Outside the capital of the Land of Rivers.
Mitokado Koshi and his wife finally welcomed Mitokado Homura.
Mitokado Homura arrived, travel-worn and weary. This was the last affiliated nation on his diplomatic mission.
They dismissed the assistants and Guardian Ninja, and the family of three chatted by the river valley cliff.
This time, Yōkō had no patience to listen to this family discuss how to amass vast wealth.
While the three were calculating their income, at their most focused, he suddenly leaped from the cliff face and immediately used his Mangekyō ocular technique!
Yono Shima!
An island of absolute darkness appeared beneath their feet.
An eerie power emanated from the black island; anything it touched instantly collapsed inward.
Mitokado Koshi and Mitokado Nozomi, being weaker, were caught by Yono Shima.
They instantly collapsed, turning into thin, pulpy messes!
Mitokado Nozomi became an oval pancake, her shoulders the long axis, her chest and back the short axis.
Mitokado Koshi, who had been enthusiastically raising his hands while talking about his hard work amassing wealth before he died, became a handled oval pancake, like a quarter note with a tail on a musical staff.
It was brutal and bloody.
The root cause was Uchiha Michi being crushed into pulp by Wood Release in front of Uchiha Mahiru, which had stimulated the development of this series of Mangekyō ocular techniques.
To Yōkō's regret, Mitokado Homura reacted with god-like speed. Seeing his son and daughter-in-law die first, he actually managed to break free from Yono Shima.
Explosions and copious white smoke appeared around Mitokado Homura.
After the smoke cleared, Mitokado Homura's body had flown into the distance.
Yōkō frowned, looking at the large scroll on Mitokado Homura's back.
Instantly summoning the large scroll... the scroll is inscribed with explosive force for displacement? It actually changed Homura's position in an instant.
Mitokado Homura is also a master of sealing techniques, seemingly highly skilled in the Sealing Technique: Sealing Object Formula.
Uchiha Mahiru's Ameno Mihashira and Yono Shima were two complementary Mangekyō ocular techniques.
Yono Shima was powerful, but it required a preceding method to restrain the enemy.
Therefore, Ameno Mihashira trapped the enemy, allowing Yono Shima to perform better.
He himself also had methods to restrain enemies.
Yōkō glanced at the four assistants and several Guardian Ninja, considering whether to kill them so he could freely use the Self-Cursing Body Binding Seal.
Mitokado Homura stood frozen, staring in horror at the two pulpy stains at Tobi's feet.
Seeing this, Yōkō used Yono Shima again.
Today, he had to kill Mitokado Homura using a Mangekyō technique and pin the blame squarely on Tobi.
No, wait—he was helping Tobi. Tobi worked for Uchiha Madara, and here was his KPI delivered.
Round it up, and Tobi should be thanking him.
Seeing his son, nurtured for over twenty years, die tragically and turn into a pulp, Mitokado Homura's mind went completely blank for a moment.
Ninja started training from age 5, their bodies were long overdrawn, and every ninja faced difficulties having children.
Mitokado Homura only had this one son. Only this one!
In that instant, Mitokado Homura felt as if he had fallen into an icy abyss.
"Sir, look out!"
The four assistants, seeing Mitokado Homura momentarily dazed, rushed towards Tobi.
Yōkō was about to use Yono Shima when his vision suddenly blurred.
A wave of mental energy slammed into Yōkō's brain.
This feeling... a Yamanaka clan secret technique?
Only a Yamanaka clan technique could land a sneak attack like this.
Yōkō narrowed his eyes slightly and forcefully broke through the Yamanaka technique with his willpower.
An assistant in the distance fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth from the backlash.
The Uchiha clan's spiritual energy was exceptionally powerful. The Yamanaka assistant trying to clash head-on was simply seeking death.
However, he had bought one second of opportunity.
Not just the three other assistants, but the three Guardian Ninja also charged at Tobi.
Yōkō thought carefully: How would Tobi, possessing the Mangekyō, handle this situation?
Insight Eye, Copy Wheel Eye, Illusion Eye...
With Yōkō's current strength, illusions amplified by his massive chakra reserve were also very powerful.
Holding a kunai, Yōkō dodged the messy barrage of kunai, ninjutsu, and other ranged attacks, facing the first assistant directly.
Demonic Illusion: Stakes Staking Technique!
This assistant was instantly paralyzed, unable to move.
Yōkō threw his kunai, accurately piercing the assistant's throat.
These assistants were Mitokado Homura's loyal subordinates. Killing them was of no consequence.
Using three consecutive illusions, Yōkō killed three assistants.
He finished off the Yamanaka clan assistant on the ground with another kunai, eliminating all the assistants.
The three Guardian Ninja charged over next.
Illusion to start, kunai to finish. Two dead, one injured.
He left one alive to spread the news of Mitokado Homura's death at Tobi's hands back to Konoha.
The severely wounded Guardian Ninja, afraid to breathe deeply due to the tearing wound in his chest, clung to life.
Yōkō turned to look at Mitokado Homura and saw a pair of eyes, gloomy and filled with bone-deep hatred.
Mitokado Homura had recovered from the pain of losing his son. With one hand pressed on the meter-tall large scroll, he stared at Tobi.
The illusion game was over. In Yōkō's eyes, the three tomoe spun rapidly, focused primarily on insight.
White smoke burst from the large scroll, revealing the inherited five blades originally belonging to the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama.
Yōkō glanced at the Giant Fūma Shuriken on Mitokado Homura's back.
For Mitokado Homura, Tobi was an enemy he was facing for the first time; he needed to probe and find the opportunity to use his trump card.
For Yōkō, this was his second battle with Mitokado Homura.
Mitokado Homura's trump card was the Flying Thunder God Guiding Thunder Technique hidden within the Fūma Shuriken.
