A battle between chunin

"Are there any genin here?"

Confusion crossed the ANBU squad's faces. Why would their opponent say something so baffling before a fight?

Was he trying to make them lower their guard so he could launch a surprise attack?

That was entirely possible. After all, ninja from hidden villages were mercenaries with no regard for honorable combat. The samurai who actually cared about such things had long since been replaced by the more effective ninja during the Warring States Period.

Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha exchanged looks. They were very familiar with the word "genin" and felt deeply offended.

If not for a certain Asuma and a certain Kakashi, they might still have been among Konoha's genin.

Asuma's palms grew slightly sweaty. Under Suikazan Fuguki's gaze, he kept feeling as though his identity had been exposed.

Suikazan Fuguki studied the ANBU squad, his gaze lingering on Kakashi in particular.

That boy seemed to be Konoha's outstanding prodigy, Kakashi, its youngest jonin. Anyone assigned to his squad probably wouldn't be a genin.

At that thought, Suikazan Fuguki breathed an inward sigh of relief. It wasn't that he feared genin.

He wouldn't spare a second thought for a few dozen ordinary genin, or even chunin.

But after that battle, Konoha's genin had left him with a profound psychological scar that he still couldn't forget.

That beast wreathed in blood-red steam had killed his comrades with a single blow. If he hadn't fled early, he might have ended up like the other four unlucky bastards and lost his precious life.

In fact, by his rough estimate, that blood-red beast had possessed strength surpassing the Five Kage.

After all, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist could attempt to hunt down one of the Five Kage if they joined forces!

Whether they could succeed was another matter, but they certainly wouldn't be as helpless as they had been against that blood-red beast!

Reining in his wandering thoughts, Suikazan Fuguki drew the great blade Samehada from his back and signaled Kisame beside him with a glance.

Since the enemy had no freakishly powerful genin, he could start enjoying the fight.

He had never been the kind of ninja to casually let an enemy go. He had only asked to reassure himself.

Kisame slowly drew his blade as well. Like his superior, Suikazan Fuguki, he preferred fighting with a ninja blade rather than ninjutsu or genjutsu.

Although his blade wasn't one of the Seven Ninja Swords, it was sturdy and durable.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Kunai wrapped with explosive tags flew toward Suikazan Fuguki, who stood where he was.

With just a light swing of Samehada, he blocked the successive explosions behind the blade.

Even the chakra blades concealed in the smoke and dust did little damage to Samehada, leaving at most a few scratches beneath its spikes.

Asuma was not yet the elite jonin he would become. He was only an ordinary chunin.

His equipment and inherited secret techniques let him approach the threshold of a special jōnin, but his raw strength fell far short.

That gap came down to age. Most ninja experienced a second surge in strength after reaching adulthood, and Asuma clearly wasn't there yet.

Fuguki lightly swung Samehada, dispersing the smoke and dust from the explosions and revealing himself once more.

He didn't immediately charge the ANBU squad. He had sensed the danger lurking in the space between them.

"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"

Beside him, Kisame finished a complex sequence of hand seals. A tremendous volume of water appeared before him and swept toward the ANBU squad.

Mist Ninja already excelled at Water Release. Fighting on an island only gave them an even greater advantage.

As the enormous torrent washed over the area, beads of water clung to the previously concealed steel wires. The soaked explosive tags would also struggle to work as intended.

"An elite jonin is an elite jonin. Nothing like those idiots from Kumogakure."

Zou Hyuga sighed, then pointed at Kisame Hoshigaki. "That Shark Face over there already has two Kakashis' worth of chakra. He'll be tough for you to handle, so you can take the orange-haired weirdo instead..."

"What do you mean, two Kakashis?"

Kakashi only half understood. Still, during the explosions, Zou Hyuga hadn't immediately taken the others and fled as he had said he would. Now that they had lost the protection of their traps, escape was no longer possible.

To escape across ten kilometers of sea, the Mist Ninja's home turf, they would have to be faster than the Mist Ninja.

As far as he knew, probably only Minato-sensei, who had mastered Flying Thunder God, could manage that.

But there was the problem: even against enemies on the level of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Minato-sensei wouldn't need to run.

Still, they weren't necessarily without a fighting chance, provided those two were reliable enough.

"Hey, Cloud Ninja brother! Maybe we don't need to fight!"

Zou Hyuga raised his voice and shouted at Suikazan Fuguki, launching into another stream of nonsense. At the same time, he quietly told the others:

"Captain Kakashi, you, Asuma, and Oto take the orange-haired weirdo. I'll handle Shark Face."

"Shark Face is only a chunin, right? Why not leave him to me?" Asuma suggested.

Zou Hyuga glanced at Asuma and shook his head. "Samehada can devour chakra and ninjutsu. My Gentle Fist can't deal with him at all. This is our best option right now."

"All right." Kakashi looked at Zou Hyuga and agreed to the proposal.

The fact that Zou Hyuga hadn't immediately fled was already beyond his expectations. This was a fight against the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, after all, and their survival was uncertain. It was already commendable that Zou Hyuga hadn't taken Oto Uchiha and run.

After checking their weapons again, the ANBU squad prepared to engage according to the plan.

Just then, Zou Hyuga, who had wrapped a length of bandage around his arm, suddenly turned serious and said:

"Once we win, can I have Samehada? It's worth a lot of money... no, it'll be a huge help in improving my strength!"

Kakashi and Asuma fell silent. They had thought Zou Hyuga had grown serious because of the coming fight.

Instead, he was discussing how to divide the spoils after defeating the enemy. He had even prepared an excuse.

He had only just been promoted to chunin. How could he be so confident?

Had he never been thrashed by a jonin, or was he planning to seize the chance to flee the battlefield?

After securing the bandages that concealed his black markings, Zou Hyuga passed close by Oto Uchiha and whispered in her ear:

"Oto, if necessary, you can reveal your Three-Tomoe Sharingan, or even summon Bell Cat. The summoning will end if Bell Cat gets hurt. With that thick hide, Bell Cat is perfect for taking a blade for you!"

Oto Uchiha nodded lightly. She valued her life and would have done that even without his reminder.

As far as she was concerned, Kakashi and Asuma would make decent shields too.

With the instructions delivered, neither side held back any longer. They clashed head-on, and the ringing of blades filled the air.

Zou Hyuga fixed his gaze on Kisame Hoshigaki. A chunin ought to fight an opponent of chunin caliber.

Among all chunin, he was at least in the top five. What could this Kisame Hoshigaki, with his measly two Kakashis' worth of chakra, possibly use to fight him?

Samehada? But Samehada was still in his superior's hands. All Kisame had was that none-too-sharp ninja blade.

As a "sage" capable of entering Sage Mode, he might only excel at Wind Release, but he did know a thing or two about both Wind Release and hand-to-hand combat.

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