Chapter 31: Yagyu's Weakness and Returning to the Village

"How is Kurenai-sensei, Hinata?" Yagyu asked as he approached Hinata and Shino, who were standing near Kurenai lying on the ground.

While treating Kurenai with a healing technique, Hinata replied, "She's fine, just knocked out by the electric shock."

"Good to hear." Yagyu nodded, though he felt a bit somber.

Seeing Kurenai in this state served as a warning for Yagyu. Despite having developed the Hard Whirlpool Water Blade, which gave him the ability to defeat higher-level enemies, he realized that shinobi like himself, who excel in attack, are just as vulnerable to a well-placed blow.

Aside from Fourth Raikage, who specializes in both taijutsu and ninjutsu, most of the other Kage have physical constitutions similar to ordinary people. If struck by a well-aimed water spear, they would almost certainly die. However, the same applied to Yagyu.

Most shinobi in the Naruto world, including Kurenai, are "high-damage, low-defense" fighters, essentially fragile but powerful. Kurenai was knocked out instantly by just one hit from a lightning jutsu. Yagyu realized that if he were hit by a similar attack, his fate would not be much different.

Until he fully develops his Sage Body with its natural healing powers or awakens the Mangekyō Sharingan, allowing him to use the ultimate defense of Susano'o, Yagyu knew his current weaknesses: defense and speed.

If faced with an enemy possessing incredible defense or faster than him, Yagyu, despite his immense attack power, would find himself in a very vulnerable position.

At this realization, Yagyu made up his mind to focus on improving these aspects of his abilities in the near future.

"Yagyu-kun, Kurenai-sensei has woken up!" Hinata's excited voice brought Yagyu back to the moment.

Looking over, Yagyu saw Kurenai slowly opening her eyes, her vision still slightly hazy, as if waking from a deep sleep.

"Kurenai-sensei, are you alright?" Yagyu asked, his voice snapping Kurenai back to reality.

Seeing Yagyu standing over her and recognizing the familiar mountain path behind him, Kurenai quickly stood up, looking around cautiously. "Yagyu, are you all okay?"

Before Yagyu or the others could respond, Kurenai, who had gotten up too quickly, suddenly felt a rush of dizziness. Her vision went dark, and she collapsed towards Yagyu.

Barely shorter than Kurenai, Yagyu quickly caught her and reassured her, "Don't worry, Kurenai-sensei. Raiga Kurosuki is dead."

"What?" Kurenai, who had been deeply concerned, froze in shock. "Raiga Kurosuki is dead?"

Before Yagyu could confirm, Shino spoke up, "He was killed by Yagyu's new technique. His body is over there."

Following Shino's pointing finger, Kurenai saw the body of Raiga Kurosuki, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

At that moment, Kurenai's emotions became conflicted.

On the one hand, she felt immense pride in her student. On the other hand, she felt ashamed of herself. As a teacher, she had failed to protect her students and had even needed them to save her. It was a humbling realization.

At that moment, Kurenai recognized her own weakness and regained a sense of purpose she hadn't felt in a long time. She couldn't afford to drink her worries away and let herself stagnate anymore. If she didn't push herself harder, she really would become a joke among the jōnin instructors.

Smiling, Kurenai patted Yagyu's shoulder and said, "Yagyu, you did great!"

Although Yagyu didn't fully understand the sudden shift in Kurenai's demeanor, he remained respectful and smiled back. "It's all thanks to the binding technique you taught me, Kurenai-sensei. Without it, I wouldn't have found an opening to defeat Raiga."

"I see!"

Both Kurenai and Shino suddenly understood how Yagyu had managed to kill Raiga. Kurenai realized how he had used the Binding Jutsu to create an opening, and Shino now understood why Raiga hadn't dodged and stood there, allowing Yagyu's attack to hit.

"Raiga Kurosuki was a missing-nin from the Mist Village and one of the original Seven Ninja Swordsmen. He fled the village with the Lightning Swords, Kiba, so his bounty in the black market is quite high. However, the reward is only given if the swords are handed over with him."

Standing beside Raiga's corpse, Kurenai looked around and soon spotted the Lightning Swords on the ground. After picking them up, she turned to Yagyu and asked, "Since you were the one who killed Raiga, his head and these swords are your spoils. Would you prefer the swords or the bounty?"

