Hagoromo's Summoning Beast instantly shattered the outer wall of the Hidden Mist stronghold, charging in from one side, likely trampling some completely unprepared enemy ninjas along the way, before crashing straight through the stronghold and bursting out the other side!
With that, its job was finished. It merely served as the key to open the door.
The Summoning Jutsu was then automatically dispelled.
The massive breach created by this meat-tank charge was wide enough for a large number of Konoha ninjas to flood directly into the stronghold.
Hagoromo was considering waiting a minute or two and charging in together with everyone else like a swarm of locusts through the breach, but someone had already charged in, seemingly desperate to be the first one to die.
Not wanting the idiot to perish alone inside, Hagoromo immediately followed right behind him—if he just stood by and watched the guy die, he might be held accountable for passive combat behavior.
At this moment, the dust and smoke at the entrance had yet to settle, making the situation inside practically invisible.
Therefore, Hagoromo deactivated the visible Chidori Current around his body, maintaining only a level of Lightning Style that left no obvious visual traces. In an environment where neither side could see clearly, if he lit up like a lightbulb, he would likely draw the concentrated fire of a massive group of enemies.
After all, he neither possessed the Byakugan's X-ray vision nor the Sharingan's dynamic kinetic vision, so it was better to keep a low profile.
Acting decisively, and without pausing in the smoke, Hagoromo dashed straight into the stronghold like a thrusting spear.
Clearly, this wasn't the core area of the enemy base. Although they had broken through the outer wall, the space inside was still an open, outdoor environment.
This meant... it was highly suitable for large-scale combat, and likely where a massive number of enemies would converge.
Hagoromo was a ninja who had been jumped by an army of ten thousand. This measly two or three-digit number of enemies... he still needed to take them seriously and handle them with caution.
His ninja sandals stepped rhythmically against the stronghold's stone pavement, producing sharp tap-tap-tap sounds.
His speed was neither fast nor slow. He didn't instantly burst into a high speed that would earn him a speeding ticket in the ninja world like he used to. Right now, his tempo actually exuded a sense of effortless ease.
Seeing enemies bursting out from the smoke, the Hidden Mist ninjas naturally chose to charge forward and engage them head-on.
Hagoromo couldn't exactly treat a massive number of enemies like mere weeds to be easily cut down, but he did have some experience when it came to being jumped.
In this kind of situation, the rule was that while maintaining stamina and endurance, the body could not stop moving. He had to constantly stay in motion; otherwise, he would be completely encircled, which essentially meant death.
Hagoromo sprinted forward, then executed a light spinning leap. His left leg whipped down like a descending axe, striking the back of the neck of the enemy leading the charge.
With Lightning Style stimulating his cells, Hagoromo's physical capabilities were elevated by more than just one tier, and that included his raw physical strength.
With a heavy thud, the enemy, unable to muster any effective response, smashed face-first onto the hard stone floor. It looked incredibly painful... If the guy had a high tolerance for blunt-force trauma, he might be fine. If not, sorry, but their next meeting would likely be in the vegetative ward.
Following that single strike, the two enemies closely trailing the first arrived a split-second later. Two kunai thrust toward Hagoromo's ribs from both sides.
A pincer attack?
The expression beneath Hagoromo's mask remained unchanged. Landing in a deep squat, he coiled his lower limbs, exploding with tension. Bending one leg and straightening the other, he immediately executed another light leap.
The trajectory of his entire body was like the hands of a clock moving around its face, using his head as the pivot point. He performed a full 360-degree somersault in mid-air.
Moreover, as his head pointed straight down, his body also began to spin horizontally.
Without any visible arm movement, eight shuriken were simultaneously fired outward from Hagoromo's position in all directions.
Their targets were the enemies closing in from further away.
In that split second of being upside down, Hagoromo had already completed a series of complex actions: visual correction, target acquisition, aiming, trajectory calculation, throwing the shuriken, and correcting their flight paths.
Or rather, this sequence had already become akin to instinct or a conditioned reflex.
His feet then landed on the ground. Ignoring the two enemies attacking him from behind and without checking the results of his shuriken, he continued his forward charge without a moment's hesitation.
In reality, with his shuriken throwing technique, he always aimed for vital spots like the neck or face. Setting aside those that might be blocked, as long as they hit, the enemies were guaranteed to die instantly.
His ears twitched slightly, picking up the clink-clink sound of metal blocking metal, as well as the thwack-thwack sound of shuriken sinking into flesh...
Before he had time to discern the exact results, a straight-bladed sword thrust toward him from the front, carrying the momentum to skewer him straight through the heart.
Forward! Forward! Forward!
Hagoromo didn't change his direction, nor did he decrease his speed, as if he were actively throwing himself onto the blade. But just as the tip of the sword was about to pierce his chest, he executed a lightning-fast sidestep!
Accelerating once again, Hagoromo's arm practically snaked around the enemy's extended arm. Before the opponent could react, his palm darted out from under their armpit and struck forcefully upward into their chin with a sharp crack.
The sound was crisp, but the scene was highly brutal, because this wasn't just a simple slap to the face.
The human body is truly fragile. The enemy's cervical vertebrae were effortlessly snapped by Hagoromo. The man's head slumped limply backward, and the long sword slipped from his grasp.
Hagoromo's dodge, attack, and retraction flowed together in one seamless motion.
As if he had a rearview mirror, Hagoromo didn't look back. He simply flicked his calf backward, kicking the falling long sword up into the air. It traced an arc before landing perfectly in his left hand.
Gripping the blade in a reverse hold, he violently thrust it upward.
CLANG!
Sparks flew!
The other Hidden Mist ninja attacking from behind managed to block the strike, holding a kunai with one hand and bracing his wrist with the other!
Such terrifying power from such slender arms.
He hadn't even figured out what was happening yet. Wasn't he supposed to be the one attacking? How did he end up blocking and defending?
Hagoromo felt no obligation to answer his confusion. Holding the sword in his left hand, he formed the Ram hand sign with his right hand alone... This, of course, wasn't a true one-handed sign. One-handed weaving required absurdly high technique, as well as something beyond technique called "innate talent."
Ordinary people couldn't do it, so it wasn't considered something that could be learned in the traditional sense.
Hagoromo was merely focusing his chakra.
Maintaining his grip on the sword, his right foot suddenly snapped up, striking the back of the blade near the tip.
This wasn't a kick; it was more of a powerful push.
With his left hand gripping the hilt and the sole of his right foot pressing against the back of the blade, he exerted force from both ends simultaneously. The blade of the long sword began to move forward in a devastating parallel shift.
An unstoppable parallel shift.
The blade instantly snapped the enemy's kunai, then sliced diagonally into his body.
The hilt end of the blade lodged into the enemy's right shoulder after slicing through his collarbone, while the tip of the blade protruded from his lower left abdomen... The entire sword had embedded itself halfway deep into the enemy's torso.
Borrowing a sword from the enemy in front, using the body of the enemy behind as a scabbard. Hagoromo sheathes the blade into flesh, returning the sword to its rightful place.
Only then did the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground finally echo as the decapitated enemy in front collapsed.
Unleash whatever technique you want, Hagoromo will never fall. Every minute, every second on the battlefield, enemies meet their end.
...
This kind of high-speed was exactly what a ninja on the battlefield should be doing.
Therefore, to survive in this world, one must be able to control chakra. With chakra, anything is possible. Without chakra, you're nothing but a fodder.
When the main force of Konoha ninjas finally charged in and saw the scene before them, they finally understood why the White Yaksha was called so, and why Jonin Kamishiro Hagoromo was a ninja who received a special stipend from the Konoha Council of Elders.
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