Naruto: The Age of Ninja Swords Begins in Kumogakure

Chapter 165 Swordsman!

The ritual lasted several times longer than the previous experiments, lasting a full hour. Fauci was almost completely exhausted, with countless drops of blood seeping from his pores, soaking his clothes, demonstrating the ritual's domineering nature.

"cousin!"

Night Moon Ai, who was anxiously waiting on the side, hurriedly stepped forward to help Fukai up, but was stopped by Tamura Hao.

"It's best not to touch him now; his sense of touch is at its most acute."

This is the effect of a deep fusion of soul and body, and also an improvement he made to the immortal body.

Although it greatly enhances the sense of pain, it also enhances other senses, which can help improve performance once you get used to it.

Kushina Uzumaki, who had been watching from the sidelines, hurriedly fed Fukai the prepared nutrient solution little by little, while Vanilla Uzumaki used Healing Palm Technique to slowly soothe Fukai's twitching muscles.

After working together for more than half an hour, Fauci finally recovered.

"Teacher, how are you feeling?"

After helping Fauci up, Tamura asked him a question.

"Excellent, better than ever before."

Although pale, Fauci was very excited.

He could clearly feel that vigorous vitality, as well as the tremendous enhancement of his senses; he could even hear the heartbeats of several people.

"My turn!"

Night Moon Ai couldn't wait to lie down on the altar; he wouldn't hesitate in the slightest to improve his strength.

After checking on his teacher Fukai's physical condition, Tamura Hao performed the evil god ritual on Yotsuki Ai.

Like Fukai, Yotsuki Ai also succeeded, followed by Uchiha Hikaru.

"It feels the same as when I used Susanoo back then."

Uchiha Hikari was in relatively good condition because she had endured similar pain before, when she used Susanoo, especially in the final battle of that year, when she pushed Susanoo to the limit of what she could bear.

My entire body was in excruciating pain, as if every cell was being torn apart.

However, this time the harvest was good. I felt that the power of the Thousand Hands bloodline had increased a lot, and the integration with my heart had also increased significantly. That feeling of rejection had completely disappeared.

"Don't perform this ceremony yet; wait until it's perfected before doing so."

After glancing at Kushina Uzumaki and Vanilla Uzumaki beside him, Hikaru Uchiha rejected the evil god ritual.

It wasn't just because the two were too young, but also because their physical condition wasn't good enough. Even when they performed the evil god ritual before, they had torn countless muscles and blood vessels.

"It's not enough to just say it's right; you also need to get used to the side effects of heightened senses, otherwise it will only have the opposite effect."

Tamura Hao also disagreed with performing the evil god ritual on the two women. Their main combat strength at this stage is to use the Adamantine Sealing Chains to withstand the Rasengan and carry out ranged attacks. There is no need to immediately perform the evil god ritual to obtain immortality.

It's not too late to do it after it's been improved in the future.

"Oh well!"

Kushina Uzumaki breathed a sigh of relief, but she felt a little apprehensive watching the three of them perform the ritual.

Whirlpool Vanilla, however, was disappointed. She was also fully aware of the importance of becoming stronger so that she could better help her master.

She couldn't disobey her master's will, so she could only wait.

"Ah Hao, is there a limit to the number of people allowed in this kind of ceremony?"

Yoruichi, who had been resting and adapting on the sidelines, asked, "This power should naturally be shared with more people so that their Hidden Cloud Village can become stronger."

"Samehada has already devoured and fused with the original power of the evil god. As long as it continues to devour the souls of others, it can strengthen the evil god's power, theoretically allowing it to support the ritual indefinitely."

Tamura Hiroshi gave an affirmative response, stating that evil gods inherently possess the ability to devour souls and the life force of living beings in order to enhance their own power.

Therefore, as long as there is sufficient replenishment and transformation, the power of the evil god will be inexhaustible.

"To what extent can this ritual ultimately be perfected?"

On the other side, Fokai asked a question, still feeling lingering fear about the previous ritual, which was a double test of both body and will, something most people simply couldn't endure.

"The pain will not be eliminated or reduced, but the damage in various aspects will be eliminated, especially the damage at the soul level. The requirements on the body can also be reduced. Eventually, it should be popularized at the Jonin level."

Tamura believes that pain is a good test, and this kind of strength should not be promoted to the masses. The minimum standard should be Jonin.

"Jonin is just right."

Ye Yue and Ai nodded in agreement.

Such power cannot be spread indiscriminately. Not only must one's physical condition meet certain standards, but one's mind must also undergo rigorous testing to ensure absolute loyalty to the village. One's identity and family background must be thoroughly investigated.

