Looking at Biwa Jūzō slowly walking toward him, Might Guy and the others felt their courage collapsing.
Even so, their pride as Konoha shinobi wouldn't allow them to kneel or beg for mercy.
"Don't get cocky! Lord Golden Lion will be arriving on this battlefield soon!"
Ever since Hiruzen Sarutobi left and Aoyama Liuyun took full command of the Kirigakure front, that news had spread through the entire Konoha camp.
Everyone finally felt relief. Neither Iwagakure nor Kumogakure had managed to deal with Aoyama Liuyun; naturally, if he came here, Kirigakure wouldn't fare any better.
Might Guy and the others had been assigned to patrol this area simply to prevent any unexpected threat from approaching the Konoha camp before Aoyama Liuyun's arrival.
But no one expected that a simple patrol would result in running straight into the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Everyone was stunned. Completely dumbfounded.
"Tch."
Biwa Jūzō sneered, and it wasn't only him.
The other swordsmen also burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Aoyama Liuyun? What's that supposed to mean to us?"
"If he comes here, we'll show him what the Seven Ninja Swordsmen really are!"
"Kumogakure and Iwagakure were just weaklings. Kirigakure is the strongest!"
"He's called the Golden Lion only because he hasn't stepped into the Mist yet. If he did, we'd gut him like a fish!"
Even Hōzuki Mangetsu, usually the calmest among them, glanced toward the direction Liuyun would approach with nothing but open contempt.
The reason was simple: the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were arrogant to the point of insanity.
They feared no one except the Mizukage — and even then, only barely.
"Don't tell me the Golden Lion isn't here," Biwa Jūzō said with a cruel grin. He raised the Kubikiribōchō from his shoulder and pointed it directly at the terrified trio.
"Even if he were here… we could kill him too."
"Really?"
A calm voice drifted through the thick fog.
The tone was mild, but the authority behind it made it impossible to ignore.
"Who's there?!"
The sudden voice immediately put the swordsmen on alert.
Years of fighting within Kirigakure's fog had honed their senses far beyond ordinary shinobi.
Even so… none of them had detected the newcomer approaching.
Through the shifting mist, a blond man emerged — posture relaxed, presence overwhelming.
"Aoyama Liuyun?"
Hōzuki Mangetsu frowned. The appearance was unmistakable — blond, casually arrogant, dual swords at his waist.
Everything matched the infamous "Golden Lion."
"Lord Liuyun!"
The three young genin — Might Guy, Yamashiro Aoba, and Shiranui Genma — who had been moments away from despair, immediately looked at him with shining admiration.
Liuyun's very presence dissolved the suffocating killing intent pressing down on them.
It felt like fresh air after being buried alive.
"Mn."
Liuyun didn't waste words.
He simply stepped in front of the three genin and faced the Seven Swordsmen.
While traveling across the sea, he had sensed their presence immediately — their bloodlust, the chakra signatures of the swords, the tension building in the fog.
He did not, however, expect things to unfold exactly like this.
As a transmigrator, Aoyama Liuyun remembered clearly: in the original timeline, without his intervention, Might Guy's father — Might Duy — would appear next.
By opening all Eight Gates, Duy would kill four of the Seven Swordmen and cripple three others, dying in the process… but earning eternal fame.
"So you really are Aoyama Liuyun. Looks like we get the big prize today," one of the swordsmen muttered.
The atmosphere tightened instantly — pressure thick enough to crush the air.
Their gazes sharpened with cruelty, and the killing intent rose like a tide.
It was obvious: they considered Liuyun prey.
"Whether I'm the fish… or you are… is still undecided."
Liuyun smiled lightly, hands relaxed behind his back, unfazed by their hostility.
The silence stretched for several heavy seconds.
Guy and the others didn't dare breathe too loudly, anxiety practically dripping from their faces.
They all knew Liuyun was strong — but witnessing his strength firsthand was another matter entirely.
"Let me try him first!"
The wielder of the Bluntsword: Kabutowari, Tōzuka Yagura (correcting the name), moved first.
With a sudden burst of speed, he appeared right in front of Liuyun.
The hammer-and-axe duo of Kabutowari came crashing down toward Liuyun's skull.
CLANG!
Liuyun caught the descending axe blade with one arm hardened in Armament Haki.
"Oh?"
Though the attack was caught, Tōzuka Yagura didn't panic.
He even smirked.
Kabutowari was a paired weapon — an axe that cleaves and a hammer that drives it.
The hammer was meant to force the axe through any defense, even armor or bone.
"Let me show you how Kabutowari crushes flesh!"
He swung the hammer down, aiming to smash the back of the axe and force it through Liuyun's arm.
BOOM!
A heavy shock ran through Liuyun's arm — a force comparable to Tsunade's monstrous strength.
Unfortunately for Yagura…
"Is that all?"
Liuyun chuckled, a short, contemptuous sound.
CRACK!
A network of fractures suddenly spread across Kabutowari's axe blade.
"What—?! That's impossible!"
Yagura's expression twisted in disbelief.
But the shock lasted only an instant.
Liuyun pivoted, seized the weapon, and — still using only one hand — swung Kabutowari straight back at its wielder.
"Return to sender."
BOOM!
Yagura was blasted away, crashing through several trees before slamming into the ground.
"What?!"
"How the hell—?!"
"Yagura!"
Before any of the swordsmen could process the scene, Tōzuka Yagura had already been sent flying like a broken puppet.
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