The Sparring Match! Kabutowari

Long Ye glanced at the person who had spoken.

The man held a large hammer in his left hand and a huge ax-like cleaver in his right. The two weapons were connected by a rope, clearly making up a single weapon.

Long Ye found him somewhat familiar.

After a moment's thought, he vaguely recognized the origin of this "strange weapon."

This should be one of the Seven Swords of the Mist, "Kabutowari," said to be capable of breaking any defense.

But Long Ye had no impression of the weapon's wielder at all.

As for the younger brother the man had mentioned, Long Ye naturally had no idea who he meant. Still, he guessed it might have been someone he had killed during a previous mission.

"If I'm not mistaken, you should be..."

Long Ye looked up and down at the man's "barrel-shaped" body, then stopped halfway through his sentence.

He naturally did not know the man. He was merely prompting him to introduce himself.

As expected!

The burly man with a face full of heavy jowls tightened his grip on his weapon and restrained his urge to attack. He growled, "I'm Hachishi Toka."

"Haha, as expected!"

Long Ye nodded, but thought to himself, Who is this guy? Why have I never heard of him? Logically speaking, someone who wielded one of the Seven Swords shouldn't have been an unknown nobody.

At least in the history he knew, this man's name had never appeared.

He secretly guessed that the man might have died young. Perhaps he had died before becoming famous. With Kabutowari in his hands, he might not have wielded it for very long. Otherwise, his name could not possibly have been absent from history.

At that moment, the Mizukage cut in. "Judging from the Hokage's letter, there is clearly a fair amount of sincerity. There is ample room for peace talks. If we kill the envoy he sent, it will amount to a direct refusal..."

Hachishi looked anxious upon hearing this.

But before he could say anything, the Mizukage continued:

"A fight to the death is out of the question, but a spar is possible. We can hold a fair and impartial match to promote exchanges between our two countries. Even if the Hokage were here, I believe he would agree."

The moment Long Ye heard this, he knew the Mizukage had bad intentions.

She clearly intended to use a legitimate reason to eliminate him.

Of course, if she truly meant to pursue peace talks, she probably would not take his life. But making him lose a hand or leg and weakening him was an entirely foreseeable outcome.

"The Mizukage is absolutely right. I was being rash. The Hokage sent someone to negotiate peace, so killing his envoy would indeed be improper. A spar is certainly a good solution."

Hachishi laughed, his grin somewhat ferocious.

From his expression, he seemed to have already decided what price Long Ye would pay.

Long Ye tactfully said, "A spar? I don't think that's necessary. Lord Hachishi's name is as familiar to me as thunder, and I know all about his heroic deeds. How could I possibly be his opponent..."

"Besides, my modest reputation was mostly earned by working with others. My personal strength is really nothing to speak of. Even if we sparred, I could only make a fool of myself."

"Hahaha..."

Flattered by Long Ye, Hachishi threw back his head and laughed loudly, looking immensely pleased with himself.

He thought his opponent was timid and afraid of trouble, lacking the courage to fight him. When he looked at Long Ye again, his eyes were filled with contempt and disdain.

Long Ye had spoken that way because he understood the importance of assessing the situation.

He was currently on someone else's turf. Put bluntly, his life was in their hands. So what if he defeated this man? There would inevitably be a second opponent, then a third.

In the end, even if he defeated everyone in single combat, they might still fly into a rage and attack him together. After all, as far as he knew, this Fourth Mizukage was deeply unreliable and could not be judged by ordinary standards.

Mei Terumi wore a faint smile and remained silent from beginning to end.

She had fought Long Ye before, so she knew his strength very well. Seeing him put on such a humble act, she more or less guessed what he was thinking.

"It's only an exchange. Victory and defeat aren't the point, so stop refusing. It's decided. Go to the plaza at once and gather everyone to watch..."

The Mizukage settled the matter righteously, then rose and walked out of the office first.

The others followed one after another.

"Good luck!"

Mei Terumi quietly came up beside Long Ye and said with a smile.

"You and I became acquainted through fighting, so we have some kind of friendship. Now that I'm in trouble, you can't just stand by and watch me die."

Long Ye tried to ingratiate himself with Mei Terumi.

Mei Terumi looked astonished, her beautiful eyes widening. "What nonsense are you talking about? When did we ever become friends? Whether you live or die has nothing to do with me."

Afraid that Long Ye might say something even more outrageous, she hurried a few steps and left through the door.

Long Ye was helpless. Right now, he was the meat on someone else's chopping board, so he could only take things one step at a time.

Kirigakure.

Ninja training plaza.

The crowd formed a huge circle, packed several layers deep until not even air could pass through.

Long Ye and Hachishi stood facing each other from a distance.

He clearly felt countless hostile gazes from every direction land on him.

"Is that the Konoha Lightning who killed more than a dozen Kirigakure squads that were out on missions?"

"Hachishi wields Kabutowari. Its destructive power is terrifying. That man will probably die horribly in our Kirigakure."

"He killed so many of our people. If he doesn't die, then who will?"

Every word was filled with hatred.

Long Ye heard them and sighed inwardly. These people are always thinking about how many of their own people others have killed, but they never think about how many people they have killed in other countries.

"Are you ready?"

Hachishi assumed his stance. Every muscle in his body trembled, displaying his confidence at that moment.

"My abilities are limited, and I'm no match for you. I hope you'll show mercy later."

Long Ye spoke amiably.

"Don't worry, I will. Take this!"

Hachishi charged forward. He raised the cleaver in his right hand over his head and prepared to bring it down, while the large hammer in his left hand stood ready.

His attack method was to slash with the cleaver first, then smash the back of the blade with the hammer to add force. The combined destructive power was enough to break through any defense.

Long Ye did not move. He watched as Hachishi raised his blade and brought it down toward his neck.

"Was he scared senseless by Hachishi's aura?"

"Hachishi's aura is enough to terrify an enemy into losing his nerve. I wasn't exaggerating! Hahahaha..."

The surrounding Kirigakure shinobi were already celebrating their victory in advance.

However, just as Hachishi's cleaver came within a single step of Long Ye, he vanished on the spot.

The abrupt scene was like watching a living person evaporate right before one's eyes, transcending the very concept of speed.

"Not good!!"

The thought had barely crossed Hachishi's mind when—

A fist radiating an immensely powerful electrical current slipped past his cleaver from an extremely tricky angle and gently planted itself against his heavily muscled abdomen.

"Bzzzt..."

The current instantly coursed through his entire body.

Now that Long Ye's electrical current had reached its ultimate form, it had become true Heart Shock.

The burly man stiffened instantly. His entire body looked as though it had been roasted over coals; blood flowed from his seven apertures, and smoke rose from his hair.

Long Ye gave him a gentle push. Like a door panel, the man toppled straight backward onto the ground. His eyes were wide open, but his gaze had not gone blank, showing that he was still alive.

That was because Long Ye had held back. Otherwise, the man's internal organs would already have been burned to ash, with smoke pouring from his seven apertures.