Naruto: The Age of Ninja Swords Begins in Kumogakure

Chapter 104 The Strongest Swordsmith

The Konoha defenses promptly dispatched a 500-strong ninja force to provide immediate support to Kusagakure.

They knew the mysterious ninja army had entered the Land of Grass the moment they stepped into the Land of Grass, but the enemy was too fast. Even though they estimated that the enemy's target was the Hidden Grass Village, they could not provide timely support.

However, Kusagakure is a ninja village after all, and it is unlikely to be destroyed by those people, so they are not worried about it.

If Kusagakure can hold on a little longer, they will be able to get there.

The Konoha ninja army did not arrive until dawn.

As Thousand Hands Orange Water looked at the village shrouded in fire and thick smoke, her heart sank.

The situation was much worse than they had anticipated. They thought Kusagakure could hold out until their reinforcements arrived, but it turned out to have been wiped out. Clearly, their opponent was very strong.

Suddenly, she turned her head to look behind her and saw three figures rushing towards her. The one in the lead was none other than Tsunade Senju, followed by the seasoned sycophant Jiraiya and the handsome and rich Dan Kato.

Looking at the village shrouded in fire and thick smoke, Tsunade and the others were speechless.

This was their first time facing a war on the scale of annihilating a village, and the scene was too tragic.

"Didn't your uncle ask you to check on the wounded soldiers' injuries?"

Senju Chengshui was dissatisfied. He and his uncle did not want Tsunade to come to Kusagakure, and they rarely allowed Tsunade to have contact with the Kusagakure ninjas. They did not expect her to come anyway.

"Those wounded soldiers have been checked and prepared countless times, and there are no problems. On the contrary, the problems here in Kusagakure are huge."

Looking at the village shrouded in fire and thick smoke, Tsunade couldn't reconcile it with the former Kusagakure.

Seeing Tsunade's attitude, Senju Orange Water couldn't say anything, but it seemed that Kusagakure no longer needed to avoid Tsunade.

"We are making every effort to search for survivors."

Upon receiving the order, everyone quickly entered the ruins of Kusagakure Village to search for any possible survivors and anything of value.

Now that the Hidden Grass Village has been destroyed, it's perfectly reasonable for them to collect some valuable items as extra income.

Consider it payment for collecting the body.

"The damage was caused by explosions. Either the opponent used a large number of explosive tags in their attack, or they possessed special ninjutsu. There are traces of earth-style ninjutsu in many places."

Jiraiya returned with a serious expression, having roughly determined that his opponent's main fighting method was explosion.

Many houses were destroyed, and there were many charred craters on the ground left by the explosion.

If we were to use explosive tags to blow this up, we'd need at least 100,000 of them, and they'd have to be the high-quality kind.

"Iwagakure's demolition squad."

Clenching her teeth, Tsunade immediately thought of the Iwagakure Explosion Squad, many of whom possessed the Explosion Release bloodline limit, causing them considerable trouble and casualties in the previous war.

Jiraiya also made the same guess. Although he couldn't rule out the possibility that other ninja villages might intervene, they had no motive to do so.

The only village with a grudge against Kusagakure is Iwagakure, since Kusagakure was an ally of Konoha during the Fourth Shinobi World War, and they fought together against Iwagakure.

But Iwagakure was too ruthless, actually annihilating and destroying the entire Kusagakure.

"Some traces were found in the north, which roughly indicates that the number of people did not exceed six hundred."

Kato Dan leaped over and recounted his discovery outside Kusagakure.

"The opponent is moving very fast, which is beyond the perception range of us sensory ninjas. We may not be able to catch up, and there is also a high possibility that there are traps. Without enough manpower, it will be difficult to gain anything."

He felt powerless against the fighting style and combat strength of that ninja army. Their tactics were extremely crude and simple, and they didn't even bother to conceal their combat objectives, which was very inconsistent with the style of ninjas.

