Deep within the Mist Valley, inside a hastily constructed room, a tall, tan-skinned, heavily muscled middle-aged man sat in a chair, propping his right cheek up with one hand, his face full of boredom.
His name was Yotsuki B.
He hailed from the undisputed number one ninja clan of Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning—the Yotsuki Clan.
Back in the day, Kumogakure itself had been established under the leadership of their clan head of that generation, the First Raikage. The two Raikage who followed also came from this clan. Within Kumogakure—and even across the entire Land of Lightning—their clan's status and influence could be described as being at its absolute peak.
And not only was Yotsuki B from the Yotsuki Clan, he was also the "B" of the previous generation's AB Combination.
The AB Combination was a legendary duo of Kumogakure—no, more accurately, of the Yotsuki Clan.
Typically, the clan's heir—the one destined to inherit the name "A"—would choose, from within the clan or among relatives, a partner they could entrust their life to, who would inherit the name "B." Only if no suitable candidate could be found would they look outside.
The two would grow together, fight side by side, and trust each other enough to leave their backs completely exposed.
And Yotsuki B was precisely that previous generation's "B."
His former partner was none other than the current Third Raikage—Yotsuki A.
The man known as possessing both the strongest spear and the strongest shield.
"So damn boring…"
Yotsuki B let out another long yawn, shifting his posture lazily.
"Fighting alongside big brother was way more fun."
"I still don't get what he was thinking, assigning me to something like guarding a warehouse."
Even as he said that, deep down, Yotsuki B understood the truth.
He had long since been unable to keep up with his big brother.
His big brother was too strong now—so strong that even basic coordination required a partner with sufficient speed and reaction just to keep up.
And he, the former "B," could no longer do that.
If they really tried to fight together, his big brother would have to slow down to accommodate him, which would instead make him a burden.
So his big brother had placed him in the rear, assigning him to patrol the village's key supply points—entrusting him, the person he trusted most, with the places that absolutely could not afford to go wrong.
"Sigh…"
Just as Yotsuki B's thoughts wandered and he was about to take another nap—
"Hmm!?"
His eyes snapped open.
In an instant, blinding azure lightning erupted from his massive body without warning! Violent Lightning Release chakra surged outward, covering his entire form, emitting a sharp, metallic crackling sound.
The next moment, his figure vanished from where he sat.
…
A few minutes earlier, in the valley.
Dense mist filled the air.
A flash of blade light cut through it—two Kumogakure shinobi fell silently.
Shinichi made a "clear" hand signal. Several shadowy figures behind him moved forward swiftly, handling the bodies. The entire process took less than three seconds.
This was deep inside Mist Valley, about five hundred meters from the entrance. The First Reconnaissance Squad led by Shinichi had already infiltrated for ten minutes. With Aburame Shishō controlling insect swarms from the shadows to scout ahead, they had avoided all barrier nodes and traps.
They had encountered danger three times along the way, each time narrowly resolving it.
"Turn left ahead. Go around the rock wall—that's the target area." Information from Shishō formed rapidly into words in midair through the insect swarm. "The swarm has detected chakra fluctuations—at least thirty stable life signatures."
"Continue forward." Shinichi gave a hand signal. The First Assault Squad prepared to engage.
"Wait." Inuzuka Tsume suddenly sniffed the air. "New scent approaching—fast! Seven people, two o'clock direction, one hundred fifty meters!"
A patrol unit.
Shinichi signaled "hide," and everyone instantly blended into the mist.
Moments later, seven Kumogakure shinobi passed within twenty meters. Shinichi glanced at them, gauged their strength, then gave another signal.
"Take them out."
The moment the signal dropped, Shinichi had already disappeared.
The surrounding twenty figures burst into motion at the same time!
Shinichi charged in first. A flash of his blade—two Kumogakure shinobi had their throats slit, blood spraying out. Without stopping, he reversed his grip and severed a third man's head. His left hand shot out, gripping a fourth by the throat—crack—crushing it instantly.
Four Kumogakure shinobi—eliminated in an instant!
At the same time, the remaining three Kumogakure shinobi froze abruptly, their eyes falling into a dazed trance. Ueno Kaito and the others, who had been lying in ambush, lunged out from the mist—one strike each, clean and efficient. Before the seven bodies could even hit the ground, they had already been dragged into the shadows.
In less than three seconds from start to finish, Shinichi lightly wiped the blood from his blade and sheathed it.
"Continue forward."
The team moved again. Passing through the last layer of mist, the view ahead suddenly opened up.
In the center of a clearing stood several massive warehouses. A three-meter-high fence surrounded them, with watchtowers at the four corners. A barrier membrane enveloped the entire area.
