The Kaguya youth grew more and more frenzied as the fight dragged on, bloodshot veins spreading through his eyes.
He could feel it clearly—the little runt's chakra was being rapidly depleted. He wouldn't be able to hold on much longer.
And judging from the fact that this brat possessed such a high-quality ninja blade, his status within Kumogakure had to be significant. Using him as a burial companion would be perfect.
In truth, this judgment wasn't wrong.
Tamura Zairo's chakra reserves were indeed far too small.
Even after undergoing one refinement with the Night-Moon clan's secret medicine—boosting his vitality and thereby increasing his chakra somewhat—his innate chakra talent was still abysmal. The improvement was limited.
"Die!"
Swinging a bone blade, the Kaguya youth knocked Tamura Zairo's long sword flying and lunged forward with wild laughter, ready to finish him off.
But instead of meeting the attack head-on, Tamura Zairo leapt backward. At the same time, he used chakra threads to slip a scroll of high-grade explosive tags into the opponent's clothes from a blind angle.
"No—!"
Sensing something shoved into his chest, the Kaguya youth roared in despair, frantically trying to tear open his clothes and pull it out.
It was too late.
Boom!
A violent explosion erupted, engulfing him in fire. When the flames dissipated, only a charred corpse torn in half remained.
"Who told you my strongest skill right now is swordsmanship?"
Stabilizing his footing, Tamura Zairo sneered at the two broken remains, then stepped forward to loot the body.
His greatest strength at the moment was money power.
He'd brought more than a thousand explosive tags on this mission.
Seeing Tamura Zairo finish his opponent with explosive tags, Night-Moon Ai and Fuka'i both shook their heads with amused smiles but said nothing.
With such limited chakra reserves, one couldn't ask for much more.
They had watched the entire fight. It was clear that if chakra hadn't been such a constraint, Tamura Zairo would absolutely have been able to defeat that Kaguya youth outright.
"Samehada!"
After absorbing the remaining chakra from the Kaguya youth's body, Tamura Zairo stood up and scanned the battlefield, where only a handful of Mist ninja remained.
Soon, his attention locked onto a bulky figure—more precisely, onto the bizarre greatsword in that man's hands.
It was the leader among the Seven Ninja Swords of the Mist: Samehada.
And it was the blade Tamura Zairo wanted most at this stage.
"Zabuza? No… Kisame? No—this must be Samehada's current wielder."
His gaze shifted to the fat man swinging the massive blade while fighting with a mane of hair whipping around him.
That had to be Suikazan Fuguki, the future member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
At this point in time, Kirigakure likely hadn't fully formed the Seven Swordsmen yet—that wouldn't happen until the Third Great Ninja War.
"Sensei, I want that blade. I'll trade the one I'm holding for it."
Tamura Zairo decisively approached Fuka'i, who was nearby collecting corpses, and made his request.
"That sword… is it really that strong?"
Following his student's line of sight, Fuka'i grew interested in the strange blade.
"It seems to devour ninjutsu—does it absorb chakra?"
Night-Moon Ai flashed over and watched as well, noticing that the blade swallowed incoming techniques.
"His chakra still seems abundant even now… is he replenishing himself by absorbing his opponents' chakra through that sword?"
Fuka'i quickly grasped the mechanics and understood his student's intent.
"That blade suits you perfectly."
"Let's go. We'll butcher him."
Cracking his neck with a feral grin, Night-Moon Ai burst forward in a flash of lightning, charging straight at the fat man.
"Be careful here!"
Fuka'i scanned the surroundings, confirmed there was no immediate danger, and left behind a Lightning Release clone to watch over Tamura Zairo before rushing in with his blade.
Tamura Zairo didn't dare be careless. He swallowed a soldier pill to recover some stamina while maintaining vigilance over his surroundings, keeping his good–evil perception fully active.
He had no intention of ending up like Senju Nawaki—dying senselessly on the battlefield.
With less than one-tenth of his chakra remaining, recklessness was not an option.
Even with Samehada's support, Suikazan Fuguki couldn't withstand the combined assault of Night-Moon Ai and Fuka'i.
In less than a minute, both his arms were severed, and he was knocked unconscious.
Fuka'i, in particular, was quite interested in Fuguki's hair-manipulation techniques.
After all, he himself possessed a long, flowing mane—this unusual ninjutsu might be worth studying.
The joint strike by Kumogakure and the Uzumaki clan caught everyone completely off guard.
No one had expected that, while surrounded, the Uzumaki would choose to launch a preemptive assault.
Even more shocking was the fact that Kumogakure had allied with them and attacked Kirigakure together.
And the Third Raikage himself had descended onto the battlefield.
For the Mist forces, it was pure slaughter.
Even with elites from the Hōzuki, Yuki, and Kaguya clans, it was meaningless. The Third Raikage alone was enough to sweep through them, shattering their formations.
Lightning Release hard-countered Water Release—especially the Hōzuki clan—making the situation even more lethal.
Surrounded on all sides, outnumbered, and exhausted, nearly a thousand Mist ninja were wiped out in just ten minutes.
Each village had sent scouts to monitor the others. The moment UzUzushiogakure and Kumogakure made their move, the others knew something was wrong.
Chiyo and Ebizō of Sunagakure, along with Shishio of Iwagakure, immediately ordered their forces to converge, preparing to unite against the Uzumaki–Cloud alliance.
The situation had turned dire.
They had no choice but to abandon old grudges and join forces—otherwise, they would be picked off one by one.
Especially with the Third Raikage present—there was no one on their side who could match him.
At the same time, Danzo Shimura, lurking in the shadows, frowned deeply.
This situation had deviated far too much from his expectations.
"The Uzumaki actually allied with Kumogakure… and even the Third Raikage took the field personally. What price did they pay? Or did they outright defect to Kumogakure?"
He muttered to himself, unable to reach a clear conclusion.
Either possibility was unacceptable to him—and to Konoha.
Very few bargaining chips existed that could convince the Third Raikage to personally intervene for the Uzumaki.
"Uncle Danzo, what should we do next?"
Hiruzen's son, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, asked anxiously.
On the Uzumaki issue, his stance aligned perfectly with Danzo's: total extermination.
But now the Uzumaki had secretly allied with Kumogakure—and even drawn in the Third Raikage himself.
That was a top-tier powerhouse. Even his father would struggle to defeat him.
"Dingyi, go notify the commanders of Iwagakure and Sunagakure," Danzo ordered a Root operative behind him.
"Tell them I intend to encircle and kill the Third Raikage. They are not to interfere. If they do, I will treat them as enemies and eliminate them as well."
Without a word, the Root ninja vanished using Body Flicker, heading for the Sand and Stone camps.
"Jia-san, carry out your mission."
Danzo then turned to another trusted subordinate.
Jia-san had accompanied Shinnosuke earlier to UzUzushiogakure and had planted something there—something capable of annihilating the village from within.
"Yes, Danzo-sama!"
Jia-san leapt away toward UzUzushiogakure, preparing to activate that hidden trump card and release the deadly poison insects inside.
"Move out. Follow me—we'll go meet the strongest Raikage in history."
Danzo drew the ninja blade from his back and flashed out of the forest.
If the Third Raikage were at full strength, facing him would be extremely difficult.
But after a major battle like this, the Raikage's chakra consumption had to be significant.
And since Wind Release countered Lightning Release, Danzo was confident he could fight him head-on.
Under the right conditions…
Even killing him outright might not be impossible.
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