Then, one must have sufficient achievements; only such hard-won power will be cherished even more.

"Why don't you carry out a ritualistic transformation?"

Uchiha Hikaru suddenly asked, "This bastard hasn't performed that evil god ritual yet."

I really want to see this scoundrel get tormented.

"I have quite a few curse seals on my body, and I need to conduct a lot of experiments to verify that they won't have any negative effects."

He casually replied that Tamura Hao wouldn't easily mess with himself, especially his soul, unless he was 100% sure.

Moreover, he doesn't have much need for immortality. Whether it's the second eye technique he obtained from Uchiha Hikaru, the ample Grell energy, or Izanagi, they are all enough to keep him alive.

"Go back and rest now, there's another battle waiting for us tomorrow."

After saying his final words, Tamura Hao put the evil god altar into a sealed scroll and left. He needed to carefully consider the experimental data he had obtained, especially the data from Yotsuki Ai and the other two.

"We need to adjust the battle order tomorrow, starting with the weakest duels and progressing to the strongest."

Faucai stood up, still feeling very uncomfortable with the enhanced physical sensations he had received, especially the pain.

Even scratching your palm with your fingernail feels like being cut by a knife. If you don't get used to it, you won't even be able to hold a knife properly.

"Then let's do it this afternoon."

Night Moon Ai also knew that it would take time to adapt. Not to fully adapt, but at least to ensure that it wouldn't affect her combat.

Leaving aside the discussion between Yoruichi and Fukai, Tamura Hao, who had just returned to his residence, hadn't been thinking for long when he received a report that Admiral Mifune of the Land of Iron had arrived, and he hurriedly went out to greet him.

"I didn't expect it to be you, Lord Mifune, who came in person."

Tamura Hiroshi was quite surprised by Mifune's personal arrival. After deciding to use the samurai dueling tradition, he wrote to his teacher, Kusaya Ichiro, hoping to invite a powerful samurai to come as a witness and referee, but he never expected that it would be this man who came.

"This is the first time your ninjas have used this tradition in war, and it can also greatly reduce casualties. It is of great significance. Moreover, this is a war between two great nations and two great ninja villages, so we cannot send people here to witness it casually."

Mifune spoke seriously, but with a smile on his face.

Although the samurai rejected the ninjas, the world now belonged to the ninjas, so the samurai could only try to maintain their influence.

The Five Shadows Conference was one such opportunity, and this is another one today.

Of course, another major reason why he was able to come in person was that Takigakure and the Seven-Tails of the neighboring Land of Takigakure were gone, so the Land of Iron could breathe a sigh of relief and he no longer needed to stay and oversee things.

"I'm just here to say hello. To be fair, I can't enter your camp, but I'll be staying near the battlefield you've chosen."

Since he was invited to be a witness and referee for the duel, he naturally had to maintain his impartiality and fairness and not be biased towards either side.

"Thank you for your hard work, Lord Mifune. Please feel free to make any requests, and we will do our best to fulfill them."

Tamura Hiroshi expressed his understanding, saying that this approach was indeed better.

"We made ample preparations before we came, and the security of the Land of Hot Water has been well maintained by you and has not been damaged by the war. We can stay here for a long time."

Mifune shook his head slightly, then looked at the boy before him, asking with a mixture of doubt and shock, "Have you mastered the unity of man and sword?"

As a swordsman who had mastered the unity of man and sword, he was very clear about this power and could vaguely sense it in the young man before him.

Although it feels a bit strange, they are essentially the same.

But this child's cultivation is progressing too fast, and he's only thirteen years old this year.

A thirteen-year-old swordsman is truly hard to believe.

"With the help of some external forces and opportunities, I was fortunate enough to comprehend that realm."

Tamura Hiroshi smiled and nodded, making no attempt to hide the truth.

Anyway, Mifune will figure it out during tomorrow's battle.

This affirmative response left Mifune speechless for a long time. Before, it was just an uncertain guess, but who would have thought it was true.

"Looking forward to your performance tomorrow."

After saying this last sentence, Mifune turned and left, but with a satisfied and cheerful smile on his face.

The child's appearance and achievements showed him the future of samurai, and perhaps the seeds of samurai could blossom and bear fruit within the ninja system.

In high spirits, they ran quickly and soon arrived at the camp on the Konoha front. He had already sent someone to deliver a letter of invitation.

At this moment, Uchiha Chiri was waiting outside the camp. After confirming Mifune's identity, he brought him to Uchiha Myōkyō.