Mitokado Homura's control over the Land of Rivers' mission share to amass wealth was also to accumulate enough explosive tags for himself and his son.
Holding the half-meter-wide Senju Broadsword in his right hand and the Chakra Metal Ninjato in his left, Mitokado Homura charged at Tobi.
With the broadsword slamming and the ninjato slashing, Mitokado Homura sensed something unusual the moment they crossed blows.
His movements seemed to be predicted.
Mitokado Homura looked at the Sharingan behind the mask, thinking, Is Tobi's insight ability this strong? As expected of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
The effect Mitokado Homura wanted was for Tobi to be unable to move or dodge, killed by the Flying Thunder God Guiding Thunder Technique.
The effect Yōkō wanted was to immobilize the taijutsu-proficient Mitokado Homura and kill him with Yono Shima, framing Tobi.
The injured Guardian Ninja on the side fished a morphine injector from his tool pouch and administered it to his leg.
It made him feel somewhat better.
Following the clanging sounds, the Guardian Ninja witnessed the taijutsu exchange between two Kage-level ninja.
Impenetrable, not a drop of water could get through; their tools continuously clashed mid-air.
The Guardian Ninja felt a surge of relief. With the advantage of the First Hokage's five blades, Advisor Mitokado Homura held the upper hand.
In just over ten seconds, the rogue ninja Tobi had already had three kunai shattered!
The Senju Broadsword came down hard again, smashing another of Yōkō's kunai.
Yōkō hurriedly twisted aside, avoiding being crushed by the broadsword.
He realized a problem.
This was his second fight with Mitokado Homura; he should have the intelligence advantage. But Homura had gone mad!
After his son and daughter-in-law were killed, Mitokado Homura's fighting spirit underwent a drastic change.
He abandoned his usual cautious, probing style and actually started trading injuries with Yōkō!
In a short time, both Mitokado Homura and Yōkō sustained wounds.
Hate. Every swing of the broadsword carried Mitokado Homura's bone-deep hatred.
Hatred had greatly enhanced Mitokado Homura's strength.
Blood flowed from Mitokado Homura's wounds, while Yōkō intentionally used Wood Release to create a white, sap-like substance from his own.
Yōkō had once wondered how strong Konoha would become if its high-ranking officials were unafraid of death and fought on the front lines.
Well, now he knew. Mitokado Homura was unafraid of death; he didn't even want to live anymore.
Yōkō was lucky enough to witness what a Konoha elder looked like when fearing no death.
The Fifth Hokage's inherited five blades were too powerful.
Yōkō currently had great strength, but he lacked a suitable weapon. Kunai kept breaking one after another, until Yōkō reached into his tool pouch only to find it empty.
The ninjato flew towards him. Yōkō quickly sidestepped to avoid it.
The broadsword came crashing down overhead.
Just after dodging the broadsword, a sound of something cutting through the air came from behind.
Glancing back out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Chakra Metal Ninjato, coated with a thin layer of chakra, flying autonomously, stabbing towards his lower back.
He hadn't even noticed when Mitokado Homura had discreetly thrown the Chakra Metal Ninjato.
Not only that, but Mitokado Homura had also drawn another blade from his back.
The Nine-Sectioned Staff, its blade segmented like bamboo.
Yōkō quickly jumped, trying to escape the pincer attack.
However, the bamboo-like blade instantly separated, a section of the blade connected by a chain, transforming into a nine-sectioned whip.
Yōkō's ankle was ensnared by the nine-sectioned whip, the blades cutting into it.
He was yanked down from mid-air by Mitokado Homura.
Seeing the Chakra Metal Ninjato about to pierce his back, Yōkō quickly formed hand signs.
Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs!
A large tree instantly grew from Yōkō's body!
This was Danzō's favorite Wood Release technique, very practical.
The sturdy trunk blocked the ninjato from behind and also forced open the nine-sectioned whip on his ankle.
Mitokado Homura hurriedly retreated.
Without kunai, Yōkō grew a wooden spear in his hand.
Looking at the Senju Broadsword in Mitokado Homura's hand, Yōkō created several more wooden spears, twisting them together to increase their strength.
The wound on his ankle slowly healed. Yōkō wasn't in a hurry to attack.
Mitokado Homura's taijutsu, sword skills, and tactical planning put great pressure on Yōkō, who also had to constantly be wary of Homura's Flying Thunder God Guiding Thunder Technique.
After a brief silence, Mitokado Homura, expressionless, charged at Tobi again.
Yōkō closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his right eye had transformed into the Mangekyō pattern.
A black dot abruptly appeared in front of Mitokado Homura, rapidly expanding into the Yono Shima black island.
An explosion occurred on the large scroll. Mitokado Homura, without stepping on Yono Shima, soared into the air.
He tore open the large scroll, and hundreds, even thousands, of kunai shot out, dense as a swarm of locusts.
Yōkō dodged left and right through the kunai rain.
His eyeballs moved rapidly, searching for the explosive-tag-tipped kunai.
Found them!
A few kunai, hidden among the others, had explosive tags tied to them.
Yōkō quickly retreated, reaching the edge of the river valley cliff.
The explosive tags detonated at the cliff's edge, blasting Yōkō down into the river valley.
Mitokado Homura pursued, his eyes shifting slightly as he looked into the valley.
The deep valley would amplify the power of the Flying Thunder God Guiding Thunder Technique....
He didn't hesitate and jumped into the valley after Tobi.
Mid-air, both Mitokado Homura and Yōkō's eyes were resolute.
They both believed the advantage was theirs!
Yōkō turned his head to look at the river water, thinking, When facing this kind of taijutsu-specialized Kage-level ninja, one still has to rely on the Water Body Flicker.
***
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(Chapter End)