At night, the Shogun’s residence, and the outer courtyard.
Compared to the inner courtyard, the layout of the outer courtyard was more complex and meticulous, and almost every building was used for military purposes.
Rather than a residence, it was more like a vast military fortress.
Training Ground No.
1.
“Earth Release: Earth Spear!”
Kakuzu’s powerful voice echoed in the air.
Enhanced by Earth Release ninjutsu, his right arm instantly turned black and became harder than steel.
While maintaining defensive capabilities, it also possessed extremely powerful destructive power.
Clang!
The sword and the blackened arm collided violently, touching each other.
On the surface of the samurai sword that had been swung down, sharp physical chakra flowed like a torrent.
The flow of this physical chakra along the blade was extremely fast, creating intense friction with the air and producing a faint yet fierce friction sound.
Using Earth Release and becoming harder than steel, Kakuzu’s right arm successfully blocked the sword attack, but it suffered a deep wound.
However, this deep wound began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The one holding the sword was a man in his thirties who was fighting Kakuzu at this moment, with long hair tied into a single ponytail — Kurobe.
He was the leader of the samurai in the Night Kingdom, the Shogun’s right-hand man, and a warrior whose powerful combat instincts erupted every time he appeared on the battlefield.
In the battles of the Night Kingdom, in terms of the number of kills, he was second only to Yayoi.
In terms of killing efficiency, Kakuzu, as a ninja, felt somewhat inferior.
In terms of pure strength, this samurai Kurobe was also a strong existence that Kakuzu had always aimed to surpass in the past.
“Kurobe has become even stronger in the field of chakra bestowal.”
As expected, close-quarters combat had failed.
The best way to fight this man was to keep distance from afar and not let him approach…
After thinking, Kakuzu quickly took a step back, preparing to maintain a safe distance.
However, Kurobe was like a wound stuck to the bone.
The moment Kakuzu made that movement, he suddenly dodged in front of Kakuzu and, gripping the blade in reverse, fiercely stabbed at Kakuzu’s body.
With no other choice, Kakuzu once again used Earth Release: Earth Spear, extracting a considerable amount of chakra at once and hardening the part that was about to be pierced.
Clang!
He blocked Kurobe’s attack, suffered a wound from being stabbed, and quickly escaped from him, leaving water trails with his feet.
Kakuzu, who used Water Release: Water Blody Flicker, was much faster than before.
After his body calmed down, he quickly formed hand seals and suddenly pressed both hands firmly against the ground.
“Earth Release: Earth Split Palm!”
The ground cracked, rocks collapsed or bulged, and terrain of various heights was instantly formed.
Kurobe charged toward Kakuzu but was momentarily obstructed by the sudden change in terrain.
Then he swung his sword and cut through the cold physical sword energy in the air at an astonishing speed.
The sword energy roared like a wild beast, and its wind pressure caused the poison-resistant clothing to sway greatly.
The wind pressure roaring along with the sword energy also possessed deterrent power.
It was a strong wind to seal the enemy’s body and render them unable to move.
It was not a ninjutsu, but through physical sword energy, it manipulated airflow to create a freezing effect similar to the “Tight Binding Golden Chain Technique.”
“Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!”
Sensing danger, Kakuzu immediately unleashed powerful chakra, blowing away the overwhelming wind pressure that had reached in front of the sword energy.
Then he quickly formed hand seals with both hands, struck the ground with his palms, and performed Earth Release.
A high earth wall one meter thick rose in front of Kakuzu.
BOOM!
The sword energy released from Kurobe’s samurai sword struck the high earth wall, leaving traces several meters deep.
At the moment of the explosion, a large amount of dust also flew up, kicking up thick sand and dust.
The sword energy extended from the earth wall to the ground, reaching a depth of half a meter — it was truly a shocking sight.
“Fortunately, I used more chakra when chanting the Earth Flow Wall.
Otherwise…”
Ordinary Earth Flow Walls were less than half a meter thick.
Although the sword energy wielded by Kurobe was not close to a full-power slash, it was sufficient to instantly split an earth wall created by Earth Release.
With this in mind, Kakuzu refined even more chakra and reinforced the earth wall.
“In that case, let’s use the ninjutsu I used earlier.”
“Water Release: Tengu Cannon!”
Kakuzu’s combat awareness and experience were equally overwhelming.
As if predicting that Kurobe would appear on the right side, he formed hand seals, opened his mouth, and sprayed a water ball less than twenty centimeters in diameter toward the right.
Kurobe attacked from the right side and widened his eyes.
With sharp insight honed in life-and-death moments, he immediately dodged sideways and gave up on swinging his sword at the water ball.
Although it looked no different from an ordinary water ball, its size was far inferior to the fireball released by “Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.”
However, the samurai’s intuition told him that recklessly slashing at the water ball would lead to dangerous results.
