"I'm sorry. I cannot hand them over to you..."
Mifune didn't explain why. He simply, slowly, drew his sword.
As a samurai, a swordsman, there were principles he had to uphold. He was not like the Third Hokage, a leader who would readily sacrifice his own people for the sake of the village. The Land of Iron had no love for such leaders. This was the last domain of the samurai, and everyone here adhered to the samurai's code: a warrior dies for one who knows his worth.
He didn't care if Uchiha Nagi was a rogue ninja. After so many days of contact, Mifune considered him a friend worth having. That was enough. Betraying a friend was not the way of the samurai. If he couldn't even uphold that principle, he would have never become the sword saint of the Land of Iron.
"Hmph. You're courting death!" The Fourth Raikage, A, was now truly enraged. He tore off his weighted clothes and tossed them aside.
"Raikage-sama..." Darui tried to intervene. After all, Mifune's status in the Land of Iron was equivalent to a Kage's in the other great nations. Killing him was no different from assassinating a Kage and could easily escalate into a war between their two countries.
However, the Fourth Raikage was not a man easily calmed. His explosive temper flared, and he attacked, intending to beat this arrogant old man until he screamed in pain.
BOOM! A crater appeared where A had been standing. He had already charged forward.
From the very first move, the Fourth Raikage displayed unparalleled speed. Without using space-time ninjutsu, he was so fast the naked eye couldn't follow, a speed that the Body Flicker Technique couldn't even begin to compare to.
Mifune's pupils constricted. He couldn't see him. He couldn't see him at all. The Fourth Raikage was too fast, so fast his eyes could no longer track his movements.
BOOM!
A's fist slammed heavily into Mifune's blade. At the critical moment, Mifune had relied on a warrior's instinct to block the heavy blow. What he found incredible was that his treasured sword, while not a divine weapon, could still slice a hair floating in the air, yet the Raikage's fist struck it without receiving so much as a scratch. Just how powerful was this man's body? Ninja were typically glass cannons, easily killed by a single kunai, but the Fourth Raikage completely subverted that notion.
"Hmph. Not bad, old man." The brutish Fourth Raikage, his killing blow blocked, was not satisfied and continued his assault.
BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM!
The second punch, the third...
With every blow he took from the Raikage, Mifune's body felt as if it were being struck by a sledgehammer. The Fourth Raikage's strength was simply too immense. Not only was he fast, but his power was also terrifyingly heavy. To think that someone in the ninja world could train their speed and strength to such a degree...
But, gradually, Mifune miraculously began to adapt. He recalled his spars with Nagi. If his eyes couldn't keep up with A's speed, then he would simply stop using them.
Mifune closed his eyes and began to fight by feeling, recalling Nagi's Water Breathing Style. He used the mortal pressure from the Fourth Raikage to fuse it with his own Breathing Style, constantly refining it. True combat was the best test. Mifune used the pressure from A, the life-or-death crisis where a single mistake would mean being beaten to death by a single punch, to temper his own technique.
Water is the softest of things, yet it can overcome all...
Mifune began to create a Breathing Style and sword technique that could overcome strength with weakness, to stand against the powerful.
But the Fourth Raikage's brow furrowed the more he fought. He could feel the old man's power skyrocketing. At first, he had struggled to block even a single punch, but now he was becoming more and more difficult to deal with, as if he had already adapted to his speed and strength.
Hiss—
Finally, combining his decades of experience in swordsmanship with his newly enlightened Breathing Style, Mifune managed to draw a thin line of blood on the Raikage's arm.
Suddenly, the Fourth Raikage stopped. He looked at the blood on his arm, then at Mifune, his eyes cold. "Old man, you dare use me for sword practice? You didn't really think I was just playing around with you, did you?"
BOOM! The pressure in the area intensified dramatically. The ground cracked like a spiderweb. The Fourth Raikage erupted with a massive amount of chakra, blue lightning crackling around his body. This was him getting serious, at one hundred percent.
Lightning Release: Chakra Armor.
"I'm giving you one last chance..." the Fourth Raikage said, his face grim as he slowly took a few steps forward.
Mifune shook his head. "Do you know the biggest difference between a samurai and a ninja? It is the conviction they have held in their hearts for thousands of years. As the leader of the Land of Iron's samurai, I must lead by example..."
"Then go to hell!" The Fourth Raikage mercilessly cut Mifune off and launched his attack.
With his Lightning Release Chakra Armor active, the Fourth Raikage was even faster, his strength even greater. More importantly, his defense was now even stronger. This time, when Mifune's sword struck him, it couldn't even break his skin. The Raikage, on the other hand, could completely disregard his own weak points, needing no defense as he attacked with abandon.
Mifune, who had been able to hold his own and occasionally return a strike, was now completely outmatched, struggling to survive in the face of the storm-like assault.
