Just as the two Sand shinobi believed their combined Fire-and-Wind Release technique would be enough to kill Yagami Yue, a voice suddenly rang out.
“Seventy-Two Pound Phoenix!”
That familiar voice.
The two Sand shinobi instantly felt their blood run cold.
Two spiraling blades of sword energy merged into the shape of a drill and slammed directly into the enormous fireball, instantly tearing it apart.
The attack pierced straight through the fireball.
Although its momentum was weakened slightly, it continued onward and slashed toward the two Sand shinobi.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The two Sand shinobi immediately used Substitution Technique and escaped onto the trees.
They thought they were safe for the moment.
But in the very next instant, a diagonal blade of sword energy swept across the battlefield.
“Two-Sword Style: Sand Pattern!”
The voice came a moment later.
One of the Sand shinobi was cut cleanly in half.
The remaining Sand shinobi was already terrified out of his mind.
Six chūnin had entered the battle.
In only a few exchanges, four of them had already been killed.
Whatever courage he had left completely vanished.
He turned and fled.
But Yagami Yue was faster.
“Two-Sword Style: Rising Tower!”
The slash rose directly from below, carrying a terrifying surge of killing intent.
The fleeing Sand shinobi on the tree was cleaved in two.
Six chūnin.
Five had been killed by Yagami Yue.
“Captain…”
His two surviving subordinates, Jingda and Tianyi, hurried over.
“Where’s Takeda?”
Yagami Yue frowned.
“He’s dead.
He took the last Sand shinobi down with him.”
Jingda lowered his head in shame.
Their strength was simply too weak.
Three genin had fought a heavily wounded chūnin, yet one of their own had still died.
Meanwhile, their captain had killed five chūnin without suffering even a scratch.
Yagami Yue remained silent for a moment.
After cleaning up the battlefield, the team continued onward.
…
Over the next five days, Yagami Yue encountered five separate ambushes by the Sand shinobi.
And every single time, several genjutsu users were among them.
“Hmph.
Do you really think genjutsu is my weakness?”
How could Yagami Yue not understand what the Sand forces were trying to do?
So he slaughtered them even more ruthlessly.
Before long, the Sand forces realized something was seriously wrong.
Six consecutive groups of six genjutsu-specialist chūnin had failed to do anything to Yagami Yue.
It was obvious.
Yagami Yue simply wasn’t afraid of genjutsu.
The Sand forces were dumbfounded.
What the hell?
Does this guy even have a weakness?
Why is his taijutsu so strong, and his genjutsu resistance is so strong too?
Can he get any more monstrous?!
Without a doubt, Yagami Yue had thoroughly infuriated the Sand commander, the old woman Chiyo, and the higher-ups of Sunagakure.
Those were thirty-six genjutsu-specialist chūnin!
Thirty-six elite combatants who could have played a major role on the battlefield.
Instead, Yagami Yue had cut through them like chopping vegetables.
Finally, in a fit of rage, Chiyo dispatched a jōnin squad to surround and kill Yagami Yue.
The result?
Yagami Yue led a Konoha jōnin squad in an ambush.
The entire Sand jōnin squad was wiped out.
The losses were disastrous.
Chiyo was completely at a loss.
Meanwhile, Yagami Yue’s reputation within Konoha rose once again.
The title “The Beast’s Blade” was already becoming insufficient to describe his insane battlefield record.
Before long, another title was placed upon him.
“The Beast Sword God!”
At first, hardly anyone accepted the title.
After all, it was simply too exaggerated.
But as Yagami Yue wielded two swords on the battlefield, killing one genin after another, then chūnin, and even jōnin, cutting through them as easily as chopping vegetables, he began to distinguish himself from every other shinobi who relied on ninjutsu.
He fought almost entirely with his swords.
As more and more shinobi witnessed his dazzling achievements firsthand, more and more of them began accepting the title.
Before long, fewer people were calling him “The Beast’s Blade.”
Instead, an increasing number of people called him—
“The Beast Sword God.”
The title had even begun spreading back to Konoha.
A large number of shinobi had already heard of it. This story is hosted at g.com.
At this time, Kakashi—the shinobi who had graduated from the Academy at the youngest age in Konoha’s history—was still following his teacher, the “Yellow Flash,” Minato Namikaze, from battlefield to battlefield on various missions.
He had yet to display any truly outrageous battlefield achievements.
And so, Yagami Yue gradually began replacing Kakashi as the most outstanding young genius of Konoha’s new generation.
There was another important difference.
Yagami Yue had been born a civilian.
He wasn’t a clan heir like Kakashi.
He had even been one of the bottom-ranked students at the Academy.
The frontline forces were filled largely with ordinary civilian-born shinobi who served as the expendable soldiers of the war.
Yagami Yue therefore felt much closer to them.
His story also carried a stronger sense of struggle and growth that ordinary shinobi could identify with.
Naturally, Yagami Yue became the object of recognition and respect among countless civilian-born shinobi.
Yagami Yue didn’t reject the recognition and respect he received from those around him.
In fact, he intentionally guided it from time to time, allowing his reputation to rise even further.
His plans for the future were becoming more ambitious.
Time continued to pass, little by little…
Yagami Yue fought even harder.
As countless battles tempered him, his chakra reserves continued to grow.
And as his chakra increased, the strength he could draw from Zoro’s abilities also became greater.
At first, his primary targets had been chūnin.
Later, he began focusing his attention on the Sand’s jōnin.
The number of Sand jōnin who fell to his blade gradually increased.
Ten…
Twenty…
Thirty…
Even quite a few of the strongest puppet masters had died at his hands.
He slaughtered his way through the battlefield!
He killed until the Sand shinobi trembled at the mere mention of his name!
He killed until the Konoha shinobi burned with excitement!
Old Chiyo was furious enough to feel it in her very bones.
Yet there was absolutely nothing she could do about Yagami Yue.
The title—
“The Beast Sword God”
—began circulating secretly among the Sand shinobi.
Eventually, it even spread throughout the Land of Wind.
He had become such a terrifying figure that even children were frightened by stories of him.
His reputation continued to soar!
His name shook the battlefield between Konoha and Sunagakure!