As expected, BOOM——
In the training ground, the moment a small mountain simulating actual combat was hit by the water ball, it produced a loud explosion sound.
A large amount of dust and thick smoke spread everywhere, almost covering the entire training ground.
A terrifying shockwave that cut through the earth and blew away giant rocks was also swirling in all directions.
Small stones flying through the air struck Kurobe’s body, making a rustling sound.
When the dust settled, Kurobe barely opened his eyes and immediately took a sharp breath.
On top of the solid mountain that had originally been thirty meters high, a hemispherical hole over ten meters in diameter had appeared, as if a single fragment had been gouged out.
The center of the mountain that had been directly hit instantly turned to dust and scattered in the air.
Its astonishing destructive power was beyond imagination — it had been caused by a water ball less than twenty centimeters in size.
And all of this had been caused by an ordinary water ball with power completely different from its appearance.
This Water Release move was far too misleading.
“Kakuzu, you used such a dangerous move — were you trying to kill me?”
Cold sweat immediately seeped onto Kurobe’s face, and he was still shaken.
If it had not been for his sharp intuition, he might have been caught by this move.
Although his body had been tempered through countless trials and was not fatal, he could at least expect to be hospitalized for half a month.
If something went wrong, the arm holding the sword might suffer a severe fracture.
“Ah, sorry, sorry.
I couldn’t control the power of this technique well.”
Kakuzu smiled awkwardly.
He had not expected that extracting a large amount of chakra to use this technique would increase his power to this extent.
He himself was surprised.
Two months ago, he had finally obtained his first heart.
The opponent was a ninja who had fled into the Night Kingdom, and his Water Release: Tengu Cannon had put him in a great predicament.
In the end, relying on his excellent chakra output, Kakuzu held out until the opponent was completely exhausted and barely restrained him.
Then, through the blood vessels of the local feathers’ tentacles, he seized the opponent’s heart and also obtained the heart-pounding Water Release: Tengu Cannon ninjutsu.
Its power had not disappointed him.
Even a powerful warrior like Kurobe, who could easily cut through ninjutsu, could not confront this move head-on.
When fighting large summoning beasts with thick skin, this Water Release technique displayed extremely powerful destructive power.
Furthermore, because Yayoi had improved the performance of Earth Grudge Fear, even stolen ninjutsu could be used directly with the main body without needing to release clones to use the stolen techniques.
“That’s enough.
Let’s stop fighting.
Your Water Release technique is too strong.
I don’t want to get injured.”
Kurobe sheathed his sword and decided to end the battle.
Kakuzu’s lips twisted slightly under his mask, clearly seeing Kurobe’s true feelings filled with guilt.
After all, if the battle continued, the possibility of his team winning would increase.
Moreover, he had not yet fought together using the Earth Grudge Fear tentacles.
Otherwise, combining the interference of the Earth Grudge Fear tentacles with that Water Release technique, Kurobe would absolutely not have been able to avoid the surprise attack.
“Next, if I obtain three more hearts, I can fully unleash the power of Earth Grudge Fear.
I’m really looking forward to that scene.”
Finally surpassing Kurobe, Kakuzu stopped in a good mood.
Next, he planned to pay attention to ninjas who used powerful Lightning Release, Wind Release, and Fire Release.
If he obtained their hearts, he could steal their techniques and freely use escape techniques with five different attributes.
At that point, he might even challenge a Tailed Beast.
“By the way, Kakuzu, you’ve completely grown up, haven’t you?
It’s only been a year, yet you’ve already caught up to me.”
Kurobe let out a deep sigh.
In past matches, Kakuzu had never beaten him.
A year ago, he had fought against Kakuzu, but the result had been clear — Kakuzu had been chased by him, slashed here and there, and had no opportunity to use ninjutsu.
He had not expected the opponent to progress so rapidly within a year and overtake him all at once.
Not only in ninjutsu, but even in taijutsu, he had made a qualitative leap.
In the past, even when Kakuzu used Water Release: Water Blody Flicker, he had been in a very disordered state while being chased.
As for the battle just now, if it had continued, he would undoubtedly have lost.
“But the technique just now wasn’t yours, was it?”
Kurobe stopped and cast a questioning gaze.
Although confused, Kurobe was certainly convinced of something.
“You can tell?”
Kakuzu was slightly surprised.
“I know your Water Release skills.
The Water Release just now doesn’t look like a technique that can be mastered in such a short period.
After all, your greatest technique is Earth Release ninjutsu.”
Although he was not a ninja, Kurobe’s eyesight was sharper than that of many ninjas.
By changing the nature of Water chakra and returning to his previous strength at the normal training pace, it would take Kakuzu at least another two or three years to reach that standard.
“…”
Kakuzu was at a loss for words.
That was reality.
Although his talent was excellent, that kind of Water Release technique was not something that could be easily mastered.