"Kumakuya invites you to be the witness for the duel."

Uchiha Meikyo was surprised and puzzled. This person's identity was no ordinary one. He was a general of the Land of Iron, with a status equivalent to the Kage of their five great ninja villages. Moreover, he was a veteran strongman who had participated in the First Shinobi World War.

"It is my honor to be a witness to this duel. I guarantee that I will make a fair and impartial judgment in this duel and will not favor either side."

Mifune made his statement in a deep voice, his expression extremely serious and earnest.

"We trust Lord Mifune's reputation, so we'll have to trouble you with the duel from now on."

Uchiha Myōkyō nodded in agreement. Although he didn't know what the Hidden Cloud Village was up to, he was very clear about the Land of Iron's stance. It was indeed unlikely that they would directly join one side in the Shinobi World War.

"To maintain impartiality, I cannot stay any longer. Farewell!"

Mifune did not linger and rose to take his leave.

Uchiha Chiri escorted him out of the camp, and then returned to find Uchiha Myokyo deep in thought.

"No need to overthink it."

He offered a word of comfort, while simultaneously raising his hand to use the Palm Healing Technique to further relieve the pressure on Uchiha Myōkyō's eyes.

They are too passive now and have limited information, so there's no use thinking about it anymore.

"It will take some time; the fusion of eye power is more difficult than expected."

Sensing the surge of pupil power within his eyes, Uchiha Myōkyō sighed helplessly.

The transplantation of the pupil technique went relatively smoothly, but it was difficult to use, especially the integration with the father's pupil power, which required a long period of adjustment.

"Perhaps the Hidden Cloud Village still wants to prolong the war in order to deal with the other ninja villages."

Uchiha Chiri offered a relatively optimistic prediction.

They had a good understanding with the Hidden Cloud Village before. Although there were many conflicts between them, they were very restrained and the casualties were small. They only used up a lot of ninja tools and explosive tags.

Clearly, Kumogakure did not want to actually go to war with them; this was only at the strong request of the other three great ninja villages.

"I hope so!"

Uchiha Myokyo also hoped for this, as it would make things much easier.

"According to the intelligence sent by the Third Hokage, Kumogakure seems to have been attacked by a mysterious person and suffered heavy losses, which is why they seem so conservative."

This is intelligence sent by the Third Hokage recently, allowing them to take the opportunity to severely damage the Cloud Village ninja army at the front lines.

It's just too difficult to severely damage tens of thousands of Cloud Village ninja, especially since their Jinchuriki have mastered the Tailed Beast Ball, such a powerful killing move.

Their kaleidoscopes are very strong, but they are still useless against a forbidden killing move like the Tailed Beast Ball.

The most fatal flaw is that the Mangekyou Sharingan has usage limitations; excessive use will lead to blindness, while the Tailed Beast Balls of the Tailed Beast Jinchuriki can be fired continuously.

There's no way to fight!

Unless he can elevate his eyes to the level of Madara Uchiha and push Susanoo to its complete form.

Such power could suppress even a real Tailed Beast, let alone a Tailed Beast Jinchūriki.

Unfortunately, no one knows how Madara Uchiha raised his eyes to that level. In the end, even his body was sealed away by the First and Second Hokage, and his eyes inevitably fell into the hands of the Senju clan.

Even the father couldn't find a single clue about this.

It wasn't just Uchiha Myokyo who was worried about tomorrow's duel; Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others in Konoha were also shocked and puzzled when they received the news.

"The Jinchuriki of Kumogakure has actually mastered the Tailed Beast Ball."

Koharu Utatane looked very unwell. The Tailed Beast Ball was the most powerful killing move of the Tailed Beasts and Jinchuriki, and also the power that they feared the most.

While it may not be a fatal blow to top-tier fighters, it can be deadly to ninjas below the Kage level.

If Konoha were hit by a Tailed Beast Ball, the entire village would be wiped out.

"I had some suspicions when I obtained the Uzumaki clan's inheritance in Kumogakure, but I didn't expect it to happen so quickly."

Mitokazu, wiping his glasses, was equally troubled by the situation.

With its perfect Jinchuriki, Kumogakure has seized the initiative, making the upcoming war much more difficult.

Fortunately, the Uchiha clan was in control of that front, so weakening the Uchiha clan would be advantageous for them.

"The Third Raikage still did not take action this time, and his son was even leading the war. It is highly likely that the Hidden Cloud Village still does not want to fight a decisive battle."