The reason was that the enemy's marching speed was too fast, so fast that their messages could not be delivered to Kusagakure in time. Kusagakure itself did not have good means of sensing and detection, so they were caught off guard and quickly annihilated.

There's no way to beat an opponent like that. After all, if you can't catch up, no matter how strong you are, it's meaningless.

Just like this time, they arrived at Kusagakure, but all they saw was raging fire, ruins, and corpses. They didn't even see a trace of the enemy. They had great strength but nowhere to use it.

Tsunade fell silent. Although she desperately wanted to chase after them and wipe them out, reason told her that Dan was right.

Moreover, this unit is not under his command now, and given Orange Water's personality, he certainly wouldn't take the risk.

"Have you found Uncle Taoye and the others?"

Suppressing those thoughts, Tsunade inquired about the whereabouts of her clan uncle.

When my uncle came to Kusagakure to discuss the next plan to fight the Iwagakure Ninja Army, he may have also met with misfortune.

This is also the main reason why she chased after him.

"That's all we found!"

Jiraiya took out half of a charred headband, from which the Konoha headband pattern could be barely discerned, and there was also a tattered number on the back.

With the headband in this state, the person is probably in grave danger.

This was something that was expected; this is war.

A year of war has already claimed too many lives, and many familiar faces have disappeared forever. This is just the first more to be added to the list.

This is neither the first nor the last; let's just hope the war ends soon!

"I hate war!"

Reaching out her trembling hand, Tsunade took the half of the headband. Her legs went weak, and she knelt down, slamming her fist hard on the ground, her hatred for war growing ever stronger.

The war caused her to lose many relatives and clansmen. She lost her second grandfather in the First Shinobi World War, and she lost many more in this war as well.

The war is not over yet, and we don't know how many more relatives, clansmen, and companions we will lose in the future.

Why must war exist, something that brings misfortune to people?

Kato Dan and Jiraiya looked at Tsunade and didn't know how to comfort her.

"Where have they all gone?"

Just then, a roar filled with grief and anger rang out. The three turned their heads and saw several ninjas wearing Kusagakure headbands shouting wildly.

Jiraiya hesitated for a moment, then took a step forward, but before he could speak, someone grabbed his collar.

"Was this done by Konoha?"

The newcomer's face was contorted with rage, and his eyes revealed a sense of utter collapse and madness.

He had only gone out on a patrol mission, but when he returned, he found the village in ruins and everyone was gone.

"It wasn't us, it was the demolition squad from Iwagakure that destroyed your Kusagakure."

Jiraiya quickly explained, also expressing his anger at the cruel Iwa ninja.

"That's also Konoha's fault. You put the battlefield in our Land of Grass and forced our Grass Village to join you in fighting against Iwagakure. Now Iwagakure is taking revenge on us. It's all Konoha's fault."

"What did we do wrong? We brought war and death to Konoha, and now even our village is gone."

"Your Konoha is the murderer, the murderer who slaughtered tens of thousands of people in our Kusagakure village."

The group went berserk, pointing at Jiraiya and cursing him.

The intense war throughout the year had already filled him with resentment and frustration, and now that even the village was gone, it had pushed them to the brink of collapse.

And it was Konoha that caused all of this; it was all Konoha's fault!

This angry rebuke left Jiraiya speechless, unable to refute it.

They did indeed start the war with Iwagakure and Amegakure in the Land of Grass in order to prevent the war from spreading into the Land of Fire, and they did indeed cause countless damage to the Land of Grass.

The alliance between Kusagakure and Konoha was indeed demanded by Konoha. Now, Iwagakure's annihilation of Kusagakure in retaliation is indirectly related to Konoha.

These are undeniable facts.

Tsunade, standing behind, turned even paler as she looked at the ruins of Kusagakure and the countless corpses scattered around.

Was all of this their fault?