"Kurenai-sensei, I'd like to keep the swords," Yagyu answered without hesitation.

Having already decided to work on his defense and speed, Yagyu knew the Lightning Swords could assist him greatly in achieving that.

"Alright, then the swords are yours." Kurenai handed the Lightning Swords to Yagyu, adding, "Feel free to use them as you like. Once we return to the village, I'll inform Lord Hokage."

With that, Kurenai retrieved a storage scroll from her belongings, preparing to seal away Raiga's body.

Raiga's brain was intact, making his corpse valuable to the Leaf Village, especially for the Yamanaka clan, who specialized in extracting information through mind techniques.

By handing over Raiga's body, the village could prevent the Mist Village from using diplomatic channels to demand the return of the Lightning Swords.

Just as Kurenai was about to finish preparing the body, Yagyu suddenly realized something and his face changed.

"Kurenai-sensei, could I be the one to handle Raiga's body?" Yagyu asked urgently.

Kurenai paused briefly, then turned to Yagyu, noticing the serious look on his face.

A few seconds later, she smiled, took out an explosive tag, and attached it to Raiga's body—specifically, to his head.

"Step back!"

As the tag began to burn, Team 8 quickly moved away.

Boom!

With a loud explosion, Raiga's body, along with the young boy who had been with him, was completely obliterated.

After disposing of the bodies, Kurenai dusted off her hands and smiled, "Alright, let's head back to the village."

Yagyu, still processing everything, asked, "Kurenai-sensei, aren't you going to ask why?"

"There's no need. Everyone has their own secrets that they don't want others to find out."

Kurenai smiled warmly and patted Yagyu's shoulder once more. "You don't have to worry about the Lightning Swords. As for Raiga's body, I'll explain to Lord Hokage that we used a strategy to destroy it completely."

Yagyu felt a surge of warmth in his heart, deeply moved by Kurenai's trust and understanding. "Thank you, Kurenai-sensei."

At the same time, Yagyu couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. He had nearly revealed a critical secret!

Seeing Kurenai handling the body had reminded Yagyu of Kakuzu from the original story and the Yamanaka clan's Mind Reading Technique.

This technique didn't require any tools and could extract thoughts and memories from a person's brain, even if they were already dead.

Yagyu hadn't used the Binding Jutsu to paralyze Raiga; it had been the Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique from his Sharingan.

Though Yagyu wasn't sure if Raiga's brain was protected by a seal from the Mist Village, he wasn't willing to risk it.

If the Leaf Village's inner circle discovered he had the Sharingan, Yagyu could already envision the consequences.

This incident taught Yagyu a valuable lesson: even the dead can't keep secrets. Corpses must be destroyed.

With that, Yagyu took out a storage scroll and carefully gathered the remaining fragments of Raiga and the boy's bodies.

Team 8 didn't ask questions or stop him, though it was clear they were curious. Yagyu's method of killing Raiga was clearly more complex than it appeared.

Whether it was a secret technique or a Bloodline Limit, they weren't sure.

Once Yagyu finished gathering the remains, Team 8 began their journey back to the village.

Unlike their five-day journey to the mission site, the team used the Body Flicker Technique and returned to the village from the Land of Rivers in less than half a day, arriving just before dusk.

"I'll go report the mission to Lord Hokage. You three can go home," Kurenai said as they passed through the village gates. "Take three days off to rest."

"Yes, Kurenai-sensei," Yagyu, along with a visibly tired Hinata and Shino, nodded in response.

With that, the team disbanded.

Unlike usual, Yagyu didn't invite Hinata over for dinner. They had all been pushed to their limits, both physically and mentally.

Yagyu only wanted to go home, take a bath, eat a simple meal, and sleep soundly.

As he was heading to the market to buy some fresh ingredients, Yagyu suddenly brushed past someone.

Pausing mid-step, Yagyu turned to look behind him, and his eyes flashed with recognition.

It was an elderly man wearing a straw hat, carrying a wooden box on his back, and holding a bottle of liquor in one hand.

Even though the world of manga and anime had now become reality, and this was Yagyu's first time seeing this person in real life, he immediately recognized the man.

After all, this man was the first person Yagyu thought of whenever he reviewed the main plotline and important events.

It was the bridge builder from the Land of Waves—Tazuna!

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