Boyhood Arc: Breakthrough

After coating the broken ninja blade with Armament Haki, my Dragon Saint Battle Aura finally broke through as well. My entire body felt lighter.

Of these six, the slowest was Munashi Jinpachi, who wielded Explosive Blade: Shibuki. He was the one!

After letting out a long breath, I felt every sound around me suddenly vanish. In my vision, a path seemed to appear, leading straight toward Munashi Jinpachi.

Before my brain could even react, my feet had already left the ground. Only after I cut off Munashi Jinpachi's head did I hear the deafening sonic boom.

Bright red blood truly burst forth like a fountain. Even as Munashi Jinpachi's head spun through the air and fell, his expression showed neither pain nor surprise.

He still wore the confident expression of someone charging in to kill me. He probably never even realized what had happened to him.

"This..."

Hōzuki Chiba was equally stunned. I saw beads of sweat on his face, and he looked at me as though he had seen the Grim Reaper.

"Whew, whew... What's wrong? Scared?"

That instant had felt unbelievably exhilarating. I had never tried it before, so I had never realized.

Breaking through my limits at the very edge had felt this amazing. No, this feeling was addictive.

After hearing me, none of them backed away, but they all swallowed nervously.

Even the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist could feel fear. After all, in the original story, Might Dai had become the surviving members' nightmare.

But I truly had no strength left now. My legs felt as heavy as lead, and my arms hung naturally at my sides, completely numb.

This was as far as I could go. If no one came soon, I'd have no choice but to use a Devil Fruit to escape.

At last, just as I was about to turn into Fenrir, I heard the voices of my Konoha comrades.

"Qingyue!"

That was Shisui's voice. When I turned around, I saw that most of them were Uchiha shinobi, while members of the Hyuga clan were blocking off the escape routes from the side.

"Damn it, we're surrounded..." Chiba's face was full of panic.

No matter how capable they were, caught in a pincer attack between the Uchiha and Hyuga, even a Kage probably could not escape.

"They really are the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and two of them are dead... This kid, did you say he was only twelve?"

The speaker was... Uchiha Fugaku, right? I could not make out his features clearly, but that chin was far too recognizable.

Mikoto's looks genes must have been incredibly strong to give birth to two handsome boys like Itachi and Sasuke. Sasuke could even be described as beautiful.

"The Uchiha clan head? You sure took your time getting here..."

I could not hold on any longer. Gradually, I became unable to think. My legs gave out, and the last thing I felt was someone catching me...

I'll leave the rest to them. If they let even one of them escape, I'll have to have a serious talk with the Third Hokage.

When I opened my eyes again, I saw a familiar yet unfamiliar white ceiling... All right, it was a ceiling I had never seen before.

The pain in my body seemed to have faded, but my mind was still groggy.

After struggling to sit up, I looked around—green curtains and a pure white bed. It seemed to be a hospital.

If this was a hospital, then I was in Konoha Village.

"That's wonderful, Hero-sama! You're finally awake!"

I had not expected there to be nurses in Naruto. Wait, what had she just called me...

"Hero-sama?"

"Oh, I forgot that you've been unconscious these past few days and don't know the news yet. Your heroic deeds on the battlefield have already spread throughout the village. The Third Hokage personally ordered our hospital to take good care of you!"

"I see... Thank you, miss. I'm much better now, just a little hungry, haha."

"I've been terribly neglectful! I'll prepare a nutritious meal for you right away. Please wait a moment, Hero-sama!"

"It's fine. Take your time."

Hero-sama... Together with Sakumo, I had killed the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, then rescued Might Guy and the others in Hidden Mist Village.

I had faced the Seven Ninja Swordsmen alone, killed two of them in return, and held out until my comrades arrived and captured them all...

They caught them all, right? No, I need to find someone and ask as soon as possible. If they didn't catch them, I'm really going to be angry.

Such achievements truly deserved a hero's title. I really looked forward to seeing what reward the Third Hokage would give me later.

After accomplishing this much, the other villages really ought to give me a special epithet too, right?

After quickly finishing lunch and resting for a while, I immediately ran out of the hospital and went to the Hokage Building to find the Third Hokage.

"Qingyue? You're finally awake. How is your body? Are you having any problems?" The Third Hokage still wore his kindly expression.

The concern in his voice did not sound fake. It seemed he had truly been afraid that something would happen to me.

Whether as a politician, an elder, or the Hokage.

"Other than still feeling tired, there's nothing wrong. More importantly, you captured all of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, right? What about their swords?"

At my words, the Third Hokage suddenly laughed. Then he walked over without another word and patted my head.

"The first thing you care about is that? Qingyue, you truly are an exceptionally outstanding Konoha shinobi. You have inherited the Will of Fire well."

The Third Hokage was clearly genuinely happy, but... I was really curious whether they had caught all the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Could he please just tell me already?

"Don't worry, Qingyue. The Seven Ninja Swordsmen have all been captured, and their ninja swords are in our custody. These swords will serve as our bargaining chips. I believe the war on the eastern front will end soon. You have rendered great service, Qingyue. Just as expected of Sakumo's disciple."

Whew, it was good that they had caught them all. That way, Hidden Mist probably would not make any further moves against us.

That meant the next matter to deal with was the battle against Hidden Sand, though there was hardly anything left to deal with there either, unless they wanted to risk their lives in a desperate counterattack.

As for Hidden Cloud and Hidden Rock... Minato would handle them. I could not hog all the glory for myself. The Yellow Flash's fame would sweep across the Shinobi World, and I only needed to shine quietly beneath that reputation.

Oh, right. I needed to take part in the Kannabi Bridge incident on the Hidden Rock battlefield and ensure Rin and the others' safety. But first, let me rest properly in the village. This time, I was truly exhausted.

After leaving the Hokage Building, I began sorting through the intelligence regarding the Third Shinobi World War.

According to the Third Hokage, Hidden Sand had not chosen to negotiate peace. Or rather, they had fallen completely into chaos, with no one left to command them.

The Hidden Mist Village's most important assets, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen and their seven ninja swords, had all fallen into our hands. They had therefore lost the chance to negotiate with us on equal terms.

As for recklessly unleashing a tailed beast as a last resort... they did not have the guts. If they really dared, they would first have to see whether they could withstand the Nine-Tails.

Hidden Cloud and Hidden Rock had become a three-way battlefield. While both sides attacked Konoha, they also had considerable friction with each other.

But there was already a solution for Hidden Rock. People had been sent to search for their resource supply routes.

They would probably discover Kannabi Bridge very soon. Once they did, Konoha would send people—or rather, Minato's Team—to destroy it.

Once Kannabi Bridge was blown up, Stone Village would be placed at a disadvantage.

If they tried to use Earth Release ninjutsu to build another bridge, Konoha would ambush them. It could be said that they would completely lose their ability to fight and could enter peace negotiations directly.

As for Hidden Cloud, that bunch of troublemakers... the Third Raikage would definitely die anyway. Then Minato would suppress the new A-B Duo, and they would not dare cause trouble anymore.