Raiga Kurosuki

"...Princess Tsunade?"

Once he got a clear look at Tsunade's face, a ninja wearing a Kirigakure forehead protector cried out in surprise.

Why was Tsunade here?

Tsunade glanced at him. She knew all the renowned fighters from the major hidden villages by sight.

But she didn't recognize this man.

Looking at Liu Yun and Minato, Tsunade jerked her chin toward him. "He's yours. He should make a decent opponent."

Since Grandma Mito had chosen to bring Liu Yun to the battlefield, perhaps she also intended to use this opportunity to train him.

Tsunade was happy to oblige.

Even if they were no match for him, she was here. Neither boy's life would be in danger.

Liu Yun and Minato exchanged a glance and nodded in silent agreement.

The next instant, two gleaming blades flashed out of their sheaths.

Liu Yun charged first, taking the lead in the attack to capitalize on his superior strength.

Minato circled around to the rear flank, waiting for an opening.

"Damn it, you brats think you can take me on?"

The Kirigakure ninja roared, "Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique!"

Dense mist rose, spreading at an astonishing speed.

Within seconds, it had swallowed their figures.

Kushina uneasily clutched the hem of Tsunade's clothes.

Tsunade reassured her, "Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on them."

Within the mist.

Liu Yun didn't panic at all, even though this was his first time facing a Kirigakure ninja.

The combination of the Hidden Mist Technique and the Silent Killing Technique was well known throughout the shinobi world.

One reliable trick could take you far. As the go-to trump card of ordinary Kirigakure ninja, this approach was far from weak.

To counter it, you either had to be able to see, or... react fast enough!

Clang!

Liu Yun twisted around, catching the blade attacking from within the mist with his short sword in a shower of sparks.

"Found you!"

He grinned, seizing the instant the Kirigakure ninja's pupils contracted.

A blade flashed, and blood sprayed.

The Kirigakure ninja clutched his shoulder, silently cursing as he looked at the wound that cut down to the bone.

His Silent Killing Technique had actually been blocked by a child who didn't even have a forehead protector.

Not only that, but if he hadn't reacted in time, that slash would have taken his head off.

What the hell? How could a mere student who hadn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy have that kind of reaction speed and strength?

With danger upon him, he had no time to think. He rapidly formed hand seals. "Water Release: Water Fang Bullet!"

Three spinning, cone-shaped water bullets formed in the air and shot toward Liu Yun.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A fireball over a meter in diameter collided with the water bullets with a violent hiss, and billowing steam briefly obscured their vision.

The Kirigakure ninja cast a long look in Liu Yun's direction, preparing to retreat into the dense mist again.

Perhaps he'd just gotten lucky and dodged it once.

The Silent Killing Technique wasn't that simple.

Whoosh!

Minato had remained hidden nearby, waiting for an opening, though the dense mist had initially blocked his vision.

But the sounds of Liu Yun fighting the Kirigakure ninja, combined with the heavy smell of blood on the man, quickly allowed Minato to pinpoint his location.

A blade flashed at a treacherous angle.

A deep wound opened across the Kirigakure ninja's waist.

"Damn brat."

Minato pressed his advantage, swiftly closing in. His fluid Konoha-Style Swordsmanship steadily cut off the Kirigakure ninja's room to retreat.

The Kirigakure ninja began to panic. Things had gone far beyond his expectations.

I'd been careless.

He hadn't expected that, in their first exchange, Liu Yun would nearly take his head off and Minato would nearly run him through.

How could they be this strong without even having forehead protectors?

Were they even normal ninja?

He began to think of retreat.

There was something wrong with both these brats, and Tsunade was watching intently from nearby.

If he didn't leave now, he might never leave at all.

"Liu Yun!"

Minato shouted.

The next second, a cold gleam flashed.

The Kirigakure ninja felt a chill in his chest. He lowered his head, staring blankly at the sword tip protruding from it.

"I..."

Before he could finish, Liu Yun pulled his sword free.

The Kirigakure ninja's body hit the ground hard, his eyes wide open. He had stopped breathing entirely.

The dense mist slowly dispersed.

Liu Yun took a deep breath, his taut nerves gradually relaxing.

This was the strongest opponent he had faced so far.

The fight had seemed astonishingly quick only because he and Minato had coordinated so well.

On top of that, they had exploited the man's carelessness to wound him badly early on, severely limiting his fighting ability.

Otherwise, even if they could have won, they would have had to fight for considerably longer.

Tsunade walked over with Kushina in tow, a smile tugging at her lips. "Not bad. Judging by his abilities, he was probably a special jōnin from Kirigakure. Taking him out so cleanly means you're stronger than the average chunin."

"A special jōnin?!"

Kushina looked at the corpse on the ground in mild surprise.

Liu Yun felt little pride. Instead, he silently reminded himself to be cautious in every future battle.

Battles between ninja were, to a large extent, battles of intelligence.

Thanks to Zabuza Momochi's portrayal in the original story, he knew something about the Kirigakure ninja's Silent Killing Technique.

They tended to conceal their presence in dense mist and launch lethal attacks from behind.

This Kirigakure ninja had been no exception.

That was why Liu Yun had paid particular attention to any movement behind him from the very beginning. Combined with his enhanced reflexes, it had allowed him to block that lethal strike.

The Kirigakure ninja, meanwhile, had known nothing about him and had probably held him in considerable contempt.

As for the result... he looked at the Kirigakure ninja's wide-open eyes.

Could I be a genius at practicing the Silent Killing Technique?

"What a useless fool. Killed by two brats just like that."

A young man with long greenish-brown hair leaned against a tree trunk, holding two long, fork-shaped swords. He glanced contemptuously at the corpse on the ground and spat.

His tone dripped with disdain for the dead Kirigakure ninja.

Tsunade's smile vanished, her expression turning grave.

She darted in front of Liu Yun, shielding him behind her. "Raiga Kurosuki of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist?"

She noticed the obvious injuries on Raiga Kurosuki's body. He had clearly just been through a fierce battle.

She couldn't understand it. What were Jiraiya and Orochimaru doing, letting one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist slip through?

Liu Yun immediately understood. So it was him.

One of the original Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, he wielded the Lightning Blades: Fang, ninja blades capable of summoning lightning, and had narrowly survived his encounter with Might Duy during the Third Shinobi World War.

But if Liu Yun remembered correctly, the Bloody Mist Village didn't exist yet.

Kirigakure should still have been relatively normal.

But now... he felt that Kirigakure was probably rotten at its roots.

Calling a fellow villager a useless fool at every turn-his behavior bore quite a resemblance to Konoha's nasty villagers.

"Princess Tsunade, Konoha is truly arrogant. You actually dared to bring brats who haven't even graduated from the Ninja Academy here to intercept me?"

Before his words had finished ringing out, Raiga Kurosuki raised his lightning blades high and grinned savagely. "Nothing pleases me more than killing ignorant brats like these."

Intercept him? What interception?

Tsunade shouted, "Watch out for that blade!"

Moonlight Ruyun's gaze sharpened.

An overwhelming sense of danger struck him. With no time to think, he pushed off the ground and darted backward.

Minato reacted just as quickly.

Boom!

A bolt of lightning fell from the sky, all but grazing Liu Yun's body, and left a deep, charred crater where he had stood.

Liu Yun's heart pounded wildly. That lightning bolt had been astonishingly fast. Had his reflexes not been quick enough, taking it head-on would most likely have left him gravely injured.

"You dodged the lightning? Good reflexes. Now I know how you killed that useless fool."

Raiga Kurosuki gave a disdainful smile. "But you're still going to die."