Danzo, upon receiving the battle report from the front lines, did not panic.
Although in his estimation, this Kirigakure unit had already been reduced to pawns, he had still deployed them with the specifications of a main force.
While there might have been some casualties at first contact, once the Konoha shinobi found their footing, they would be more than capable of pushing this enemy force—along with any reinforcements—into the sea with their superior strength.
After all, just Jiraiya and Orochimaru fighting on the front lines were enough to give Kirigakure a serious headache.
Still, to be cautious, he summoned a subordinate.
"Tell Tatsuma there's no need to monitor the Uchiha for now. Have him take his ROOT subordinates and join the battle!"
With a jōnin of Tatsuma's caliber joining the fray, Danzo clearly felt more at ease.
However, with Danzo's orders issued, the security level of the camp obviously dropped.
But Danzo didn't mind. After all, he, Mitokado Homura, and Tsunade were all stationed at the camp. Even if an attack did come, the enemy would gain nothing.
...
In the middle of grappling with Ao, Takeshi noticed the new arrival and couldn't quite recall his name.
After kicking Ao away, concerned for Obito and the others, Takeshi used Flying Thunder God to return to their side.
Anyway, his previous attack had already struck with poisoned senbon. That guy would be losing combat effectiveness soon enough.
While Kakashi and Obito could handle Jūzō Biwa, if you added in that fat guy swinging the Samehada—whatever his name was—they wouldn't stand a chance.
"My name is Fuguki Suikazan, and I'm the one who's going to kill you."
Fuguki Suikazan was annoyed that Takeshi didn't recognize his name. Even that green-skinned brat's squad back then had known the names of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Then again, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were now basically defunct.
After four had been killed by Might Duy, Raiga Kurosuki had gone missing during a mission, and the Lightning Blades had disappeared without a trace.
Cursing Raiga Kurosuki under his breath, Fuguki raised Samehada, preparing to slaughter the ones before him.
"Be careful. That's the White Reaper. He's no ordinary kid."
Ao warned him with a grimace, then reached out to stop the Kirigakure shinobi who had just arrived to back up Fuguki.
"He's skilled in large-scale ninjutsu! Don't cluster together!"
Hearing Ao's warning, the other Kirigakure shinobi immediately changed tactics, attacking from afar with ninja tools and ninjutsu.
"Damn it! So much for the element of surprise!"
Takeshi shot a vicious glare at the injured Ao and Jūzō Biwa, who were already receiving medical treatment. He clenched his teeth—there was no way he could let these bastards escape.
Dodging the sudden eruption of spikes from Samehada, Takeshi used Ice release to momentarily block the enemy's vision and attacks, under the wary gaze of Fuguki.
Two busts of ice spewing frigid breath appeared before him.
"Useless! My sword Samehada can absorb chakra. You can't restrict my movements!"
As a commander of Kirigakure's ANBU, Fuguki naturally had intel on Takeshi.
"Samehada can absorb chakra, yes... but it has a limit."
Takeshi knew all about Samehada—it was one of the most famous swords in the entire Naruto world.
All of this was just a stalling tactic to buy himself a bit of time.
[Isobu, I need chakra—tons of it, and fast!!!]
[Isobu: ...]
Though Isobu didn't respond verbally, the sudden surge of chakra within Takeshi's body was answer enough.
Feeling the abundant chakra inside him, Takeshi didn't hesitate any longer. He activated Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Five shadow clones appeared and immediately spread out to five different positions. With everything set, Takeshi called his teammates together.
Right in front of Fuguki and the others, they held hands and vanished.
"Not good!"
Among everyone present, only Ao sensed the danger.
Even though his Byakugan couldn't discern which of the shadow clones was the real one, he could see the massive chakra building up inside one of them.
"Even if you realize it, it's too late. This technique covers a massive area!"
One of Takeshi's clones kindly explained to Ao, before unleashing Takeshi's most powerful jutsu:
"Five Style Massive Combo!"
The Kirigakure shinobi could only watch helplessly as five types of elemental chakra collided before them.
Despair filled Fuguki's eyes.
Even with Samehada's help, there was no way he could absorb that much chakra in an instant.
It seemed death was the only thing awaiting them.
With a thunderous boom, a mushroom cloud erupted on the battlefield.
As the cloud rose, countless black specks began falling from the sky.
Empowered by Isobu's chakra, this Five Style Massive Combo caused far more destruction than the last time Takeshi used it.
Even though they'd moved to their current location via Flying Thunder God, they could still feel the powerful shockwave.
"What are those black specks?"
Obito asked curiously, staring at the falling dots in the distance.
"Idiot. Those are people."
Kakashi replied coldly, answering Obito's question while silently feeling his own helplessness.
It felt like he had been left in the dust by these two.
"I'd like to use Flying Thunder God to check the battlefield, but..."
Takeshi tried to sense the kunai he had marked during his fight with Ao, but after searching for a long time, he couldn't feel its presence.
It must've been blasted away by the shockwave.
With a shrug, Takeshi and the others could only walk back to where the battle had taken place.
...
In the end, Takeshi and the others never found the bodies of Ao or Jūzō Biwa. Most of the corpses scattered around were in such horrifying condition that it was impossible to tell who was who.
But they did find the Executioner's Blade's handle lying far from the battlefield, along with Samehada flopping wildly on the ground.
They didn't even take their weapons. That probably meant the two had already gone to meet the Sage of Six Paths.
Considering that he'd pierced Ao's kidney with a poisoned senbon, Takeshi was confident the two were now walking side by side into the afterlife.
The annihilation of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen completely shattered Kirigakure's will to fight. Realizing their counterattack had failed, they withdrew all forces that very night.
By the time Danzo personally led reinforcements the next day, all that remained was a scene of utter devastation.
Still, even then, when Konoha sent envoys to negotiate peace with Kirigakure, they responded arrogantly, insisting the war wasn't over and expelling the envoys from their territory.
This rude act by Kirigakure even enraged the usually mild-mannered Hiruzen Sarutobi.
But at that time, Konoha didn't have the capacity for a cross-sea campaign, and could only choose to maintain the status quo.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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