"One Thousand Years of Death!"
The ninja sword pierced through the Kiri-nin Battalion Commander from behind.
Yōkō burst out of the water, delivering a flying kick that sent the Kiri-nin Battalion Commander flying.
The Kiri-nin Battalion Commander was crouching, his hands still pressed on the water's surface. It wasn't that Yōkō was perverted; the angle was just too perfect for the One Thousand Years of Death.
The other Kiri-nin looked at Copper Fox in horror. This Konoha Anbu had actually used the cover of the mud to ambush their Battalion Commander.
Yōkō looked at the two nearby Kiri-nin, feeling terrifyingly strong.
With his long sword now 'blessed', he wondered who would dare get close?
The Kiri-nin Squadron Leader shouted: "Kill him!"
The four Kiri-nin within the three-meter visible range all charged at him.
These people really can't read the situation. Aren't they afraid of E. coli?
After cutting down several people in succession, Yōkō disdainfully threw the ninja sword at a Kiri-nin Squadron Leader.
The ninja sword pierced the Squadron Leader's abdomen.
Say hello to your Battalion Commander's E. coli.
Yōkō charged into the thick fog, constantly seeking close-quarters opportunities, shattering the Kiri-nin's chests with his fists.
The water level slowly dropped. By the time the flow completely disappeared, this Kiri-nin battalion was mostly dead.
The explosions to the southwest still rose and fell. Yōkō continued forward.
Getting closer to the explosions, the thick fog ahead was suddenly blasted away by a shockwave, followed by a blast of hot wind, and only then did he hear the roar.
Encountering the shockwave before hearing the sound meant the explosion's blast was incredibly powerful.
Yōkō grew increasingly uneasy. Just who was fighting, and why were the explosions so terrifying?
Was it Battalion Commander Yellow Dog? The scale of his Fire Release would certainly be sufficient.
The good news was that the explosions weakened the thick fog; Yōkō's field of vision was getting better.
Over a dozen Uchiha ninja were fighting a losing battle, retreating step by step.
Uchiha Tōka led the remnants of a battalion, which included Uchiha Fugaku, fighting a disorderly retreat while battling.
Their opponent was a fat man.
That fat man had a large, curved blade on his arm.
Wrong!
Yōkō took another ten steps forward and realised that the fat man wasn't human; it was the Hōzuki clan's Steaming Danger Tyranny!
The infinite explosion secret technique, once used by the Second Mizukage, Hōzuki Gengetsu.
It used oil and water to create a clone. The clone was extremely fast and could fly freely through the air.
Once attacked, the oil on its surface heated and expanded, and the water inside would rapidly vaporise, causing an explosion.
After the explosion, the oil on the surface cooled, restoring its child-like form in preparation for the next explosion.
With super-strong taijutsu and infinite explosions, Steaming Danger Tyranny was almost invincible.
Yōkō thought, No wonder the Uchiha ninja I met on the way said they were being targeted. Uchiha ninja really had no good methods against Steaming Danger Tyranny.
The taijutsu advantage brought by the Sharingan was useless against Steaming Danger Tyranny, which was a clone technique. Hitting it would only make the clone explode sooner.
The Fire Release the Uchiha were skilled in would also make Steaming Danger Tyranny explode quickly.
As for genjutsu, it was even more useless against a clone.
The Hōzuki clan ninja hid in the shadows, using only this clone to render most Uchiha helpless.
I wonder which Hōzuki clan expert has come to the front lines.
Four Uchiha stayed behind as a rearguard. They formed hand signs and used four Great Fireballs!
They intended to force Steaming Danger Tyranny to explode, buying time for the others.
Steaming Danger Tyranny was too fast, and the Fire Release too slow. It dodged three Great Fireballs and actively collided with the last one.
At this point, Steaming Danger Tyranny was very close to the four Uchiha ninja.
A flash of white light.
Terrifyingly hot steam instantly expanded, swallowing the four Uchiha ninja.
Amid the billowing steam, the flesh and blood of the four Uchiha ninja melted first, splattering backwards, followed by their skeletons shattering.
Steaming Danger Tyranny was truly brutal.
Yōkō retreated, avoiding the aftermath of the explosion, and saw Steaming Danger Tyranny reappear, the oil on its surface slowly reforming into a child's shape.
