Following Tsunade's reinforcement division, the Yellow Dog Unit entered the front lines. After leaving the main camp, Yagami set his plan in motion. At the exact same time and at the exact same location as his previous life, he arrived at that specific stretch of the Land of Whirlpools coastline.
With the advantage of foresight, there would be no stalemate with Mangetsu Hozuki this time.
Standing atop a jagged coastal reef, Yagami addressed his platoon:
"The Mist ninja excel at Water Style. I'm forming a specialized squad to counter them. The three Lightning Style users and two Fire Style users in this platoon will follow me directly. These five will be under Antelope's temporary command. The rest of you, stay close and maintain positions where you can support me at a moment's notice. Intelligence suggests the Seven Ninja Swordsmen may be operating nearby. Our mission is to seize one of those blades. The Seven Swords occupy a prominent status in the Mist; they are the focal point of the struggle between the village leadership and the Hozuki clan. Securing a blade will give us the initiative to ignite their internal friction."
Yagami claimed he had intelligence, so he had intelligence. Where it came from was not for his subordinates to know. If they asked, it was simply classified information he had obtained as an Anbu Jonin.
Elsewhere on the coast, Special Jonin Hayama Shirakumo was pondering why all eleven Special Jonin recommended by Sakumo had been sent to this specific battlefield. Suddenly, his squad was ambushed.
The Longsword: Nuibari pierced through one of his teammates. Hayama reacted instantly, using the Vacuum Sword technique granted by Sakumo to sever the wire. Seeing that the attacker was the Mist Elite Jonin Kushimaru Kuriarare, Hayama immediately barked an order:
"Retreat! I'll cover the rear!"
Hayama held his blade steady, his wind-enhanced strikes cutting through the sea spray, only to be shattered by the chakra blade of the Twinsword: Hiramekarei.
A second Elite Jonin! Mangetsu Hozuki!
Kushimaru circled around to the back, continuing his assault on the squad members. Hayama's eyes turned bloodshot with desperation. Whether it was him covering the rear or his subordinates under attack, they were at a catastrophic disadvantage. In a matter of seconds, his entire squad would be slaughtered. Against two Elite Jonin, there was only one outcome: death.
Was the mobilization of Sakumo's eleven proteges truly a deliberate conspiracy? No, it was an overt plot. No ninja could refuse a village summons; the village's orders were absolute.
Just as Hayama fell into despair, a figure flickered into view. An Anbu wearing a fox mask caught the chakra blade of Hiramekarei with his bare hands. Yagami turned to Hayama.
"I am Anbu Jonin Fox. My subordinates are arriving shortly. I'm giving you a mission: seize the Longsword: Nuibari."
Hayama felt a wave of relief. It was Copper Fox, the rising star who had first made his name on the River front. If the Fox was here, his squad stood a chance.
Yagami fixed his gaze on Mangetsu Hozuki and moved. Physical attacks were useless against Mangetsu due to his Hydrification Jutsu, which allowed his body to liquefy and negate all physical damage. Even Yagami's preferred Earth and Water Style techniques were primarily physical; even if he shredded Mangetsu, the man would simply reform.
This time, Yagami needed to create an opening for close-quarters combat.
Maintaining his Absolute Defense, Yagami tanked two massive chakra beams from Hiramekarei to close the distance. Under a surge of chakra, the Twinsword swelled, growing larger than Mangetsu himself. Mangetsu swung the massive blade at Yagami.
Yagami feigned a fear of the weapon, dodging frantically around Mangetsu's side. At the precise moment Mangetsu committed to a full-power swing and could no longer change the blade's trajectory, Yagami took the impact squarely on his shoulder and unrolled a hidden scroll with both hands.
The Lightning Style sealing scroll was triggered instantly.
"Agh!"
It was nearly impossible for the Lightning Style users in his platoon to hit Mangetsu directly due to the massive gap in skill; only a sneak attack like this could land. Mangetsu let out a strangled scream as both he and the Twinsword were enveloped in blinding electricity, paralyzing him where he stood.
Antelope and the other two hidden teammates lunged from their cover. They unleashed Lightning Style from three directions.
"Lightning Style: Ground Flicker!"
Constant streams of lightning raced across the water, surging into Mangetsu's feet and crawling up his body. Amidst a cacophony of crackling sparks, Mangetsu was rendered completely immobile. He could only watch as the Leaf Fox kicked the Twinsword: Hiramekarei away.
The three subordinates maintained their jutsu, pinning Mangetsu down. He was completely suppressed!
Mangetsu even began to suspect that the village leadership had sold his intelligence to the Leaf just to strip the Hozuki clan of the Twinsword. Only that could explain why he was being handled so precisely, as if every move had been predicted.
Despite the lightning, Mangetsu desperately tried to use his Hydrification Jutsu. His skin began to melt like a candle; if he could just break the paralysis and slip into the sea, he could escape.
"Get the Fire Style ready!" Yagami shouted.
Two subordinates launched Great Fire Dragons at Mangetsu. The moment he began to liquefy, the intense heat of the Fire Style baked him instantly, turning him charred and black. Yagami pulled out his prepared obsidian kunai, moved behind Mangetsu, and drove it with force into his cervical spine.
Obsidian was non-conductive, preventing Yagami from being shocked by the ongoing lightning. With that single strike, Mangetsu was rendered a high-level paraplegic. Not taking any chances, Yagami also applied the Self-Exerting Binding Seal.
Yagami threw the charred Mangetsu onto a reef and said to Antelope:
"Antelope, you three Lightning users watch him. Rotate your jutsu to keep him shocked and ensure he has zero chance of resisting. Once I've dealt with Kushimaru, I'm coming back to interrogate this Hozuki ninja."
"Understood, Captain."
Yagami immediately dashed off to find Kushimaru Kuriarare. Hayama was a Special Jonin and his squads were capable, but against Kushimaru, it wouldn't be enough. Kushimaru was an Elite Jonin, and Yagami was worried.
Rounding a coastal bend, he first heard Kushimaru's cruel, high-pitched screeching, followed by the gruesome scene in the cove. Five Leaf ninja had already been skewered by the wires of the Longsword. They were frozen in place, terrified that moving would cause the wires to shred their internal organs further. Kushimaru stood below a reef, repeatedly throwing the needle to create a dense web of wires between the rocks. Once he finished the layout, he could slice through everyone's legs in an instant.
Kushimaru turned and felt his heart skip a beat when he saw the Fox Anbu carrying the Twinsword on his back.
The Twinsword?
Mangetsu had been defeated? He even lost Hiramekarei? Was this the Anbu from the reports with the absolute defense, Copper Fox?
Before Yagami could reach him, Kushimaru instantly severed the wires attached to the Longsword and leaped into the sea without a second thought. Yagami was fast, but he couldn't catch Kushimaru before he hit the water. As a Taijutsu specialist of the Seven, Kushimaru's speed was staggering.
Yagami turned his attention to the survivors. Five were skewered, but none of the wounds were immediately fatal. Kushimaru was deeply disturbed; he didn't aim to kill his enemies right away, but to torture them. According to intel, when he wasn't in a hurry, he loved to "stitch" enemies together and stroke the wires, savoring the vibrations of their tremors and the sound of their wailing.
The Hidden Mist truly had its share of perverts.
"Rescue them," Yagami ordered. "Be careful—don't let the wires cause secondary injuries to the wounded."
***
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