Leaving Yomi City, Yayoi, Kicho, and Kakuzu sprinted toward the border where the Land of Night met the Land of Grass.
While traveling at full speed, Yayoi explained the basic situation of the mission.
“According to intelligence gathered by the Aburame Clan, those causing trouble at the border this time are the Kusanagi Clan from the Land of Grass.” “Kusanagi?” Kakuzu’s brow twitched slightly upon hearing the name, his voice tinged with surprise.
“Is it that Ninja clan that possesses the legendary ‘kusanagi sword’?
I didn’t expect our enemy this time to be that Family.” Since she knew the purpose of this trip beforehand, Kicho showed no surprise when Yayoi spoke of the Kusanagi Clan.
However, her palm quietly tightened around the blue hilt of the spiritual blade, Kumokiri, strapped to her waist.
Compared to the Kusanagi Clan itself, Kicho was more concerned about the kusanagi sword they possessed.
In the Ninja World, the kusanagi sword was by no means comparable to ordinary Ninja tools.
There were countless legends regarding the kusanagi sword.
This type of weapon was the crystallization of the techniques of top ancient craftsmen; its creation time was close to that of the Kumokiri in her hand.
However, unlike Kumokiri, the kusanagi sword was not a single weapon, but a collective name for a class of sword-type weapons.
Even with the Hyuga Clan’s intelligence network, it was impossible to accurately determine exactly how many kusanagi swords existed in the Ninja World.
Besides the characteristics of sharpness and durability, each kusanagi sword—much like Kumokiri—possessed its own unique special ability.
Once these special abilities were combined with a Ninja’s power, they would erupt with terrifying strength.
“Speaking of the kusanagi sword, I remember the Uchiha Clan once found one in the Ninja World.” As if remembering something, Kicho began to recount what she knew about the kusanagi swords.
Yayoi’s expression didn’t flicker in the slightest, but his gaze shifted slightly toward Kicho.
“What’s the story?” “It is said to be a spiritual-type kusanagi sword without a physical form, sealed within the Uchiha Bloodline by an ancestor using a forbidden technique.
If it encounters a suitable host, that kusanagi sword will manifest its original form within the Uchiha’s Sharingan.” “In the past, an ancestor of our Hyuga Clan once encountered an Uchiha Ninja using that spiritual kusanagi sword, which is how we know about it.
That sword’s ability should be related to sealing techniques.” As Kicho spoke, Yayoi subconsciously thought of the ‘totsuka blade’ used by Uchiha Itachi in the original story.
The legendary Divine Artifact that Orochimaru had searched for bitterly for many years but could never find.
If that were the case, it would explain how Uchiha Itachi came to possess the ‘totsuka blade’.
The kusanagi swords Yayoi knew of, besides Itachi’s Totsuka Sword, were only the few collected by Orochimaru in the original series.
One of them could give the indestructible Enma a headache, likely possessing a property that further enhanced its durability.
There was another kusanagi sword that appeared during the fight with Uzumaki Naruto in his four-tailed state, which could extend and retract freely, changing length at will.
As for the kusanagi sword given to Uchiha Sasuke, it was likely a type that focused on conducting Chakra natures, being light and sharp.
While the abilities of these three kusanagi swords were decent, compared to the brilliance of the Totsuka Sword, the ones in Orochimaru’s collection seemed mediocre.
“Since that kusanagi sword is in the hands of the Uchiha Clan, we can rule it out first.
The Kusanagi Clan doesn’t have the capability to take something from the Uchiha.” Yayoi gave his judgment; his words showed that he didn’t place much importance on the Kusanagi Clan that wielded the kusanagi sword.
The Kusanagi Clan, which had lived in the Land of Grass for generations, used ‘kusanagi sword’ as their surname.
In reality, the only factor linking this Family to the ‘kusanagi sword’ was an ancestor from over two hundred years ago who had once obtained one.
That ancestor then took ‘kusanagi sword’ as a surname and founded the Kusanagi Clan in the Land of Grass.
Setting aside Divine Artifacts like the kusanagi sword, the overall strength of the Kusanagi Clan at its peak was only that of a second or third-rate Ninja clan.
There were no systematic secret techniques passed down within the Family; they had developed slowly by stealing and imitating the Ninjutsu of other clans.
“Is Lord Yayoi personally taking action this time because of the kusanagi sword?” Kakuzu turned his head and asked.
Sharing Yayoi’s thoughts, he felt the Ninjas of the Kusanagi Clan weren’t worth noting; only the kusanagi sword was the true core of the matter.
If it weren’t for something like the kusanagi sword, he didn’t think Yayoi would personally deal with the Kusanagi Clan on a whim.
“According to the intelligence, the ability of the kusanagi sword held by the Kusanagi Clan is quite interesting.
Furthermore, the Ninja and samurai units stationed at the southwest border were defeated and routed in a very short time, and there were even many casualties.” At this point, Yayoi’s gaze gradually turned cold.
The commanders of the units stationed at the Land of Night’s southwest border were two Land of Night Ninjas whom he had recently promoted to Jonin.
