"This is it… quite well hidden."
Following the memories extracted from the three Sky Ninjas, Aoshi quickly located the Sky Ninja Village's base.
However, calling it a base was somewhat inaccurate. More precisely, it was a massive mechanical fortress.
Its core structure was buried deep underground, while the surface was perfectly camouflaged as dense forest terrain. To the naked eye, it was indistinguishable from the surrounding environment, making discovery extraordinarily difficult.
If Aoshi had not possessed the ability to read memories, finding this place would have been nearly impossible.
"Who's there?!" Because Aoshi made no effort to conceal his presence, a Sky Ninja soon discovered him.
When they clearly saw the Konoha headband on his forehead, their expressions changed instantly.
"It's a Konoha ninja!"
"Enemy attack!"
In the blink of an eye, large numbers of Sky Ninjas swarmed toward Aoshi from all directions.
"You despicable Konoha ninja—die!"
Only three years had passed since the Second Great Ninja War. The hatred of having their village destroyed by the Leaf had never faded.
Every Sky Ninja present was brimming with killing intent.
Yet in the face of their encirclement, Aoshi showed no urgency at all.
Rather than using his powerful Water Release ninjutsu, he calmly drew his ninja sword and met the Sky Ninjas head-on.
Although the Sky Ninja Village had resurfaced, their strength was far inferior to what it once had been.
Most of them were only Genin or Chunin, with very few Jonin among them.
Because of this, the outcome of their clash with Aoshi was already decided. Without exception, each Sky Ninja fell with a single strike.
Despite being surrounded by dozens of enemies, Aoshi moved as though he were slicing through melons and vegetables.
The Sky Ninjas didn't even have time to form hand seals.
Because Aoshi's sword was too fast. So fast that they couldn't even react.
In a short time, terror spread among the Sky Ninjas as bodies piled up before them. The remaining ones no longer dared to advance.
"How is this possible?! He's just one person—how could he kill so many of us so quickly?!"
"I remember now… It's him! He's Hirakawa Aoshi!"
A Sky Ninja with broader knowledge stared at Aoshi and shouted in shock.
"Hirakawa Aoshi?! The Konoha Hero?!"
"But wasn't he known for ninjutsu?" another Sky Ninja muttered in disbelief. "This sword technique… it's unbelievably fast, almost like—"
"Yes! Almost like Konoha's White Fang, famed for his swordsmanship!"
It was no wonder they thought so.
Before coming here, Aoshi had acquired top-tier swordsmanship talent from Hatake Sakumo himself.
Having personally witnessed Sakumo's sword technique, Aoshi—empowered by that talent—had successfully learned it.
That was precisely why he hadn't used ninjutsu earlier.
He wanted to test it.
Of course, having learned it didn't mean he had reached Sakumo Hatake's level.
After all, he had only seen it once. Mastery would require far more practice. Even so, it was more than sufficient to deal with the Sky Ninjas before him.
If Hatake Sakumo were present, he would have been shocked into doubting his own existence.
Learning his ultimate sword technique after seeing it only once?
If Kakashi were also here, he might begin questioning everything he believed.
He had trained in Hatake swordsmanship since childhood—yet he couldn't match the speed at which Aoshi learned it through mere observation.
Did he truly deserve to be called a genius?
Aoshi once said: "I've met many geniuses… but they all end up calling me a genius."
---
Inside the Base – Main Hall
At this moment, Shinno's expression was extremely grim.
Just earlier, he had confidently declared that with numerical superiority, a mere Hirakawa Aoshi was insignificant.
Yet now, his forces were being slaughtered. The blow to his authority as leader was severe.
"How… how can he be this strong?"
Watching Shinno's disbelief, Hayakawa felt nothing but contempt.
So this is the so-called power of the Sky Ninjas? As expected, just a small ninja village—fragile and worthless.
Even so, as Hayakawa looked at Aoshi's image, fear flickered in his eyes.
Such terrifying swordsmanship… It was as if Konoha's White Fang had descended upon the battlefield once more.
"Immediately dispatch the flying squad! Eliminate him at once!" Shinno barked the order fiercely.
Before long, a group of ninjas rose into the air and launched toward Aoshi. The Sky Ninjas earned their name because of specialized mechanical devices that allowed them to fly.
In the ninja world, the ability to fly was exceedingly rare.
That aerial advantage was precisely why the Sky Ninja Village had once possessed formidable combat power.
Unfortunately, they had challenged Konoha. And thus, they were destroyed.
"With the flying squad deployed, that man won't be able to cause any trouble!" Shinno's confidence surged once more.
He had studied Konoha intelligence thoroughly and knew that Aoshi had no ability to fly.
With control of the skies, the flying squad could attack freely or retreat at will.
No matter how powerful Aoshi's swordsmanship was, he would become nothing more than a living target.
"Excellent! The flying squad is out—he's definitely finished!"