Hiruzen Sarutobi revealed a key point, which, although only a guess, was probably very close to the truth.

Clearly, the Hidden Cloud Village's attitude towards the war remains perfunctory, and the village's true strongmen have not yet been sent to the battlefield, especially the Third Raikage.

It's worth noting that during the last Shinobi World War, the Third Raikage was the leader on the front lines, constantly charging into battle.

However, during this Ninja World War, they spent most of their time in Kumogakure. Was that mysterious force really that terrifying?

These words made the two men's hearts sink. They really hoped that the Uchiha would suffer a serious injury, otherwise, after they brought down the Senju faction, the Uchiha might very well jump out and cause trouble.

That would be too dangerous. We must weaken the Uchiha clan before dealing with the Senju faction, or better yet, eliminate them altogether.

"We should postpone our plans until after we've weathered this Ninja World War. Things will be easier then."

He said indifferently that Hiruzen Sarutobi did not want to take immediate action against the Senju faction.

The main problem is that the current war situation is too unfavorable for Konoha. The four great ninja villages have formed an alliance to target Konoha together. In addition, the death of Lord Mito and the leak of information have made the four great ninja villages no longer careless.

The upcoming war will only be more difficult. We cannot deal with the Senju faction during this phase, otherwise, if the battlefield in the Land of Grass gets out of control and the Hidden Stone Village attacks, it will be troublesome.

"Then let's deal with the Uchiha first."

Koharu Utatane agreed to the proposal. The current situation was indeed very bad, but the Uchiha clan had to be weakened first before they could plot against the Senju clan.

"We also need to be wary of Kumogakure. We can't let what happened to Uzushiogakure and Kirigakure happen here."

Mitokado Homura placed even greater emphasis on Kumogakure, as their long-range teleportation techniques were simply unsolvable, and in some ways even more troublesome than Tobirama's Flying Thunder God Technique.

Last time, the Third Raikage led his men and directly threw them onto the Hokage Building to start a battle, catching them completely off guard.

If the Hidden Cloud Village intervenes again and takes away the remnants of the two clans while they are plotting against the Uchiha and Senju, it will be disastrous.

"That might be an opportunity."

Taking a drag of his cigarette, Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a low, languid tone.

He hadn't forgotten being attacked and killed by the Third Raikage last time; he kept it in mind and was just waiting for an opportunity to get revenge tenfold.

Moreover, the Third Raikage, who possesses this projection ability, is indeed a problem and must be eliminated, otherwise he will never be able to sleep peacefully again.

"He will definitely bring his ninja army with him, and they won't be easy to take down. Moreover, the Third Raikage is very strong; the titles of the strongest spear and the strongest shield are not just empty words."

Mitokado Homura frowned. Last time, they sent over not just the Third Raikage, but also hundreds of Jonin.

Not to mention that the Third Raikage himself was very powerful. His Lightning Release Armor and Hell Thrust were both incredibly powerful ninjutsu and taijutsu, making him almost an unbeatable opponent. It would be difficult to kill him even if you tried to surround him.

"The Four Red Yang Formation is enough to form a blockade. What I'm worried about is that the Cloud Ninja will go berserk and fight to the death, destroying the Thousand Hands clan's territory."

Despite his worried expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi was still mindful of his public persona, but Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado's eyes lit up as they understood what their old friend meant.

Yes, that's right. They can pin the destruction of the Senju clan's territory on the Hidden Cloud Village, and then they can get away with it.

"The Four Red Sun Formation requires four Kage-level experts to perform. You and Danzo alone are not enough. I'm afraid Torifu won't agree."

Mitokado Homura began to consider who to find to perform the Four Red Yang Formation. Currently, only Hiruzen and Danzo were qualified on their side, while Akimichi Torifu's stance tended to be neutral.

Hiruzen's three disciples are definitely not up to par, especially Tsunade and Jiraiya.

"I have my own plans in this regard."

Taking another drag of his cigarette, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't offer any further explanation, his mind preoccupied with his disciple's research progress.

It's hard to find a trustworthy Kage-level expert these days, but quite a few have passed away, like my own father.

For the sake of the village and the family, we have no choice but to disturb his peaceful rest.

Seeing that their old friend was unwilling to say more, the two did not ask any further questions, as they had always trusted this old friend.

"How far have Minato and his group gotten in controlling the Nine-Tails' power? When will they be able to master the Tailed Beast Ball?"

When asked about the two Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, they explained that they needed mature Tailed Beast Jinchuriki to fight against the Four Great Ninja Villages, especially the Hidden Cloud Village.

(End of this chapter)