"At least one hundred and twenty stationed personnel. The barrier density is high—hard to breach silently." Shishō reported rapidly through the insect swarm.
Shinichi observed the patrol patterns.
"First, find the barrier's…"
He hadn't even finished speaking—
BOOM!!!
An explosion roared from the direction of the valley entrance! Flames tore through the dense mist! The clash of weapons and furious shouts followed immediately after!
It was the Third Assault Squad—they'd been exposed!
"Damn it!" Ueno Kaito's expression changed sharply.
"Enemy attack!!!"
"It's Konoha dogs!"
Alarm signals rang out across the valley. The shinobi on the watchtowers immediately sent out alerts. Ground patrol units rapidly contracted, forming up with their backs to the warehouses. More Kumogakure shinobi, weapons in hand, poured out from the barracks beside the storage buildings.
The entire Mist Valley erupted like a kicked hornet's nest.
They were exposed.
The plan was disrupted.
A cold glint flashed in Shinichi's eyes as he made a decision in an instant. He barked: "Force an assault! Ueno-senpai, coordinate with me—tear open a breach from the front!"
As he spoke, a point of crimson light suddenly condensed at his fingertip. With a flick of his hand—
Dark Flare!
A spark of flame shot through the air like a blazing arrow—then suddenly detonated midair. A massive wave of fire surged into existence out of nowhere, sweeping toward the warehouse zone like a raging tide!
Almost exactly two seconds after Shinichi moved, Ueno Kaito completed his hand seals. His chest swelled as he drew in a deep breath—
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!
A violent gale roared forth, pouring directly into the sea of flames!
Wind fed the fire—fire rode the wind!
The already surging inferno expanded severalfold in an instant, transforming into a sky-covering firestorm that crashed down toward the Kumogakure formation!
Scorching heat waves rolled outward. Wherever it passed, the mist was instantly vaporized. The ground blackened and cracked, and even the air warped from the heat.
With a sharp crack, the barrier membrane flickered violently under the impact of the firestorm. It held for less than half a second before shattering like fragile glass!
"The barrier's down!"
"Hold them off!"
Kumogakure reacted with extreme speed. At the very moment the barrier broke, the twenty shinobi at the front began forming hand seals at once!
"Go!"
As the word fell, a flickering crimson glow surged beneath Shinichi's skin, as if heat were radiating from within his body.
The ground beneath his feet exploded apart. His entire body transformed into a blazing, high-speed crimson vortex, spiraling through the air and leaving a scorching trail as it tore straight into the Kumogakure ranks!
"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
"Lightning Release: Lightning Pillar!"
"Lightning Release: Lightning Sphere!"
At nearly the same instant Shinichi's flaming vortex charged in, the twenty Kumogakure shinobi completed their seals and roared in unison!
Blinding lightning spears, massive columns of lightning, and crackling spheres of violent electricity burst forth, weaving into a destructive azure net that collided head-on with the unstoppable fire vortex!
BOOM!!!
A blinding explosion erupted, impossible to look at directly! Violent shockwaves expanded outward in a ring, instantly clearing the surrounding mist! Stones on the ground were blasted into the air, only to be pulverized into dust by the following shock!
The lightning net shattered into countless jumping arcs.
The fire vortex also exploded apart, scattering crimson flames in all directions.
And at the very instant the vortex vanished—
Shinichi's figure burst forth from the storm of sparks and lightning!
In midair, his right leg rose high, straight as a battle axe, carrying the full weight of his body and the force of his descent—then came crashing down toward the densest cluster of Kumogakure shinobi like a falling meteor!
BOOM!!!
The impact was deafening!
Three Kumogakure shinobi at the center were killed instantly, the sound of bones shattering crisp and unmistakable. A crater several meters wide was left behind, shattered stone blasting outward in all directions.
More than twenty surrounding shinobi were thrown back by the shockwave—some coughing blood as they were sent flying, some rolling on the ground unable to rise, others slamming into the wooden walls of the warehouses with heavy thuds.
The Kumogakure formation was torn open in an instant!
Fang Passing Fang!
Inuzuka Tsume's attack followed immediately!
She and her partner Kuromaru began spinning at high speed at the same time. Their chakra intertwined, forming two violently rotating whirlwinds that drilled downward like twin augers from the sky!
BOOM! BOOM!
Two more explosive impacts!
The twin vortexes formed by Tsume and Kuromaru smashed directly into the scattered Kumogakure formation before they could regroup!
Three shinobi were sent flying instantly, bones cracking audibly!
Another four or five were clipped by the edges of the whirlwinds, deep wounds tearing open across their bodies, blood spraying out!
"Nicely done!"
Ueno's eyes lit up. Without hesitation, he led the remaining dozen or so squad members forward, charging into the chaotic battlefield where the Kumogakure formation had collapsed.
