Hayama came to Yōkō's side: "Thank you, Jōnin Copper Fox. If it weren't for you, my squad and I would be dead."
Yōkō said, "Your Wind Release sword technique is good. You can release several wind blades with just one hand seal."
"Few hand seals, fast speed, strong attack power. If you master this technique to its peak, it will be enough to serve as a core ability for a jōnin."
Hayama replied, "Jōnin Copper Fox, this technique is called Vacuum Sword. It was the reward Lord Sakumo granted me after I completed a set number of missions on the Land of Rivers battlefield."
"I'm very grateful to Lord Sakumo for the reward. Otherwise, I don't know how long it would have taken me to find a core jutsu that suits me."
"So that's how it is. It was Lord Sakumo."
Yōkō already knew; he had happened to see Hatake Sakumo award Hayama the jutsu in the Land of Rivers. He just wanted to hear Hayama's opinion of Sakumo from his own mouth.
"Hayama, you handle things here. I still need to interrogate the captured Seven Ninja Swordsman."
"Understood, Jōnin Copper Fox."
Yōkō went to the place where Antelope and the other two were guarding Hōzuki Rinzuki, signaling for the three to leave first. He wanted to interrogate Hōzuki Rinzuki alone.
He threw the charred, cervical spine broken, quadriplegic Hōzuki Rinzuki behind a reef and sat on a rock, a water droplet forming on his lowered finger.
Seeing the Konoha ANBU not asking any questions, Hōzuki Rinzuki couldn't help but ask: "Hokage's lapdog, I won't say a single word!"
Yōkō smiled and said, "You're overthinking it. I won't ask a single word."
He raised his finger, a water droplet from the Water Gun Technique appearing at his fingertip, and said:
"I'm interrogating you just to find an excuse to say I extracted the Water Gun Technique from you."
"Whether you talk or not, I'll obtain this secret technique. Why bother putting in the effort?"
"What!" Hōzuki Rinzuki's eyes widened enormously, his charred eyelids cracking open. Pus and blood flowed into his eyes, but he didn't notice, staring fixedly at the Water Gun on Yōkō's finger.
"Where did you learn the Water Gun Technique! This is our Hōzuki clan's secret technique! Did the village sell me out!"
In pain and despair, Hōzuki Rinzuki's screams grew louder and louder, echoing along the coast.
In the distance, Antelope looked towards the area behind the reef. I didn't expect the Squadron Leader to have such proficient interrogation skills. Why haven't I seen the Squadron Leader use them before?
Is the gap between the Squadron Leader really that big?
Look how he's interrogating Hōzuki Rinzuki. Even having your clan wiped out isn't this miserable, is it?
After becoming quadriplegic, no matter how Hōzuki Rinzuki struggled, he could only flail his head, unable to even see the Fox's mask.
Yōkō remained unmoved, continuing to practice the Water Gun Technique in front of Hōzuki Rinzuki.
One Water Gun after another shot through pieces of reef.
The firing speed and water droplet hardness both required chakra maintenance. Despite being a seal-less jutsu, this technique consumed quite a bit of chakra.
When Hōzuki Rinzuki finally tired of shouting, he stared blankly at Fox.
"Who wants me dead? Is it that old bastard Elder Genji, or the Kiri Clan?"
Yōkō was baffled by the question: "I'm right in front of you. Of course, it's me who wants to kill you. How can you make false accusations?"
Yōkō thought for a moment and realized this was Hōzuki Rinzuki's own speculation.
"Hmph, heh, haha." Hōzuki Rinzuki's voice was mournful:
"Fighting you, I felt like you saw through my every move."
"Whether it was sword technique, taijutsu, ninjutsu, or secret techniques, you knew them all clearly."
"You knew all my weaknesses and exploited them perfectly."
"Using taijutsu to withstand the Twin Swords: Hiramekarei, Lightning Release to counter my Hydrification Technique, Fire Release to severely injure me."
"And now, you've produced my Hōzuki clan's secret technique."
"There's only one possibility: someone in Kirigakure sold me out."
