The Fall of the Kusanagi Clan

"Move the lumber here over there."

"Transport all the grain and vegetables to the warehouse. Store them carefully."

"Remove the blood from the dead beasts as soon as possible. Skin them without damaging the hides."

A steady-looking middle-aged man nearing forty calmly directed the clan members working in the camp.

Although he did not need to work personally, commanding such a large group to build up the camp was no easy task either.

Before long, sweat covered his face. He picked up the canteen at his waist and took a hard gulp to quench his thirst.

He was the current head of the Kusanagi Clan—Kusanagi Seiryu.

More than three hundred ninjas and ordinary people lived here, all of them members of the Kusanagi Clan.

Under their clan head's command, the ninjas and ordinary clansmen were separated, each handling their own duties.

Even the elderly and children could not remain completely idle as long as their limbs were nimble. Even if they did less work, they still had to join in.

Using the river as the heart of their camp, the Kusanagi Clan expanded outward, clearing land, building houses and wooden fences. The beginnings of a small village had taken shape.

Nearly a month had passed, and this stretch of forest had clearly become the Kusanagi Clan's new territory.

To ensure the safety of this new homeland, the Kusanagi Clan's ninjas had also placed numerous traps around the camp's perimeter.

They served two purposes: defending against the beasts of the forest and ambushing enemies, providing warnings and strategic breathing room so that the flames of war would not reach the camp directly.

"Next, we need to scout the terrain farther out. The Land of Night probably will not let this go. They will likely send ninjas and samurai soon..."

After surveying the family's camp, Clan Head Kusanagi Seiryu nodded slightly.

This meant the clan could finally settle down here.

Then, as if recalling something, a grave look appeared on his face.

Yet despite his solemn expression, there was no worry in his eyes. He clearly had immense confidence in his own strength—or rather, in the sacred weapon passed down through generations of the Kusanagi Clan: the Kusanagi Sword.

In the past, the Kusanagi Clan had made its name in the Land of Grass precisely because of this sacred weapon.

Even when forced into exile, he had relied on it to safely withdraw from the Land of Grass after losing only a small number of clansmen, leaving the other ninja clans there too afraid to pursue recklessly.

He believed that with his own abilities and the sacred weapon, he could make a name for himself even in the Land of Night.

Many people said the Land of Night was one of the few military powers beneath the great nations.

But whether it was truly strong or not, in the ninja world, people were accustomed to fighting first and talking later.

For now, the Land of Night did not seem as powerful to him as he had imagined.

He had led only a handful of people to swiftly crush the border troops, leaving them no room to resist.

"If I could become a general too..."

Intense ambition gleamed in Kusanagi Seiryu's dark eyes.

He even wanted the position of a nation's ruler.

If that happened, the Kusanagi Clan would become great once more under his leadership!

Just as he imagined that glorious future, boom—

An explosive roar abruptly shattered the camp's peace.

It was followed by several more thunderous explosions—

Buildings erupted amid firelight, and the shockwaves spreading outward brought cries of agony.

Some ordinary people who were not even ninjas lost their lives directly in the blazing explosions.

Those were the sounds of Explosive Tags detonating.

Ninjas were attacking! The thought flashed through Kusanagi Seiryu's mind in an instant.

"Impossible. The traps outside clearly have not been triggered. How could—"

Kusanagi Seiryu's eyes widened in shock.

Someone had actually crossed the camp's tightly guarded perimeter without making a single sound.

Even he would have had to lose a few layers of skin to force his way through those outer traps.

However, Kusanagi Seiryu reacted quickly. No matter what, the enemy had reached the heart of the camp. They had to be driven out immediately to minimize losses.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

The other Kusanagi Clan ninjas shouted as well, searching everywhere for the attackers.

"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"

A low voice emerged from nowhere, and a patch of ground turned into a swamp, trapping several ninjas and more than ten ordinary Kusanagi Clan members within it. Unable to break free, they could only watch helplessly as the bottomless mire swallowed them.

"Damn it! Stop!"

Kusanagi Seiryu wanted to rush over and help, find the attacker, and stop the Earth Release ninjutsu.

Those people were the future of the Kusanagi Clan. They could not die here.

