It’s Him

Xu Yue was calmly watching the show from the sidelines, but the freed-up Anbu had no intention of letting him off.

Four or five figures had already arrived beside him. Kunai and blades pressed against his vital points, as though that alone meant they had captured him.

Xu Yue did not seem bothered in the slightest. Instead, he held out the fruit in his hand and asked,

"Want some?"

He was met with complete indifference.

"Your companion is indeed strong, but you picked the wrong place to throw your weight around!"

The Anbu gate guard who had initially stopped Xu Yue and Kakuzu spoke with fury in his voice.

Why did they have to cause trouble during his shift? They really deserved to die.

"To hold out against Lord Raikage for this long, you do have the right to be arrogant."

Another Anbu beside him chimed in.

"But no one should be too arrogant."

A third added.

Their tones were icy and emotionless, but their meaning was obvious.

They were deeply dissatisfied with these two troublemakers who had come knocking.

The Raikage Building could be rebuilt, and there were not many truly valuable items inside.

But it was the village’s face and symbol!

And it had actually been destroyed outright.

That was simply too humiliating!

That was why the Raikage had been so furious and personally stepped in.

"If you Anbu don’t interfere, Senior Kakuzu can still hold on."

Xu Yue gave a simple assessment. Kakuzu had already had one heart blown apart, but he still had four lives left. That was enough to stall for time.

Why haven’t Killer B and Yugito Nii arrived yet?

(Kakuzu blocked one of A’s attacks and was blasted more than ten meters away.)

As Jinchuriki, surely they should have reacted somehow after their landmark building was destroyed.

(A tore through the air with a piercing shriek, arriving even faster than Kakuzu had been sent flying.)

Killer B did not matter much, but Yugito Nii, the Jinchuriki of the Two-Tails Matatabi, was currently the final Tailed Beast target.

(Another of Kakuzu’s hearts shattered, and one of his masks was ruined.)

He had originally planned to have Kakuzu make a bigger scene and lure her out. Only after personally completing the primary objective would he begin farming points.

(Seeing that he still had not subdued his opponent, the Fourth Raikage further increased the output of his Lightning Armor.)

But from the look of things, Kakuzu seemed about to be suppressed.

(Kakuzu’s body hair had all been electrocuted upright, and smoke carrying a faint scent of roasted meat rose from his body.)

What a letdown. Looks like I’ll have to draw her out myself…

Just as Xu Yue made his decision, Hidden Cloud’s new reinforcements appeared.

That aura, utterly out of place in this world, instantly told Xu Yue that they were Reincarnators!

He remembered seeing them mentioned in the intelligence he had gathered through interrogation.

The Holy Hill Legion was here, apparently, though it did not seem like they had brought any major powerhouse to lead them.

Xu Yue had been preparing to act immediately, but he temporarily held off again, allowing Kakuzu to have another heart blown apart…

The crusader clad in full-body armor, whose armor itself emitted an intensely dense magical aura, saw the collapsed Raikage Building and Kakuzu fighting the Fourth Raikage.

He immediately locked onto Kakuzu.

So he’s the target designated by the Space!

He really was powerful, to be able to fight a village’s Kage to this extent.

"Though kicking someone while they’re down isn’t very nice, who told you to be worth so much!"

After swiftly judging the situation, the Holy Hill Legion members entered the battle without the slightest hesitation!

The other Anbu still did not dare spoil A’s fun. They had only been standing by and preventing the masked monster from causing trouble.

But Reincarnators did not care about any of that.

So what if they offended the Raikage?

Compared with the rewards, it was worth paying that price!

If they did not finish him off while the Raikage had him suppressed, were they supposed to wait until he returned to full strength and have a team led by merely Elite Reincarnators face a Kage-level BOSS head-on?

Even if they barely succeeded by using all kinds of items and trump cards, who knew how many lives they would have to sacrifice?

Every Kage-level expert was a legend!

This was exactly the right opportunity!

Sure enough, today was their lucky day! They even had powerful native reinforcements helping them, turning what had been a difficult mission into an easy one.

Haha, once they completed the mission objective and took down this powerful man, they could each choose a skill set.

If they all chose the Heavenly Transfer Technique, they could instantly provide the legion with massive logistical support!

Both the rewards and their status would improve enormously.

"That’s him!"

"For the rewards, everyone get him!"

"It’s time to risk our lives."

"Wait for me! Slow down!"

"…"

For a moment, the Reincarnators of the Holy Hill Legion all wore crazed expressions as they scrambled to surround and kill Kakuzu.

Greedy green light gleamed in every one of their eyes.

They seemed terrified that if they were even a moment too slow, their allies would end the battle first and leave them without a share of the rewards.

Kakuzu had already been struggling immensely against the Fourth Raikage, relying entirely on his own experience and his opponent’s straightforward nature to hold on.

Not only had he failed to receive support from his allies, he had instead been met with a group of enemy reinforcements that played by no rules at all!

What the hell?

What sin did I commit?

Why is everyone coming after me?

That guy is the real culprit! He’s the real problem! Go after him!

In the brief moment he was distracted, Kakuzu’s extra hearts were completely exhausted by the Reincarnators’ finishing blows.

Now, only his original heart remained.

"Boss, help me!"

At a time like this, he could no longer care about pride. He had never had any pride in front of Xu Yue anyway, so he directly called for help.

Xu Yue, who felt things had gone on long enough, also abandoned the idea of waiting any longer.

He had not gotten the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, but instead a group of Reincarnators who would not drop anything even if he killed them. What rotten luck.

Kakuzu’s extra lives had all been used up. If Xu Yue did not pull him out now, it would be a shame if he actually died.

Without hesitation, he tossed aside the fruit he had been eating. The moment he did so, the several Anbu holding weapons to his vital points became alert.

"Don’t move—"

Before they could finish, the five Anbu restraining Xu Yue were simultaneously flung away like kites with their strings cut!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Five impacts rang out as they hit the ground, drawing the attention of all the other Anbu.

Then more than a dozen Anbu launched a concentrated attack on Xu Yue in quick succession.

The shuriken that required no preparation arrived first. Once they had achieved their purpose of interference, all manner of ninjutsu followed.

The Anbu worked together with remarkable coordination!

Those present were among the most elite of the Anbu. Elite jonin led the group, coordinating attacks from other jonin-level fighters.

With the combined tactics of more than a dozen people, even an ordinary Kage-level expert would have to avoid their edge.

Xu Yue, however, assumed a gentle opening stance. His feet drove into motion, his arms swept and turned.

Chakra far denser than that of the others erupted from the chakra points across his body.

The next moment, a blinding flash burst forth, leaving only a crater over ten meters in radius centered on Xu Yue.

Every Anbu who had surrounded him was sent flying like a cannonball at speeds even more terrifying than those first few had been.

The projectile ninjutsu, shuriken, and every other attack were instantly swept away!

Rotation!

Shared through the memories of the Wood Clone, the all-purpose, blind-spot-free Rotation that combined offense and defense had received an enormous boost to both its offensive and defensive power after incorporating some traits of the AT Field.

It had reached this level after only an initial integration. If further developed, its effects would truly be incredible.

Meanwhile, the Holy Hill Legion Reincarnators, who had been frantically attacking Kakuzu, suddenly sensed the violent disturbance. When they turned to look, they felt that something seemed wrong.

Looking at the solitary figure standing in the center of the massive crater, every face showed a trace of bewilderment.

Um… who exactly was our target again…?