Outside the base, the Sky Ninjas who had been paralyzed with fear earlier erupted into cheers upon seeing the reinforcements.
As the Sky Ninja Village's trump card, only a handful possessed flight equipment.
Those chosen for the flying squad were all elite members. In their eyes, once the flying squad moved, no enemy could survive.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!
The flying squad wasted no time. Without uttering a single word, they unleashed a storm of bombs and shuriken toward Aoshi.
The dense barrage left no visible opening.
Yet Aoshi remained unmoved. He stood perfectly still, making no attempt to defend.
Seeing this, cruel smiles spread across the Sky Ninjas' faces.
"What Hirakawa Aoshi? What Konoha Hero? He's nothing special—look at him! He's so scared he can't even move!"
As soon as those words were spoken, mocking laughter immediately erupted among the Sky Ninjas.
"Exactly! In front of our flying squad, a mere Konoha ninja is nothing worth mentioning!"
However, the next scene caused the smug smiles on their faces to freeze solid.
They saw that just as the flying squad's attacks were about to strike Aoshi, every single one of them was suddenly repelled outward.
Almighty Push!
The reversal came far too abruptly.
The flying squad had no time to react before their own attacks were violently flung back at them.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A chain of deafening explosions rang out. In an instant, more than half of the once-formidable flying squad was wiped out.
The Sky Ninjas, who had been laughing moments earlier, were struck dumb.
"What… what just happened?!"
"What kind of technique is that?!"
They stared in shock, completely unable to comprehend the scene before their eyes.
Inside the base, Hayakawa and Shinno, the leader of the Sky Ninja Village, were equally stunned.
"Impossible!" Shinno roared, his face twisting in disbelief.
His most trusted trump card—the flying squad—had been utterly powerless against this man!
From initial indifference to mild caution, and now to uncontrollable fury, Shinno's emotional state shifted violently in a matter of moments.
Hayakawa's reaction was no better. Watching Aoshi unleash one terrifying technique after another, a quiet sense of fear crept into his heart.
"What was that ninjutsu just now?" Shinno demanded harshly.
Faced with the question, Hayakawa shook his head, his expression confused.
"I don't know. I've never seen anything like it before." His voice was hoarse.
Aoshi rarely acted personally, and Hayakawa—who spent most of his time on missions outside the village—had never witnessed his strength firsthand. Everything he knew came from secondhand reports.
Useless. Not even a single piece of useful intelligence. Shinno cursed inwardly. "We can't let him continue like this. We must deal with him together."
He had originally believed that sheer numbers, combined with the flying squad, would make eliminating Aoshi effortless.
He never imagined the enemy would be this terrifying. Nor that he would possess such an incomprehensible ability.
There was no choice now—Shinno had to act personally.
Unable to sit still any longer, Shinno stood and headed outside first.
As the leader of the Sky Ninja Village, he couldn't simply watch his subordinates be slaughtered one-sidedly.
Moreover, even if he didn't fully understand Aoshi's techniques yet, Shinno was confident that with Hayakawa fighting alongside him, victory was assured.
At worst, it would only be a hard-fought battle.
Seeing this, Hayakawa hurried after him. At this point, he and the Sky Ninja Village were bound together like grasshoppers tied to the same rope.
One survived, all survived. One fell, all fell.
Outside, Aoshi—still fighting the remaining Sky Ninjas—sensed the movement of Shinno and Hayakawa Arashi.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
Just as planned.
The reason he had deliberately revealed himself was simple: he intended to claim this fortress as his own, to use as a secret base in the future.
After all, the Sky Ninjas were hardly innocent.
Aoshi felt no psychological burden whatsoever in seizing their stronghold.
Since he had already decided to make this place his own, he naturally couldn't recklessly destroy it.
With his current strength, charging straight in could easily result in massive damage. Even this enormous mechanical fortress might not survive intact.
Repairing it afterward would be extremely troublesome. Thus, luring the enemy out and dealing with them first was the optimal strategy.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!
At the same time, the remnants of the flying squad that had barely escaped disaster resumed their assault.
Now fully aware of Aoshi's terror, they chose to keep their distance, attacking from a higher altitude and attempting to harass him instead.
Dodging their attacks with the Body Flicker Technique, Aoshi suddenly extended both hands.
Universal Pull!
A terrifying gravitational force erupted outward, instantly dragging all the Sky Ninjas flying in the air toward him.
"Oh no!" Unable to resist the pull, the flying squad was helplessly dragged closer.
Then—
Almighty Push!
Attraction and repulsion exploded simultaneously.
Under the violent clash of these opposing forces, the mechanical flight devices worn by the Sky Ninjas shattered instantly.
Their bodies were sent crashing to the ground, gravely injured.
Water Release: Six Water Dragon Jutsu!
From the nearby river, six roaring water dragons surged forth, sweeping across the battlefield and eliminating every fallen flying squad member.
Not a single one survived.
And at that very moment—
A sharp wind blade shot toward Aoshi at blinding speed!