As the Jonin captain analysed the losses his squad had suffered, his gaze shifted—and he saw two young men walking calmly down the road, heading straight toward them. They were not rushing. They were simply walking, unhurried, as if the battlefield did not concern them at all.
The moment he focused on their faces, the blood drained from his own. His expression turned ashen, and the anger that had been burning inside him vanished without a trace. Around him, the other Kumogakure ninjas noticed the same figures. One by one, their faces paled as well. They knew exactly who was approaching.
One of them finally voiced what all of them were thinking, his throat dry.
"Are they… Fire Oni King Benimaru Uzumaki and the Fire Frost Todoroki Uzumaki?"
Those were the names by which Benimaru and Todoroki were known throughout the ninja world. Their monikers alone carried weight, and they marked a grim truth. In terms of fame, the Uzumaki siblings had reached the level of Konoha's Sannin. Many even believed them to be stronger—or at the very least, capable of fighting the Sannin on equal footing.
To the people of Kumogakure and Kirigakure, they were nothing short of a nightmare. Until now, the Uzumaki siblings had slaughtered countless forces from both villages. The number of dead had already climbed into the thousands from Kumogakure alone—and thousands more from Kirigakure. And now, as those two figures continued to draw closer, that nightmare stood right in front of them, very much alive.
…
After Kirigakure's attack on Uzushiogakure, the Uzumaki siblings became deeply feared by the people of both Kumogakure and Kirigakure. Because of the Uzumaki siblings, countless plans laid by these two villages had been repeatedly thwarted, leaving them unable to make any significant progress in the war. Instead of gains, they suffered loss after loss, their ambitions steadily eroded by Uzumaki interference.
There had even been a particular incident that sent shockwaves through the ninja world. One of the Uzumaki siblings—Antares—had directly clashed with the Third Raikage himself. In the end, Antares was forced to withdraw, unable to overpower the Raikage's overwhelming might. Yet the true significance of that battle lay elsewhere. Antares had fought the Third Raikage for more than thirty minutes and lived. That alone was enough to demonstrate just how terrifyingly strong the Uzumaki siblings had become.
More importantly, Antares had not suffered any notable injuries during that encounter. He had chosen to retreat of his own accord, deeming the battle pointless to continue. Of course, Kumogakure carefully twisted the rumours that spread afterward, painting the clash as clear proof of Antares's inferiority to the Raikage. But that was not the full truth. The Raikage himself—and the higher-ups of Kumogakure—knew better.
But even so this battle served as an upscale for Shanks.
…
Coming back to Fukasuta Village, the moment all ten Kumogakure ninjas laid eyes on the two approaching Uzumaki siblings, they understood it immediately. They were finished. There was no victory to be found here, no chance of defeating them. Their only option—thin and desperate—was escape.
Without wasting another second, the Jonin captain barked the order, "All of you—escape immediately!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he pulled out several kunai and shuriken and hurled them toward Benimaru and Todoroki in a sharp, reflexive motion. Todoroki shifted to the side and stepped just behind Benimaru, using him as cover. It was not out of cruelty or indifference—he simply knew the truth. These attacks were meaningless against Benimaru.
And exactly as expected, every kunai and shuriken struck Benimaru's body and fell harmlessly to the ground. Not a single scratch appeared on him. The weapons clattered against the earth as if they had struck solid iron rather than flesh.
This was Benimaru's ability—Nullify Physical Attacks. Any purely physical strike directed at him was rendered completely useless. Since the kunai and shuriken were not coated with chakra or enhanced in any way, they amounted to nothing more than ordinary physical attacks, all of which were effortlessly nullified.
The Jonin captain froze in shock for a brief moment. He had expected Benimaru to dodge, or draw his sword, or at least deflect the projectiles in some way. But Benimaru had done none of that. He had simply taken the attacks head-on—and emerged entirely unharmed.
"Tch… damn it," the Jonin muttered under his breath.
Then he turned and ran.
Benimaru spoke without turning his head. "I'm going," he said calmly to Todoroki—and in the very next instant, he vanished from where he stood.
Using spatial movement, Benimaru reappeared behind the fleeing Jonin, standing lightly on the roof the man had just crossed. His voice followed immediately after him. "Where are you running to?"
The Jonin felt his blood turn cold. He spun around and saw Benimaru standing there, one hand resting on the hilt of the horizontally sheathed sword at his back waist. The sight alone was enough to crush what little hope remained.
Without hesitation, the Jonin activated the Body Flicker Technique and disappeared from the rooftop in a blur. Pushing the technique to its limit, he reappeared near the outer borders of Fukasuta Village. His breath came in ragged gasps, lungs burning, but he did not dare slow down. He kept running, forcing his legs to move even as panic tightened around his chest.
Then the voice came again.
"I asked you something. Why are you running?"
This time, it did not come from behind him—but from his side.
The Jonin's eyes widened. Benimaru was already there, close enough that he could feel the heat. Benimaru's sword was no longer fully at rest; sky-blue flames danced along the blade as it slid free. Before the Jonin could even begin to react, the sword flashed.
His head fell, cleanly severed, the motion so fast that his body did not immediately realize it had already died.
Benimaru swung his sword downward out of habit, a familiar motion meant to shake the blood from the blade. This time, however, the gesture was pointless. The sky-blue flames coating the sword burned the blood away instantly, reducing it to ash before it could even scatter. It was a useless motion—but one born of muscle memory, ingrained through countless battles.
He slid the sword back into its sheath. Behind him, the Jonin's body began to burn, blue fire crawling over it in silence. Within moments, there was nothing left but drifting ash, carried away by the air.
Benimaru vanished once more, activating his Spatial Movement skill. He used space itself to reappear at a location he had already been to. It was an unfortunate truth for the Jonin—Benimaru possessed exceptionally high sensory abilities. Not only had he passed through that area moments earlier, but he could pinpoint it with ease. He had teleported directly to the Jonin's side and ended his life before the man even realized he had been caught.
Returning to the village, Benimaru moved at high speed, closing in on two of the fleeing special Jonin.
Meanwhile, Todoroki had already appeared behind one of the fleeing Special Jonin (not on Benimaru's side). Without hesitation, he thrust his fist forward and activated Flash Fire Fist: Jet Burn. A concentrated blast of fire erupted from his strike, piercing straight through the special Jonin's torso. The flames engulfed him completely, and in an instant, his body was reduced to ash, scattering across the ground where he had stood.
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