Like Kakuzu and Kurobei, these two border Jonin were among the first to follow him, veterans who had fought alongside him across the north and south.
They could be considered his inner circle.
Although these two Jonin were only wounded and not killed, the troops under their command suffered heavy losses.
Therefore, upon first learning that the southwest border had been attacked by unknown individuals, he immediately consoled the two border Jonin and ordered them to lead the remaining troops away from the enemy’s strike point as quickly as possible to regroup and recover.
He then quickly dispatched a Jonin from the Aburame Clan to gather intelligence on the unknown enemies in the southwest.
The Aburame Jonin soon used insect-controlling secret techniques to uncover the truth behind the attack on the Land of Night’s southwest border units—they were wandering Ninjas from the Kusanagi Clan of the Land of Grass.
Because they were collectively ostracized by the other Ninja clans in the Land of Grass, the Kusanagi Clan could no longer maintain a foothold there and began to set their sights on the Land of Night.
It seemed they intended to seize a piece of territory to serve as a place for the Family to recover and thrive.
The reason they chose to attack the Land of Night’s southwest military base without a declaration of war was likely to test the Land of Night’s military strength.
“So, we don’t need to leave any survivors this time, right?” Kakuzu’s voice also carried a chilling Killing Intent.
Yayoi didn’t speak, but the cold expression on his face already said everything.
Afterward, the three of them stopped talking and accelerated their pace.
At three o’clock in the afternoon, the three officially arrived at a forest on the southwest border of the Land of Night.
“Lord General.” A dark figure flashed before Yayoi and the others.
He was roughly the same age as Yayoi, wearing the black trench coat and sunglasses characteristic of the Aburame Clan.
It was the Aburame Jonin who had been responsible for investigating the Kusanagi Clan’s intelligence.
“Good work, Yoto.
The wanderers of the Kusanagi Clan haven’t left yet, have they?” Yayoi called out the name of the Aburame Ninja before him.
The Aburame Clan had sixteen Jonin in total, including the Clan Chief, Orochi.
Yayoi knew the face and name of every Jonin by heart and had met each of them personally.
Among the many Aburame Jonin, Aburame Yoto’s strength was average, but his intelligence-gathering ability was among the best in the clan.
It was for this reason that he had specifically sent him to investigate the attack on the southwest border.
He had not been disappointed; Yoto had only been here for a few days and had already investigated the beginning and end of the attack fairly thoroughly.
This was also why Yayoi could react so quickly and lead a team here personally.
“They haven’t left yet.
Judging by the recent actions of the Kusanagi Ninjas, they seem to have plans for a long-term stay in this forest.” Aburame Yoto shook his head as he stated the conclusion he had reached after his observations.
“Are they planning to use this as a base and slowly expand outward?
I wonder if they are full of confidence or just utterly stupid.” Kakuzu’s voice was cold as he silently passed a death sentence on all the Ninjas of the Kusanagi Clan.
“Then let’s settle this quickly.
Kicho, use the Byakugan to confirm their situation.
Yoto, you point the way.” Yayoi quickly issued orders, directly telling Kicho to ascertain the current state of the Kusanagi Clan in the forest.
Aburame Yoto’s insects could only get a general sense of the Kusanagi Clan’s situation, but to obtain more accurate intelligence, Kicho’s Byakugan was needed.
Yoto pointed in a direction, and Kicho gathered Chakra into her eyes.
The veins around her eyes began to bulge hideously, and her pure white pupils released a high-intensity white light as she focused on the direction Yoto indicated.
“How is it?” Yayoi turned his head and asked.
“About ten kilometers away, a group of people is gathered; that should be the Kusanagi Clan’s gathering point.
Besides some ordinary people, there are forty-seven Ninjas in total.
Among them, two have Chakra that clearly exceeds the others by a margin; they should be at the Jonin level.” In just a few moments, Kicho used the Byakugan to completely scout out the enemy’s situation.
Some details were even clearer to her than they were to the enemies themselves.
This included the various traps surrounding the camp; she had already found several paths to slip into the camp silently.
This was the terror of the Hyuga Clan’s Byakugan.
Be it traps, ambushes, or the number of enemies, one only needed to look with their eyes to know everything clearly and then quickly counter the enemy.
This ‘unfair’ style of combat—where only the Hyuga Clan could ambush others while others could never hope to ambush them—was one of the powerful foundations that allowed the Hyuga Clan to stand tall in the Ninja World for so many years.
Kakuzu had no comment after hearing this, but Aburame Yoto looked at Kicho in surprise.
He hadn’t expected Kicho’s Byakugan to be able to see ten kilometers away; even if focusing in one direction could extend the distance, it wasn’t something an ordinary Hyuga Clan Ninja could do.
As far as he knew, the limit for many adult Hyuga Clan Ninjas’ Byakugan was only six or seven kilometers.
Given Kicho’s relaxed manner, ten kilometers was clearly far from her limit.
“Let’s begin the operation.” The four of them moved quickly, heading toward their destination.
A distance of ten kilometers was not something a Ninja could cover in the blink of an eye, but it certainly wasn’t far.
Especially since not a single person in the group of four had strength below the Jonin level.