Bloody Mist Village!

The Land of Water was surrounded by the sea on all sides, a land of unusual terrain still filled with countless mountains.

Far removed from the mainland and separated by the ocean, the Land of Water rarely involved itself in the great wars of the Shinobi World. Among the Five Great Nations, it was the country least affected by war.

The Hidden Mist Village lay deep within the mountains of the Land of Water. Its territory was often shrouded in thick mist, making it a ninja village completely isolated from all other nations.

The route to the Land of Lightning inevitably passed through the Hidden Mist Village...

Riu, Tobi, and Yūhi Uzuki had entered the Land of Water three days ago. They had not encountered any Hidden Mist ninja along the way; after all, ninja were few compared to ordinary people.

But the closer they got to the Hidden Mist Village, the more likely they were to encounter ninja.

Within the forest, the three raced across a stretch of marshland, their footsteps splashing up water.

Riu glanced back at Yūhi Uzuki from the corner of his eye. Her breathing had already become unsteady.

"If you're tired, then take a break," Riu said.

"Don't underestimate me!" Yūhi Uzuki gritted her teeth and sprinted ahead of Riu.

Whoosh! Whoosh! At that moment, several kunai shot toward them from the front.

"Hm?" Yūhi Uzuki swiftly drew her sword and knocked the kunai away with clangs... but then she abruptly discovered that the kunai at her feet were attached to Explosive Tags. Her strength was spent, and she could not dodge in time. This is bad!

Just then, an arm wrapped around her waist and swiftly pulled her aside...

Boom!

The Explosive Tags detonated, sending water splashing everywhere.

Yūhi Uzuki came back to her senses and found herself in Riu's arms. "I told you not to force yourself."

She gritted her teeth and broke free from Riu, warily staring into the mist ahead.

A large group of Hidden Mist ninja emerged from there. At their head was a man with short black hair, no eyebrows, sharp teeth, and a large cross-shaped scar on his right cheek. His ears and neck were wrapped in bandages, while red stripes were painted across the lower half of his face.

Slung across his back was none other than the—Executioner's Blade!

"That outfit, and that weapon... could he be Pipazō Jūzō of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen?" Yūhi Uzuki said gravely.

Many Naruto fans might not have been familiar with Pipazō Jūzō, but Riu was not...

Before Momochi Zabuza, he had been the wielder of the Executioner's Blade, as well as a member of the first generation of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.

In the original story, dissatisfied with the rule of Fourth Mizukage Yagura, he defected from the Hidden Mist Village and joined Akatsuki. He later became Uchiha Itachi's partner, and when he and Itachi went to the Land of Water on an Akatsuki mission, he died at the Mizukage's hands at the age of thirty-one...

That time had not yet arrived. Pipazō Jūzō was only in his early twenties and had yet to defect from the Hidden Mist Village.

Furthermore, he was one of the three members of the first Seven Ninja Swordsmen who had survived Might Duy's Eight Inner Gates Formation!

"You aren't ninja from this village, are you?" Pipazō Jūzō stepped forward and questioned them coldly.

Tobi said flippantly, "Oh my, what rotten luck. We ran into the famous Seven Ninja Swordsmen right away. I want to go home already!"

Jūzō frowned as he looked at the forehead protector worn by Yūhi Uzuki beside Riu.

"Konoha defectors..." Jūzō muttered. Drawing the Executioner's Blade from his back, he raised it and said, "Speak! What are you doing here? If you confess honestly, I can leave you with an intact corpse. Of course... only after I obtain every detail of your ninjutsu. That is the rule of the Bloody Mist Village!"

"Ooh~~~ How scary~~~~!" Tobi exclaimed theatrically.

"Step back. Go stand beside Tobi," Riu told Yūhi Uzuki.

Though unwilling, Yūhi Uzuki had no choice but to comply.

"Even for him, taking on one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen and so many Hidden Mist ninja alone... isn't that too reckless?" she asked.

"Who knows... By the way, what does the urge to poop feel like? Can you tell me?" Tobi was still full of shit.

"..." Yūhi Uzuki shook her head. She felt that talking to Tobi was completely pointless.

"You aren't going to let those two behind you escape?" Jūzō asked Riu.

"There's no need..." Riu said.

"You're right, there really is no need, because the three of you will soon be reunited underground!" Jūzō formed a hand seal before his chest with two fingers.

Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Technique!

Dense mist spread through the area. Within this fog, only Hidden Mist ninja could clearly sense the presence of their enemies...

