Breaking the Deadlock!

"What?!"

The crowd that had been shouting encouragement for Hachishi just moments ago fell silent as if their throats had been strangled. The entire arena went dead quiet, and some even rubbed their eyes in disbelief.

Everyone had believed Hachishi would win, though they had expected it would not come easily. After all, the name Konoha Lightning had become far too famous over the past year.

Yet the outcome vastly exceeded their expectations. Hachishi, in whom they had placed such high hopes, was knocked to the ground in a single exchange without even room to resist. Whether he was alive or dead remained unknown.

Long Ye now understood why Hachishi had gone down in history without a name.

He was simply a man who had grown muscles but not a brain.

He thought that having a powerful ninja blade meant he could just keep hacking at people, but that depended on whether he could hit them in the first place.

When Long Ye saw him charge in without a care, he found it difficult even if he wanted to lose.

He merely spotted a flaw in his opponent's movements, used Fatal Injection, and ended the battle with a flash strike.

"What an impressive Body Flicker Technique! Konoha Lightning's reputation truly wasn't earned for nothing."

The Mizukage looked at Hachishi lying flat on his back, black smoke rising from his body. He felt as though he had been slapped in the face, and his expression turned unpleasant.

"You flatter me, Lord Mizukage. I was merely lucky!"

"Lord Hachishi's strength naturally goes far beyond this. He was only careless for a moment and was caught off guard. If we fought again, I would certainly be no match for him."

Long Ye stopped while he was ahead, conveniently giving the other side a way out.

Naturally, Hachishi could not get back up and fight him again. For at least a month, he would not be able to fight anyone and could only lie in bed receiving treatment.

Just as Long Ye was about to leave the arena, the Mizukage suddenly spoke.

"Wait!"

Long Ye stopped in his tracks. As expected, this Mizukage won't let this go.

"Since this is a sparring match, naturally one battle is not enough. To further our in-depth exchange of ninjutsu with Konoha, I have decided to send out a second person to fight you."

Long Ye sighed inwardly at the endless trouble.

Victory and defeat did not mean much to him.

Though he knew that if he lost, Kirigakure would certainly spread the news deliberately, greatly damaging the reputation he had built over the past year.

Still, he had never been particularly ambitious about fame, so he did not care much about such things.

But the key was that Kirigakure's people bore deep hatred toward him.

They called it sparring, yet every move was lethal. If he wanted to feign defeat, he would have to pay the price of being injured, which he was unwilling to accept.

As expected, the Mizukage sent out Mei Terumi.

In Kirigakure, Mei Terumi was nearly the strongest Jonin in a one-on-one fight. Her appearance was more or less within Long Ye's expectations.

Mei Terumi said not a word after stepping forward, immediately using Lava Release: Melting Apparition Technique.

Long Ye responded with Explosion Release enhanced by an ultra-high electrical current.

This was not their first clash, and they knew each other's methods to some extent. From the very beginning, the battle rapidly escalated to a fever pitch.

"This woman seems to be holding back. She hasn't pushed her power to its limit."

Long Ye understood after a moment's thought.

This was Kirigakure, after all, not the wilderness. If they truly fought without restraint, would they not destroy the entire village?

With that thought, Long Ye came up with a plan.

He began using Explosion Release without restraint. Each blast was more powerful than the last, quickly leaving the plaza riddled with craters. As the battle continued, the destruction began spreading beyond the arena.

This terrified everyone present.

Long Ye's electrically enhanced Explosion Release was terrifyingly powerful. A single punch could collapse a house. He was practically a humanoid bombardment machine.

If this continued, Kirigakure would be blasted full of holes.

"Stop!!"

Seeing the two fight more fiercely by the moment, with the affected area growing wider and no end in sight, the Mizukage immediately called a halt to the match.

His face was extremely gloomy.

He had already seen through Long Ye's intentions. Long Ye was deliberately destroying Kirigakure, forcing him to hold back and end the fight.

But he was not someone who accepted humiliation easily. He was already considering a justifiable way to make this brat pay a heavy price.

He did not intend to kill Long Ye.

The Hokage's letter contained a promise of peace that involved enormous benefits for Kirigakure. He could not easily abandon them. If he killed Long Ye, it would mean a complete falling-out, with no room left to turn back.

But while he could not kill him, crippling him appropriately was still possible.

Especially after witnessing Long Ye's strength, he had already foreseen that this boy would become one of Konoha's peak combat forces in the future. Given the chance to strangle him in the cradle, he naturally could not let it slip away for nothing.

He came up with a sinister plan and was just about to speak when Mei Terumi beat him to it.

"Lord Mizukage, since Konoha has come seeking peace, they should show sufficient sincerity. Why not have him do something for us and retrieve one of the Seven Ninja Swords? Once he fulfills our request, we can discuss in detail whether to negotiate peace with Konoha."

Mei Terumi knew that the Mizukage had one great obsession: rebuilding the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

The previous generation of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist had once achieved glorious victories. At their peak, the seven of them alone could even wipe out a small country.

The Mizukage had publicly stated more than once that if the Seven Swordsmen were still around, Kirigakure's situation in this war would have been entirely different.

But several years ago, during a mission, most of the previous Seven Swordsmen of the Mist had been killed by the Konoha Genin Might Duy using the Eight Gates.

The surviving few later defected one after another.

In the end, the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist were completely destroyed, and most of the seven ninja blades representing their status had also been lost outside the village.

Without all seven ninja blades, there was naturally no way to form a new generation of Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

Thus, Mei Terumi's words struck right at the Mizukage's weakness, and he temporarily suppressed his plan to punish Long Ye.

"That is an excellent suggestion!"

The Mizukage nodded repeatedly.

The lost ninja blades were not easy to find. Otherwise, Kirigakure would not have mobilized the entire village and spent years searching without managing to gather them all.

More importantly, this was an excellent source of free labor. Since it involved negotiations between the two countries, they did not need to fear that he would refuse to return it after obtaining it.

Moreover, this was merely a prerequisite. Only after he returned one ninja blade would there be any possibility of continuing the negotiations.

And in the Mizukage's heart, the tremendous concessions in the Hokage's letter had already tempted him. He had originally intended to negotiate peace, and this would undoubtedly maximize the benefits.

Long Ye gave Mei Terumi a deep look.

"This woman still has some kindness in her heart."

His situation today had originally been extremely dire. The Fourth Mizukage was not one to suffer losses, and in order to suppress Konoha, he would certainly have acted against Long Ye. He might not kill him, but cutting off one of his hands was highly possible.

After all, if a ninja lost a hand, their ability to form hand seals would be severely affected, and their future prospects would no longer be bright.

Mei Terumi's words had undoubtedly resolved his predicament.