"Roar, Haineko!"
The blade transformed into a wisp of smoke, swirling around Matsumoto Rangiku.
She lightly swung the hilt and softly exclaimed, "Haineko no Taku!"
The Zanpakuto instantly turned into a cloud of ash. Just as the steel wires were about to land on Matsumoto Rangiku's body,
thick layers of ash formed solid ash walls, blocking the steel wires!
The sudden turn of events stunned everyone who was watching.
Smoke Release? Or something else?
Sakumo Hatake admitted he was a bit confused.
At first, the sword seemed to turn into smoke, but then it changed again.
What kind of ability was this?
Sakumo Hatake naturally couldn't figure it out.
Matsumoto Rangiku's Zanpakuto was a Wind-type Zanpakuto. When released, the blade turned into a cloud of ash, and could even use all the surrounding sand particles as combat power!
Although he couldn't understand it, it was undeniable that this sword was another ninja sword comparable to a Bloodline Limit!
Sakumo Hatake's guess was correct!
Where there's one, there's two!
This force indeed had more than just one Bloodline Limit-like ninja sword similar to Ice Release!
There might even be more!
The Kirigakure Ninja felt a discomfort in their throats, as if they had swallowed something foul, upon seeing this scene.
Even more distressed was Kuriarare Kushimaru.
His meticulously planned scheme was so easily dissolved?
Just drawing his sword and using the special ability of his ninja sword, she easily countered his fatal blow!
Kuriarare Kushimaru looked at longsword: nuibari, which had accompanied him for many years, and for a moment, it didn't seem so appealing.
He had to meticulously plan for a long time to kill someone, and even then, he couldn't be detected by the enemy.
This person in front of him just drew her sword, and the special ability of her ninja sword could help her solve her predicament.
Especially this Bloodline Limit-like ability, it was truly enviable!
Whoosh—
The ash wall suddenly stirred. Kuriarare Kushimaru stared intently.
His internal alarm was blaring.
The ash wall suddenly burst with a 'bang,' and before Kuriarare Kushimaru could react, it reverted to a fluid state.
Matsumoto Rangiku's voice came from within:
"Neko Rinbu!"
As soon as her voice fell, the cloud of ash seemed to receive an order and began to spin rapidly.
Whoosh, whoosh—
A gray tornado instantly formed. The steel wires that Kuriarare Kushimaru couldn't retrieve were instantly shredded when they touched the tornado!
Not good!
Kuriarare Kushimaru didn't have time to grieve over the damage to longsword: nuibari and immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to escape the gray tornado.
He looked down at his Ninja uniform, which was already tattered just from being caught in the periphery, and a chill ran down his spine.
He couldn't help but exclaim, "What terrifying cutting power!"
Matsumoto Rangiku saw that she had lost her target, so she dispersed the tornado, returning it to a smoky state.
Then, she gently waved the hilt of her sword forward.
"?"
This inexplicable action left Kuriarare Kushimaru a bit confused.
Just then, a whistling sound suddenly came from behind him.
Kuriarare Kushimaru sharply turned his head. A wisp of smoke had appeared behind him at some point.
The next second, it transformed into a katana shape and fiercely slashed towards him!
Kuriarare Kushimaru's pupils constricted. The sudden attack left him with no time to employ any escape methods.
He could only watch helplessly as the smoke descended!
The stinging sensation on his face indicated the power of the smoke.
Splat—
The next second, the cutting power entwined in the smoke completely tore Kuriarare Kushimaru apart!
Dead, he's dead?!
The Kirigakure Ninja couldn't help but swallow hard as they looked at Kuriarare Kushimaru's gruesome state.
Their hearts trembled.
Kuriarare Kushimaru, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and the user of longsword: nuibari, just died like that?
This was someone who stood among the high-level combat forces of their Hidden Mist Village!
Even ordinary Jonin from other Ninja Villages would turn and run if they saw him!
Yet, such a powerful figure was so easily killed by that woman!
Even more terrifying was that there were five other people of her caliber standing here!
For a time, the Kirigakure Ninja began to retreat.
They also felt a lack of confidence in the other Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Sakumo Hatake didn't think as complexly as the Kirigakure Ninja, as he was merely an observer this time.
He felt nothing about Kuriarare Kushimaru's death.
He would even applaud it.
He understood that his mission this time was to disrupt all of the Hidden Mist Village's activities in the Uzushigakure.
Although there were unforeseen circumstances, it was still a disguised completion of the mission.
Moreover, with the Hidden Mist Village's strength weakened, they would no longer have the ambition to target Konoha.
This was good news for Konoha.
But the bad news was that the Uzushigakure seemed to have been occupied by a mysterious and powerful force.
Sakumo Hatake currently did not know the attitude of this force towards Konoha.
But having such an existence behind them was like a ticking time bomb placed in Konoha, always worrying about when it might suddenly detonate.
Now, the best outcome would be to let this mysterious force and the Hidden Mist Village mutually restrain each other!
Sakumo Hatake felt this plan was very feasible.
Although this mysterious force was very strong, and it sounded like there were even stronger figures yet to appear.
But as one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, the Hidden Mist Village had countless Ninja; even by sheer numbers, they could take down a few.
And if this mysterious force defended the Uzushigakure, the Hidden Mist Village wouldn't find it easy to attack.
With Konoha interfering to maintain a balance between the two forces, that would be the best outcome for Konoha!
However, this matter still needed to be discussed with Hokage-sama before making a decision.
He recorded this matter and Matsumoto Rangiku's intelligence, noting her ability to easily kill an Elite Jonin.
Although, in Sakumo Hatake's view, a large part of this strength came from that ninja sword with its special ability.
After all, even he, if he didn't know Matsumoto Rangiku's intelligence, would suffer a considerable loss.
But being able to perfectly wield such an ability was also a form of strength.
On the other side, Matsumoto Rangiku ignored everyone's gazes. Instead, she stretched lazily and said casually, "Finally, I can call it a day."
Although she had killed an enemy, she had no intention of helping her teammates.
She wasn't the type to love work anyway; she'd slack off whenever she could.
Moreover, she didn't think they needed her help.
"Oh, right, Lord Spirit King seemed to have said to bring this ninja sword back."
Suddenly remembering Lord Spirit King's instructions, Matsumoto Rangiku hurriedly picked up longsword: nuibari, which had almost sunk into the sea with Kuriarare Kushimaru's corpse.
Sakumo Hatake's eyes narrowed.
Spirit King, who was that again?