The Kusanagi Sword Is Mine

If it had been a direct encounter, they might barely have stood a chance against Orochimaru. But this was an ambush Orochimaru had prepared long ago, with multiple methods at his disposal. On top of that, their Chakra had been suppressed by Orochimaru’s snake venom. They were no longer a match for him.

Mifune was tightly entangled by Kakuzu and unable to break free.

"Mr. Mifune, if you are willing to hand the Kusanagi Sword over to me, then… Hm?"

Orochimaru suddenly froze.

The next instant, a chain-wrapped sickle descended from the sky.

Orochimaru’s head was instantly severed by the sickle.

At the same time, a brilliant azure flash of blade light appeared.

Kakuzu’s body was instantly cleaved apart by Shimizu, sliced into several pieces.

Yet the blade light continued onward, still carrying its remaining momentum toward Mifune.

Clang!

The finely crafted ninja sword Shimizu had just drawn collided with the Kusanagi Sword in Mifune’s hand, producing a clear, ringing chime.

Horror appeared on Mifune’s face as he rapidly retreated, crashing heavily into the wall and coughing up blood.

On the other side, Orochimaru tore free of his mangled remains and crawled out of his headless corpse, covered in slime. His expression darkened as he looked at the Kusanagi Sword that had already fallen into Hanzo’s hands.

They had been set up!

The sudden assault from those two old schemers had caught them completely off guard.

"Damn it!"

Black threads surged as Kakuzu glared at Shimizu and cursed.

One of his Water Release hearts had been pierced by Shimizu!

"Orochimaru, thirty million ryo is no longer enough for me to help you seize the Kusanagi Sword!"

Kakuzu meant that Orochimaru either had to pay more, or he was leaving.

If he had only needed to deal with the two men from the Land of Iron, he would have had no problem. But with these two newly arrived opponents added to the mix, the difficulty had increased by far more than double.

Hanzo had dominated the ninja world for many years. He was hailed as one of its pinnacles, an absolute peak Kage-level figure.

And Kakuzu had recognized Shimizu as well.

A rising star from a ninja village like him would certainly have a bounty placed on his head by hostile villages, and it would usually be quite substantial.

If Shimizu had been an easy target, Kakuzu would not have minded earning some extra money. But judging from how Shimizu had just destroyed one of his hearts and driven Mifune back with a single strike, Shimizu was unquestionably powerful. It would not be an overestimate to rate him as highly as possible.

"Orochimaru, your strength has improved considerably over these years."

Hanzo stood atop the wall, holding the chain sickle in one hand and the Kusanagi Sword in the other. He looked down at Orochimaru with the same lofty bearing he had possessed years ago, when he stood upon Salamander Ibuse’s head and bestowed the title of Legendary Sannin upon the three of them.

"Hmph. And what will become of you in a few more years? Hanzo, even you cannot resist the mighty force of time."

Orochimaru sneered, fixing Hanzo with the cold gaze of a poisonous snake.

"There will always be young people who step forward. Old men like me only need to pave the way for the younger generation while we still have time."

Hanzo spoke to Orochimaru with an exceptionally open-minded air.

Orochimaru did not answer. Instead, he decisively bit his thumb and summoned a massive Giant Purple Snake.

"Orochimaru, this time I want—"

"Two hundred. Help me hold them off for a while."

Orochimaru did not stand atop Manda’s head. Instead, he had Manda coil around him to conceal him.

"Three hundred!"

"If you do not help me get through this trouble, you will not get even one."

Orochimaru spoke coldly. He formed a Hand Seal and created a Shadow Clone. Then the clothes on his original body fell away as he transformed into countless small snakes that slithered off in every direction.

The Shadow Clone also summoned countless giant snakes, which, together with Manda, launched indiscriminate attacks all around them.

He was escaping. Manda had been left behind to block the enemy’s pursuit.

Once Manda could no longer hold on, he would dismiss the Summoning Technique himself and return to Ryūchi Cave.

Orochimaru fled with remarkable decisiveness, and Hanzo did not summon Salamander Ibuse to assist in battle.

The sword was already in hand. There was no need to go looking for more trouble.

Kakuzu fled with the same decisiveness as Orochimaru.

He had no choice but to run. He had lost another heart!

No matter how much money there was, he had to be alive to spend it.

Shimizu glanced at Kakuzu, who was fleeing in a sorry state while using black threads to repair his body, then clashed swords with Mifune once more.

Separation Breathing: Sixth Form: Dragon Night Dance of Separation!

Swordsmanship: Sky-Splitting Slash!

The sharp sword aura barely cut through the Chi Dragon. Mifune gripped the Kusanagi Sword tightly in both hands, gasping for breath.

