The reason wasn't that it was particularly well-suited for slicing and dicing, but because anyone familiar with this blade knew that it could attack, defend, drain, and even heal. It was truly an high-quality companion for the modern youth looking to settle down, travel, murder, and commit arson.
If one were to discuss the dynamic between Fuguki Suikazan and Samehada, who was the protagonist and who was the sidekick? Samehada undeniably stole the spotlight. Unlike the Second-Generation wielder, Kisame Hoshigaki, Fuguki Suikazan was, at best, merely a glorified sword rack.
According to legend, Samehada originally started as a small fish that accompanied the Three-Tails in some Lake, specifically tasked with helping the Three-Tails absorb and consume chakra. Originally, the fish and the turtle lived in harmony, depending on each other. Unfortunately, a legendary swordsmith known as the Sage eventually discovered this unique material, forged it into the famous blade Greatsword Samehada". From then on, Samehada began its long, wandering life as a sword.
In summary, the story of Samehada is actually an inspiring tale—a story of how a salted fish transformed into a murderous, sentient salted fish... It was a blade perfectly capable of being the protagonist in a different story.
Later on, there might even be heartwarming, slice-of-life fanfictions about someone reincarnating into the Naruto world as Samehada, chronicling a touching romance between Samehada and the Three-Tails. But unfortunately for Hagoromo, he wouldn't be able to participate in such stories.
At this moment, Fuguki Suikazan lifted his right hand slightly, casually raising Samehada with one hand before resting it on his shoulder.
With his sharp vision, Hagoromo easily spotted the terrifying, dark-blue, backward-curving spikes protruding from beneath the torn bandages near the blade's tip.
A weapon with that kind of morphology... Hagoromo's gaze sharpened, and he spoke, "I've heard that every sword of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist has a unique function. This Samehada... it's not meant for cutting people, is it?"
Since Fuguki had declared he would handle Hagoromo personally, and with more than double their number of Konoha ninjas pressing the attack, the surrounding Hidden Mist ninjas had no time to worry about Hagoromo.
Therefore, in this one-on-one situation, Hagoromo wasn't in a hurry to attack. Exchanging a few words to see if he could probe for useful intel was the standard procedure.
Since Hagoromo had already noticed Samehada's unique shape and made a guess, Fuguki didn't hide it, answering directly, "Correct. Rather than cutting, my Greatsword Samehada is actually used for shaving."
After all, this was something the opponent would realize after a single exchange of blows anyway. Plus, he hadn't revealed exactly how he shaved people.
"Is that all? As you mentioned earlier, Juzo Biwa indeed died by my hand, and I even snapped his Executioner's Blade... The Executioner's Blade wasn't ranked among the Seven Ninja Swords just because it was 'big,' right?"
"As for the Executioner's Blade... no comment. But I can tell you that we have already recovered it." Fuguki flashed an incredibly nasty smile.
Or rather, instead of nasty, it was chilling.
Recovered it? Hagoromo was puzzled. Was it really worth the effort to dredge a giant meat cleaver out of the water? Wasn't the sword completely unusable now?
Could the Executioner's Blade actually possess some special characteristic he hadn't noticed? Or did the Hidden Mist just plan to recycle it as scrap metal to forge something else?
Obviously, Fuguki wasn't going to clear up his confusion. The man wasn't an idiot; he wouldn't easily leak intel.
"As for whether Greatsword Samehada is 'just that,' you'll find out very soon."
With that, Fuguki took the longsword off his shoulder, gripped it with both hands, and let the tip drag behind him.
Seeing this posture, Hagoromo knew his conversation with him was over.
In the next instant, Fuguki charged at Hagoromo with a ghostly speed that completely defied his massive frame. Upon entering striking range, he swung Samehada in a wide arc, aiming a massive horizontal slash directly at Hagoromo's waist.
Without hesitation, Hagoromo moved with the momentum of the strike to dodge.
Expecting to block a massive object like Samehada with a short kunai was impossible.
And besides...
Damn it, didn't you just say this sword wasn't for cutting? You literally just tried to cut me with it! Whatever happened to basic human trust?!
One look at Samehada told you it was a sword meant for power-type ninjas. It looked incredibly unwieldy, but surprisingly, in Fuguki's hands, it moved as if it weighed nothing at all.