"Damn brat!"
Two furious shouts rang out almost at the same time!
Two Kumogakure jōnin—Kazumo and Artz—lunged at Shinichi from front and rear!
Kazumo charged in first. The katana in his hand was wrapped in violent Lightning Release chakra, crackling arcs dancing along the blade, casting a savage light across his face.
The blade tore through the air with a piercing thunderclap, slashing straight for Shinichi's neck!
The strike was both fast and vicious—augmented by Lightning Release chakra, its speed was astonishing!
Clang!
A crisp, short, almost light metallic ring echoed.
Shinichi's blade, as if it had foreseen everything, struck with absolute precision against a tiny, unstable point on the side of Kazumo's descending katana—the weakest point, the point least capable of bearing force!
Kazumo felt as if his blade had struck an impossibly smooth wall of ice—no, like punching into empty air. The force was instantly redirected, slipping away! His body stalled for a split second!
At the same time, a strange yet perfectly controlled counterforce surged back along the blade, crashing into his right arm like a tidal wave. His palm went numb, and his grip slackened—his right hand lost sensation entirely!
How could this be?!
That single thought flashed through his mind.
The next instant—a flash of cold light.
Kazumo's head shot into the air, blood spraying.
One exchange.
Kumogakure jōnin—killed instantly.
Secret Sword Technique: Deflection!
This was the peculiar effect brought by Shinichi's stacked weapon-enhancing Entries—Sword Master, Swordsmanship Mastery, Polearm Mastery, and more.
These Entries not only drastically increased his efficiency and upper limit in learning and wielding weapons, they also seemed to let him perceive the very nature of weapons themselves.
Every weapon has its "momentum."
Every attack has its "opening."
Each possesses a fleeting instant where it is most fragile—most fatal.
Shinichi could perceive that instant.
With the enhancement of Flash Step, he could see that instant.
With both combined—he could seize that instant!
What?!
At that moment, Artz—renowned for taijutsu—was already sweeping a whip-like kick toward Shinichi's head. His pupils shrank violently.
But there was no time to think.
He could only take advantage of the momentary pause after Shinichi's attack and continue pressing forward. From this angle, the opponent shouldn't have time to turn and strike…
However—
Facing his attack, Shinichi neither dodged nor drew his blade.
His body curved like a bow—and he raised his left elbow to block!
Bang!!!
The moment elbow met leg, Artz felt an indescribable counterforce erupt from Shinichi's elbow!
The force was absurd—like he hadn't kicked flesh and bone at all, but slammed into a mountain!
Even more terrifying, that force surged back along his leg, rebounding upward and instantly numbing his entire limb!
In the instant his balance broke—
A hand like an iron clamp seized his thigh!
The next moment—
The world spun.
Shinichi gripped Artz's leg and swung him like a weapon, smashing his entire body brutally into the ground!
BOOM!!!
Stone shattered. The earth cracked!
Artz's vision went black. He spat out a mouthful of blood. Before his sight could even recover—
A blazing fist came crashing down!
Boom!
Crimson flames burst across the fist.
Artz's head vanished within the fire.
Close-Quarters Technique: Nue Snatch!
Its inspiration came from his clone Isshin's Adamant Guard.
Shinichi didn't possess Enma's lineage and couldn't truly replicate Adamant Guard—but he could simulate it.
Over the past year, he had repeatedly studied the way his clone activated Adamant Guard—the contraction patterns of the muscles, the angles of skeletal load-bearing, the explosive circulation and convergence of chakra through specific pathways and acupoints.
In the end, combining it with his own physique, he created this technique—Nue Snatch.
By mobilizing chakra in a precise way in an instant, it simulated a localized state of extreme defense similar to Adamant Guard. At the moment of impact, it redirected and absorbed part of the incoming force, then rebounded it outward as a shock—creating the perfect opening to end the fight in a single strike.
"Nue," the legendary creature resembling a monkey, with tiger's limbs and a serpent's tail, whose body was impervious to blades—this technique drew from its concepts of "durability" and "counterattack."
"This is bad! The enemy is strong!"
In the blink of an eye, two Kumogakure jōnin had fallen one after another—one to Shinichi's blade, the other to his hands—sending shockwaves through the Kumogakure ranks. The remaining shinobi retreated, faces filled with alarm.
Behind him, Inuzuka Tsume and Ueno Kaito were equally stunned.
They knew their captain was strong—but they had never imagined he was this strong.
Those were Kumogakure jōnin.
In other words—
If their captain turned on them, it would only take one or two exchanges.
Thankfully…
He was on their side.
The same thought surfaced simultaneously in the minds of all the Konoha shinobi.
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---