Hatake Sakumo was not surprised in the least. He had brought White Fang precisely so Hiruzen Sarutobi would recognize him.
In an instant, a layer of inky black slowly spread across the short blade.
If a handsome reader happened to transmigrate into this world and witness the scene, he would surely recognize it...
The "ink" on the blade was Armament Haki from the world of One Piece.
Coating his sword in Armament Haki greatly increased the blade's hardness and gave it greater destructive power.
Hatake Sakumo had no intention of wasting words on a schemer like Hiruzen Sarutobi.
With a turn of his wrist, he sent a Flying Slash from White Fang. The slash was black as ink, clearly "imbued" with Haki as well.
The original owner had already been able to unleash Flying Slashes with the short blade White Fang, combining swordsmanship and Taijutsu with Lightning Release. Now, with Armament Haki added on top, it could be said that "nothing could withstand his blade"!
As soon as the slash left his blade, the system in his mind went ding.
[The host launched a night raid on Fleet Admiral "Sengoku the Buddha." What a ruthless man! Host, please cut him down and show him the power of the world's greatest swordsman! Reward: Randomly obtain one of his abilities!]
Hatake Sakumo had intended to ignore the half-baked system.
But that last sentence piqued his interest.
Randomly obtain one of the other person's abilities?
He wanted to see whether killing Hiruzen Sarutobi would get him one of "Hiruzen Sarutobi's" abilities or one belonging to Fleet Admiral "Sengoku the Buddha" from the world of One Piece.
Interesting.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had to die today anyway. The reward was just a bonus.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, meanwhile, was in an uproar.
The black Flying Slash, several meters long, swept toward him horizontally, making his hair stand on end. He thrust out a leg, kicking his wife straight off the bed, and leaped into the air, narrowly dodging the attack!
The next moment, the slash "cut" into the bedroom wall like it was tofu and vanished from sight.
The slash broke through the bedroom wall and flew into the next room, then passed through the far wall as effortlessly as a knife through tofu. It traveled several more meters before finally dissipating.
Though the walls had been cut in two, the slash had been so fast and smooth that they looked untouched.
Of course, none of the people in the bedroom knew any of this.
As the old bastard Hiruzen Sarutobi leaped into the air to avoid the slash, he kept his eyes fixed on Hatake Sakumo.
A sudden chill ran down his back...
The "ostracism and bullying plan" that he and Danzo had pushed through had driven this blade into a corner, and now it had come back to bite them.
He's going to kill me!
As he landed, he said, "Sakumo, what are you doing? Have you thought about the consequences?"
Even as he spoke, his hands kept moving. Hiruzen rapidly formed Hand Seals and used the Summoning Technique.
With a bang, white smoke burst forth, and his old partner Enma appeared.
His old friend was just about to complain... Why summon me in the middle of the night?... but Hiruzen cut him off. "Enma, transform into the Adamantine Staff first!"
Enma glanced at the mysterious hooded, masked figure in the bedroom and transformed at once, without wasting words.
With the Adamantine Staff in hand, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately felt more confident.
He knew Hatake Sakumo all too well. His Taijutsu and swordsmanship were both first-rate.
But who was he? The strongest Hokage, a man who stood alongside the First and Second!
Besides, Enma's body was unmatched, and after transforming into the Adamantine Staff, he was impervious to blades and spears, indestructible and extremely difficult to destroy. Against him, someone who relied on Taijutsu and swordsmanship in close combat was already at a disadvantage when it came to weapons.
Hiruzen was already certain he had Hatake Sakumo beaten.
Besides, this was his residence. Once word of the commotion got out, it would not take long for reinforcements to arrive.
Standing on the bed, he twirled the Adamantine Staff in his hand.
Hiruzen's kick had sent Biwako Sarutobi tumbling off the bed, and the fall had woken her. She rubbed her waist as she climbed to her feet, still somewhat groggy, and opened her mouth to say something...
Hatake Sakumo moved.
He used the Body Flicker Technique to reach Biwako Sarutobi's side. He had intended to finish the woman with his blade, but changed his mind and knocked her unconscious with a chop of his hand instead.
In Hatake Sakumo's memories, Biwako Sarutobi was a kind person. She never put on airs as the Hokage's wife and was always gentle and friendly toward others.
After knocking Biwako out, Sakumo pushed off and leaped at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who stood on the bed holding the Adamantine Staff.
Hiruzen Sarutobi found it strange to see the familiar short blade White Fang turn pitch-black. But he had no time to dwell on it and raised the Adamantine Staff to block.