He charged sideways.
Fighting Steaming Danger Tyranny to the death was pointless; he had to find the Hōzuki clan controller quickly.
The Uchiha ninja might not be able to find the hidden Hōzuki ninja, but Yōkō could.
He took the Twin Swords Hiramekarei from his back, putting on a show of preparing to fight desperately with them.
He held Hiramekarei and forcefully smashed it against a rock.
The rock shattered and flew apart; Hiramekarei vibrated with a buzzing sound.
This famous sword, Hiramekarei, was just a large piece of iron in Yōkō's hands. Any Kiri-nin would surely find it painful to watch.
"Stop!"
Sure enough, a Kiri-nin couldn't stand it anymore and emerged from the thick fog.
The ninja sword, treasured by the Kiri-nin, was being treated by Yōkō like scrap metal, banging it around.
It was like someone's brand new bike they couldn't bear to ride hard, and Yōkō was standing on the pedals.
Yōkō looked towards the voice and saw two people.
One was two and a half meters tall, built like a walrus, with red hair and a mouth full of sharp teeth.
Hoshigaki Kisame!
The other had a slender build but held a ninja sword covered in spikes, pointing it at Yōkō.
The Great Sword Samehada!
The sword-bearer was an elite Jōnin of the Hōzuki clan, Hōzuki Muragetsu.
In the original story, Hoshigaki Kisame was the first owner of Kirigakure's Great Sword Samehada.
For some reason, Kirigakure erased the names and deeds of many members of the Hōzuki clan, as if they had never existed.
The Hōzuki clan, once the largest ninja clan in Kirigakure, vanished without a trace in Kirigakure during and after the Third Shinobi World War, with only a few individuals struggling to survive.
Orochimaru provided better protection for the Hōzuki clan than Kirigakure did.
Hōzuki Suigetsu, as one of Orochimaru's test subjects, might not necessarily die, but if he returned to Kirigakure, he would absolutely be killed.
Yōkō saw a figure rushing towards him from a distance; it was the Steaming Danger Tyranny that had just been pursuing the Uchiha ninja.
Uchiha Tōka, seeing Steaming Danger Tyranny disappear, breathed a long sigh of relief.
Fortunately, the Anbu's Copper Fox had arrived; otherwise, they all might have died.
Yōkō gestured to Uchiha Tōka, indicating he could leave first and leave this to him.
Uchiha Tōka nodded and said to the Uchiha ninja behind him, "Let's go! We'll find the other battalions!"
His Uchiha battalion now had only over twenty members left, having suffered heavy casualties.
Uchiha Fugaku couldn't help but ask, "Sensei, can Jōnin Copper Fox defeat those two elite Jōnin?"
Uchiha Tōka said, "At the very least, he can hold his own. Copper Fox possesses an absolute defense secret technique; he won't die so easily."
Yōkō looked at the two powerful figures from Kirigakure and thought, An ambush turned into being ambushed. Five Konoha battalions suffered heavy losses.
My dream of becoming a Battalion Commander has also been shattered.
Yōkō looked up at the moon revealed after the fog dispersed.
Let this full moon cycle's death be used in this crucial ambush mission.
Before dying, I must gather enough intelligence to secure my promotion to Battalion Commander in the next life.
Yōkō clanged the Twin Swords Hiramekarei against the rock and said, "Hōzuki Muragetsu, I'm surprised these broken twin swords could lure out a big fish like you."
Hōzuki Muragetsu ground his sharp teeth, glaring fiercely at Yōkō banging the Twin Swords Hiramekarei:
"The Seven Ninja Swords are the precious legacy left for our clan by Clan Leader Gengetsu! How dare you, a Konoha ninja, treat the Twin Swords Hiramekarei like this?"
"Oh? A legacy left for your Hōzuki clan by the Second Mizukage? Then why did I see someone called Kuriarare Kushimaru wielding the Longsword Nuibari?" Yōkō mocked:
"Could it be that you Hōzuki descendants, these spendthrifts, couldn't protect the ninja swords, and Kirigakure took them by force?"
"If Kuriarare Kushimaru can wield one of the Seven Ninja Swords, why can't I?"
***
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(End of Chapter)