Assassination, Open or Secret?

Darkness enshrouded the forest.

Tree shadows swayed like ghosts.

The cold wind whipped up fallen leaves, making a rustling sound.

Be careful, an expert is coming.

Goenji's Sharingan flared instantly, locking onto the figure in the dark—a ninja carrying special ninja tools. From the silhouette within the shadows, the unique chakra, and the ninja blade, he understood that an expert from Kirigakure had appeared.

Furthermore, this was not just an ordinary ninja, but one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

Exploding Blade Shibuki. Goenji looked at the shape of the blade and deduced the enemy's identity: a member of the First Generation Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Munashi Jinpachi.

He had not expected to encounter the Seven Ninja Swordsmen so quickly, and judging by the look of it, they had come to assassinate him.

Yet upon encountering such an enemy, Goenji felt no boiling blood; instead, the pressure on him was immense.

"Fuzei, are there any other detections?"

"One to the southeast, one to the northwest, one to the southwest, one straight ahead. Be careful, the enemies are no small fry. Captain, I'm afraid someone might die today, so you'd better run fast when the time comes."

Aburame Fuzei closed her eyes slightly, opening them again to speak to Goenji.

The bugs under her feet scattered in all directions.

Ryoma and Ze both wore grim expressions at those words. Aburame Fuzei's bugs had an extremely high perception of danger, and if they could still pose a threat to them even as a full team, Kirigakure was likely determined to succeed at all costs.

This was the first time they had encountered such a situation since they started executing missions.

Their captain was very strong, after all.

"Plan C." Just as Goenji spoke, Munashi Jinpachi right in front of them had already appeared not far away.

"Not bad, kid. You live up to being from the Uchiha, but since you're facing me today, die right here."

Munashi Jinpachi slashed horizontally with Shibuki, a sneer plastered across his face. The wind pressure whipped up by the ninja blade pressed against Goenji's face.

Such speed!

Goenji held his short blade vertically to block the attack. With a bang, his entire body was forced back by the sheer pressure of the ninja blade, his feet taking rapid, tripping steps to dissipate the force while simultaneously using that momentum to distance himself from Munashi Jinpachi.

Whoosh, whoosh—!

Amidst that split-second opening, Uchiha shuriken flew out, assaulting Munashi Jinpachi from all directions.

Bzz, bzz!

An explosive tag burned on Goenji's short blade. With lightning speed, he hurled the short blade toward Munashi Jinpachi.

He truly lives up to the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. I can't underestimate him just because he was beaten to death by Might Duy in the original timeline!

There was a reason why the Exploding Blade Shibuki could become one of the seven ninja blades and win such high praise from Kirigakure. If he were an ordinary ninja lacking intelligence, he would easily have been caught off guard and blown apart by the enemy's explosive tag.

Moreover, the enemy's Body Flicker Technique and Taijutsu clearly did not disgrace their reputation; both were exceptionally brilliant.

According to descriptions in the original timeline, Munashi Jinpachi had developed many kinds of coordinated ninjutsu for the Exploding Blade Shibuki. He was a genius among geniuses, so having this capability was only natural.

Goenji's expression turned grim. Since one of them possessed such strength, the others would certainly be no worse.

Since Kirigakure intended to deal with him, it was impossible for them to have sent only Munashi Jinpachi and merely alerted the enemy. His gaze fell upon his teammates.

Swish, swish!

"Plan C."

Following the captain's warning, Aburame Fuzei and the other two simultaneously used the Body Flicker Technique, charging off in one direction to bypass the other enemies coming from four directions.

Whoosh, whoosh—!

"This road is blocked. I'm sorry, little lady. It's a pity we're enemy ninjas, otherwise I would definitely pursue you."

The shuriken were blocked by Aburame Fuzei using Kikaichū as a mild-natured, extremely sunny-looking young man appeared before her, offering a sincere greeting.

Aburame Fuzei, however, did not dare to be careless, exerting the genetic calmness of the Aburame clan to analyze the situation rapidly.

"Pursuit? We haven't even seen each other's faces yet you want to pursue me. Scumbag." Aburame Fuzei did not rush to make a move. Instead, she looked elsewhere and saw that they had all entered battle.

She knew her own strength well; she wasn't as strong as the captain. Now that the enemy wanted to chat with her, she didn't mind stalling for time to give the captain more opportunities to escape.

Fubuki Shiro smiled. "It's precisely because of the mystery that I must pursue you. If there were no sense of mystery, wouldn't it be too boring? Still, I won't let you stall for too long. If that Uchiha kid manages to run away, that wouldn't be a good thing."

With those words, the whole person leaped high, the honest and sunny smile on his face shifting into a wolf-like wildness as his hands rapidly formed seals.

Fubuki Shiro

"Ice Release: Eternal Blizzard."

The temperature within a radius of dozens of meters plummeted abruptly, and a faint ice-blue light emanated around Fubuki Shiro.

The wind began to howl.

Tiny snowflakes drifted down from the air—at first just a sparse few, but they rapidly multiplied, and in the blink of an eye, the entire environment was swallowed by the blizzard.

His deep, chilling voice arrived.

His right leg was covered by the blizzard, and just like a soccer kick, a surging tempest of snow rushed torrentially toward Aburame Fuzei.

Damn it, Ice Release Kekkei Genkai.

Upon seeing the enemy's Ice Release, Aburame Fuzei knew that facing such an opponent, she was probably in grave danger this time.

The Ice Release Kekkei Genkai was a unique bloodline of Kirigakure, possessing formidable power on the battlefield.

And judging by the circumstances, the opponent was no ordinary Ice Release ninja.

Faced with the surging, powerful attack.

She had a feeling akin to facing the captain's Fire Release.

Scatter, bugs.

Clang, clang—!

Where Ryoma stood, he had locked horns with Hoshi Kaguya. The two began a clash of swordsmanship, emitting the unique passion and boiling blood of swordsmanship.

"Heh, you're a Chunin of Konoha? Your swordsmanship isn't bad; I hope you can be a bit stronger, otherwise it'll be too boring." Hoshi Kaguya let out an arrogant laugh, wielding a bone sword and fighting Ryoma to a standstill.

Ryoma let out a cold snort. "A member of the Kaguya Clan. I hope you'll still dare to be this arrogant in a moment."

Amidst the combat, he saw the battles on Aburame Fuzei's and Ze's sides, knowing he could not drag things out.

As the second-strongest combatant in the squad, he needed to resolve his opponent quickly.

He had also heard rumors of the Kaguya Clan's Kekkei Genkai, having encountered such fellows during the battles with Kirigakure these past few days.

This clan pushed Taijutsu to the absolute limit. If he wanted to resolve this, he had to use a major technique.

Even though the captain's orders were not to do so, he had no choice.

"Oh, I'd love to see Konoha's methods." Hoshi Kaguya grew even more interested.

Clang, clang—!

"Ultimate Tempering."

Ryoma instantly discarded all stray thoughts. Within his eyes, there was only the enemy before him, only the combat. His internal chakra coursed through his chakra system according to a specific operational pathway.

A domain that only he could perceive manifested on the battlefield.

Regardless of what movements Hoshi Kaguya made, Ryoma could swiftly grasp the other's flaws, either cutting them off beforehand or evading the attacks.

It was as if an invisible net were entangling Hoshi Kaguya.

Swish, swish—!

Clang, clang, clang—!