White Fang struck the Adamantine Staff.
The Adamantine Staff, once impervious and indestructible, actually "bled" from the strike!
The Adamantine Staff shuddered uncontrollably in Hiruzen Sarutobi's hands. With a bang, Enma was forcibly knocked out of his staff form and back into his original body.
He spat out a mouthful of blood with a pfft.
"Damn it... Hiruzen, there's something strange about his blade. It actually hurt me!" As Enma spoke, he coughed up another mouthful of blood, this time with fragments of internal organs in it.
Hiruzen Sarutobi froze, his suddenly empty hands still raised in the air.
Behind his mask, Hatake Sakumo's gaze darkened.
Idiot. What I coated it with was Hawkeye Mihawk's Armament Haki... He was one of only two men in the world of One Piece to turn their swords into "black blades."
The other was the legendary dragon-slaying samurai from centuries ago. Hawkeye Mihawk, the world's greatest swordsman, was the second to achieve it.
It could be said that Hawkeye Mihawk's Armament Haki made him one of those at the pinnacle of the world of One Piece.
Advanced Armament had an effect... striking from a distance and Internal Destruction!
Although the blow had landed on the Adamantine Staff and appeared to have struck the weapon, the Armament Haki had actually penetrated Enma's body and caused Internal Destruction. That was what had injured him and made him cough up blood.
Naturally, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Enma had no idea that this power came from another world.
Hatake Sakumo did not stop.
Seeing the man and beast staring in shock, he pushed off and kicked Hiruzen Sarutobi in the chest.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was a formidable man. Even in his shock, his body instinctively turned sideways, and his arm rose to block, but he was a step too slow.
The kick landed squarely on his lower abdomen, sending him crashing into the wall behind him and raising a cloud of dust.
Hatake Sakumo casually unleashed another Flying Slash, this one angled diagonally downward.
Hiruzen exclaimed, "What? That slash is so fast!"
He was a veteran shinobi who had fought countless battles, and his reaction was swift. He quickly formed Hand Seals and slapped the ground. "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
A massive wall of earth shot up from the ground. Judging by its length, width, and thickness, even a Rasengan might not have been able to break through it.
This Earth-Style Wall, capable of blocking even A-rank ninjutsu, proved as helpless as tofu against the black Flying Slash wrapped in Armament Haki. With a crack, it was cut diagonally in two!
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face changed drastically. "You've got to be kidding! My Earth-Style Wall can block even A-rank ninjutsu, but it can't stop a single slash from him? When did he get so strong?"
He had no time to think further.
With his shock still upon him, the slash severed one of his arms.
"Ah...! Damn it!"
With top-tier Armament Haki, Hatake Sakumo now completely outclassed the present-day Shinobi World.
Below the level of the Six Paths, only Hashirama Senju's Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands and Madara Uchiha's Perfect Susanoo could defeat him as he was now. Otherwise, with the defense and destructive power of top-tier Armament, he was invincible in close combat!
Combined with the original owner's swordsmanship, he could also remain undefeated in mid-range combat.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had mastered the Five Basic Nature Transformations and Taijutsu and knew the forbidden Reaper Death Seal, had lost an arm to him in just three moves!
A cry of pain rang out through the corridor, and lights came on in room after room. Hiruzen's eldest son rushed out with clothes thrown over his shoulders, while the servants fell into chaos. Footsteps and shouts rose and fell throughout the corridor.
Only the room of his youngest son, Asuma Sarutobi, remained dark. The eight-year-old boy was wrapped in his blanket, sleeping soundly, utterly unaware that someone had just cut off one of his father's arms.
He rolled over, smacked his lips, and mumbled in his sleep:
"Hehe... Kurenai..."
Seeing this, Enma was both shocked and furious. "Damn it!"
Relying on his immense strength, he swung directly at the hooded, masked man's head.
Hatake Sakumo's keen senses naturally picked up Enma's attack.
He sprang sharply upward and backward, dodging the blow.
Enma did not pursue him. He went to Hiruzen Sarutobi and helped him up. "Hiruzen, how are you?!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi was indeed a formidable man.
Enduring the intense pain, he clamped his only remaining hand over the wound where his arm had been severed. He did not scream, but spoke to Enma in a hoarse voice:
"That's Hatake Sakumo. My arm's been cut off, so I can't form Hand Seals. Quickly, take me out through the window! We'll take him down together once reinforcements arrive!"