An open, empty stretch of land.
Yuya stood there quietly, facing a man clad entirely in black robes.
It was Senjin, the Sunagakure ANBU whose target was Yuya.
Senjin felt puzzled.
Why had Yuya been able to detect his arrival?
He hadn't even gotten close yet when Yuya had already started moving toward his direction. Senjin himself was half a sensory-type shinobi, and he, too, had sensed something when Yuya began approaching.
That was how this face-to-face standoff came to be.
The moment they met, Senjin confirmed it—
Yuya was his target.
Across from him, Yuya was also slightly confused.
He didn't quite understand why he had sensed Senjin's presence either. It was as if, once Senjin entered a certain range, a vague yet distinct resonance had formed.
Following that sensation, Yuya had moved straight toward it—
And ended up meeting Senjin head-on.
Still, regardless of the reason, the man in front of him was clearly an enemy. Detecting him in advance was a good thing.
Otherwise, if he'd been ambushed, the outcome might have been troublesome.
Senjin's gaze toward Yuya turned cold.
Assassination was his specialty.
If given the chance to strike from the shadows, he was confident he could even kill a Kage.
Frontal combat was naturally far more difficult.
But even so, he wasn't afraid.
Though assassination was his forte, his strength in direct combat was no weaker.
Yuya and Senjin stared at each other in silence.
No words were exchanged.
No questions needed to be asked.
All that remained—
Was battle.
Yuya took out a scroll, unsealed his tachi, and grasped it in his hand.
Across from him, Senjin formed a one-handed seal, while his other hand grasped at empty air.
Pshk!
A sword appeared instantly in his hand.
The moment the blade materialized—
Yuya felt an intense surge of sensation.
It was the same feeling that had alerted him to Senjin's approach earlier—
Only now, it was dozens of times stronger!
Why?!
Yuya narrowed his eyes and focused on the sword in Senjin's hand.
But before he could examine it further, Senjin launched his attack.
"Secret Technique: Dance of Sakura Slaughter!"
Senjin's sword slashed downward toward Yuya.
It looked similar to a chakra-flow technique—
Yet the result was entirely different!
As the blade fell, the sky itself seemed to flicker—
Then suddenly transformed into thousands upon thousands of identical swords!
Like a torrential rain of blades, they crashed down toward Yuya.
"What kind of technique is this?!"
Yuya was briefly surprised, then guessed it might be something akin to Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.
But he felt no fear.
Facing the overwhelming sword rain, Yuya responded with a single, simple horizontal slash.
Hummm—!
As his blade swept upward, a semi-transparent white arc of shock force was flung diagonally into the air.
At the same time, the sword rain descended like a violent storm.
The two forces collided midair.
BOOOOM!!!
The shockwave exploded outward, tearing through the air itself—
As though the entire sky had cracked open!
Under that single震荡, the countless swords shattered inch by inch, until they completely vanished.
"?!"
Senjin's pupils shrank.
A mix of caution and shock flashed through his eyes.
He hadn't expected Yuya's technique to be so unusual—
And so powerful.
Taking a deep breath, Senjin rotated his sword and swung again, launching a second attack.
"Secret Technique: Shadow Assassination!"
Whoosh!
In the next instant, Senjin's figure blurred and split—
Appearing as several afterimages surrounding Yuya from all directions.
Then, all of them swung their swords at once.
As the blades moved, they created overlapping afterimages, forming dozens of sword edges that completely enveloped Yuya—
Leaving no room to retreat.
"Genjutsu? Clones?"
Yuya shook his head calmly, his expression growing even more composed.
This kind of scattered, visually overwhelming attack—
Was exactly what he feared the least.
Flashy, but hollow.
Against something like this—
One punch was enough.
Yuya released his grip.
The tachi plunged into the ground before him.
Crossing his arms briefly in front of his chest, he then smashed both fists outward to either side.
At that exact moment, the countless sword shadows stabbed toward him, as if to turn him into a pincushion.
BOOM!!
Shock force erupted violently.
The air on both sides of Yuya shattered like glass.
The ground roared as it split apart, cracking outward from both sides and spreading into the distance.
The afterimages and sword phantoms—
Were obliterated instantly, collapsing like rotten wood under a single blow.
"This is bad!"
Hidden among the afterimages, Senjin's true body revealed itself.
Shock filled his eyes.
He clearly hadn't expected Yuya to be this strong—
Nor capable of unleashing an attack that covered every direction at once.
With no time to hesitate, Senjin poured chakra into his sword and slashed forward, while forcefully kicking off the ground to retreat.
Without understanding the true limits of Yuya's power, he had no intention of clashing head-on.
Humm—!
Even though he managed to block the shock force, his palm still went numb, and his body shuddered.
His heart filled with even greater disbelief at Yuya's strength.
At the same time, a strange look appeared on Yuya's face.
Not because of Senjin's techniques—
But because of the sword in Senjin's hand.
He had finally seen it clearly.
That sword was—
The Kusanagi Sword!
To think such a coincidence would occur—
That the wielder of the Kusanagi Sword would appear before him like this.
And during the exchange, Yuya's resonance with the blade only grew stronger.
Though he still didn't fully understand why, Yuya had already formed a vague hypothesis.
And when he looked at Senjin again—
His gaze was no longer calm.
A dense killing intent surfaced.
After two exchanges, Yuya had already gauged Senjin's strength.
With the Kusanagi Sword in hand, Senjin was stronger than an elite jōnin—
Reaching the level of a quasi-Kage, capable of threatening even true Kage-level shinobi.
The Kusanagi Sword was not merely a sharp blade.
It possessed an exceptional capacity to channel chakra—
Far surpassing Yuya's tachi,
And even exceeding the properties of Hatake Sakumo's White Fang.
Moreover, it carried its own unique Kusanagi Sword Techniques.
The sword rain from earlier, and those overlapping blade phantoms—
Were manifestations of that very sword style.
The techniques used by Orochimaru—
Such as extending the Kusanagi Sword at will,
Or unleashing the Many Snakes Formation, where every serpent spits out a Kusanagi blade—
All fell under the same system of Kusanagi Sword Techniques.
Simply put—
Much like the blades wielded by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist,
Each of which possessed unique abilities—
The Kusanagi Sword was the same kind of legendary weapon.
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