The Kusanagi Clan and the Kusanagi Sword

Leaving Nightview City, Yayoi, Kicho, and Kakuzu raced toward the border where the Land of Night met the Land of Grass.

As they traveled at full speed, Yayoi explained the basics of the operation.

"According to intelligence gathered by the Aburame Clan, the ones causing trouble at the border this time are the Kusanagi Clan of the Land of Grass."

"Kusanagi?" Kakuzu raised a brow slightly, surprise in his voice. "The ninja clan that possesses the legendary 'Kusanagi Sword'? I never expected our enemy this time to be that clan."

Since she had known their objective beforehand, Kicho showed no surprise upon hearing Yayoi discuss the Kusanagi Clan.

However, her hand quietly tightened around the blue hilt of the Spirit Blade: Kumokiri hanging at her waist.

Compared to the Kusanagi Clan, Kicho cared more about the Kusanagi Sword in their possession.

Within the Ninja World, the Kusanagi Sword was far beyond any ordinary ninja tool.

There were countless legends concerning the Kusanagi Sword.

These weapons were the crystallized craft of ancient master artisans, and their time of creation was close to that of Kumokiri in her hand.

Unlike Kumokiri, however, the Kusanagi Sword was not a single weapon, but a collective name for a category of bladed weapons.

Even the Hyuga Clan's intelligence network could not determine exactly how many Kusanagi Swords existed in the Ninja World.

Beyond their sharpness and durability, every Kusanagi Sword, like Kumokiri, possessed a unique special ability.

Once such abilities were combined with a ninja's power, they could unleash an extremely terrifying force.

"Speaking of Kusanagi Swords, I remember that the Uchiha Clan once found one in the Ninja World."

As though recalling something, Kicho began recounting what she knew about Kusanagi Swords.

Yayoi's expression did not change in the slightest, but his gaze flicked subtly toward Kicho.

"What happened?"

"It is said to have been a formless spiritual Kusanagi Sword. An Uchiha ancestor used a forbidden technique to seal it within the Uchiha bloodline. If it encountered a suitable host, that Kusanagi Sword would reveal its true form within the Uchiha's Sharingan.

"In the past, an ancestor of our Hyuga Clan encountered an Uchiha ninja wielding that spiritual Kusanagi Sword, which is why we know of this. That Kusanagi Sword's ability was likely related to sealing techniques."

As Kicho spoke, Yayoi instinctively thought of the Totsuka Blade wielded by Uchiha Itachi in the original work.

The legendary divine artifact Orochimaru had searched for in vain for many years.

If that was the case, then Itachi possessing the Totsuka Blade made sense.

Aside from Itachi's Totsuka Blade, the only Kusanagi Swords Yayoi knew of were the few collected by Orochimaru in the original work.

One of them could give the indestructible Enma a headache, and most likely possessed a trait that further enhanced its durability.

Another Kusanagi Sword appeared when fighting Uzumaki Naruto in his Four-Tails state. It could extend and contract freely, changing length at will.

As for the Kusanagi Sword given to Uchiha Sasuke, it was likely a light, sharp type focused on conducting chakra nature.

Though the abilities of these three Kusanagi Swords were not bad, with the Totsuka Blade as the benchmark, the Kusanagi Swords in Orochimaru's collection seemed thoroughly unremarkable.

"Since that Kusanagi Sword is in the Uchiha Clan's hands, we can rule it out first. The Kusanagi Clan does not have the ability to take anything from the Uchiha."

Yayoi gave his assessment. His words showed that he did not think too highly of the Kusanagi Clan, even though they possessed a Kusanagi Sword.

Although the Kusanagi Clan had lived in the Land of Grass for generations and bore the name "Kusanagi Sword," their only connection to the Kusanagi Sword was that an ancestor more than two centuries ago had obtained one.

That ancestor then took "Kusanagi Sword" as his surname and founded the Kusanagi Clan of the Land of Grass.

Setting aside a divine weapon like the Kusanagi Sword, the Kusanagi Clan's overall strength, even at its peak, had only ranked among second- or third-rate ninja clans.

Nor did the clan possess any systematic secret arts. It had gradually developed through stealing and imitating the ninjutsu of other clans.

"Did Lord Yayoi come personally this time because of the Kusanagi Sword?"

Kakuzu turned his head and asked.

Like Yayoi, he did not consider the Kusanagi Clan's ninja worth much attention. Only the Kusanagi Sword was the true core of the matter.

If not for something like a Kusanagi Sword, he did not think Yayoi would have suddenly decided to deal with the Kusanagi Clan himself.

"According to the intelligence, the Kusanagi Sword controlled by the Kusanagi Clan has an interesting ability. Moreover, the ninja and samurai forces stationed at the southwestern border were crushed and routed in a very short time, with considerable casualties."

As he said this, Yayoi's eyes gradually turned cold.

The commanders of the forces stationed at the Land of Night's southwestern border were two Land of Night ninja whom he had recently granted the rank of Jonin.

Like Kakuzu and Kurobei, these two border Jonin were veterans who had followed him from the beginning, fighting alongside him through campaigns north and south. They could be considered the most trusted among his confidants.

Although the two Jonin had only been wounded rather than killed, the forces under their command had suffered devastating losses.

Thus, when he first learned that the southwestern border had been attacked by unknown assailants, he immediately reassured the two border Jonin and ordered them to lead the remaining troops away from the enemy's strike zone as quickly as possible, retreating to defend and recover.