Years ago, he had exchanged a single move with Hanzo. Ever since then, he had pursued Hanzo as his goal.

But now that he was fighting Shimizu, the feeling Shimizu gave him was even more terrifying than Hanzo!

Mifune felt that even if he faced Hanzo at his absolute peak, he would not be in such a wretched state!

Superb swordsmanship, even greater attack power, and predictions that seemed almost prophetic!

Mifune felt as though his swordsmanship was being dismantled by his opponent. He could only keep changing his moves and increasing the speed of his attacks. Combined with the Kusanagi Sword’s sharpness, that was the only way he could barely hold Shimizu off.

"Impressive!"

Shimizu could not help but regard this middle-aged samurai more highly.

In the original timeline, when sixty-five-year-old Mifune participated in the Fourth Great Ninja War, he had fought Impure World Reincarnation Hanzo to a standstill. In the end, he even rekindled Hanzo’s conviction, allowing Hanzo to forcibly break free of Kabuto’s Impure World Reincarnation.

Even if that Hanzo had already lost his fighting spirit, Mifune had been quite old by then as well.

One had to understand that samurai and ninja were fundamentally different.

Though both possessed Chakra, samurai generally did not form Hand Seals and use ninjutsu in battle as ninja did. They relied more heavily on Nintaijutsu centered on physical abilities—within the ninja world, swordsmanship was also a type of Nintaijutsu.

Therefore, physical condition affected samurai far more than it affected ninja.

No matter how diligently Mifune trained and maintained his body, his physical abilities at sixty-five could certainly not compare to those of his middle-aged years.

From Shimizu’s perspective, Mifune’s current combat strength was roughly in the upper-middle range of Kage level.

He was somewhat weaker than the current Five Kage, who could reach peak Kage level, but aside from them, not many people were stronger than him.

An expert of this level could be killed, but not easily. It would be extremely troublesome.

And there was Hanzo standing beside them as well.

Although Sunagakure and Amegakure were now allied, and Shimizu and Hanzo had agreed beforehand to work together, alliances had rather limited binding power.

Before Amegakure allied with Sunagakure, its ally had been Konoha!

After realizing that Konoha could not help Amegakure achieve victory, Hanzo had switched sides very quickly.

The gains from a single Kusanagi Sword were not enough to make Hanzo abandon his alliance with Sunagakure, currently one of the two strongest powers in the ninja world. Still, it was always best to remain on guard.

Not to mention Kakuzu and Orochimaru, who had just fled.

Those two had surely left behind contingency plans to monitor what happened here. They were waiting for the possibility that Shimizu and Hanzo might fall out over an uneven division of the spoils, or that the two samurai of the Land of Iron might decide to fight to the death and drag someone down with them.

As for why Shimizu knew that so clearly, it was naturally because he had already noticed the methods they had set up.

Not far away, several white snakes hid underground, peering out with snake eyes.

Farther away, an almost imperceptible black thread extended into the distance.

Kakuzu was from the same era as the first generation of Kage from each village. Having lived so long, he had surely developed countless methods. Orochimaru was likewise deeply calculating and possessed many tricks. It was hardly strange for the two of them to have such measures prepared.

What if they got other ideas?

Holding the ninja sword, whose blade had developed a few small chips, in one hand, Shimizu slashed twice more and suppressed Mifune even more thoroughly.

Clang!

Another sword chime rang out.

"Are you still going to fight, Lord Mifune? Perhaps you can keep stalling me for a little longer, but Lord Mizukawa may not be able to withstand Orochimaru’s snake venom."

Hesitation clearly appeared on Mifune’s face.

Yet Shimizu took the initiative to withdraw, stepping back.

The hesitation on Mifune’s face deepened.

Then, right in front of Mifune, Shimizu cut open the back of his hand, revealing a wound deep enough to expose bone.

He immediately cast the Mystical Palm Technique.

If he did not use it soon, this minor wound would heal on its own.

In less than a second, the wound had closed and recovered, smooth as new without leaving even the slightest scar.

Hanzo’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Your Medical Ninjutsu has already surpassed that old hag who taught you. Among everyone I have seen, even Princess Tsunade would not heal wounds on the battlefield with Medical Ninjutsu faster than you."

"That is right. Just as Senior Hanzo said, I am a fairly capable Medical Ninja."

Shimizu spoke confidently.

He had used his own body just now merely for demonstration.

But in truth, Shimizu’s Medical Ninjutsu had already reached the pinnacle of the ninja world.

Hanzo’s claim that Shimizu’s Medical Ninjutsu had surpassed Chiyo’s was not empty praise.