"No..."
Yōkō thought to himself, This is actually my second time fighting you. Of course, I know your abilities perfectly well.
Shinobi combat relied heavily on intelligence.
If Yōkō's own intelligence were leaked, and someone used Lightning Release to attack his Absolute Defense: Copper Light, he would also suffer greatly.
Hōzuki Rinzuki continued:
"No! They didn't just sell me out, they sold out the Hōzuki clan!"
"After the death of the Second Mizukage, our Clan Head Hōzuki Gengetsu, the Third Mizukage continuously suppressed the Hōzuki clan, forcing us to lie low humbly."
"After the Third Mizukage died, the Hōzuki clan made a strong comeback."
"That old traitor Genji, the Kiri Clan, and the Hoshigaki Clan don't want to see the Hōzuki clan return to its peak."
"That old traitor Genji joined forces with other shinobi clans to force our Hōzuki clan to hand over some of the Seven Ninja Swords."
"We clearly showed our sincerity to cooperate with the village by giving the Longsword: Nuibari and two other swords to the village. Why does the village leadership still want to exterminate us?"
"Not only did they deliberately leak my intelligence to the Konoha ANBU, but they also leaked the Hōzuki clan's secret techniques."
"From now on, when our Hōzuki clan faces Konoha, won't we be constrained at every turn? They want my Hōzuki clan wiped out!"
Yōkō listened with great interest; so the internal strife in Kirigakure was this intense. He played along with Hōzuki Rinzuki's words:
"Save your breath. I was just commissioned by your Kirigakure to kill you."
"Your life is very valuable. The Water Gun Technique and the Twin Swords: Hiramekarei are my payment."
"I'll pretend I extracted the secret technique from you, and finally spread the message back to Kirigakure that you leaked the Hōzuki clan's secret techniques. Then the mission will be complete."
"You are vicious! You are malicious!"
"If I weren't vicious, how could I be a shinobi? If I weren't malicious, how could I be in the ANBU? Calm down. It's just death. Let me send you to meet the Second Mizukage."
It was all to exacerbate the chaos within Kirigakure.
A Water Gun appeared at Yōkō's fingertip. One Water Gun shot through Hōzuki Rinzuki's brow.
It was over.
Yōkō emerged from behind the reef and waved for Antelope to come over.
"Bring this guy's body. Let's move quickly."
The Fox Platoon didn't delay, quickly searching for Battalion Commander Yellow Dog.
Battalion Commander Yellow Dog wasn't far from the three platoons.
Seeing Fox approaching, carrying an oddly shaped sword, Yellow Dog's eyes lit up.
As expected, it had to be Fox, completing the mission so efficiently.
"Battalion Commander, these are the Twin Swords: Hiramekarei. Please seal them quickly before the Hōzuki clan summons them back."
The Hōzuki clan possessed the summoning scroll for the Seven Ninja Swords. If lost, they could also summon them back using the Summoning Technique.
Before Kuriarare Kushimaru could contact the Hōzuki clan, they had to be sealed immediately.
Yellow Dog signaled for his assistant Butterfly to bring the sealing bandages. Under the control of the sealing technique, the bandages flew out, wrapping the Twin Swords: Hiramekarei tightly layer by layer.
Then, Yellow Dog took five minutes to complete the seal, completely severing the connection between the Twin Swords: Hiramekarei and the Hōzuki clan's summoning scroll.
Yellow Dog said:
"We can't use this sword even if we have it. Fox, next we'll formulate a plan to use the Twin Swords: Hiramekarei as bait to lure out the Kiri-nin, set a trap, and kill them."
"Preferably, we can intensify the conflict between Kirigakure and the Hōzuki clan, making them fight among themselves."
"As for Hōzuki Rinzuki's body, seal it and send it to Root. Root will dissect the corpse."
"Battalion Commander, I also extracted a secret technique during the interrogation. This technique is now my secret technique."
Battalion Commander Yellow Dog asked with interest: "Oh? You extracted a secret technique? What secret technique?"
***
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(Chapter End)