Kapitel 77: Chapter 77: Silent Battlefield

Fuguki, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, coughed up blood as he leaned on his sword. His body was covered in dust and even some pieces of stone.

When he regained his balance, Fuguki became extremely serious and on high alert. He could still see Tanaka in the distance, but given the speed and strength he had displayed, there was no way to feel safe just by keeping his distance.

Tanaka, in his 'Red Super Saiyan' mode, brought his hands together at chest height, fingers spread like claws, mimicking the mouth of a dragon. As he looked at Fuguki from afar, he began to speak: "KAME... HAME..." Soon, an absurd amount of pure energy began to form between his hands, glowing intensely in green and white light.

"F***!" Fuguki cursed as he felt a sinister chill run through his body, fear invading him to the point of wishing he had wings to flee.

On the other hand, Tanaka, who had already gathered a football-sized amount of energy, shouted, "HAAA!!!"

"WHOSHHH!"

A loud, sharp sound echoed, producing a piercing noise. Several nearby ninjas felt irritation in their ears, and when they realized the source of the sound, they were left speechless in surprise.

Fuguki, gripping Samehada tightly, braced himself to try and defend. Dodging was impossible, as the attack reached him in mere seconds, giving him no chance to escape.

Fuguki's eyes were sharp; he saw that even the air was distorted by the attack that was about to hit him.

'Who is this boy, after all?'

"Boom!"

This thought lingered even as he finally clashed with the attack, fired with great power and force.

In the clash, Fuguki, holding Samehada, began to slide backward as his body collided with the debris behind him, retreating further and further, losing the confrontation as he was shocked by a harsh reality...

'Why isn't Samehada absorbing this attack? Why is it suffering under this assault, as if wanting to give up?' Fuguki had never encountered anything so abnormal. It was the first time he felt Samehada's thoughts resisting an enemy's attack.

And before Fuguki could process this, spikes emerged from Samehada's handle, forcing his hand to open, and the sword sprang out in the process.

"No!!" he shouted, but it made no difference.

"Whoosh!"

"Bang!!"

In the instant he lost his 'shield,' Fuguki crossed his arms only to receive a direct hit.

"AHhhhhhh!"

His scream echoed in all directions as his arms went limp, and the energy attack hit his chest with force, causing him to vomit blood as the blow destroyed his clothes, revealing a visible mark while his bones started to become exposed, and he was sent flying in less than a millisecond.

Spinning as he was hurled backward, blood flowed in the process, worse than a truck driver falling asleep at the wheel at 150 KM/H and hitting an unlucky pedestrian, launching them into the air.

"BOOOM!"

When he finally stopped, an explosion erupted.

Feeling the vibration beneath his feet, Tanaka smiled strangely. However, his smile vanished when he saw what appeared before his eyes.

[You Obtained 8,090,000 EXP!]

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[You obtained <Skill Book: Thousand Hair Needles - Rank-> x1]

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'Huh? He died?' Tanaka hadn't expected that. At most, he expected to leave him disabled, but the fact that this killed Fuguki left him somewhat surprised.

However, after thinking for a moment, it made sense. Although it was just an imitation of a technique he had always dreamed of one day putting into practice, it still required a large amount of MP.

Setting these thoughts aside for the moment, Tanaka used Psychokinesis to bring Samehada to him.

As Tanaka pulled Samehada toward him with a smile, thrilled at the idea of acquiring a sentient weapon, he didn't seem to notice—or perhaps pretended not to notice—the strangeness he had caused.

The atmosphere became very awkward.

Enemy villages: "???"

Konoha and allies: "?!"

At that moment, silence took over the battlefield.

But soon a shout erupted!

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Incredible, that little Uzumaki boy just defeated one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist!!"

"Unbelievable?!"

"Isn't that the same kid who sent the shadow clones?"

Feeling so many people looking in his direction, even though he was excited about acquiring Samehada, he felt a bit embarrassed. Scratching his face with his finger, he could sense everyone around him using the Kagura Mind's Eye, basically feeling their thoughts.

While it wasn't as deep as mind-reading, it was something akin to sensing their emotions—fear, hatred, admiration, and so on.

He could even feel the resentful stares from the Uchiha and Hyuga clans aimed at him.

'Are they upset because I stole their opponent?' Tanaka guessed.

However, that didn't make him feel any regret. No matter what, he had wanted that sword the moment he laid eyes on it.

If his experiment worked, it was even possible to turn it into something far more incredible in his hands.

[V+X=15]

The side where Tanaka and the others were wasn't the only part of the battlefield; Konoha was being attacked from all four directions. Although this side had the largest number of attacks, the other sides were also under pressure. In particular, Konoha's northern front was being pressured by ninjas from the Stone, Sand, and Cloud villages.

On defense were nearly a thousand ninjas from the Sarutobi Clan and about 800 from the Shimura Clan. Another thousand came from the Mitokado and Utatane Clans.

Only at this moment did it become apparent how much these four clans had managed to preserve their numbers and strength without losing many members in difficult missions and wars.

By looking at the records, it was clear that since the start of the Second War, the number of ninjas sent never exceeded three digits. If 50 were sent, that was already a lot.

Up until now, not much had been said about these clans since Hiruzen took over as Hokage, but the reality was that all these clans were from the "Warring States Era" and were among the first groups of clans to ally with the newly founded village of the Senju and Uchiha, along with the Sarutobi clan.

And just when there was a stalemate, 10 of Tanaka's shadow clones arrived in that direction and began to help, shifting the tide of the battlefield in Konoha's favor.