At first, they thought the fragments flying through the air were what remained of Yagami after the explosion.
Because of that, the remaining five members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen suddenly raised their heads and looked toward the sky.
In the next instant, their pupils shrank violently.
What appeared in their sight was not Yagami.
It was a face they knew far too well.
The severed head of Jinpachi Munashi, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
"So this is the famous Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist?"
From within the white smoke, Yagami's voice sounded, calm and filled with disdain.
"…What a disappointment."
Those words snapped the other five out of their shock.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Five sharp bursts of wind rang out almost at the same time.
The remaining members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen instantly scattered in different directions.
"Lightning Style: Thunder Burial — Earth Spider!"
The moment Raiga Kurosuki landed, he drove his twin blades into the ground.
In the next instant, thick arcs of lightning surged out from the blades, crawling across the earth like four massive serpents before rushing toward Yagami inside the white mist.
Boom!
The white mist was blown apart.
The lightning struck Yagami head-on.
However, he remained standing where he was, completely unharmed, a faint sneer hanging on his face as he looked at Raiga.
For Yagami, who possessed the power of light, ordinary physical attacks were already meaningless.
And even if he did not rely on elementalization, lightning was still useless against him.
After all, he possessed the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
Thunder and lightning could not harm even a single hair on his body.
Unless it was Lightning Style formed through chakra, it might have a slight chance of affecting him.
"Nani…?!"
Seeing Yagami standing there unharmed, still looking at him with that mocking expression, Raiga's face twisted in disbelief.
Yagami paid no attention to the lightning still crackling across the battlefield as he walked forward with the Ama no Murakumo Sword in hand.
Each step was calm and unhurried.
"And here I thought the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were supposed to be dangerous."
His eyes swept across them casually.
"Konoha really got underestimated this badly, huh?"
The lightning hissed and crawled over his body, but it could not even burn the edge of his clothes.
Instead, Yagami, bathed in thunder, looked even more oppressive.
"...Or did you all come here prepared not to leave alive?"
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Just as Yagami approached Raiga, a shout rang out from the right.
A water dragon rose from the ground, roaring as it surged toward him.
Clang—
Rumble!
Yagami did not even turn his head.
He simply raised the Ama no Murakumo Sword and slashed to the right.
A golden slash, more than twenty meters tall and several meters wide, tore through the air with terrifying force.
The water dragon collided with it head-on.
But compared to the slash, the water dragon was like a twig trying to stop a falling boulder.
It shattered instantly.
The golden slash continued forward without slowing down, roaring toward Jūzō Biwa, who had released the Water Style technique.
"Water Style: Water Replacement!"
Facing that crushing slash, Jūzō's expression changed. He quickly formed hand signs.
At the last possible moment, his body turned into water and scattered, narrowly avoiding the attack.
"Lightning Style: Thunder Ball!"
Seeing Yagami slash away his companion's technique and continue walking toward him, Raiga pulled his twin blades out of the ground and pointed them at Yagami.
A ball of lightning, roughly the size of a human head, condensed between the blades before shooting forward.
Boom!
Yagami still did not dodge.
He allowed the thunder ball to strike him directly.
Against lightning, he had no reason to move.
It could not even stir a ripple on his body.
"How…?"
Raiga's face finally filled with horror after two attacks failed in a row.
But just as he was about to try again—
Yagami's body turned into particles of light and appeared directly in front of him.
"Atomic Slash."
The particles of light condensed into Yagami's form as he raised the Ama no Murakumo Sword.
Then he brought it down toward Raiga Kurosuki.
The attack was too fast.
Raiga did not even have time to react.
Boom—!
Blood exploded from Raiga's body.
In the next instant, his entire body burst apart.
It was as if a doll made from countless blocks had been violently disassembled in midair.
Because Yagami had deliberately controlled the direction of the slash, the blood and fragments scattered forward.
Not a single drop landed on him.
"Raiga!"
Four horrified voices rang out at the same time.
The remaining members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen shouted in shock.
Even Sarutobi Hiruzen, standing outside the battlefield, was frozen in place.
He had fought desperately against these seven men for an entire night.
But after Yagami appeared, half of them had been killed in barely a dozen breaths.
Was he really that weak?
Or was Yagami simply far too strong?
"Yagami-sama!"
"Yagami-sama is incredible!"
"Yagami-sama, kill those invaders!"
"Show the Seven Ninja Swordsmen what happens when they step into Konoha!"
On top of the high wall, the Konoha shinobi and civilians were so excited that their voices nearly broke.
They did not even know how to describe the emotions surging in their chests.
All they could do was shout Yagami's name again and again.
Their cheers spread from the front line toward the center of the village.
And when the people deeper inside Konoha heard Yagami's name, they also began to cheer.
Since the war began, Yagami's name had become the most discussed name in Konoha.
To them, it represented victory.
So the moment they heard his name echoing from the battlefield, the fear in their hearts slowly faded.
"Was that golden light in the sky just now Yagami-sama?"
"It has to be! Ever since he appeared, everyone at the front line has been shouting his name!"
"Ah… I want to see him too."
"Me too. I want to know what Yagami-sama looks like."
"Do you even need to ask? Yagami-sama is Konoha's hero. Heroes are always handsome, right?"
A group of academy children who had not yet graduated lay on the roof of a building, excitedly discussing everything they had heard.
The sounds coming from the front line were no longer screams of panic or despair.
They were cheers loud enough to shake the sky.
Because of that, none of the children wanted to return to the shelters.
Instead, they were eager to rush to the front line and see Yagami's figure with their own eyes.
"Hiramekarei—Release!"
Just after Yagami cut down Raiga with a single slash, Mangetsu Hōzuki leapt violently toward him while holding the twin-handled blade, Hiramekarei.
With his shout, chakra burst out from Hiramekarei and formed a massive hammer.
Using the force of his fall, Mangetsu swung the chakra hammer down at Yagami with all his strength.
Sensing Mangetsu's attack from above, Yagami did not retreat.
He raised the Ama no Murakumo Sword and thrust it upward.
Clang!
Boom!
The sound of metal clashing against condensed chakra rang out violently.
In the next instant, the shockwave from the collision swept outward.
Pebbles and broken debris on the ground were blown away like they had been caught in a storm, scattering in every direction with the two of them at the center.
"Oh?"
Yagami looked at the chakra hammer formed by Hiramekarei and raised his brow slightly.
"That blade is more interesting than I expected."
The fact that a weapon formed from chakra could withstand a direct blow from his swordsmanship was enough to surprise him.
Although he had not coated the Ama no Murakumo Sword with Armament Haki or chakra, blocking a strike from his swordsmanship head-on was still something worth praising.
For a shinobi weapon, Hiramekarei was indeed worthy of being called one of the Seven Ninja Swords.
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