Kato Dan raised his hand and placed it on Tsunade's shoulder, then sighed. He knew the essence of the matter, but in this cruel ninja world, weakness itself was a mistake and a sin!

Senju Tokisui, who had personally led the search of Kusagakure, looked at the group of people who were screaming in despair, his eyes flashing with cold light.

How incredibly noisy!

Leaving aside the farce at the Kusagakure ruins, the fleeing Kumogakure ninja army did not stop. They followed the pre-planned route through the Land of Grass and the Land of Waterfall to reach the coast, boarded a boat, and set sail. Everything was so quiet and smooth.

As for Tamura Hao and the others, they did not go back with them, but separated halfway and headed to the neighboring Land of Iron.

Their purposes were twofold: first, to purchase supplies in the Land of Iron; and second, to learn the purest and most advanced swordsmanship here.

Tamura Hiroshi's target is Mifune, who has become the Admiral of the Land of Iron. Mifune is the strongest samurai in the Land of Iron, and his swordsmanship is naturally the strongest as well.

However, there was no rush. The group first went to the Samurai Castle located in the Three Wolves Mountain and sought out Kusaya Ichiro, the best swordsmith in the Land of Iron.

Tamura Hao had been in contact with this person before. The Big Meow and Little Meow were made by this person. Through the Big Meow and Little Meow, he met this strongest swordsmith who had retired from the world of swordsmanship.

"These are all rare and excellent materials, but unfortunately, the focus is only on their support for ninjutsu, without fully utilizing their unique properties."

Kusashi Ichiro looked at the few ninja swords in front of him with a regretful expression.

These ninja swords are made of the highest quality materials, but unfortunately, the forging method was wrong, and the full potential of the materials was not brought into play.

That decapitation sword, in particular, was simply unbearable to look at; the blade was too brittle, a waste of the good materials inside.

These ninja swords focused more on assisting in the execution of ninjutsu, but lost sight of the essence of a sword.

Pity!

"Therefore, we need the old gentleman to correct them."

Tamura Hao laughed and said that the purpose of his visit was to use the ninja swords he obtained from Kirigakure as materials to forge better swords.

Kusayama Ichiro did not comment on this, but looked up at the boy opposite him with great surprise.

"I never imagined that the owner of these knives would be so young."

A few years ago, someone came to him and asked him to forge a pair of long swords. The requirements were very high, which was a considerable challenge for him.

He had assumed it was a powerful ninja skilled in taijutsu and swordsmanship, but it turned out to be a young boy.

"In a few more years, I'll be able to match Big Meow and Little Meow."

Tamura Hao looked at the two swords resting on his lap; the size of these two swords was indeed a bit too large for him at his current level.

"Let this old man see how well you wield those two knives."

Kusashi Ichiro stood up, picked up a two-meter-long nodachi from the sword rack, and wanted to test the boy's swordsmanship.

Those two knives were his masterpieces, mainly because the other party was willing to spend money to buy a lot of precious materials.

Although it still falls short of the legendary Kusanagi sword, it represents my personal limit and is my most satisfying work.

"Is the old gentleman a samurai?"

When he saw Kusayama Ichiro pick up that exaggerated nodachi, Tamura Hiroshi was slightly surprised.

That nodachi was very long, definitely two meters long, but it didn't look out of place in Kusayachi Ichiro's hands, because Kusayachi Ichiro was extremely burly, no less so than the Third Raikage.

"How can one forge a fine sword without becoming a skilled samurai?"

Kusashi Ichiro countered with a question, saying that while his swordsmanship wasn't top-notch, it was still among the best in the Land of Iron.

"I haven't yet fought a pure samurai."

Tamura Hao was filled with fighting spirit. He stood up, sword in hand, and connected his chakra with Kaguya's, borrowing the power of her Sharingan and Byakugan.

Although it's impossible to fully utilize her abilities, fortunately, Princess Kaguya's level is high enough that even borrowing only a portion would be a huge boost for Tamura Hao.

