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Intelligence is everything.
This is an ironclad rule that even a Ninja bearing the name of a Kage can never violate.
For this decisive strike, Yagura Karatachi had already infiltrated Konoha Village three days prior, comparing Kaguya Ren's abilities displayed on various battlefields, making multiple contingency plans, and leaving ample lead time.
Whether it was observation, Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, resistance to Sealing Technique, or even Genjutsu and summoning animals that he hadn't yet displayed.
A person as deeply hidden as him would never easily expose all his trump cards on the battlefield.
Only Yagura Karatachi himself knew how much information he had researched and what effort and toil he had put in during these few days of planning.
However, all this effort was worth it the moment his hook-rod pierced the stomach of the man in front of him.
"Pfft!"
The hook-rod, still trailing blood, slowly withdrew from the man's abdomen. Sawara Kiri's body fell to the ground with a thud, blood continuously overflowing from his mouth and nose.
"You, how… how could you possibly…?"
Yagura Karatachi looked down at him, his expression calm:
"There are far too many people in this Ninja World like you, who think they are invincible just because they've mastered one or two unique Ninjutsu."
"Kaguya Ren."
"Although your talent is indeed so outstanding that everyone has to take notice, you are still too young."
"Too young to look down on all the Ninja who are not as good as you."
"This is why you die here."
Perhaps out of a belief in his own inevitable victory, or perhaps a declaration now that victory was assured, or possibly just waiting for the poison attached to his hook-rod to take effect, Yagura Karatachi seemed not to mind chatting with him a bit longer.
Noticing Kaguya Ren's gaze fixed intently on the Sealing Technique array on the ground, the smugness in Yagura Karatachi's heart slowly transformed into a faint smile on his face:
"Still can't believe it?"
"I started setting up this array three days ago."
"To lure you into this ambush, every Ninjutsu, even every movement, I displayed during the fight just now was within my calculations."
"Fortunately, you were completely unprepared."
"Furthermore, the Sealing Technique within your body was also a hidden move I planted long ago—you might find it hard to believe, but even back then, I was already certain that you would definitely defect."
"After all… the deaths of my two 'seniors' could only be your doing, no matter how you look at it."
The two seniors Yagura Karatachi referred to were the top-tier Hidden Mist intelligence network personnel in Konoha, who had died at Sawara Kiri's hands much earlier.
As for the tactics, surprisingly, there wasn't much to say.
The simplest and most direct tactics are often the most effective—the only thing that needs to be grasped is the timing of the strike.
"Alright, hand over that offensive and defensive spatial Ninjutsu of yours."
"If you can hand it over, I can let you die a little more painlessly."
Yagura Karatachi raised the hook-rod in his hand, its bloody tip pointing at him, as if narrating, or perhaps threatening with a flat, emotionless voice.
What motivated him to eliminate Kaguya Ren with all his might, besides his own life and death and the Village's peril, was also this particular reason.
The more he delved into it, the more Yagura Karatachi discovered the marvel of this Ninjutsu he used on the battlefield.
This was a powerful technique that could be described as the integration of absolute defense and absolute offense.
After all, who could break through spatial defense and offense with Ninjutsu or Taijutsu?
If he could obtain this technique, even the Mizukage's position…
Yagura Karatachi suppressed the greed in his heart and didn't delve deeper, lest a momentary lapse occur during the upcoming action due to this thought—although he was also young, his experience in the Hidden Mist Anbu had exposed him to far too many powerful Ninja who had died for such reasons.
"Only… only this much?"
Sawara Kiri lay half-prostrate on the ground, his left hand struggling to cover the wound in his abdomen. The constantly flowing blood and the internal organs spilling from the rupture had already drained most of his strength.
However, he still raised his head, looking directly at him with a strangely playful smile.
Those azure eyes, even splattered with blood, still shone brightly.
The moment he heard this, a sense of crisis instinctively arose in Yagura Karatachi's heart.
Almost faster than thought, he decisively swung the hook-rod in his hand, and with a 'whoosh,' severed the opponent's neck.
