"Kurisame Tsumaru gets to wield a Seven Blade, and I can't?"
Hōzuki Muratsuki was livid.
Having to surrender three of the Seven Ninja Blades under village pressure had already been one of the greatest humiliations the Hōzuki Clan had ever suffered.
Now this Konoha ANBU was rubbing salt in the wound.
Steaming Danger Tyranny charged straight toward Copper Fox, blade-arm swinging in a heavy arc toward his chest.
Yako's forearm turned that familiar metallic bronze, absorbing the forceful blow. He noticed immediately—the clone's body began swelling.
Even just moving with intensity caused the surface oil of the clone to expand, pushing it toward critical detonation.
The clone was deflected by his Copper Light, circled wide, and came at him again.
Yako had no desire to waste time trading hits with this suicide clone.
Instead, he hurled a volley of kunai at both Muratsuki and Fuguki Suikazan.
They dodged easily. Fuguki countered with a Water Release jutsu.
Perfect.
That's what Yako was waiting for.
If he was preparing for rebirth anyway—might as well go all out. There was no reason to hold anything back.
His priority now was to extract information—enough to change fate next time.
Samehada's wielder, Muratsuki. And Fuguki, the red-haired beast. These two were likely the top commanders of the Mist's entire operation.
A massive wall of water roared toward him.
Muratsuki turned, face twisted with fury. "Fuguki, you idiot! Don't mess this up!"
He knew full well Fuguki was coveting the Twin Blades—and that he was also Gensui's planted watchdog.
When you hate someone enough, everything they do feels wrong.
This jutsu? It was just in the way.
Flooding the battlefield diluted the clone's blast power.
Fuguki sneered. "You're too slow, Muratsuki. We were supposed to clear out Konoha's ambush fast and recover the Twin Blades early."
"But no—you had to slowly bomb the Uchiha to death. Drawn out, cautious. And look where that got you. Copper Fox walked right to our front door. You seriously don't see how useless you are?"
Muratsuki snapped back with venom: "And you think Uchiha are easy prey? The clone ignores genjutsu. Name someone else who could've killed that many Uchiha without breaking a sweat!"
But just as they were bickering—
A figure appeared behind them in a flash.
Yako's bronze-coated fist struck hard at Muratsuki's spine.
The Mist jōnin's scalp tingled—he twisted just in time.
The blow smashed into his shoulder instead.
The bone cracked audibly. Only then did he manage to activate his Hydrification Technique, liquefying into water and dispersing beneath the surface.
Fuguki's eyes went wide. He leapt back instinctively.
'What kind of flicker was that?!' he thought.
Then it hit him.
Water Flicker Technique.
Only that technique had such precision and silence.
But why... why would a Konoha ANBU have Hanzo's signature move?
Yako stared at Muratsuki as he reformed on the surface.
His shoulder should've been ruined—but it had reformed.
Water restructured his bones.
'So that's the famed Hydrification Healing Technique—the Hōzuki Clan's medical secret. Better than ordinary Medical Ninjutsu...'
'If I had that, I could survive fatal hits too...'
Fuguki noticed Yako wasn't looking at him and moved quickly.
Dozens of his orange-colored hairs stretched out like ropes, stabbing from every angle.
He didn't expect to kill him—but bind him.
If Copper Fox had an absolute defense, then restraint was the way.
The hair constricted tightly.
But Fuguki didn't smile.
Because Copper Fox's final hand seal had completed.
Puff.
He'd caught a puddle.
Water Substitution.
Yako appeared behind Fuguki.
"Fuguki Suikazan... You're not after the Twin Blades, are you? You want Samehada, don't you?"
Fuguki froze.
Yako blinked.
Wait.
Had he just said "hada"? That was a forbidden word here, wasn't it?
Too late.
Fuguki's orange hair flared like a whip and stabbed backward violently—
But Yako was already gone.
Then he reappeared again—in front of him this time.
"You want it? Just say so! How else am I supposed to help you?"
Fuguki moved from stunned... to sweating... to strangely calm.
"You... you're one of Danzo's men too, aren't you? Sent here to help me take the blade?"
Yako's eyes twitched.
Too?
Too means you are?
Wait... Fuguki's working for Danzo?
So Danzo had hands in this ambush operation?
Yako recovered instantly. "Of course. Danzo-sama sent me to assist you. Cut the crap—I'm here to help you win the blade."
Fuguki whispered, "Mist has chakra sensors in the fog. I can't make a move directly. I'll keep holding back and wait for my moment."
"Oh? Sensors, huh…?"
Yako thought quickly.
'In the next cycle, I'll have to avoid using Water Flicker in front of Muratsuki. Only use it with caution.'
Mist-style fog can't carry you—not like connected water surfaces. That was the key.
"Then yeah, keep 'holding back'."
He punted Fuguki across the water.
Fuguki tumbled in a perfect series of water-skipping bounces, vanishing into the distance.
Yako blinked.
This guy was slippery as hell.
No wonder he got offed by Kisame for betrayal later.
Muratsuki raised Samehada, instincts flaring.
He swung behind him.
Clang!
The blade slammed into Yako's raised forearm.
A sharp shift in Yako's eyes—
His chakra was being devoured.
Cracks formed in his bronze-colored Absolute Defense.
Muratsuki dragged Samehada back. The blade's barbed scales scraped Yako's skin.
Yako leapt back, staring at his arm.
Thin cuts marked his forearm.
He bled.
His defense—broken for the first time.
'Never fight Samehada head-on again,' he thought.
'My defense is built on Earth Chakra Crystallization. If my chakra gets eaten, it collapses instantly.'
Muratsuki pressed forward, blade in hand.
The clone swirled nearby, looking for its next chance to explode.
Each blow from Samehada drained more of Yako's chakra.
Each drain shattered more of his bronze armor.
Steaming Danger Tyranny hovered near, threatening detonation with every clash.
Yako fought fiercely. But Muratsuki never showed any new tricks.
So, he feigned exhaustion.
And let the clone catch him.
A massive blast of white steam tore across the battlefield.
Yako was gone—consumed by the explosion.
[System Detected Host Death. Activating Arc of the Waning Moon System...]
Everything went black.
Then his vision twisted.
This time, he would use every piece of intel to break the loop.