At this moment, Tsunade's body was completely exhausted—she could barely even stand.
With Yuya carrying her, it was nearly impossible to escape the encirclement and pursuit of the Iwagakure shinobi.
She couldn't help but let out a bitter smile. Shaking her head weakly, she said,
"You can't save me by yourself. Put me down and leave—go pass the message back."
Hearing this, Yuya fell silent for a brief moment.
At the same time, the Iwa shinobi had already caught up. Killing intent filled their eyes. Some were already forming hand seals, while others took out stacks of shuriken, ready to throw.
Seeing this, Yuya shook his head slightly.
He gently set Tsunade down beneath a nearby tree, letting her lean against the trunk.
Tsunade said nothing.
But in the next instant, her expression suddenly froze in astonishment.
Because Yuya didn't turn around and flee.
Instead—
He turned to face the pursuing Iwagakure shinobi head-on.
By now, the shinobi at the front had clearly seen Yuya and Tsunade.
Though they were slightly surprised by the appearance of another person, the killing intent in their eyes didn't fade in the slightest.
They attacked simultaneously.
In an instant, a chaotic barrage of Earth Release and Fire Release ninjutsu—along with countless shuriken and kunai—came screaming toward Yuya.
Faced with the overwhelming, storm-like onslaught, Yuya's eyes behind the mask remained utterly calm.
"There are two choices now," he said evenly.
"Either I take you and leave immediately…"
"Or I kill all of these Iwagakure shinobi—
and then take you with me."
As he spoke, the corner of Yuya's mouth curved slightly, an almost imperceptible smile forming—
but his eyes were icy cold.
"And I… choose the second option."
In the next instant, Yuya raised his hand and grasped at empty air.
Pshhk—!!!
A burst of white smoke appeared, and the Kusanagi Sword materialized in his hand, firmly gripped.
"Shock Release: Void Shatter!"
Holding the sword with both hands, Yuya swung it down in a single, decisive motion.
Humm—!!
A blinding white light exploded straight ahead, as if endless radiance had gathered in one point. The air itself fractured into dazzling white裂痕!
The momentum was terrifying—
As though the very sky had been split apart by that single slash!
BOOOOM!!!
All the flames, rocks, shuriken, and kunai froze in midair—
Then detonated.
Crash—!!
The rocks shattered into countless fragments, which then continued to break apart until they were pulverized into fine dust, scattering across the ground.
The flames were violently dispersed and vanished.
As for the shuriken and kunai—
Though made of metal, under Yuya's horrifying shock force they twisted grotesquely, all of them contorted into corkscrew-like shapes!
One sword—
Blocked every single attack.
All the Iwagakure shinobi came to a halt, their faces filled with shock and disbelief as they stared ahead.
"What kind of jutsu was that?!"
"No hand seals—and it was cast with a sword. It must be some kind of secret technique."
"That range… it blocked all of our attacks at once!"
As the front-line Iwa shinobi spoke in stunned voices, more shinobi continued to arrive from behind.
Seeing the bizarre scene before them, they all sucked in a breath of cold air. None dared to attack recklessly, instead asking what had just happened.
The battlefield was now utterly ruined.
This had once been a dense forest.
The Iwa shinobi stood atop tree trunks and branches opposite Yuya.
Yuya stood beneath a large tree, positioned directly in front of Tsunade.
Between them, there had originally been countless thick trees—
Now, they were gone.
All of them had been reduced to shattered wooden fragments scattered across the ground. Cracks ran everywhere through the earth.
Combined with the countless twisted shuriken and kunai, more and more Iwa shinobi arrived—
Yet all of them stopped where they were.
After blocking everything with a single sword strike, Yuya calmly lowered the Kusanagi Sword, its tip angled toward the ground.
Behind him, Tsunade was completely stunned.
At first, when she heard Yuya say he would kill all the enemies before taking her away, she had thought he'd lost his mind.
At the same time, his voice had felt eerily familiar.
But just as she was about to remember—
Yuya swung his sword.
One slash, as if it tore apart heaven and earth, annihilating the entire barrage.
The sight left her utterly dumbfounded.
Even her full-powered monstrous strength punch could never reach such destructive power!
This Yuya—
Was definitely not an ordinary ANBU.
He was almost certainly a Special ANBU, and even among them, an exceptionally powerful one!
That realization instantly pushed Tsunade's thoughts in the wrong direction, making it even harder for her to remember who Yuya truly was.
After all—
Yuya was now wielding a sword.
His shock force was far stronger than before, and the visual impact was on an entirely different level.
The difference was like heaven and earth.
So even though he felt familiar, she couldn't possibly connect the Yuya before her—
With the Yuya who had once killed Uchiha Han.
The only thing she was certain of—
Was that this Konoha Special ANBU standing before her was incredibly strong.
Stronger than she was.
"There should still be over thirty enemies," Tsunade said after taking a deep breath, her voice steady.
"There are at least two elite jōnin and five jōnin among them…
So don't push yourself too hard."
She had seen Yuya's strength—and she had seen hope.
With power like his, it might truly be possible to escape alive.
But to fight over thirty Iwagakure shinobi alone—
That was still an enormous burden.
Even Sakumo Hatake wouldn't have found it easy.
"Over thirty… I see."
Yuya nodded slightly, still not turning around.
He slowly raised the sword and held it upright before him, speaking softly:
"Sometimes, whether it's one person or thirty people—
there's no real difference."
"It's like sweeping away dust."
"Whether there's one speck or thirty…
it's still just one swing of the broom."
Yuya's expression was calm—
But his eyes were cold enough to freeze a river.
After obtaining the Kusanagi Sword and learning his true identity, Yuya had been carrying a suppressed killing intent.
Now—
Tsunade's injuries had completely reignited it.
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