Chapter 79: Unexpected Escape

"What do we do, Sakumo-san?" One Uchiha asked another Uchiha.

"If they want to fight those annoying swordsmen from the Mist, let them." Sakumo Uchiha shrugged. "More importantly, Ikaku, let's help the other side. There are more of our people struggling against those ninjas from the area."

Looking in the direction Sakumo indicated, Ikaku agreed. The Sand ninjas, who combined puppets and poison, were difficult to face, even for the Uchiha. In a one-on-one fight, it would be a different story, but with so many enemies, the poison made everything more dangerous.

As these two Uchiha left, others from the Hyuga Clan did the same. Knowing they didn't have to deal with the seven Mist swordsmen was good news for them. Each of those swordsmen was a maniac and equally strong.

"Haku-san, do you know those two?" A Hyuga asked another.

"The girl, yes." Haku, who was in his early 30s, replied, "If I'm not mistaken, she's the daughter of the Uzumaki Clan leader and the current head of Uzushio Village. As for the Uzumaki boy... I have no idea."

"I see..." The Hyuga pondered but didn't stay idle for long, moving to another area along with other Hyugas.

"Boom!"

As several of them distanced themselves, they broke into a cold sweat when they turned and saw a curtain of smoke rising after a very powerful explosion.

"Who did that?"

One of them asked.

However, none of them paid attention anymore, as they were heading to another area. Now, turning back and seeing that something significant had happened there, they were relieved they had chosen to leave in time.

"It wasn't one of the Mist swordsmen who did that, was it?"

That was a hard question to answer. But, as those who had fought against them and, until now, no such powerful attack had been used, they guessed it was the two Uzumaki who had appeared, possibly the same boy from earlier who had killed one of the seven Mist swordsmen with a strange attack they had never seen before.

Meanwhile, Tanaka, wielding Samehada, launched an attack against the masked swordsman from the Mist. However, the blow missed, hitting the ground with force. The impact created a web-like crack that quickly expanded, forming a crater. Dust rose into the air, forcing Tanaka to cover his face with his forearm as he momentarily felt dazed.

'Wasn't that a bit too strong?' Tanaka thought.

You see, although he had used a lot of force, Tanaka didn't believe he had used enough to cause such a strong reaction.

'Is this because of you?' Tanaka thought, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Samehada.

Kushimaru Kuriarare's expression couldn't be seen due to the mask he wore, but from the way his body trembled slightly, seemingly in shock, and how he leaped back several meters from tree to tree, it was easy to imagine how shocked he was by the attack.

As for the reason for such astonishment... Well, Tanaka had already proven to be a formidable ninja by using an unknown ninjutsu powerful enough to kill the strongest among them. Now, demonstrating the same mastery in close combat seemed simply unfair. It was as if he left no opening for the enemy to find a chance of victory. Long-range or close-range attacks, everything seemed useless.

Kushimaru began to reconsider his options. He could face this monster or try to escape. Staying meant a more than 50% chance of dying, while fleeing gave him another 50%, perhaps barely escaping. Only 1%, at best, seemed like a real possibility of victory, but not without sacrifice.

Knowing this, in Kushimaru's mind, he strongly thought: 'Run! I need to run!'

With that in mind, he thought no more and turned, fleeing at full speed.

The other Mist swordsmen who saw this were in shock, after all, Kushimaru fleeing from a battle was almost unheard of. However, when they looked in Tanaka's direction, they felt it was understandable.

"Should we leave too?" The wielder of Hiramekarei asked.

But, when he asked that, he realized the others had already started fleeing as fast as they could.

The moment they saw Tanaka's attack, they understood: whether in close combat or at long range, facing this Uzumaki boy, all that awaited them was death!

"..." Shiori was speechless.

She had seen her opponent flee and tried to pursue, but he was faster than her in retreating.

'What the hell?' she cursed in her mind.

When she looked in Tanaka's direction, her lips trembled. She didn't know what to say.

Sighing, Shiori approached him. When she stood before Tanaka, who had a strange expression on his face, she couldn't help but smile, "Look at you... I guess I still underestimated you. You've become so much stronger compared to the last time we went on a mission and got ambushed."

Smiling at her, he said, "A little."

"A little, huh..." There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice as she repeated his words.

Shiori also noticed that, around Tanaka, both enemies and allies had distanced themselves from him like he was a plague, while many of them looked toward the two with caution.

"By the way, Tanaka-kun, why didn't you chase after them?" Shiori asked, puzzled.

Tanaka casually replied, "I didn't see any reason to. Since they decided to abandon the battlefield, I couldn't care less. Besides, I got what I wanted." He smiled at the end as he lifted Samehada.

"Ah yes, it does seem like an incredible weapon." Shiori's eyes sparkled with desire and envy as she looked at Samehada in Tanaka's hand.

"Indeed." Tanaka asked, "Among the seven Mist swordsmen, was there any weapon that caught your interest?"

"Not really." Although Shiori felt slightly attracted to the large sword, Kubikiribouchou, it wasn't enough to make her want to go after the ninja just to steal his sword.

Hearing her answer, Tanaka gave up on any idea of pursuing the Mist swordsmen.

Using the Kagura Mind's Eye, he searched for another strong opponent.

Sensing his shift, Shiori, who guessed what he was doing, remained silent.

Seconds later, Tanaka opened his eyes, and a noticeable smile appeared.

When he looked at the map, he saw a red dot that stood out from the others, the same one he sensed with the Kagura Mind's Eye, indicating a large chakra reserve that rivaled that of the Uzumaki.

In the end, he hadn't yet fully tested Samehada. He had simply swung it and caused some damage, but that wasn't enough to satisfy Tanaka. He wanted to test it on someone strong enough to survive one of his attacks.

As he moved, Shiori followed closely behind.

When they arrived at the location and saw who possessed such a powerful presence, strong enough to stand out from the masses on the map, Tanaka muttered in his mind, 'How could it be you?!'

||- Note -||

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