Presumably, because his Chakra was exhausted, this time he didn't even make a single move to resist.
However, Yagura Karatachi's body became even more tense.
It was precisely because he had made countless contingency plans, simulated hundreds or thousands of battle processes based on the opponent's combat records, and strategized countless times for dealing with desperate counterattacks, that Yagura Karatachi had such a clear understanding of the strength of this guy in front of him.
'It shouldn't be like this…'
'Kaguya Ren, this guy, is clearly cunning and deeply scheming, yet he walked into the trap I set for him completely unprepared, and then died just as unprepared?'
The more rational a person is, the more they will review all their actions at critical moments.
Just by recalling the recent battle process, Yagura Karatachi immediately found the problem.
Too easy.
Yagura Karatachi's heart suddenly tightened.
In all his contingency plans, in most situations, he would have to endure at least one or two terrifying red spatial attacks, and only then would he have a chance to launch a final counterattack in a desperate situation, taking advantage of Kaguya Ren's carelessness.
But now…
Yagura Karatachi instinctively turned his head to look at the head that had fallen to the ground and rolled several meters away.
He met those azure eyes, like they reflected brilliant starlight.
In the center of those pupils, he saw his own reflection.
Time, accompanied by a certain man's whisper, seemed to stand still at this moment.
"Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu."
And so, all the scenes Yagura Karatachi saw became like ripples on a water surface stirred by a pebble, or like glass accidentally cracking under freezing, showing large, spiderweb-like fissures.
When he opened his eyes again, his expression suddenly froze.
A large hand, he didn't know when, was firmly clasped around his neck, and his whole body was like a fish flopping on the shore.
Unable to breathe.
In front of him, Sawara Kiri stood quietly, just as he had at the very beginning, maintaining his hands-in-pockets posture, looking at him calmly with those azure eyes.
At this moment, all the scenes flashed through Yagura Karatachi's mind like lightning.
"Genjutsu?!"
His voice struggled out from the last sliver of his throat, and the purple eyes looking at Sawara Kiri were already filled with horror.
A terrifying Genjutsu ability like the Sharingan, which had never appeared in any intelligence reports?!
"Exactly, exactly when did it start…?"
Yagura Karatachi stared fixedly at the man, his expression as if he couldn't comprehend.
Even in his most difficult contingency plans, this situation was not listed.
Kaguya Ren, who had always shown himself with violent, direct spatial Ninjutsu and Fire Release sword techniques, actually possessed a Genjutsu comparable to the Sharingan—no, even with the Sharingan, a Ninja of his caliber would have countless ways to break it.
However, from the very beginning until now, if he hadn't actively dispelled the Genjutsu, Yagura Karatachi wouldn't even have realized that he had just experienced such a complete and clear scene within a Genjutsu environment.
Touch, smell, taste, hearing, sight.
All his five senses clearly told him that his environment was real.
Even the circulation of Chakra was not hindered in the slightest.
Could this still be called Genjutsu?!
However, Sawara Kiri merely smiled at him, his voice calm:
"It should be me who is confused."
"Lord Yagura."
"When did you start so confidently believing that you weren't under a Genjutsu?"
He tilted his head slightly, his grip slowly tightening, but the expression on his face remained as gentle and polite as at the beginning, with a beaming smile.
Yagura Karatachi's heart was already filled with an uncontrollable panic.
He must, he must send this news back to the Village as quickly as possible.
This Kaguya Ren, he's hidden even deeper than anyone imagined!
Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu…
What kind of monstrous talent is this? What else is he incapable of doing?!
Facing such a terrifying opponent who chose to betray Hidden Mist, what would the Village's future be…
Even until this moment before his death, Yagura Karatachi's mind was entirely on the Village.
However, just as he struggled to support his powerless body, trying to continue resisting, he saw the man in front of him suddenly step back, releasing his hand.
"Thud."
Yagura Karatachi's floating body immediately fell to the ground with a dull thud.
But his mind was completely blank.
He stared blankly at the man in front of him, seemingly bewildered, raising his head in disbelief.