"Oh... blocking vision. This technique is indeed unfavorable for the Sharingan, but once an attack is launched, it will inevitably create movement."

Riu muttered as Lightning Release Chakra wrapped around his right hand, and he thrust backward!!!

Crackle!! Lightning Release pierced through Jūzō, electric arcs raging... Splash! Yet Jūzō's body broke apart into water.

"A Water Clone..."

Gurgle gurgle!!

A large volume of water surged up beneath Riu's feet, forming a water prison that trapped him inside...

Oh? It was not an ordinary Water Clone. When destroyed, it released the Water Prison Technique? Riu thought from within the water prison.

Whoosh!!

Jūzō's true body descended from midair, gripping the Executioner's Blade with both hands as he furiously cleaved downward!!!

"It's over!!"

Boom!! The water prison was split apart, and the great blade sank deeply into the ground. But something felt wrong to Jūzō. He had clearly struck his opponent, yet he had not felt the satisfying sensation of flesh and bone being severed...

"What happened just now?! Not good!!" Startled, Jūzō tried to pull out his blade.

"Too late..."

Clang!! Riu planted one foot on the back of the blade, his right hand resting on Jūzō's shoulder. In a low voice, he said, "And it's over!"

"The Sharingan..." Jūzō said in astonishment.

Whoosh!!

A Kamui vortex erupted from Riu's right eye...

"Aah!!!" In an instant, Jūzō was sucked into the Kamui Dimension.

That was the terror of Kamui... Anyone ignorant of its workings, even someone as powerful as one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, could be instantly killed!

But even if they knew its secrets, what could they do? Before absolute power, every struggle was futile!

As the caster was sucked into another dimension, the Hidden Mist Technique was dispelled... The Hidden Mist ninja around them stared in dumbfounded shock.

"Captain Jūzō... was taken down in an instant?"

"What kind of technique was that?!"

Riu bent down and picked up the Executioner's Blade from the ground...

As his Sharingan turned, he had already locked onto the positions of every Hidden Mist ninja.

Whoosh! His figure vanished from where he stood.

Uchiha Style Swordsmanship!

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

Blade light crisscrossed as the Hidden Mist ninja died one after another beneath the edge of the Executioner's Blade...

"No way..." Yūhi Uzuki's pupils trembled.

One minute later, the blood of the Hidden Mist ninja had dyed the ground red...

Clang! Riu drove the Executioner's Blade into the ground, sweeping his cold gaze toward the shadows of the forest as he shouted, "Stop hiding like ghosts. Come out, all of you!"

Rustle, rustle, rustle! After a brief silence, movement came from the woods.

"Jūzō was trash, just like his Executioner's Blade. Completely useless..."

From the west came a female ninja with reddish-brown hair and a vertical braid. She had sharp teeth, fluffy bandages around her neck, and two spiked blades strapped across her back.

She was Ringo Ameyuri of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, the second wielder of the Lightning Blade: Kiba!

"More Konoha ninja? That brings back unpleasant memories. But the Uchiha Clan shouldn't be capable of such exaggerated taijutsu..."

From the north came a bloated male ninja with orange hair reaching his waist. He had sharp teeth, fluffy bandages wrapped around his neck, green stripes painted on his cheeks, and a great blade wrapped in bandages slung across his back!

He was Fuguki Suikazan of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, the first wielder of Greatsword: Samehada.

Behind him followed a young ninja, none other than a young—Hoshigaki Kisame!

"But the Uchiha's ocular techniques are famous throughout the Shinobi World. Jūzō used his death to obtain some valuable intelligence for us..."

From the south came a teenage ninja with white hair and a vertical braid. He had sharp teeth and fluffy bandages around his neck. He carried no sword on his back, only a scroll.

It was said that after the Seven Ninja Swordsmen suffered losses at Might Duy's hands, a young prodigy appeared within the Hidden Mist Village. He was a youth with Hōzuki Clan blood who inherited the Twin Blades: Hiramekarei. Most terrifyingly, he could freely summon and wield every ninja blade!

Blunt Sword: Shibuki, Longsword: Nuibari, Bluntsword: Kabutowari!

After the previous wielders of these three ninja blades died, no successors had inherited them, so all of them were stored in the youth's scroll. Together with Hiramekarei, he alone represented a "Four-Man Swordsmen"!

That youth stood before them now. His name was—Hōzuki Mangetsu!

"Watching from the shadows while standing by as your comrades die... truly the style of the Bloody Mist Village." Riu muttered, raising his head. "So, everyone's here now, right..."