In the forest.
Kuriarare Kushimaru and Munashi Jinpachi frantically sprinted forward, fleeing for their lives.
After the battle just now, they understood the immense power gap between themselves and their enemies.
All they could do was abandon any thoughts of fighting, focusing all their strength on escape.
The speed of fleeing while abandoning all thoughts of combat was indeed fast, and they deliberately used the Blastsword: Shibuki to smash the trees they passed, creating obstacles for the enemies chasing behind.
Any means that could increase their chances of escape, no matter how childish, could be used.
However, they faced the combination of the Sharingan and the Byakugan.
Trying to escape under these two eyes' combination was nothing but wishful thinking.
Black hair flew with the wind, two figures, one black and one white, moved like lightning and thunder, indistinguishable between afterimages and entities on the path.
"Wha..."
Before Kuriarare Kushimaru finished speaking, two stunning female ninja figures landed in front of him and Munashi Jinpachi, it was Ruri and Ayane.
Compared to their full-speed run, Ruri and Ayane's faces looked effortlessly calm.
"Damn it! If we can't escape, then we'll just blow you all up!"
Munashi Jinpachi's face twisted grimly. Seeing this scene, he knew that without defeating these two, there was no escaping from here.
Kuriarare Kushimaru understood this as well, so his eyes also revealed a fierce determination.
If escape was impossible, then they would fight to the death.
In the Blood Mist Village, ninjas knew not of surrender.
Munashi Jinpachi raised the Blastsword: Shibuki, wrapped with numerous Explosive Tags, charging at Ruri.
Kuriarare Kushimaru swung the Long Blade·Sewing Needle, spreading strings between the trees, trying to create a string prison around Ayane.
Silently, without any communication, Ruri and Ayane leaped simultaneously, black and white exchanged places, intersecting in mid-air.
Ayane placed her palm on the soon-to-explode Blastsword: Shibuki, releasing a powerful Chakra air wave from her palm.
Amidst the intense explosion of fire in mid-air, Munashi Jinpachi was blown back, staring in disbelief at the unharmed Ayane, whose hand was also intact.
This monster! Munashi Jinpachi was incredibly shocked.
She nullified the power of his Blastsword: Shibuki with just Chakra and even had the strength to counterattack.
On the other side, Kuriarare Kushimaru's body was pierced by his own Long Blade·Sewing Needle, like a puppet on stage, with an impossibly graceful posture, hung in the air.
Blood flowed along the strings, and the expression under the mask was undoubtedly one of extreme pain.
Ruri stood before him, looking up slightly from below, her dark pupils full of indifference.
"...How could it be...I, actually..."
Kuriarare Kushimaru couldn't believe he fell so easily into an Illusion Technique.
"Why... you obviously didn't activate the Sharingan..."
He had no idea when he fell into Ruri's Illusion Technique.
Neither using tools nor body contact meant the Tactile Genjutsu couldn't be applied.
Just by looking at the non-Sharingan state eyes, he was captured by the Illusion Technique, showing no attention to the Long Blade·Sewing Needle's target being himself, the sword master, helplessly hanging in the air, leaving the proud Kuriarare Kushimaru unable to accept it.
He had constantly guarded against Ruri's Illusion Technique, meticulously, only to find it was defenseless.
He couldn't understand the trigger medium for Ruri's Illusion Technique.
It couldn't be possible that merely looking at non-Sharingan state eyes causes someone to fall into an Illusion Technique.
But besides this, there wasn't any other factor that clearly explained it.
Ruri had no obligation to answer Kuriarare Kushimaru's confused questions; every ninja's ability was a secret, not to be disclosed to irrelevant people.
Next, Ruri turned her gaze to the forest nearby, where Hakushi emerged scratching his head.
On Ayane's side, the battle was also smoothly concluded; the explosive power of the Blastsword: Shibuki had no resistance against Ayane's Gentle Fist offensive.
All the body's chakra points were sealed, preventing Chakra flow, and meridians and internal organs were equally impacted by the Gentle Fist.
Ayane threw Munashi Jinpachi to the ground, stood aside, waiting for Hakushi's decision regarding these two.
"The battle's already over, you arrived late."
Ayane laughed.
"It's that you acted too fast."
Hakushi spoke truthfully.
Even the notorious Seven-swords Ninja, who spread countless sanguinary legends, couldn't resist the brilliance of these two, instead getting mercilessly crushed.
"Why are Hidden Mist's people here?"
Ruri frowned inquiringly.
"Most likely pursuing Ringo Ameyuri." Hakushi pondered, as only this possibility seemed the most probable.
Hidden Mist's internal conflict, Ringo Ameyuri encountered betrayal from her own kind; presumably, someone didn't wish for Ringo Ameyuri to live peacefully.
Otherwise, Hakushi couldn't think of what business these two notorious members of the Seven-swords Ninja would have in the Land of Demons.
"Chasing Ringo Ameyuri... Isn't she also one of the Seven-swords Ninja? Plus, I heard she fell severely ill."
Ayane expressed surprise.
"I just received this news recently. The event's cause and effect differ from what you might think."
Hakushi briefly recounted the Hidden Mist envoy's visit to the Land of Demons earlier and simplistically summarized the unsettled situation within Hidden Mist.
"I didn't expect Hidden Mist's internal conflict to be this severe, even worse than Konoha's."
Ayane sighed with emotion.
At this point, Hakushi crouched down, placing his palm on Munashi Jinpachi's forehead. The latter immediately felt a wave of fatigue, drowsily falling asleep.