Chapter 100: Defeat the Snake (Part 1)
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Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan, who had originally been in despair, couldn't help but show relief at surviving a disaster as they looked at Kiyoshi, who had suddenly appeared and blocked the fatal blow for them. At this moment, Kiyoshi's figure was incomparably tall in the eyes of the three children, and Kiyoshi's sky-blue Jōgan was like a shooting star piercing through the night, illuminating their path of hope.
Looking at Kiyoshi, who had suddenly appeared and blocked his full-power slash, the ninja from the Moonlight clan couldn't help but become furious. He leaped high backward and simultaneously formed a hand seal with one hand. White smoke appeared, and two Shadow Clones plus the original body, a total of three figures, attacked Kiyoshi simultaneously from above, left, and right.
"Hidden Leaf Style Swordsmanship: Crescent Moon Dance!!!"
"Big brother, be careful!!!" Watching this flashy attack, the three children, still trembling with a mixture of the fear of death and the joy of surviving a disaster, simultaneously reminded Kiyoshi loudly.
"Hehe, what kind children!" Kiyoshi sighed, feeling it wasn't a waste to have saved these three.
In the Jōgan's 360° vision, Kiyoshi clearly saw every move of the Hidden Leaf ninjas behind him, but he didn't care.
The Chakra in his body began to boil slightly, and bone spurs instantly pierced through his back, stabbing towards the three directions of the incoming attack.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Tang Pine!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
The Shadow Clones attacking from the left and right were directly pierced and dissipated by the bone spurs. The original body attacking from above, although it swung its ninja sword to block, quickly followed in the Shadow Clones' footsteps. Unfortunately for the original body, it didn't have the Shadow Clone's margin of error. The bone spur directly hit the center of its chest, killing the ninja from the Moonlight clan with a single blow!
"A bit of skill, but not much!" Kiyoshi said plainly, his tone filled with mockery.
"So... so strong!!!" The three children watched Kiyoshi, who hadn't even turned his body, complete the kill with such casual ease, their mouths agape in surprise.
Although Kiyoshi recognized that as a ninja, he was definitely not a good person, attacking civilians, especially half-grown children, truly crossed his bottom line. If the three children were ninjas, that would be one thing, but he didn't believe these Hidden Leaf ninjas couldn't see that the three children had never undergone ninja training and were just war orphans.
Therefore, he had no goodwill towards Orochimaru and the other seven Hidden Leaf ninjas. This was one of the reasons he saved the three children.
The other reason, of course, was that he had just sensed the aura of the Rinnegan about to erupt from Nagato, an aura he had sensed several years ago. Although he was very疑惑 as to why Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan would appear on a child, he still decisively made his move.
Under the observation of the Jōgan, through Nagato's red hair covering his eyes, Kiyoshi could clearly observe the ripple-patterned pupils with a purple tinge, and he could also clearly sense an aura similar to that of Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo in his senses.
All of this happened in just a breath. Kiyoshi completed the instant kill before Orochimaru could even make a move.
Actually, Kiyoshi had already sensed the aura of Orochimaru and the other seven when they approached the small town.
Opening his Jōgan to observe, Kiyoshi recognized Orochimaru, the leader of the group, at a glance. As one of the three disciples of the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, and also one of the Hidden Leaf Village's Kage-level fighters, Orochimaru had some fame in the ninja world.
Kiyoshi initially thought it was because of him that the Hidden Leaf ninjas had come, wondering if they had any ideas about him. However, he immediately thought again, *That's not right. I've already used the Transformation Technique, and although I haven't been sensing too carefully along the way, Kiyoshi was confident that his movements hadn't been exposed.*
On the other side, Black Zetsu, who had been hanging far back to monitor and protect Nagato, was originally about to make a move to save Nagato's life, because he knew that no matter how much the Rinnegan's power erupted, its current host was ultimately just a 7-year-old child who hadn't undergone formal training.
But after seeing Kiyoshi appear and save Nagato, he retreated again, continuing to hide silently in the distance, observing quietly. As a thousand-year-old schemer, the ultimate mastermind behind the ninja world, the founder of the "revealing one's true feelings" method, he couldn't easily show himself.
And Kiyoshi, with Black Zetsu not making any moves and一心 hiding himself, of course didn't sense him at all. After all, Black Zetsu, as the third son hastily separated from Kaguya Ōtsutsuki before she was sealed, although he didn't have much combat power, he was still a creation of Yin-Yang Release, equal in status to Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo and Hamura. His skill points in terms of concealment were truly maxed out.
However, Black Zetsu, who had been paying attention to Hagoromo's descendants for thousands of years, didn't care about Kiyoshi displaying his Bone Pulse ability. Black Zetsu hadn't yet realized the seriousness of the situation.
"Hidden Mist Village... from the Kaguya clan?" The moment the Bone Pulse appeared, Orochimaru recognized it and also gave up the idea of going forward to rescue. The Kaguya clan's powerful close-quarters combat ability was famous throughout the ninja world.
"It seems the intelligence about Hanzo hiring the Hidden Mist and Hidden Cloud is true." Many thoughts flashed through Orochimaru's mind. Then he decided that the most urgent task was to eliminate everyone present except the Hidden Leaf ninjas, absolutely not allowing their information to leak.
The normal mission procedure should have been to infiltrate secretly, then capture a few Hidden Rain ninjas and quickly retreat back to their own camp. But now they were at risk of being exposed. Once exposed, he didn't have the confidence to break through the Hidden Rain Village's heavy blockade.
Kiyoshi slowly turned around and said faintly to Orochimaru and the others, "Hidden Leaf ninjas, have you all fallen to the point of attacking children?"
Looking at Kiyoshi's Jōgan, which flickered slightly in the dark rainy night, Orochimaru's heart jolted again. He had never heard of the Kaguya clan having any eye-related abilities.
Calming his mind, Orochimaru rapidly formed hand seals with both hands, and Chakra began to gather continuously. In the end, he would still have to fight.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A gust of wind blew out from Orochimaru's mouth, fiercely sweeping towards Kiyoshi's position. The insidious Orochimaru still hadn't given up on killing the three children.
The battle broke out in an instant. Seeing that Orochimaru, as the captain, had made his move, the remaining five Hidden Leaf ninjas also began forming hand seals.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
"Fire Release: Fire Running Technique!"
"Wind Release: Wind Scythe!"
"Secret Technique: Insect Swarm!"
Overwhelming ninjutsu, carrying a destructive aura, swept over.
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