Chapter 241: The Cloud's Strength Shocks Black Zetsu
Tetsuo Okine roared, "WHAT KIND OF SICK JOKE IS THIS?!!!"
This hostile figure who appeared out of nowhere dared to call themselves a Yotsuki?
The masked figure chuckled lightly. "What? Is it hard to believe?"
Kawamura's voice was grim. "Just playing tricks."
The masked figure calmly stated, "It is time for the ninja world to know this name."
In the next instant, the masked figure charged straight at Kawamura. The short sword in their hand slashed upward with a speed far exceeding that of an ordinary Jonin.
Kawamura was no amateur. He raised his blade to block. However, the moment their blades clashed, the fingertips of the hand holding the masked figure's sword split open. Several sharp wooden spikes shot out, bypassing Kawamura's block.
The unexpected attack pierced Kawamura's chest and abdomen in multiple places.
"What?! Urgh-HA!"
He vomited a large mouthful of blood.
The masked figure raised their right leg high and delivered a spinning kick to Kawamura's temple, sending him flying while simultaneously pulling out the wooden spikes embedded in his body.
A spray of blood painted the air.
"Die!"
Tetsuo Okine flew in, but the masked figure slashed at his neck. Tetsuo didn't dodge at all, letting the blade strike his neck while punching at the masked figure's face.
Clang!
The moment the blade made contact, the masked figure realized something was wrong. They withdrew the blade just before being hit, but Tetsuo entangled them relentlessly.
Tetsuo drove his Steel Release to the limit, making him invulnerable to blades and spears. For a moment, he forced the masked figure back repeatedly.
Steel Release was a clear counter to Taijutsu-type ninja.
The surrounding Cloud ninja also closed in, launching a coordinated attack.
Kawamura looked at the holes in his abdomen, momentarily dazed. Just then, the kunoichi who had been knocked into the brothel earlier ran up. She seemed unharmed.
"Kawamura-senpai!"
She immediately took out a standard-issue Healing Talisman and slapped it onto his wound. As the talisman glowed with a soft green light, the wounds began to heal rapidly.
She had also suffered significant injuries earlier but had already treated herself below.
"This is humiliating... getting injured in the first exchange," Kawamura grunted.
With Healing Talismans as standard equipment, fatal injuries were no longer necessarily fatal for Cloud ninja.
But losing face was still losing face—like getting one-shotted in the opening move.
"Senpai, this wound is strange. Who is that person?"
Kawamura's face was grim. "Yeah, it was unexpected. That is probably the legendary... Wood Release."
The fame of Wood Release was well-known even among non-Konoha ninja. Decades ago, it had emerged alongside the God of Shinobi, once considered the strongest Kekkei Genkai. Although people later realized the limit existed but couldn't seem to be inherited by blood.
A mysterious figure suddenly appearing using Wood Release... if they claimed to be a Senju, the Cloud ninja would just be shocked. But claiming to be a Yotsuki... that was ridiculous.
On the other side, the masked figure, Yotsuki Teru (Kaguya), felt the pressure far exceeded her expectations. Five Cloud ninja were besieging her. Their coordination was seamless, seemingly using those Communication Snails to plan tactics in real-time, completely hidden from outsiders.
Moreover, these people didn't care about ordinary injuries. All of them were unafraid to trade injury for injury. Even the real Kawamura, whom she thought she had critically wounded earlier, stood up again, ready to rejoin the fight.
Relying on those small Healing Talismans, they gave the illusion of a team composed entirely of medical ninja.
Everyone was a mini-tank!
Teru changed her strategy. She extended her hand, and thick vines grew rapidly in the wind. instead of piercing, they wrapped around Tetsuo Okine, who had been tanking in the front.
"...My... chakra... is being absorbed..." Tetsuo tried to break free but found his chakra draining rapidly.
Teru flicked her wrist, detaching the vines from her hand. However, the vines on Tetsuo didn't lose their grip. Instead, they burrowed into the eaves below like living roots, forming a self-sustaining cage that tightened around him.
His teammates immediately tried to cut the vines. Their blades cut inches deep but couldn't sever them. This wood created by Wood Release was far tougher than natural wood.
"You guys keep attacking! I'll handle this!"
Kawamura, having suppressed his injuries, issued tactical orders through the Communication Snail. The others didn't hesitate to abandon Tetsuo and continue attacking the masked figure. Teru, unable to hear their plans, was surprised by their decisiveness.
Kawamura coated his short sword with a thin layer of chakra. The blade was a Chakra Metal weapon provided by the village, and he had mastered some techniques for using it. Even so, he couldn't cut the vines directly. It took three slashes before Tetsuo finally broke free.
Teru raised her hand to look at her own short sword. It was chipped and dented, looking like a village butcher's cleaver.
In high-intensity combat, weapons were consumables. That was why most ninja preferred kunai—cheap and replaceable. Unless it was a legendary blade, swords required careful use and maintenance.
But looking at the Cloud ninja... aside from the two who didn't use weapons, the others' kunai and short swords were pristine.
This was the credit of Chakra Metal. Although not everyone mastered special kenjutsu like the White Fang, the property of Chakra Metal becoming incredibly hard and sharp when conducting chakra was useful for any ninja. The Cloud didn't lack Chakra Metal, distributing different weapons according to each ninja's combat style.
Healing Talismans, Communication Snails, Chakra Metal weapons...
The Cloud's development over the years wasn't just about producing a few geniuses. The deployment of multiple new technologies had given their numerous ordinary ninja a qualitative leap in actual combat capability.
With the same number of people and the same strength configuration, the Cloud's combat power far exceeded other villages. They didn't need medical ninja occupying combat slots, yet they enjoyed freer and more abundant medical support.
Communication Snails could transmit intelligence over long distances (encryption) and direct tactics in close quarters (real-time command), even replacing some sensory roles. Chakra Metal weapons were indestructible.
Furthermore, in a prolonged battle, Communication Snails could even facilitate chakra transfer/sharing (via Katsuyu network, theoretically).
Teru thought today would be the day she made her new name famous in the ninja world. She didn't expect Cloud ninja to be this tough.
Although part of it was because she wasn't using Shikotsumyaku to avoid revealing her identity, the Cloud ninja had truly refreshed her understanding—and Black Zetsu's as well.
In a hidden corner, seeing this ordinary Cloud squad's combat power, Black Zetsu was also somewhat dumbfounded.
With his thousand years of experience, he judged that for other villages to defeat this squad, they would likely need double the numbers.
The Healing Talismans alone were troublesome enough, not to mention the tactical coordination and weapon superiority.
"Where did they get so much Chakra Metal...? Without realizing it, has Kumogakure grown to this extent...? It seems activating the plan ahead of schedule was the right choice..."
"actually, the original plan might not even work anymore. We need to add more fuel to the fire!"