As a result, the blade arrived much faster than Hagoromo had anticipated.
Just as Samehada was about to hit him, the lightning of the Chidori Current instantly flared around Hagoromo's body.
However, at almost the exact same moment, Samehada's volume suddenly expanded by a massive degree!
Next, Fuguki halted his sweeping horizontal slash. The expanded spikes practically brushed against Hagoromo's waist as Fuguki violently jerked the blade backward.
If that had been all, Hagoromo could have easily relied on his second-stage acceleration to dodge. However, as Samehada shaved past him, the Chidori Current enveloping his body bizarrely vanished completely.
Encountering this situation for the first time, Hagoromo took a hit in the blink of an eye. Pain and blood erupted from his waist simultaneously.
I got careless! This sword is way weirder than the Executioner's Blade! Wait, is this thing even a sword?!
Fortunately, his initial dodge had been effective, so the wound caused by the shaving motion wasn't too deep.
But Fuguki had no intention of letting up while he had the advantage. Seeing that the backward pull hadn't achieved the desired result, he prepared to thrust Samehada forward again.
Is he treating this thing like a chainsaw?!
If he took another hit, Hagoromo estimated half his waist would be gone!
Are you stupid? Don't you know the rules? Hit the face, sure, but don't cut the kidneys!
The enemy was fast, but Hagoromo was faster. With a flick of his right wrist, a sharp piercing sound rang out as he hurled the kunai in his hand.
Then, with a hand speed honed by fourteen years of being single, his hand signs were completed instantly.
Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!
At this point-blank range, facing an overwhelming barrage of kunai, Fuguki naturally didn't want to be turned into a sieve. Forced to switch from offense to defense, he hoisted his arm, using the now-massive Samehada as a shield in front of him.
The dense clink-clank of metal striking metal sounded like heavy rain hitting banana leaves. Amidst the noise, Hagoromo seized the opportunity to retreat, rapidly re-establishing distance between himself and the enemy.
The pain around his waist still lingered, but Hagoromo didn't check his wound. Instead, he stared intently at the transformed Samehada.
The gaping maw at the front end, and the tongue sticking out from it, all indicated that this thing was actually alive!
This wasn't a sword.
Seeing this bizarre, massive-mouthed creature... Hagoromo felt he finally had a rational explanation for what had just happened.
But he needed to verify it one more time.
"Using offense as defense, not bad."
As the Shadow Shuriken barrage ceased, Fuguki lowered Samehada, revealing his figure once again.
Compared to a moment ago, several bleeding holes now dotted his right shoulder. Those were the wounds inflicted by Hagoromo's Shadow Shuriken.
Hagoromo ignored the enemy's praise. The Chidori Current flared around his body once again.
However, Fuguki simply slammed Samehada onto the ground about half a meter in front of Hagoromo. Instantly, the Chidori Current vanished once more.
No, to be precise, it was absorbed.
"In front of me, emission-type ninjutsu have absolutely no effect," Fuguki stated. Since there was no direct offensive intent in his action of planting the sword, Hagoromo hadn't reacted defensively.
His hypothesis was mostly confirmed. Next, Hagoromo fired a Chidori Sharp Spear directly at Samehada. Just as ineffective; it vanished instantly upon contact.
"Before it can even take effect... the chakra is absorbed, isn't it?"
Although phrased as a question, Hagoromo's tone carried absolute certainty.
He was over 90% sure that this hedgehog-like UMA could absorb a ninja's chakra!
Far from finding this troublesome, Hagoromo's eyes instantly lit up.
Which meant he was interested in Samehada. Very interested.
"Although I don't specialize in using this type of large ninja tool, I'm still very interested in adding it to my collection."
This was a Ninja Sword worthy of being classified as a Top tier Sword. Of course he was interested, it had the ability to absorb chakra!
Hagoromo didn't cast any more ninjutsu. While speaking, he reached his right hand behind his neck and mimed the motion of drawing a sword. Accompanied by a low humming sound, an iron sand sword roughly one meter long was drawn from the gourd.
It was true that Hagoromo wasn't a master swordsman, but what he was holding was a genuine chainsaw.
What came next was a live showing of Saw. At this point, even if Fuguki Suikazan wanted to run, Hagoromo wasn't going to let him.
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