Before the blade fell, the blood ran cold

Yukie Miyamoto went numb.

Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that the first enemy she would run into on the Hidden Mist Front Lines would be the wielder of the Executioner's Blade among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen—Juzo Biwa.

Fucking hell.

She honestly wanted to squat down and cry.

Who the hell was she? Just an ordinary Jonin, promoted by scraping together enough merits.

When it came to actual fighting skills, even putting it generously, she couldn't beat Shisui Uchiha, a mere Chunin from the Hidden Leaf.

But why her?

No matter how she thought it over, she couldn't understand how she had ended up facing Juzo Biwa.

Weren't the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Mist still in a standoff? There hadn't been a whisper of a declaration of war.

When the village sent her to the Hidden Mist Front Lines, hadn't her orders just been to keep her guard up?

Before she could untangle the mess in her head, several more figures emerged from the woods in a crowd.

"This is the Hidden Leaf's commander-in-chief on the Front Lines?"

"The Hidden Leaf really doesn't think much of us, sending trash like this to stop our blades."

"I don't think it's that surprising. Those big clans of theirs are following the Hokage's disciples into a slugfest with the Hidden Stone and Hidden Cloud Village in the Land of Rain, and the Hidden Sand has tied up some of their forces too."

"Our declaration of war hit too suddenly. The Hidden Leaf probably can't spare any real frontline troops."

"If we'd known that, why the hell did we bother hiding? We should've crushed them the moment they set foot here."

"The Hidden Leaf gets worse every year. Tobirama Senju kicked the bucket, and the Senju clan vanished outright. A few years ago, they finally got Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of the Leaf, only for his own people to drive him to slit his throat."

"And now they're trying to fob us off with this thing."

The Hidden Mist shinobi traded remarks, their faces full of mockery.

Indeed.

Just look back over the Hidden Leaf's history.

When the village was first founded, Hashirama Senju alone could pin the entire Shinobi World to the ground, and beside him stood Madara Uchiha, who was every bit as capable of turning the world upside down.

And afterward?

Once Madara Uchiha left, half the Hidden Leaf's backbone snapped.

After Hashirama Senju died, Tobirama Senju kept up appearances by clinging to what his older brother had left behind. At least he hadn't ruined its reputation as the greatest village in the Shinobi World; during the First Shinobi World War, it had gritted its teeth and held out against four opponents at once.

But even so.

By the Second Shinobi World War, the Hidden Leaf had shown its weakness. In the end, it could only plug the hole with Tobirama Senju's own life to bring the war to a halt.

After Hiruzen Sarutobi took over, the Hidden Leaf fell apart completely.

A few years ago, it finally produced Sakumo Hatake, whose White Fang blade had the entire Shinobi World afraid to breathe too loudly.

But who could have imagined?

Before outsiders could figure out how to kill him, Sakumo Hatake's own village killed him first.

Fucking hell.

The more they thought about it, the funnier it got.

While the Hidden Mist shinobi relaxed, Yukie Miyamoto couldn't even keep her expression under control.

She couldn't take in a single word they said. Just staring at the faces leading them made her body shake uncontrollably.

Juzo Biwa, Fuguki Suikazan, Kushimaru Kuriarare, Jinpachi Munashi, Raiga Kurosuki...

Well, damn.

Apart from Jinin Akebino, wielder of the Bluntsword Kabutowari, every last fucking member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen was here.

What more needed to be said?

The Hidden Mist had already declared war. Otherwise, why would its strongest swordsmen gather on the Land of Whirlpools Front Lines for no reason?

But fucking hell.

She was just a dime-a-dozen Jonin from the Hidden Leaf. Did they really need the whole damned Seven Ninja Swordsmen to deal with her?

Was the head on Yukie Miyamoto's shoulders worth that much?

She cursed the village in her heart until she could almost taste blood.

So this was what they meant by "keeping her guard up."

Who the hell were they trying to fool?

Having made it to Jonin, Yukie Miyamoto wasn't some fool who understood nothing.

Once she put it all together, her heart went cold.

The village was using her as an expendable pawn. Sending her and this cannon fodder here served no purpose except to buy it a couple more days to breathe.

Her teeth ached with hatred.

She had given the village her heart and soul, and this was how it treated her.

Before she could swallow that resentment, another group emerged from the shadows of the woods.

There was no need to guess who led them. It was the one who hadn't shown his face earlier—Jinin Akebino, wielder of the Bluntsword Kabutowari.

"Hey, what are you all standing around here chatting for?"

"Is this the time for a tea party?"

"That attitude of yours is pretty disrespectful to these Hidden Leaf shinobi."

The Hidden Mist side roared with laughter.

It was plain enough. By now, they no longer saw the Hidden Leaf shinobi before them as living people, only as meat on a platter.

Juzo Biwa curled his lips into a cold sneer. "Jinin's right. Kill them."

Before his words had finished falling, he sprang forward. The Executioner's Blade traced an arc of light, and before Yukie Miyamoto could even shift her gaze, her head left her shoulders.

The others struck at the same time.

On the Hidden Leaf side, everyone's mind went blank the moment their commander was cut down with a single swing.

Who could have imagined their leader wouldn't last even one exchange?

Fight? Fuck that. Run.

They were only cannon fodder there to make up the numbers. Once they broke, they all broke, scattering for their lives and cursing their parents for giving them only two legs.

Yes, cannon fodder.

It didn't matter how many bold declarations they had shouted at the academy or how many grand dreams they had dreamed.

In the end, they were just a bunch of young teenagers raised in a peaceful village, who had never even seen the color of blood with their own eyes.

In Jin Uchiha's previous life, they would have been half-grown children who knew nothing but running wild and playing around.

Without being tempered in real combat, without anyone risking their life to teach them step by step, they were this fragile when they first arrived.

They could help fill the ranks when chasing a beaten enemy, but faced with a death trap like this, forget fighting—they couldn't even muster the courage to trade their lives for someone else's.

"Ha! So this is the Hidden Leaf."

"I'm dying here. Kill them."

Still laughing, Raiga Kurosuki casually tore apart a Hidden Leaf squad, his mockery spilling out with every swing of his blades.

Fuguki Suikazan frowned. "A bunch of useless fillers from the Hidden Leaf, and you're proud of killing them?"

"Fuguki's right," Juzo Biwa said. "Break and scatter this batch of Hidden Leaf trash as quickly as possible. Leave enough men in the Land of Whirlpools to mop up, and have everyone else find boats immediately."

"We need to push into the Land of Fire before the Hidden Leaf can redeploy its elite troops."

"The situation is clear now. This trash is a smokescreen the Hidden Leaf threw out to fool us and buy time to move its forces."

"An opportunity like this comes once in a thousand years. We can't let it slip."

"Send another messenger back to the village with news that we've broken through. Better yet, get them to hurry the Jinchuriki over. Before the Hidden Leaf comes to its senses, we'll bury the whole village in one push."

The others answered with a thunderous roar.

None of them were fools.

One look at the academy-fresh cannon fodder blocking their path, and anyone with a working brain could see what the Hidden Leaf was planning.

Who would let go of an opening that came once in a century?

Once Juzo Biwa finished speaking, every Hidden Mist shinobi got moving, each attending to their task—some killing, others searching for boats.