A single strike created a hole in a solid mountain over thirty meters high, and the core attack point was blown to pieces.
Even a Tailed Beast could groan in pain when confronting this attack head-on.
“This is a forbidden technique bestowed upon me by Lord Yayoi.
The Water Release technique just now was stolen from someone.”
In the end, Kakuzu opened his mouth and explained.
As for more detailed information, Kakuzu could not easily reveal it.
It was not that he did not trust Kurobe as a colleague, but that was how ninjas were.
Sometimes, even among their own comrades, they could not fully reveal the secrets of ninjutsu.
Not to protect their comrades, but to prevent information leakage.
“I see.
Then it’s not surprising.
However, forbidden techniques…
is it really okay?”
Kurobe looked at Kakuzu with worried eyes.
Forbidden techniques increased power but inevitably came with enormous risks and could even threaten one’s life at times.
“So far, there are no side effects.
As long as there are no surprises, this forbidden technique suits me very well.”
Even so, Kakuzu’s tone retained a trace of vigilance.
He now deeply understood the power of Earth Grudge Fear.
Using techniques obtained from others was almost indistinguishable from training them himself, and the results were even better.
By increasing proficiency, techniques could also be strengthened, but they would not always remain in the same state.
As for the issue of risk, although it had not appeared yet, Kakuzu did not let his guard down and recognized that forbidden techniques could backfire at any time.
“Really enviable, you ninjas.
If it were me, even if I wanted to use something like this, I absolutely wouldn’t…
Sigh.”
Kurobe suddenly sighed.
If one could become a ninja, who would want to become a samurai?
Samurai were essentially incomplete ninjas who had been eliminated.
In his childhood, he had also dreamed of becoming a great ninja.
Unfortunately, his talent for ninjutsu and genjutsu was far too lacking.
Although Yayoi had taught him introductory ninjutsu, he was still completely confused and could not understand the principles of ninjutsu or genjutsu.
That was why he had persisted on his own path to the end, continuously training his chakra and swordsmanship.
Even if he could not become a ninja, he wanted to prove that by relying only on taijutsu and swordsmanship, he could become a feared existence!
Kakuzu did not reply.
The consolation he gave now would be like reopening a friend’s wound.
“Well then, are you two here?
Perfect.
I don’t have to look for you one by one.”
A quiet voice appeared in the training ground.
“Lord Yayoi!”
Kakuzu and Kurobe followed the sound and suddenly stared into the distance, their expressions surprised.
Yayoi was wearing a travel ninja outfit and a black coat printed with red spider lily patterns.
Beside her was a young female ninja, Kichou.
Like Yayoi, she had taken off her usual beautiful and elegant kimono and was wearing a light purple ninja outfit when going out.
Blue ninja pants were tied with white leg straps and covered her legs just below the knees.
She was wearing black low-heeled strapped ninja boots, which made her figure appear even taller.
Compared to Yayoi beside her, her figure still looked small and delicate.
“Lord Yayoi, are you going out?”
Kakuzu and Kurobe were intrigued.
In their memory, since the Night Kingdom was founded, unless there were special circumstances, Yayoi had hardly traveled and spent most of his time in the main castle of the Shogun’s residence.
“There’s a problem at the border of the Land of Song.
I need to go deal with it.
So, would you two like to come along?”
Yayoi extended the invitation.
Irori had returned to Yomi Castle a few days ago.
During his absence, Irori had been acting as the acting Shogun of the Shogun’s residence.
Therefore, even if he was not at the Shogun’s residence, Yayoi did not have to worry about accidents happening here.
If necessary, he and Irori could also support each other using summoning and reverse summoning techniques.
“Ah, it’s been a while since we acted together?
The last time we acted together was several years ago.”
Kakuzu began to feel interested.
Yayoi’s words had evoked memories of a certain era in the past.
Kurobe was tempted by the proposal but suddenly thought of something and shook his head helplessly.
“I’m sorry, Lord Yayoi.
My son was just born, so I can’t get away.”
Yes, as the samurai commander of the Night Kingdom, after the situation stabilized, Kurobe had found a young and beautiful wife more than ten years younger than him a year ago.
Yayoi was naturally aware of it.
At the time, he and Kakuzu had attended Kurobe’s wedding and given him gifts to show how much they valued him.
“Well, it can’t be helped.
By the way, have you decided on your son’s name?”
Yayoi asked casually, his tone apologetic.
He knew that Kurobe’s wife had given birth to a son a few days ago.
Although he had not attended in person, he had sent a gift — a samurai sword made of special chakra metal.
A gentle glow flashed in Kurobe’s eyes, and a faint smile unconsciously appeared.
“I’ve already chosen it, Lord Yayoi.
Mikawa — that child’s name is Mikawa.
I have a feeling that this child might one day become an excellent warrior who surpasses me.”
…
…