Chapter 59: Explosive Finale—Black Tiger Rips the Heart!
[Ding!]
[You successfully counterattacked a Rogue Samurai, gained a random skill from opponent: Basic Swordsmanship (Beginner)]
[You successfully counterattacked a Rogue Samurai, gained a random skill from opponent: "Survival Cooking: Wild Herbs and Tree Bark" (Mastered)]
[You successfully counterattacked a Samurai, gained a random skill from opponent: Sword Technique: Chakra Flow (Beginner)]
[You successfully counterattacked a Samurai, gained a random skill from opponent: Sword Technique: Circular Slash (Beginner)]
[Your Heart of Steel level increases.]
[The Land of Iron's defected samurai, Takahashi Ohashi, harbors killing intent toward you.]
[A Jashin Cult Genin has set his sights on you.]
[A Jashin Cult Genin attempts to slit your throat with Wind Release: Wind Cutter.]
[...]
Notifications flashed before his eyes as he cut down four ronin and samurai in rapid succession, along with alerts about a new wave of hostile targets—
But Tsukasa had no intention of reading them.
At that moment,
A crescent-shaped blade of chakra slashed across the fortress wall, cleaving through tiles. With a razor-sharp edge that could split the very wind, it hurtled toward Tsukasa.
He felt a chill run down his spine.
Even in this age dominated by ninja, there existed warriors of formidable combat prowess.
For example, Mifune, the leader of the Land of Iron's samurai, had reached Kage-level strength through pure swordsmanship alone.
While the warrior before him was far inferior to Mifune—at best a Chunin-level fighter—the current crisis clearly transcended a simple one-on-one duel.
His crimson eyes darted rapidly, taking in the entire scene.
Time seemed to stretch infinitely in this moment, and Tsukasa could perceive every facial expression frame by frame.
Behind the samurai leader followed more than a dozen ronin, wielding their blades.
Unlike the completely undisciplined rogues commanded by the Jashin Cult captain Hideaki, this group of over ten warriors led by the Land of Iron defector was clearly more organized.
From different positions and angles, staggered in two coordinated lines, they
Simultaneously lunged and slashed at Tsukasa's throat, eyes, joints, heart, calves, thighs, and other vital points.
The first row of ronin immediately rolled aside after their strikes, clearing the path for the second row to unleash a devastating second wave of attacks.
Arms swung in circular arcs, blades descending, intent on cutting Tsukasa to ribbons.
But that wasn't all.
Behind them, the twelve Jashin Cult ninja almost simultaneously began forming hand seals.
From their positioning, they seemed to have no regard for their own samurai allies, determined to annihilate both them and Tsukasa together!
Witnessing this deadly convergence, Tsukasa showed no fear.
He stood as still as an ancient pine, unmoved in the face of the overwhelming assault.
He sheathed his ninja blade into his equipment pouch, then pulled out his two remaining explosive tags, holding one in each hand.
Then,
Like Minato performing the Flying Thunder God Technique, he spread his arms wide!
Instantly—
The chakra blade of Vacuum Slash, the seventeen charging ronin,
And a barrage of Fire Release: Flame Bullet, Wind Release: Wind Cutter, Earth Release: Rock Spear, and Earth Release: Stone Cannon jutsu rained down like machine gun fire.
Tsukasa suddenly raised his head, lips curling into a fierce grin, eyes blazing with savage determination as he shouted:
"Boom!"
With a snap of his fingers, the explosive tags in his palms instantly ignited.
The dozen or so charging ronin froze in shock!
"Those are explosive tags?!"
"Get back! This kid's trying to take us with him!"
"Easy for you to say, but where the hell can we go? There's ninjutsu everywhere!"
"Damn it, this kid's insane!"
Who uses explosive tags like that?
Just holding them in your bare hands to detonate them—isn't he afraid of blowing himself up?
For a moment,
The faces of the charging ronin filled with terror. They
Didn't know whether to advance or retreat. They just stood there frozen, staring at Tsukasa's face as if they'd lost the ability to speak.
The next instant,
The explosive tags burned out, and the torrent of ninjutsu struck simultaneously!
BOOM!
Brilliant explosions instantly erupted from that spot.
The fortress wall shattered, debris flew everywhere, flames were carried by the wind blast, and billowing white smoke rose into the air.
A series of metallic clanging sounds—like steel striking stone—rang out hidden within the chaos.
Along with the seventeen ronin, everything was swallowed by the explosion, and soon the area filled with agonized screams.
The samurai leader, standing some distance away, immediately used Flash Step to create more distance. He couldn't help but swallow hard, his mouth suddenly dry.
He had never encountered such an iron-willed ninja before.
Detonating explosive tags in his own hands without hesitation, as if death itself was pursuing him.
This kind of resolve would put even samurai who committed ritual suicide to shame.
The samurai leader was suddenly gripped by fear, then
He whirled around and glared coldly at the Jashin Cult captain Hideaki in the distance, about to curse him for his treacherous tactics.
A surprised voice suddenly echoed from within the smoke behind him.
"Oh?"
"Your sword looks pretty decent, doesn't it?"
The samurai leader, startled, instinctively turned his head to look back.
A blue gleam pierced through the smoke,
And a ninja blade wrapped in brilliant blue chakra slashed down, cutting through four ronin as it
Burst through the smoke cloud!
A young man in a tattered black cloak sprinted forward, his hand black as ink from Earth Release chakra. He leaped high and unleashed
A devastating Black Tiger Heart Strike,
Plunging his hand into the samurai leader's chest.
Then, with a simple squeeze—
Crack!
With a single motion, Tsukasa knocked the samurai leader crashing to the ground.
Then, under the samurai leader's resentful gaze, he snatched the sheathed katana from the man's grip and fastened it at his waist.
This scene caught the Jashin Cult members completely off guard.
In that desperate situation, overwhelmed by both ninjutsu barrages and coordinated sword attacks,
This brat had emerged completely unscathed, even retaining enough strength to break through and take down the samurai leader?!
Facing the astonished stares of all the Jashin Cult ninja present,
Tsukasa said nothing. He simply raised his head and fixed his gaze intently on the twelve ninja across from him—
More specifically, at the ninja tool pouches strapped to their waists.
Earth Release: Earth Spear—
This technique granted him formidable defensive power, even allowing him to withstand explosive tags at point-blank range. So from the very beginning, this group of enemies posed no real threat
To Tsukasa, who was already well-versed in ninjutsu theory and combat tactics.
Tsukasa had leaped down here with the intent of replenishing his depleted ninja tool supplies through combat.
Whether it was the Uchiha-style Wire Shuriken Manipulation, his wire-based taijutsu that differed fundamentally from ordinary ninja combat styles, or the brand-new wire swordsmanship techniques he was formulating in his mind—
They all required actual physical ninja tools to support his tactical innovations.
Glancing at the several elite Jashin Cult squads that were moving to surround him, Tsukasa licked his lips,
Placed his hands on both the ninja blade and katana at his waist, and wrapped jet-black Earth Grudge Fear threads around each hilt.
He drew them both suddenly!
"Well then~"
"Time is short and the mission is urgent—let's finish this quickly!"
Blade light flashed as the weapons spun in his palms.
Holding the ninja blade in standard grip and the katana in reverse grip, Tsukasa leaped upward and
Opened his pair of mesmerizing crimson Sharingan eyes in mid-air.
Spinning his body, he threw the reverse-gripped katana with tremendous rotational force!
In an instant—
End of Chapter 59
If you enjoyed this chapter, leave a Power Stone or Review!
P@atreon/Soulforger (45+ advanced chapters)
Buy me coffee - ko-fi*com/soulforger01