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"

Accompanied by a cold female voice, Kicho, dressed in a pale purple ninja outfit, rushed out from the shadows of the nearby woods.

Her right palm struck forward fiercely, her five fingers curled into the shape of a tiger's paw.

A powerful mass of chakra gathered directly in the center of that curled palm before being released in an instant.

The air trembled, producing a sound like an explosion as the attack shot straight toward Kusanagi Seiryu.

Boom!

Kusanagi Seiryu's expression changed drastically as he leaped aside.

The force of the Gentle Fist, struck from afar, blasted a horrifying hole through a stone wall. Rocks crumbled as countless fragments scattered in every direction.

"This is... the Byakugan!?"

When Kusanagi Seiryu saw Kicho attacking him with chilling killing intent, especially those strange eyes radiating brilliant white light, he cried out in alarm.

What he had failed to understand suddenly became clear. With the Byakugan's help, the traps he had set around the camp were indeed practically useless.

"I heard that the general of the Land of Night married into the Hyuga Clan. I thought it was just a false rumor, but I never expected..."

Cold sweat ran down Kusanagi Seiryu's face. His calm composure had finally vanished.

He had never expected the prestigious Hyuga Clan to truly intermarry with the Land of Night.

It was no wonder he had believed the rumor false. Thinking carefully, it was indeed unbelievable.

The Hyuga Clan was an ancient and powerful noble clan, while that general of the Land of Night came from humble origins. He had been a wandering orphan, not even worthy of being called a commoner, and had once lurked like a sewer rat in filthy underground black markets for money.

Even after becoming a general, many people secretly looked down on his origins, believing him to be nothing more than a lucky lowborn wretch.

Yet the Hyuga Clan had truly married into his family.

Were ninjas who called themselves orthodox nobility not supposed to care most about status and family background?

Kusanagi Seiryu could not understand it, but he knew one thing: this matter had now grown completely out of hand.

He had not expected the Land of Night's retaliation to come so quickly—or so fiercely.

Kicho ignored Kusanagi Seiryu's words. She stomped hard against the ground, launching her body forward.

The sleeves of her ninja outfit were wider and looser than ordinary ninja sleeves. They were aesthetically pleasing without hindering her movements.

Thus, when Kicho shot forward, she resembled a dancing butterfly. Not only was she incredibly fast, but her fluttering sleeves also had the effect of confusing her enemy.

So beautiful...

Kicho's graceful form fluttered like a butterfly, like a divine maiden descended into the world—holy and untouchable.

The moment that thought surfaced in Kusanagi Seiryu's mind, he jolted awake.

No, this was genjutsu!

"Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!"

Seeing Kusanagi Seiryu enter the range of her Gentle Fist, Kicho swung both arms. Chakra currents instantly burst from her palms, and her body began to spin.

The whirling chakra currents immediately formed an enormous sphere of chakra centered on Kicho, rotating at high speed.

The fierce airflow created by its rapid rotation generated a powerful suction force, violently dragging Kusanagi Seiryu toward the spinning chakra sphere.

If he were caught in it, his body would inevitably be battered all over and grievously wounded.

Not to mention that the Gentle Fist possessed the dangerous ability to seal the chakra pathway system, making it an exceptionally effective killing technique against any ninja.

Kicho's beautiful dance, laced with killing intent, came to a stop. Her long black hair slowly drifted down as her movements ceased.

Her pale eyes narrowed slightly as she stared at Kusanagi Seiryu, who had not only avoided being dragged into her Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven and torn apart, but still had the leisure to retreat.

At some point, Kusanagi Seiryu had drawn a straight-bladed katana with a pale red hilt.

Its blade was slimmer than an ordinary katana, and its length was also shorter than the standard.

Judging by its design, it should have been a weapon suited for a woman.

Now that it was held in the hand of a large man like Kusanagi Seiryu, it looked somewhat out of place.

The chakra maintaining Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven seemed to have suddenly vanished...

Kicho's thoughts raced, and she quickly figured out Kusanagi Seiryu's situation.

As expected, the katana in Kusanagi Seiryu's hand had to be the Kusanagi Sword passed down through the clan for generations.

"What a dangerous ability. Not only does your movement technique use genjutsu to confuse your opponent, it also comes with a killing move afterward... Without this Kusanagi Sword, I probably would have been killed in an instant. Is this the power of a Kekkei Genkai? It is truly terrifying."

