Awakening

Faced with Akebino Jinin's sudden attack, I instinctively wanted to raise my blade and block.

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

Realizing this, I immediately swung my blade and deftly blocked the steel axe. Then I lowered my center of gravity and slid sideways, barely evading the follow-up smash.

However, Kurosuki Raiga 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 only inches between us, I recalled Sakumo's teachings in that desperate instant and thought through the method of chakra infusion...

I succeeded!

After coating my ninja blade in a layer of chakra, I met the Lightning Blade: Kiba head-on. But since I had prepared in such haste, I naturally could not overpower them in a direct clash.

Not daring to struggle against him for fear of being surrounded and killed, I withdrew my blade and immediately dodged aside. Even so, my shoulder was slashed.

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

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

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

"Hm?"

Ignoring Suikazan Fuguki's astonished expression, I immediately shed the force and retreated to avoid being cut by Sharkskin's barbs.

At the same time, Observation Haki warned me as Hōzuki Chiba charged in front of me with the Twin Blades: Hōkiboshi.

After suffering a string of attacks, even though I reacted, I had no strength left to spare. I raised my ninja blade to block, but was still sent flying and crashed into a reef.

A tremendous impact struck my lumbar spine. Intense pain flooded through me, and I coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"This brat... has something strange about him!" Kurosuki Raiga said as he crouched atop a reef.

"Isn't it obvious? This guy knows the abilities of every one of our ninja blades, and he can even predict our movements beforehand."

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

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

The abilities of these ninja blades were simply too bizarre. Without intelligence, I might have died the moment I faced them.

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

Without question, this was the most urgent 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 those useless fools in the village say that a Konoha ninja had been acting arrogantly lately and had cracked the assassination technique alone. Now that I see you, that person should be you, brat?"

"That was me. I thought everyone in the Hidden Mist was just overly confident. I didn't expect there to be people like you..."

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

"Where did you learn intelligence about the Seven Ninja Swordsmen? What you said is contradictory. You didn't know the Hidden Mist had the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, yet you know the abilities of the ninja blades in each of our hands very well."

Good. Keep dragging this out until reinforcements arrived! The Hidden Mist Village probably had no ability to extract intelligence from corpses, so they should want to pry information out of me.

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

"Our ninja blade intelligence was exposed? What nonsense are you talking about? Besides, those people just now were terrified when they saw us. How could anyone not know our strength?"

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

"Who knew? Those were just Genin and Chunin. They would be scared of anyone they met, wouldn't they?"

"Juzo, stop wasting words on him. He is obviously making things up to stall for time. Since we can't get any intelligence out of him, kill him and leave. Someone like this cannot be allowed to remain alive!"

Hōzuki Chiba... he had disrupted my rhythm again. He had done the same thing 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 delaying tactic could not continue. From here on, I would hold out for as long as I could.

Against the six men's continuous attacks, aside from Kurosuki Raiga's Lightning Blade: Kiba and the Explosive Blade: Shibuki, which I absolutely could not afford to be hit by, the others left countless wounds across my body.

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

Meanwhile, Raiga also shifted to mid-range, attacking with Lightning Release and the Lightning Blade: Kiba. Close combat was left to the Explosive Blade: Shibuki, the Twin Blades: Hōkiboshi, the Blunt Sword: Kabutowari, and the greatsword Sharkskin.

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

Then there was Akebino Jinin, whom I absolutely could not allow to hit me. My ninja blade definitely could not withstand his attacks.

And then there were Munashi Jinpachi and Suikazan Fuguki.

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

During the fierce battle, I could clearly feel the Dragon Saint Battle Aura inside me continuously growing stronger. At a critical moment, I also successfully used Armament Haki to protect myself.

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

The feeling in my right hand had faded, my vision was blurred, my head swam, and the ringing in my ears would not stop.

Was I... going to die?

The ninja blade Father had given me had broken into two pieces. It had been severed by a sudden burst from the Twin Blades: Hōkiboshi.

"Have you finally reached your limit? What a troublesome brat!"

Juzo Biwa, standing in the rear, picked up the Executioner's Blade again and walked toward me. He had judged that I could no longer fight, hadn't he?

"Don't let your guard down, Juzo. He must have something up his sleeve. Though it was an ambush, the speed at which he killed Kushimaru was unreasonable. It was not the speed he displayed while fighting us just now."

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

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

Even with the Mythical Zoan, I still could not win, could I? I had not managed to hurt any of them even once. At most, using the Devil Fruit would let me escape.

This was my limit. There would be no miracle.

But I did not intend to surrender or use my Devil Fruit to flee. I was only a little short of mastering Armament Haki.

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

"You still want to resist at this point...? Hurry up and kill him. If we delay any longer, Konoha's reinforcements will arrive!"

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

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

Ever since coming to this world, I had merely drifted along. 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 be strong in the future. I had to become strong now!

"Ah—!"

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

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

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