Chapter 41 – Konoha Gold (Part 8)
Minamoto Ren made a quick hand signal. Namikaze Minato immediately held his breath and crouched low on a tree branch not far away.
The ANBU had their own set of tactical sign language.
Ren kept his Sharingan locked on Fuguki Suikazan while signing to Minato:
"See the direction I'm facing? Four hundred meters out—up in the trees. Watch my signals. When I give the mark, form seals. One from the left, one from the right—we take him out."
Minato returned a crisp "Understood" gesture.
The two moved in absolute silence, their hands forming seals so fast their fingers left afterimages. Four hundred meters away, Fuguki barely stirred.
Fire Release: Dragon Flame Release Song Technique.
Wind Release: Pressure Damage.
In the pitch-black forest, the wind began to rise.
Fuguki stiffened, pulling Samehada off the tree trunk mid-scratch despite the sword's protests. His instincts screamed—this wind wasn't natural.
Whoosh—whoosh—
The instant he moved, three blazing fire dragons appeared in his vision, each one surging straight toward him.
The fire's glow widened in his pupils, chilling him to the core.
Such speed! A combined jutsu?! When—how did they—?!
His mind was sharp, but his body was too slow. Fortunately, his fear of death had made him plant a wooden substitution log in another tree earlier.
With a puff of displaced air, the log took the brunt of the attack. Branches and wood splintered under the razor force of Minato's wind jutsu.
Good thing I prepared a log, Fuguki panted, heart still hammering. What kind of jutsu was that? How could it be that fast?
He reached behind him for a signal flare to warn the others—but then froze, cold sweat sliding down his temple.
Wait… that was Fire Release combined with Wind Release. But why… why did I only hear the slicing of wind? Where was the explosion—
BOOM!
A massive blast ripped through the tree where Fuguki had hidden.
His iron Mist headband went flying, a few strands of yellow hair burned to ash as they drifted down from the canopy.
Gone.
Ren saw everything through his Sharingan.
Fuguki had swung Samehada to block the first fireball, but the other two struck him head-on, detonating in a burst of heat and flame.
Fire Release can't kill? That depends on the Fire Release.
"Move!" Ren ordered, already forming a seal before vanishing into the forest—away from their mountain hideout.
Minato spared one glance at the smoldering crater where a tall tree had once stood.
"An A-rank Fire Release, huh? That's… brutal. I'm learning one when we get back." He muttered, then blurred away in a flicker.
Forty breaths later, Munashi Jinpachi, the closest to Fuguki's position, arrived.
In the center of the blast crater, he found Samehada—scarred and nicked. Stroking his pale-yellow beard, his expression grew grim.
Before he could move, swirling winds announced the arrival of Akebino Jinin and the others.
"Mangetsu—Fuguki's dead. We should fall back," Jinpachi urged. He wanted nothing more to do with these cursed brats.
This was supposed to be the Seven Ninja Swordsmen's moment of glory, but they'd been forced into a miserable grind.
Perhaps their generation would go down in Kirigakure's history as a mark of shame.
"Retreat?" Hōzuki Mangetsu's gaze turned lethal, making Jinpachi avert his eyes.
"If we go back like this, it's no different from being stripped of our titles!"
Kurosuki Raiga let out a sharp laugh. They were too far in to back out now.
There was no choice but to keep chasing.
Fuguki's death was still fresh, and Ren's trail was clear—making the pursuit easy.
"How does it feel?" Ren asked quietly as they ran.
"Glorious," Minato grinned.
Ren smiled back.
This was the first true subtraction from the Seven.
Sometimes, a shinobi battle was like a line of dominoes—either they won't topple at all… or once one falls, the rest come crashing down.
The reason for this outcome was simple—
Minamoto Ren had mastered Dragon Flame Song, a high-level jutsu capable of instantly killing even elite jōnin.
In the original records, Uchiha Madara's Dragon Flame Song was powerful enough to burn through Tsunade's Byakugō no Jutsu.
And Fuguki? A shinobi of his caliber surviving this technique? Impossible.
"Got any other Wind Release suppression jutsu?" Ren asked. "I'll recover some chakra, then hit them with something even bigger."
"I do," Namikaze Minato nodded. He knew plenty of Wind Release techniques, and after their earlier combo, he understood exactly what Ren needed.
Dragon Flame Song was already blindingly fast. Add Wind Release, and it became a streak of death. If the wind technique covered a wider area and slowed the enemy's movement, the heat-seeking fire dragons would turn their targets into screaming torches.
As for the single tomoe slowly rotating in Ren's eyes—Minato had noticed long ago. But he didn't care. He wasn't Danzō, and an Uchiha was an Uchiha—he treated them all the same.
Why Ren hid his Uchiha heritage was a mystery, but that was a question for later.
Right now, the priority was to wipe out the Kirigakure invaders.
Rustle… rustle.
Two figures moved swiftly in single file. Ren's Sharingan scanned their surroundings, searching for the perfect spot to unleash their jutsu.
There!
His eyes lit up. Not far ahead was a moderate slope—perfect for concealment and for launching a surprise attack.
In a flicker, Ren was behind the hill, only his head visible. His hands blurred through seals as he waited for the six remaining swordsmen to appear.
Zzzzzzz…
The sound of massive blades dragging along the ground grew louder—they were here.
Fire Release: Dragon Release Flame Song!
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!
The same trick as before—wind fueling fire.
This time, five narrow-tailed fire dragons rode an even faster gale, their burning eyes locked onto the two swordsmen in the lead.
In an instant, Kuriarare Kushimaru and Jinin Akebino's faces twisted in horror.
They couldn't stop.
The jutsu's speed was too great, and their own sprint only made the closing distance faster. They had no time to react.
Crackle—
Two charred, incomplete corpses hit the ground. The long-needle Nuibari and the curved cleaver Kabutowari stood planted in the dirt beside them, like mocking tombstones to the Seven Swordsmen's arrogance.
Ren and Minato didn't pause to admire the results. As soon as their jutsu was unleashed, they turned and ran.
You like a chase? Keep it up and all seven of you will end up here.
Seeing this, Raiga drew his Thunder Swords (Fangs/Kiba) and raised them toward the sky.
From the moment he accepted these blades, he had sworn to defend the honor of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen—
Even at the cost of his life.
Lightning Release: Lightning Burial: Banquet of Lightning!!!
From the night sky, a bolt of lightning speared down, striking the Thunder Swords—
And Raiga himself—
Transforming him into a raging sphere of electricity.
It was the Thunder Swords' ultimate suicidal technique. In shinobi history, there was no such thing as a weak life-draining move.
The lightning ball surged forward like a bulldozer, and the searing sting racing up Ren's back left him with no doubt—
He could not stop running for even a second.