Kusanagi Seiryu gave a smile that did not reach his eyes, his tone brimming with envy and jealousy.

A Kekkei Genkai... What a beautiful, yet terrifying ability.

Because such abilities existed, small clans like theirs could never truly take the stage. They could only become background pieces in the conflicts between great clans.

He did not believe his strength was inferior to Kicho's, yet the truth was that he had nearly been killed in a single exchange.

That left him feeling profoundly unbalanced.

"Compared to that, the Kusanagi Sword in your hand is more peculiar. Just now, it 'ate' my chakra, didn't it?"

Though Kicho phrased it as a question, her tone was certain.

Although she was only seventeen, she was a genius of the Hyuga Clan and an elite who had crawled out of piles of corpses more than once.

Combined with the Byakugan's abilities, as long as an ability was not too bizarre, she could make an accurate judgment after seeing and experiencing it once.

"You saw it with the Byakugan? That is right. This Kusanagi Sword has the special ability to consume chakra. As long as I draw this blade, no ninja can defeat me. In other words, your Gentle Fist is useless against me."

Although Kusanagi Seiryu was wary of the Byakugan, he was not afraid of it.

In his eyes, Kicho was like the enemies he had encountered in the past—strong, but soon to be killed by the Kusanagi Sword.

This ancestral sacred weapon could erase the gap between him and Kekkei Genkai ninjas, even allowing him to surpass those ninjas who relied on nothing but their bloodline powers to throw their weight around.

Kicho said nothing.

If that was the case, the effects of the Gentle Fist would indeed be greatly diminished.

After all, a ninja's taijutsu also required chakra to increase its power.

Or rather, the more proficient a ninja was in taijutsu, the greater their demand for chakra became.

"You are right. But..."

A faint smile appeared on Kicho's face.

Just as Kusanagi Seiryu was about to ask what she meant, his body suddenly stiffened, unable to move.

A chilling presence abruptly entered from his back, passing through his skin and connecting directly with the chakra pathway system within his body.

"It is over, Clan Head."

"Wait, I—"

Before Kusanagi Seiryu could finish speaking, Kicho's butterfly-like figure had already drifted down in front of him.

A gentle breeze passed by, and Kicho's slender palm touched his chest.

Thump.

A faint sound of a palm strike rang through the air.

"Cough!"

Kusanagi Seiryu's face turned deathly pale. He could not stop himself from coughing as blood streamed from his mouth.

His heart felt as if it had been pierced by a blade, then violently crushed and ripped apart.

The muscles on his face twitched with unbearable pain.

Most importantly, he could no longer move any chakra throughout his body. Kicho's Gentle Fist had completely sealed his chakra pathway system.

Since the heart was the core of the chakra pathway system, severing the pathways around the heart prevented a ninja from circulating and refining chakra.

Kicho's Gentle Fist had directly robbed him of the chance to use the Kusanagi Sword for one final counterattack.

Damn it, I have not even used the Kusanagi Sword's hidden ability. Otherwise... My consciousness...

No matter how much hatred and unwillingness filled his heart, Kusanagi Seiryu's eyes dimmed. They closed weakly as his head gradually drooped, his life force fading away.

Yet although Kusanagi Seiryu's body had lost all signs of life, it did not collapse. Another force supported it upright.

Five Chakra Threads had somehow attached themselves to Kusanagi Seiryu's back.

Like a puppet, Kusanagi Seiryu slowly swayed his body. With the Kusanagi Sword in hand, he seemed to come back to life, ready to return to battle and kill once more.

Not far away, Yayoi landed silently on the branch of a thick tree. His right hand was spread open, five Chakra Threads linking to Kusanagi Seiryu's spine as he took control of the corpse.

"What perfect coordination, my dear husband."

Kicho smiled brightly. Looking back on the battle, the entire sequence had been nearly flawless.

The instant Yayoi used Chakra Threads to control Kusanagi Seiryu, she immediately seized that crucial opening. Without wasting words or pausing her movements, she rushed straight at Kusanagi Seiryu at full speed and delivered a fatal strike with the Gentle Fist.

The entire sequence had unfolded in no more than a flash of lightning.