Ye Yue Ai and the others leaped to the side, giving the space to the two of them.

"Chirp!"

Tamura Hao temporarily planted his twin swords in the floor, freeing his hands to quickly form hand seals. The power of Chidori flashed in his hands, then quickly disappeared into them, flowing through his entire body.

This is the Chidori Speed ​​technique that he and Yotsuki A created by referencing the Lightning Release Armor. They abandoned the original Chidori's attack power and focused on stimulating and enhancing speed bursts, allowing them to unleash even faster speeds.

As for attack power, at this stage, we can make up for it with the sharpness of Big Meow and Little Meow.

This will be quite useful for both fighting and escaping.

"Ninjutsu!"

Kusashi Ichiro became more serious. After a brief standoff, his figure suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of Tamura Hiroshi. His katana flashed out of its sheath and slashed horizontally towards Tamura Hiroshi's vital chest and abdomen.

It was swift and fierce, but the power it contained shocked Tamura Hiroshi even more.

In addition, there was a strange aura that made him feel a sense of oppression.

This strange aura caught Tamura Hiroshi's eye; clearly, this was the essence of samurai swordsmanship.

Iaijutsu!

Tamura Hiroshi recognized this as the Iaijutsu, a technique commonly used by samurai. Essentially, it can be considered a drawing sword technique, but it is more insidious and ruthless, and it will have a series of fierce follow-up moves.

A true Iaijutsu involves using various methods to draw the sword and kill the opponent. For example, while talking, one second you might be joking and chatting, and the next second you might draw your sword and stab them.

The key is to catch the opponent off guard and make them unable to defend against it.

Of course, such Iaijutsu is rarely used in direct confrontations. The Iaijutsu used in real confrontations is a more formal kind, which focuses more on the explosive speed.

Strictly speaking, there are actually two types of Iaijutsu. One is the kneeling Iaijutsu, which is the purest form of Iaijutsu. It is performed while kneeling, making it more sudden and difficult to defend against.

Then there's the standing stance Iaijutsu, also known as Rikkaizan, which is mostly used in head-on combat. Kusashiyama Ichiro is currently using Rikkaizan.

Kusayama Ichiro's Rikaze Slash was fast, but Tamura Hiro's speed was not slow either. In addition, with the Sharingan's super dynamic vision, he was able to react in time.

Instead of a direct confrontation, he took a step back to avoid the blade, while simultaneously attacking Kusashi Ichiro from two directions with both swords, one slashing and one thrusting, swift and fierce.

Kusashi Ichiro was well aware of the sharpness of the two swords he had forged, so naturally he wouldn't use his body to take the blows head-on.

He took a step back to avoid the little cat's thrust, and used his nodachi to block the big cat's attack.

Tamura Hiroshi did not confront Kusashi Ichiro head-on. With a flick of his arm, the large cat's blade turned to dodge the nodachi carrying tremendous force, while the small cat in his right hand simultaneously thrust out.

The two sides then engaged in a fierce swordsmanship contest, the sharp flashes of their blades leaving the onlookers in awe.

"The strength of a samurai should not be underestimated."

Yotsuki Ai exclaimed in amazement that although samurai had significant weaknesses compared to ninjas, their strength in close combat was truly formidable.

He wasn't even confident that he could block the old man's blade strike with his current Lightning Release armor; he'd probably have to master Lightning Release Chakra Mode first.

Fokai remained silent, but he had already drawn the long sword from his back, gently stroking the blade as his fighting spirit surged.

Besides protecting the student, he also wanted to witness the swordsmanship of the Iron Country samurai, and it would be even better if he could learn some of it.

Tamura Hiroshi used his dual swords to fight Kusashi Ichiro while simultaneously using his Sharingan and Byakugan to observe the flow of chakra and sword techniques within Kusashi Ichiro's body.

Then, using the enhanced comprehension from the cheat system, one can quickly understand and digest it, extracting the parts that suit oneself and integrating them into one's own combat techniques.