Sawara Kiri, however, merely smiled gently, looking at him calmly, imitating his tone:
"'Why are you letting me go?' You want to ask this, right?"
Yagura Karatachi was startled by the words, but subconsciously blurted out: "Why are you…"
He suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
The deep fear in his heart seemed to deepen at this moment, as if he was completely controlled by the guy in front of him, from the inside out.
Sawara Kiri's smile, however, became even more amiable.
He bent down, leaned close to Yagura Karatachi's ear, and said softly:
"Because you pose no threat to me."
"Lord Yagura."
This soft tone, however, further deepened the profound sense of humiliation in Yagura Karatachi's heart.
But he said nothing, merely suppressing it forcefully.
As long as he could return to the Village and inform Genzo and Lady Mizukage about this guy's intelligence, no matter what humiliation he had to bear, he would…
"Also, there's one more urgent matter," Sawara Kiri's voice continued, "I need you to return to Hidden Mist and become my spy."
"…"
In an instant, Yagura Karatachi's expression suddenly froze.
Was this something a carbon based lifeform could say!?
At this moment, even Yagura Karatachi, who held an incredibly strong belief in his heart, could barely endure it. His fingernails almost dug into the flesh of his palm, oozing tiny specks of blood.
Sawara Kiri, however, seemed completely unfazed, slowly putting his hands behind his back and circling him.
"Aren't you curious?"
"How many more trump cards does someone like me still hide?"
"How did he obtain such incredible power, completely unlike what a normal Kaguya Clan member could possess?"
"What kind of monster will he become in the future, if he continues to develop, with such strength at only fifteen years old?"
His voice, like a devil's whisper, continuously Entangled around Yagura Karatachi's ears, little by little stirring up the competitiveness and curiosity suppressed deep within his heart, igniting a peculiar spark within him that gradually became uncontrollable.
As if precisely capturing this psychological fluctuation, Sawara Kiri's footsteps stopped right in front of him.
Those azure eyes met Yagura Karatachi's eyes directly.
"…"
"Then, I'll let you see."
Almost the moment their eyes met, Yagura Karatachi felt his entire soul being drawn in by his gaze, swept into an endless Uzumaki.
It was as if he had suddenly leaped from this lush green forest to an boundless land an unknown, immeasurable distance away.
On that desolate land, a figure with a somewhat familiar back stood calmly on a wind-eroded stone pillar.
In front of him were tens of thousands of Ninja wearing familiar uniforms.
Yagura Karatachi clearly recognized their clothes.
There were Kumogakure, Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and also Hidden Mist.
One against ten thousand?
How incredibly overconfident was this guy.
Even though he was standing in the position of an observer, Yagura Karatachi subconsciously put himself into the larger group.
Even the Raikage and Tsuchikage, who were now vaguely considered the strongest in the Ninja World, would never put themselves in such a disadvantageous position, facing such a large number of enemies alone.
However, as the view gradually zoomed in, Yagura Karatachi suddenly saw the figure standing on the stone pillar clearly, and his pupils constricted.
Although he looked a bit more mature than he did now, he recognized him at a glance.
That was Sawara Kiri!
Just as he was curious why this guy would show him this scene…
The figure standing on the stone pillar, looking very similar to Sawara Kiri, suddenly formed hand seals with both hands.
"Outer Path: Chibaku Tensei — Hundred-Fold!"
The next moment, Yagura Karatachi's view was suddenly pulled back hundreds or thousands of kilometers, until all the figures in the scene became tiny, completely invisible black dots.
His vision suddenly froze.
He saw, within his field of vision, an enormous meteor, impossible to describe in words, suddenly tear through the sky, slowly descending from an unknown distance.
The oppressive feeling, heavy to the extreme, almost swallowed him whole.
However, this was only the beginning.
One, two, three, ten…
More and more gigantic meteors consecutively ripped through the entire sky, covering his entire field of vision, obscuring everything he saw, falling like raindrops continuously towards that narrow, desolate battlefield, leaving countless crimson trails from the farthest reaches of his sight.
All crashing onto the ground.
With a roar, they stirred up dust that spread like a tsunami.
The world was silent.
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