Gradually, Mifune began to falter. The Fourth Raikage's attacks were simply too strong. After all, he was old, while A was at the peak of his life. Not to mention, A's strength was inherently superior to his.
BOOM!
"Lightning Release: Liger Bomb!"
Mifune was struck by A's punch, taking the full force of the blow to his body. He flew back dozens of meters, crashing through several small trees before smashing into the wall of his own home.
The Fourth Raikage stopped, his face cold as he walked forward step by step...
"Cough, cough..." From the ruins, Mifune struggled to his feet, using his sword as a crutch. He coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, which contained small fragments of his internal organs...
"With this last blow, I will kill you, and show you the consequences of sheltering a thief."
The Fourth Raikage had never been merciful to his enemies. The Land of Iron? A small, neutral country. During the Great Ninja Wars, everyone had found it too tough a nut to crack and had left it alone, but that didn't mean they were afraid of it, or that they couldn't defeat it.
"Cough... Come. I will use the last of my strength to receive the Raikage-dono's final blow..." Mifune raised his katana with trembling hands, gripping it firmly.
"Lightning Release: Guillotine Drop!"
"Sword Style: Mountain Breaker!"
A flash of lightning shot past. The two of them now stood where the other had been...
The Fourth Raikage touched his chest in surprise, feeling the blood there. His Lightning Armor... had been breached. His absolute defense, his Lightning Armor, had been breached?
On the other side, Mifune had already collapsed. With that last strike, he had given up on survival, putting everything he had into a single slash of his fused Breathing Style. Although he had been a fraction too slow at the critical moment and the Raikage had dodged, the edge of his blade had still sliced through the Raikage's Lightning Armor as if it were tofu.
Is this how it ends...?
Mifune's life flashed before his eyes. As a young man, his swordsmanship had been superb, and he had roamed the ninja world with high spirits, until he met the strongest opponent of his life: Hanzo. Reality had dealt him a harsh blow. His swordsmanship was inferior to Hanzo's, his intuition no match for a ninja's. Not only was Hanzo's swordsmanship better than his, but he had also coated his blade with poison. If Hanzo hadn't cherished his talent at the time, giving him the antidote and letting him go, the future sword saint would have been nothing but a pile of bones.
Now, his swordsmanship had surpassed that of the Hanzo of the past, but by a cruel twist of fate, he had encountered a swordsman's nemesis: the Raikage. There were few who could stand against someone like the Raikage, a perfect fusion of speed and strength at the peak of human physicality. Especially when he activated his Lightning Armor, which raised his defense to the level of a Susanoo. How was a samurai who could only use a sword supposed to fight that? The Fourth Raikage's speed, strength, and Lightning Armor... even the other Kage of the four great nations might not be able to defeat him. Some might mention Onoki's Dust Release, but if your eyes couldn't even track A's movements, how could Onoki possibly hit him?
"It's not an unjust death..." Mifune fell slowly, closing his eyes. He had one regret. If he had been given a few more years to master his technique, perhaps he could have cut down the Raikage in their next battle. But there were no "what ifs." A loss was a loss. Now, he would enter the land of the dead with endless regret.
"Sorry I'm late."
A figure who had been gone for a long time appeared in front of Mifune, catching him and preventing his head from hitting the ground.
It was Uchiha Nagi. After spending a few days at the Waterfall of Truth and moving the Island Turtle from its original location, he had finally set off for the mainland. He had not expected to arrive just in time to see Mifune fall.
"So fast... The last one this fast was the Fourth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf, Minato Namikaze. I fought him once. A pity he died so young..." The Fourth Raikage narrowed his eyes, slowly walking towards Nagi.
"Your Flying Thunder God is as fast as his. But your Body Flicker... still needs some work."
BOOM!
With a tremendous roar, in less than a second, the Fourth Raikage's heavy punch slammed into Nagi, but it only hit an afterimage. He had already teleported to the roof with Mifune in his arms.
Nagi felt a pang of guilt. It was obvious Mifune had gotten into a fight with the Fourth Raikage because of him. He took out a syringe of adrenaline and injected it into Mifune's body. The dying man immediately regained a bit of his spirit, but it was only the last flicker of a dying flame. The Fourth Raikage had already crushed his internal organs. With injuries this severe, unless he knew Tsunade's Creation Rebirth, not even a medical-nin could save him.
"It's... no use. I know my own body. I'm... done for this time... But... I have one last thing to ask of you..." Mifune coughed up a few more mouthfuls of blood, gripping Nagi's hand tightly, as if he had a thousand words to say.
"Mifune, my friend, take your time," Nagi said, closing his eyes. When he opened them again, they were Mangekyo Sharingan.
He pulled Mifune into his spiritual world, just as Madara had taught Obito in the world of genjutsu. This was different from Tsukuyomi, which was a forced pull that the victim, like Kakashi, could not break free from even if they knew what was happening.