He then swiftly dispatched an Aburame Clan Jonin to gather intelligence on the unknown enemy in the southwest.

Before long, through the Insect Manipulation Secret Art, the Aburame Clan Jonin uncovered the truth behind the attack on the Land of Night's southwestern border forces—it was the work of rogue ninja from the Kusanagi Clan of the Land of Grass.

Having been jointly ostracized by the other ninja clans in the Land of Grass and unable to gain a foothold there, the Kusanagi Clan had turned its attention to the Land of Night.

From the looks of it, they intended to carve out a territory and use it as a place for their clan to recover and thrive.

Their choice to launch an undeclared attack on the Land of Night and assault its southwestern military base was likely also meant to test the Land of Night's military strength.

"So there is no need to leave survivors this time?"

Kakuzu's voice carried a chilling killing intent as well.

Yayoi said nothing, but the coldness on his face already made everything clear.

After that, the three said no more and accelerated.

At three in the afternoon, the three officially arrived at a forest along the Land of Night's southwestern border.

"Lord General."

A black shadow flashed into view before Yayoi and the others.

He was about the same age as Yayoi. His black trench coat and sunglasses were distinctive adornments of the Aburame Clan.

He was the Aburame Clan Jonin who had previously been responsible for investigating the Kusanagi Clan.

"You've worked hard, Yuto. The Kusanagi Clan rogues haven't left yet, have they?"

Yayoi called the name of the Aburame Clan ninja before him.

Including their clan head Yuroketsu, the Aburame Clan had a total of sixteen Jonin.

Yayoi knew every Jonin's appearance and name by heart, and he had personally met every one of them.

Among the Aburame Clan's many Jonin, Aburame Yuto's strength was average, but his intelligence-gathering abilities ranked among the best in the clan.

That was precisely why Yayoi had specifically sent him to investigate the attack on the southwestern border.

Yuto had not disappointed him. Having arrived only a few days earlier, he had already uncovered nearly the entire sequence of events behind the attack.

That was also why Yayoi had been able to react quickly and personally lead a team here.

"They have not left. Judging from the recent movements of the Kusanagi Clan's ninja, they seem to be planning to stay in this forest for the long term."

Aburame Yuto shook his head and gave the conclusion he had reached after observing them these past days.

"So they intend to make this place their headquarters, then slowly expand outward? I wonder whether that is confidence or utter stupidity."

Kakuzu's voice was cold as he silently pronounced a death sentence upon every Kusanagi Clan ninja.

"Then we will end this quickly. Kicho, use the Byakugan to determine their situation. Yuto, you will guide us."

Yayoi rapidly issued his orders, directly having Kicho determine the Kusanagi Clan's current situation within the forest.

Aburame Yuto's insects could only get a rough grasp of the Kusanagi Clan's circumstances. To obtain more precise intelligence, they needed Kicho's Byakugan.

Yuto pointed in a direction, and Kicho gathered chakra in her eyes. The veins around them bulged fiercely, while her pure white pupils emitted concentrated white light toward the direction Yuto indicated.

"How is it?"

Yayoi turned his head and asked.

"About ten kilometers away, there is a group of people gathered together. That should be the Kusanagi Clan's gathering point. Aside from some ordinary people, there are forty-seven ninja in total. Two of them possess chakra clearly stronger than the rest. They should be Jonin-level."

In only a moment, Kicho had used her Byakugan to completely assess the enemy's situation.

Some details were even clearer to her than they were to the enemy themselves.

She had also identified several traps surrounding the camp, as well as paths that would allow them to infiltrate silently.

That was the terror of the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan.

Traps, ambushes, enemy numbers—one look was all it took to see everything clearly and swiftly counter the enemy.

This shameless fighting style, where only the Hyuga Clan could ambush others while no one could ever ambush the Hyuga Clan, was also one of the sources of strength that had allowed the Hyuga Clan to stand tall in the Ninja World for so many years.

After hearing this, Kakuzu offered no opinion, but Aburame Yuto looked at Kicho in surprise.

He had not expected Kicho's Byakugan to see ten kilometers away. Even if focusing on a single direction could extend its range, that was not something ordinary Hyuga Clan ninja could achieve.

As far as he knew, the Byakugan's maximum range for many adult Hyuga Clan ninja was only six or seven kilometers.

With how relaxed Kicho appeared, ten kilometers was clearly far from her limit.

"Begin the operation."

Yayoi and the other three quickly sprang into action and headed toward their destination.

For ninja, a distance of ten kilometers was not close enough to cross in the blink of an eye, but it was indeed not far.

Especially since not one among the four was below Jonin level.

(I remember that in the original setting, the Totsuka Blade resided within Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan. Once he awakened it, he automatically obtained it as his exclusive weapon.

Theoretically, this should have been Itachi's own possession rather than something found outside. Unless Itachi revealed it, no one should have known of the Totsuka Blade's existence.

But on the other hand, Orochimaru somehow knew of the Totsuka Blade, searched the Ninja World for it painstakingly for many years, and believed it was one type of Kusanagi Sword. That is contradictory.

So I have changed the setting here. An Uchiha ancestor found the Totsuka Blade in the past, then used some technique to seal it within the Uchiha bloodline.

As long as it encountered a host acknowledged by the Totsuka Blade, this spiritual weapon would automatically awaken within the Uchiha bloodline.)