He had previously spent a lot of money to buy a set of samurai training methods, including a set of basic sword techniques and training methods, to train his body.

However, advanced cultivation methods are difficult to buy with money, not to mention those mysterious things that can only be understood intuitively and cannot be explained in words.

The purpose of this trip to the Land of Iron is to witness the more advanced methods of samurai training and those mysterious things.

Kusayama Ichiro's swordsmanship was very distinctive, characterized by its wide, sweeping, and powerful strokes. Tamura Hao felt as if he were wielding a large hammer rather than a sword, as his slashing power was extremely domineering and formidable. Tamura Hao dared not confront him head-on.

Meanwhile, Kusashi Ichiro's attacks had a unique rhythm, which Tamura Hiroshi tried many times to disrupt but was unable to break, making him extremely difficult to deal with.

Then there was the oppressive aura, which made Tamura Hiroshi feel increasingly suppressed, even affecting his swordsmanship.

Ultimately, they were forced to defend more than they could attack, and were completely suppressed.

After fighting fiercely for more than ten minutes, Kusashi Ichiro finally took the initiative to retreat, his breathing becoming rapid and sweat appearing on his forehead.

"Thank you for your guidance, sir!"

Tamura Hiroshi, who was also breathing heavily, took a breath and bowed to the old man.

He learned a lot from the previous battles. In terms of the amplification of physical attributes by pure chakra, the samurai's research far surpasses that of the ninja.

Despite being over sixty years old, Kusashi Ichiro's speed and power, enhanced by chakra, were still formidable, and he dared not clash with the opponent's nodachi.

"I'm getting old, and I'm no match for you young people."

Kusayama Ichiro, who had just recovered, rubbed his shoulders. He was already sore all over after fighting for only a short while. He was definitely not as good as he used to be when he was young.

"Your swordsmanship is based on pure samurai style. As a ninja, how did you come up with the idea of ​​learning such pure samurai swordsmanship?"

He was quite curious about this. Although he didn't want to admit it, ninjas were indeed much stronger than samurai, and samurai would be at a great disadvantage when facing ninjas.

"There are two reasons. One is that my chakra aptitude is average, and my chakra reserves will be very limited, making me unsuitable for using those outward-facing ninjutsu attacks. The other is that I believe swordsmanship has great potential, and once developed, it will definitely not be inferior to the ninjutsu system."

Tamura Hoshino doesn't think swordsmanship and taijutsu are inferior, especially when facing the powerful members of the Otsutsuki clan in the future. Using ninjutsu is basically just giving them energy, genjutsu is even more ridiculous, and sage techniques are not very useful. Only taijutsu and swordsmanship can hurt them.

As a time traveler, his ultimate enemy is naturally not the ninjas of the ninja world, but the Otsutsuki!

Whether it's the Sage of Six Paths, Hamura Otsutsuki, or the Otsutsuki clan in the universe, they are all enemies he will have to face in the future.

Therefore, physical skills and swordsmanship are the proper paths to cultivation.

"You mean those ninjutsu techniques from your Hidden Cloud Village?"

Kusayama Ichiro's impression of the boy in front of him improved somewhat.

Tamura Hao put away the big and small cats and explained seriously: "It's not just those ninjutsu and taijutsu, but a purer swordsmanship. Without hand seals, you can obtain various special effects by cultivating the attribute transformation of chakra to the extreme and then adding it to the sword."

Combined with the energy blade slashes that utilize chakra transformation, the resulting system is by no means weaker than the ninjutsu system.

Samurai also train in chakra nowadays. This is not a power exclusive to ninjas. Ninjas are just a professional system. Samurai can also train in the nature transformation and form transformation of chakra, advancing their power to a higher level...

He explained his ideas about the swordsmanship system, mainly based on the special effects from the anime and movies he had watched in his previous life.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

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(End of this chapter)