Thank you all for the 40 power stones, your support really helps alot.
Enjoy!
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Hagoromo immediately undid the scroll's seal. A giant shuriken, roughly his own height, materialized in his hands.
This was exactly why ninja needed to make good money—custom tools like this had to be bought out of pocket.
The weight of this dreadnought-class giant shuriken was absolutely absurd. It definitely wasn't suited for someone of Hagoromo's current physical build.
In fact, he had to use both hands just to lift the massive weapon. He spun around several times on the tree branch, using centrifugal force to finally hurl the shuriken into the air.
The moment the weapon left his hands, Hagoromo's fingers blurred through hand signs.
Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!
The giant shuriken reached the apex of its flight just as his jutsu activated.
The single blade instantly multiplied into nearly a thousand. Like a torrential storm of steel, they rained down viciously upon the enemies below!
Captain Hyuga was completely dumbfounded. What the hell? Did this kid actually just unleash a wide-area, long-range ninjutsu?
The charging Sand ninja were equally stunned. They were facing enemy ninjutsu from the front, and now a steel downpour from above? This was incredibly bad.
Regardless of the actual casualty count, any ninja with decent skill could dodge an attack like this.
However, anyone who failed to evade was instantly skewered right through the chest. This single jutsu threw the enemy's entire charge into chaos.
Meanwhile, the instigator, Kamishiraishi Hagoromo, didn't even bother to check the results of his attack.
He was already following his captain, charging straight toward the enemy's flank. As the area-of-effect barrages ended, a massive wave of Konoha ninja rushed out to engage the enemy in close combat.
Hagoromo sprinted forward, hooking his index finger into the ninja pouch strapped to his leg. A single kunai slid smoothly into his grip.
"Sorry, but you're my first target."
He didn't even pause his sprint, nor did he put any extra force into his arm. The sheer cutting power generated by his momentum instantly slit the throat of an unlucky Sand ninja.
To be fair, the guy hadn't been entirely unlucky at first. He had failed to dodge the shuriken rain, yet miraculously avoided getting hit.
But his luck ran out there. Two massive shuriken had embedded themselves into the ground right next to him, pinning him in place like a pair of heavy iron doors.
Stripped of his mobility, he had become a living target on the battlefield. Hagoromo dispatched him instantly, claiming his first trophy of the day.
In a chaotic melee like this, staying in one place was a death sentence; you had to keep moving.
Having been in his fair share of gang fights in his previous life, Hagoromo understood this perfectly.
That was why he hadn't broken his stride for his first kill. After slitting the guy's throat, he charged directly toward his second target.
This target was a heavily muscled Sand ninja. At first glance, it was obvious he was a strength-type fighter.
The man didn't even glance at his fallen comrade. Seeing a masked brat rushing straight at him, he didn't feel an ounce of fear; instead, a cruel smile twisted his face.
He viciously swung his long sword at the incoming Hagoromo.
Hagoromo shifted his direction slightly to avoid a direct hit, then raised his kunai to parry the blow.
Clang! The gap in age and arm strength was painfully obvious. The kunai was instantly knocked flying from Hagoromo's grip.
However, the heavy impact also caused the enemy's blade to stall for a fraction of a second.
Seizing that tiny window, Hagoromo quickly backpedaled out of the sword's attack range.
The Sand ninja's expression didn't change. So what if he was delayed for a second? Now that the brat was disarmed, the next swing would cleave him in two!
He switched to a reverse grip and took a massive stride forward, chasing after Hagoromo.
As a rule of thumb, bulky, strength-focused ninja were usually slow. After all, if you scoured the entire ninja world, how many people possessed both terrifying strength and blinding speed like the Raikage brothers?
This particular Sand ninja was just a nameless extra destined to die in his first appearance.
He fell firmly into the "ordinary" category, which meant his speed was indeed severely lacking. In this matchup, speed was Hagoromo's absolute domain.
Slashing his arm upward, the man aimed a vicious disemboweling strike at Hagoromo's stomach.
If that blade connected, it would undoubtedly be a fatal, gut-spilling blow. But he seemed to have forgotten one crucial detail: a ninja's greatest weapon is always their ninjutsu!
The enemy fully expected the boy to panic in terror, but Hagoromo's expression didn't waver in the slightest.
Crackling lightning had already flared to life in his left hand.
Hagoromo stepped forward and sideways, narrowly evading the blade by a hair's breadth. With a violent thrust, his left hand pierced cleanly through the man's chest!
Blood poured freely from the man's chest and mouth. His death pose looked eerily similar to a certain famous pirate who died at the hands of a certain Marine Admiral.
He might still be technically alive in this exact second, but he wouldn't even have time to leave behind last words in the next.
Instead of pulling his arm out, Hagoromo didn't retreat; he pushed forward!
Using the corpse skewered on his arm as a shield, he blitzed forward another ten meters!
Thanks to his excellent dynamic vision, he had already spotted his third and fourth targets clustered together while attacking the second.
Shrinking his body behind the dead Sand ninja, he easily shrugged off the stray kunai and shuriken flying across the battlefield.
The explosive dash speed granted by his Lightning Release allowed him to impale the third enemy with his Chidori before the man could even react.
A word of warning: ordinary ninja should definitely not try this forced "meat-skewer" tactic on a battlefield.
However, after watching his comrades get suddenly obliterated, the fourth enemy finally snapped to his senses.
Completely ignoring his two half-dead allies, he thrust his straight sword directly through their bodies to stab the hidden Hagoromo!
Hagoromo's instincts screamed danger. He quickly ducked and tilted his head.
Unfortunately, having two grown men hanging off his arm severely delayed his movements. The long sword bit deeply into his shoulder.
He had underestimated this opponent. Ignoring the first unlucky guy, the second and third enemies had been Chunin at best. But this fourth one wasn't nearly as simple.
Hagoromo let out a muffled grunt. He couldn't keep forcing his way forward anymore; he had to retreat and pull his arm out of his human shish kebab.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Suddenly, three soft impacts rang out. Three kunai had slammed directly into the two corpses Hagoromo was using as a meat shield.
This time, Hagoromo didn't ignore the projectiles. He instantly yanked his arm free and violently threw himself backward!