BOOM—!!
Yuya's counterattack against Momochi Sakaki was swift and merciless.
The earth roared as dense cracks burst outward from the impact point, spreading in every direction like a spiderweb.
"—Tch!"
Sakaki rolled again and again, barely escaping the attack's range. When he finally regained his footing, a thin line of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
After being fooled by a clone and then struck by Yuya's ambush, there was no way he could have come out unscathed.
"Damn it… how did you see through me?!"
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Sakaki glared at Yuya, his eyes cold and filled with disbelief.
"Your aura."
Yuya stared at him calmly.
"No matter how perfect your disguise looks, she is the person closest to me.
That kind of presence is not something you can perfectly imitate."
"…I see."
Sakaki exhaled slowly, frustration flashing through his eyes.
If he had known that, he never would have disguised himself as Uzumaki Kushina.
If he'd chosen someone Yuya wasn't familiar with, the ambush might actually have succeeded.
Neither of them moved.
They simply stared at each other, cold and silent.
Yuya wasn't afraid of dragging this out.
This was Konoha.
The moment an assassin acted here, exposure was inevitable.
Konoha's village-wide sensory barrier, along with the countless sensor-type shinobi patrolling the village, were no decoration.
Once exposed, Konoha's response would be swift.
At this very moment, ANBU were likely already closing in.
What puzzled Yuya was how this assassin had managed to find such an opening at all.
With the Second Shinobi World War approaching, spies were everywhere.
Konoha had spies from other villages within its walls, just as it had its own agents embedded elsewhere.
But spies and assassins were not the same.
Spies focused on concealment—gathering information without ever being noticed.
Assassins, on the other hand, had to track targets, observe routines, and search for killing opportunities.
That kind of behavior was far more suspicious.
Especially in a great village like Konoha—
Spies might slip in unnoticed.
But an assassin getting this close, even launching an attack, without being discovered?
That pointed to more than just the assassin himself.
There was a problem inside Konoha.
Danzo?
The Uchiha?
Those possibilities flashed through Yuya's mind in an instant.
His gaze grew colder.
But none of that mattered right now.
What mattered was only one thing—
Who would live, and who would die.
From the failed assassination to Yuya's counterstrike and their brief exchange—
Only a few seconds had passed.
Sakaki's heart sank.
If the assassination had succeeded instantly, he could have retreated immediately.
Even if Konoha pursued him, he was confident he could escape.
But now—
In Konoha, even minimal combat disturbance was enough to alert sensor shinobi.
He was already exposed.
ANBU might be surrounding the area as they spoke.
"Then I'll have to end this fast…"
"Kill the brat in one move—then maybe I still have a chance."
Sakaki locked onto Yuya.
Deep down, he knew the truth.
Even if he killed Yuya now, escape was unlikely.
But if he was going down—
He would take Yuya with him.
In the next instant, Sakaki gripped his katana with both hands.
Humm—!!!
A cyan glow flared along the blade.
It looked like Wind Release chakra, yet felt subtly different—sharper, more condensed.
"Dance of Chaotic Burial!"
Whoosh—!!
Sakaki's figure blurred, leaving behind multiple afterimages.
It wasn't that his body had suddenly accelerated—
—but his sword.
In that moment, the blade seemed to split into countless thrusts, surging forward like a violent storm.
This was a chakra-enhanced sword technique, a specialized killing art.
"A shinobi from the Hidden Mist?"
Yuya's eyes flickered.
But this sword was not one of the Seven Ninja Swords of the Mist.
And if a true member of the Seven were here, Yuya wouldn't stand a chance.
This attack was fast—
—but still within his ability to react.
"DIE, BRAT!"
Mad killing intent twisted Sakaki's face as chakra erupted wildly, forming endless cyan thrusts that tore toward Yuya.
Slash—!!
In an instant, it was as if lotus blossoms bloomed everywhere.
Beautiful—
—and utterly lethal.
A killing field reminiscent of hell itself.
Yet when faced with this sure-kill technique—
Yuya merely paused for a split second.
He did not dodge.
He did not retreat.
He stood there—
—as if stunned.
But the thought in Yuya's mind was strangely calm.
"…Is that all?"
Sakaki's ultimate move was far weaker than Yuya had anticipated.
The truth was simple—
Yuya had been overly cautious.
The moment he was targeted for assassination, his thoughts had jumped to terrifying figures of the shinobi world.
But in reality—
No truly powerful existence would personally come to assassinate someone like him.
Not even someone on the level of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
Leaving aside whether they could infiltrate Konoha unnoticed—
Even if they succeeded, escaping the Land of Fire while evading Konoha's pursuit would be nearly impossible.
Strong shinobi didn't trade their lives lightly.
Even assassinating a genius had to be worth the price.
And the man before him—
Was at most an elite chūnin.
This technique looked flashy, but at its peak—
It was only equivalent to a high-tier B-rank ninjutsu.
So why dodge?
Yuya shook his head internally and clenched his fist.
Humm—!!
Chakra surged.
At the same time, vibration force rapidly condensed.
Then—
Facing the oncoming storm of blades—
Yuya calmly threw a single punch.
Seeing Yuya stop and meet his sword with bare fists—
Sakaki froze for a moment.
Then he sneered.
He knew Yuya's abilities.
He knew about the strange vibrations Yuya's punches produced.
But this—
This was his signature killing art.
The Dance of Chaotic Burial!
He had once assassinated a jōnin with this very move!
A mere brat—
Trying to block it so casually?
Did he think Sakaki was just an ordinary chūnin?!
Mockery gleamed in Sakaki's eyes.
He could already see it—
Yuya being torn apart, shredded and buried by his blade dance.
But in the very next moment—
The wind stopped.
And Sakaki's expression—
froze.
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