Kusanagi Seiryu probably had not even had time to react. He might not even have noticed Yayoi's presence before Kicho killed him.

"Yes. I did not expect the Puppet Play Technique to work so smoothly either. His vigilance was focused entirely on you, Kicho."

Yayoi was not surprised by the outcome at all.

He had been far stronger than Kusanagi Seiryu from the start. Combined with the ambush and his coordination with Kicho, it was only natural that Kusanagi Seiryu would be killed in an instant despite holding the Kusanagi Sword, especially when he had not noticed there was a second enemy.

As for the Puppet Play Technique he mentioned, it was a puppet-style ninjutsu that created special Chakra Threads to control the movements of living people.

Furthermore, this ninjutsu could use Chakra Threads to interfere with the target's chakra pathway system, granting it a certain degree of control.

That was why Kusanagi Seiryu's body had stiffened to the point of being unable to move the moment he was struck by Yayoi's Puppet Play Technique.

His chakra pathway system had been disturbed by Yayoi's Chakra Threads, which in turn affected his physical movement.

"He was too concerned about my Byakugan and Gentle Fist. Until the moment he died, he probably believed I was the commander of this operation from the Land of Night."

Kicho summarized the reason for Kusanagi Seiryu's defeat.

"Then we can wrap things up smoothly now."

Yayoi jumped down from the branch. The fingers releasing the Chakra Threads moved nimbly, as though playing cat's cradle.

Under Yayoi's control, Kusanagi Seiryu's still-warm corpse moved no differently from when he had been alive. Its agility had not declined; if anything, it had become even more nimble.

Kusanagi Seiryu gripped the Kusanagi Sword and nimbly leaped forward, charging into the distant crowd locked in combat to carry out the final extermination of the remaining Kusanagi Clan members.

About ten minutes later, the Kusanagi Clan's stronghold had already been reduced to a sea of flames.

Including Kusanagi Seiryu, the Kusanagi Clan head, a total of forty-seven ninja and more than two hundred ordinary clan members had their corpses burned in the blaze.

"There shouldn't be any fish that slipped through the net, right?"

Yayoi turned his head and asked.

Whether old people or children, as long as they were enemies, they had to be slaughtered without leaving a single one alive. This was the truth he had come to understand during the Warring States Era, and it was also the greatest respect he could show his enemies.

Kakuzu held a woman's corpse in his hand. Aside from Kusanagi Seiryu, she had been the Kusanagi Clan's only other ninja with Jonin-level combat strength, as well as Kusanagi Seiryu's wife.

Kakuzu tossed the woman's corpse into the flames as well. The fierce firelight shone upon his mask-covered face, making his eerie green eyes look particularly chilling.

"There are none left. Every last one has been eliminated."

Kakuzu's tone was utterly flat. Having followed Yayoi for so many years, he clearly understood Yayoi's ruthless methods when dealing with enemies.

Yayoi and Kicho had been responsible for dealing with Kusanagi Seiryu, the clan head. The other Jonin-level ninja, Kusanagi Seiryu's wife, had been handled by Kakuzu.

Aburame Yuto had been responsible for the remaining Kusanagi Clan ninja. With his ability to control insects, he could swiftly clear out the Kusanagi Clan's lesser fighters.

Through this joint operation, Aburame Yuto had also gained a deeper understanding of Yayoi's personality and methods as the Land of Night's general.

As long as they were enemies, even if they were elderly people or children, Yayoi would deal with them all without leaving a single one alive, coldly and mercilessly.

Aburame Yuto suspected that the Land of Night's political power was so stable because Yayoi had ruthlessly executed every past rebel who had opposed him, along with their relatives.

He had even completely sealed away information and records of those rebels, erasing the history of their existence at its root and making even discussing them meaningless.

The work that followed was very simple: pack up all the Kusanagi Clan's organized holdings and take them away, then have the border troops handle the final transport.

As for the Kusanagi Sword, passed down through the Kusanagi Clan for generations, it was personally kept by Yayoi.

(I originally wanted to let the Kusanagi Clan head show off a little more, but considering he was merely an ordinary Jonin wielding the Kusanagi Sword, there seemed to be no need to make such a big fuss. Just seize an opening and kill him in one strike.)

(One update today, two tomorrow.)