzo Biwa, standing in the rear, picked up Kubikiribōchō again and walked toward me. He must have judged that I could no longer fight.

"Don't let your guard down, Juzo. He definitely has something else up his sleeve. It was an ambush, but the speed at which he killed Kushimaru was abnormal. It wasn't like the speed he showed while fighting us just now."

"You're too cautious, Chiba. Even if he has another trick, what can he do with a body this battered?"

Don't underestimate the power of a Mythical Zoan. If I used my fruit, I could ignore injuries like these, but...

Even with a Mythical Zoan, I still could not win, could I? I had not managed to hurt them even once. Using the fruit would only let me escape at best.

This was my limit. There would be no miracle.

But I still did not intend to surrender or flee using my fruit. I was just a little short of mastering Armament Haki.

I raised the broken sword in my hand and drove it viciously into my left leg. At last, the ringing in my ears and the dizziness eased.

"You still want to resist even now...? Hurry up and kill him. If we drag this out any longer, Konoha's reinforcements will arrive!"

After hearing Chiba's command, the six of them abandoned all tactics and simply charged at me with their ninja swords in hand.

Seeing that, I finally understood why I had never been able to master Armament Haki.

Ever since coming to this world, I had been drifting through life. Even though I trained and grew stronger every day, not once had I truly craved power.

I had only kept praising my ideals, deceiving myself that there would always be a way in the future while selectively ignoring the present...

That was wrong. It was not enough to become strong in the future; I had to become strong right now!

"Ah—!"

In the end, I squeezed out my last bit of strength. As Battle Aura wrapped around my ninja sword, a streak of black also covered its blade.

Not enough. Haki alone was not enough... What I needed was greater speed, speed so fast Chiba could not react at all...

What I needed was Sword God Style—Light Blade. In other words... I had to break through to become a Sword Saint!