In certain specific fields, Shimizu’s Medical Ninjutsu had already exceeded Chiyo’s. In particular, for Medical Ninjutsu such as the Technique of Creation and Regeneration, which required exceptionally fine perception down to the cellular level as well as enormous amounts of Chakra, Shimizu could perform better than Chiyo.

In this regard, even Tsunade might not be faster than Shimizu, because the Technique of Creation and Regeneration consumed too much Chakra.

Generally, several jōnin-level Medical Ninja had to work together to construct a formation just to barely use a weakened version of the Technique of Creation and Regeneration, the Life-Rebirth Technique.

Only two people in the current ninja world could use this technique alone.

Tsunade possessed both Senju and Uzumaki bloodlines and was the First Hokage’s granddaughter. Her Chakra reserves were innately enormous, allowing her to barely use this ninjutsu. But if she wanted to use it repeatedly or sustain it for a long time, she had to activate the Yin Seal and use the Hundred Healings Technique.

Until her stored Chakra was exhausted, she could possess an immortal body capable of instantly healing all wounds.

Shimizu was simpler. He simply had a great deal of Chakra and recovered it quickly.

The Perfect Demon Transformation Body had granted him physical recovery abilities as powerful as Senju Hashirama’s Sage Body, along with enormous Chakra reserves and unimaginably rapid Chakra recovery.

For himself, he hardly needed to use the Technique of Creation and Regeneration.

Until all the energy stored within his body was exhausted, he could regenerate his flesh without limit. For others, he could also use the Technique of Creation and Regeneration repeatedly without interruption.

Chakra quantity alone innately disqualified the vast majority of people in the ninja world from learning the Technique of Creation and Regeneration.

Those with enough Chakra were either Jinchuriki or possessed innate advantages such as bloodlines, like Tsunade. Their total number would not exceed twenty.

Other than Shimizu and Tsunade, those who had sufficient Chakra either lacked the necessary Medical Ninjutsu proficiency by a vast margin, or, like Chiyo, had reached the required level of Medical Ninjutsu and could even perform a Forbidden Jutsu capable of reviving the dead, such as the Reanimation Jutsu, but did not possess such enormous Chakra reserves.

Of course, in pharmacology, poison-making, antidotes, and treating all sorts of strange and difficult ailments, Shimizu was still considerably behind Chiyo and Tsunade.

"General Mizukawa, not only can I cure the poison in your body, I can also treat the old injuries you have accumulated over the years. I believe you have noticed it as well. Your physical decline is progressing far faster than you expected. If you do not receive treatment soon, I doubt it will take more than two or three years before Mr. Mifune can become the new general."

Shimizu turned to look at Mizukawa on the other side.

Mizukawa was currently clutching his wound, gripping a spare Wakizashi, and watching Hanzo vigilantly.

"These old injuries were all bestowed upon me by Hanzo!"

The trauma Hanzo had inflicted on him and the samurai of the Land of Iron back then was truly immense. It had even turned into PTSD.

Seeing Mizukawa like this, Hanzo remained completely calm.

Sure, I beat you badly back then, and now I took the Kusanagi Sword too, but what does that have to do with me?

Wasn’t it because you were weak?

"…"

With an unwilling expression, Mifune lowered the Kusanagi Sword, sheath and all, and tossed it to Shimizu.

"This sword belongs to you now. You and Mr. Hanzo are both swordsmen whose swordsmanship exceeds mine, and you are more worthy of a divine sword like the Kusanagi Sword. I also hope that this friend from Sunagakure will keep his promise."

Shimizu caught the Kusanagi Sword with one hand. It had a guard, and he inspected it from top to bottom.

The blade was long and straight, with suitable weight and a stable center of balance. It was easy to wield, unquestionably an excellent sword.

Only the hilt and guard were somewhat too old. It was clear that Mifune and his fellow samurai had carefully restored it, but their craftsmanship was mediocre. The grip felt fairly good, though it still had a few slight flaws.

That was only a minor issue. Once he returned, Shimizu could make a new set himself. Based on the blade’s weight, length, center of balance, and shape, he could use mathematical tools to create the hilt and guard with the most perfect feel.

"Very good."

Shimizu sheathed the Kusanagi Sword and walked toward Mizukawa.

Mizukawa shifted his gaze away from Hanzo, his mortal enemy, and looked at Shimizu. Then he looked at Mifune, who helplessly shook his head at him before finally nodding. At last, Mizukawa sighed.

"Do whatever you want. Mifune, this was your decision. From now on, you might as well make all the decisions. Starting tomorrow, you will be the general of the Land of Iron."

Guilt appeared on Mifune’s face. Just as he was about to speak, Mizukawa interrupted him.

"Stop talking and let the doctor detoxify me and treat my wounds! I fucking want to live a few more years, and I cannot be bothered with all these trivial matters anymore!"