Kaguya Nobunaga was still kneeling on the ground, but that was only his lower body. His upper body had separated from his torso and lay to one side, blood gushing from the severed wound.
Kaguya Nobunaga's gaze was somewhat dazed as he stared blankly at his body, which had been severed in two. After a while, the pain finally hit him, causing him to cry out uncontrollably. His palms gripped the grass on the ground tightly, but it could not alleviate his agony.
He did not know what Ninjutsu that Konoha Ninja had used. Its speed was astonishing; it had bypassed his Shikotsumyaku, and he hadn't even felt the pain before his body was severed. This kind of Ninjutsu was unheard of.
He reached out his hand in vain, but Kaguya Nobunaga no longer had the strength to merge himself into his bone spikes. The blood he was losing was rapidly draining his stamina and life force. Soon, he died from excessive blood loss.
"Damn it, to think I would die in a place like this," Kaguya Nobunaga muttered to himself. "However, having my final battle against someone of this caliber, I have no regrets."
The members of the Kaguya Clan did not fear death. Their lives were dedicated to enjoying the sensation of battle, especially duels against strong opponents; even if they died because of it, they would not regret it. In later generations, when the Kaguya Clan rebelled against Kirigakure, with no hope of success, not a single one of them chose to surrender. Instead, they tried to take as many enemies down with them as possible—this was precisely the tradition of their clan.
What Kaguya Nobunaga was unwilling to accept was dying so early without having fully enjoyed the pleasure of battle. Yet, he was glad that he had fought a satisfying battle against an enemy and had not died of boredom.
Fūmori Masaki saw Kaguya Nobunaga's hand drop, seemingly having stopped breathing. However, he did not approach directly. Instead, he pulled out a Kunai, blew lightly on it, and infused it with Wind Release Chakra, coating the blade. A Kunai could not absorb Chakra like a Chakra weapon, and the surface Chakra would constantly erode the original metal, but it could at least give the Kunai a certain degree of destructive power for a short time.
Fūmori Masaki aimed at Kaguya Nobunaga's neck and threw it with force. The Kunai instantly pierced through, and the Wind Release Chakra on its surface severed the entire head. The immense force caused Kaguya Nobunaga's head to fly off involuntarily.
—How cautious, not even leaving a chance for a final counterattack.
Previously, Kaguya Nobunaga had not truly died but was lying on the ground, feigning death. He knew that the body of a Ninja like him held significant research value, and that the Konoha Ninja would surely come to retrieve it. Therefore, he wanted to lure the Konoha Ninja over, use his remaining strength, and regardless of the outcome, it would be best if he could take the enemy with him.
However, Fūmori Masaki did not fall for this trick. His sensory perception immediately detected the faint ripples on Kaguya Nobunaga's body, knowing he was not yet dead. Thus, he threw the Kunai from a distance to sever Kaguya Nobunaga's head, ensuring he died cleanly.
This time, Fūmori Masaki saw no ripples of life on Kaguya Nobunaga's body. Convinced that he was truly dead, he approached Kaguya Nobunaga, wondering how to handle the corpse.
Generally speaking, using a Sealing Technique was the best method, but Fūmori Masaki did not know any, and he did not carry any preservatives to prevent decay. If he brought it back to the battlefield, it might be destroyed by the Kirigakure Ninja to prevent intelligence leaks.
Fūmori Masaki had no other options, so he had to leave the body there for now. After quickly concealing and camouflaging it, he immediately turned and headed toward the main battlefield.
At this time, the battle between the Fourth Division and the Kirigakure Ninja forces had not yet ended. The multiple reconnaissance squads ensured they did not lose their bearings within the Hidden Mist Jutsu, but there was no significant boost in combat power. Even those from powerful Ninja Clans were evenly matched with the Kirigakure Ninja—one must know that since the Land of Water, where Kirigakure was located, had limited resources, to ensure its status among the Five Great Nations, Kirigakure adopted a policy of elite soldiers. Although it could not compare to the later infamous Bloody Mist policy, it already had shadows of that cruelty, and the results were quite significant.
Fortunately, they had the Jonin Hyuga Masato, while Kirigakure had lost the powerful Jonin Kaguya Nobunaga, putting them at a disadvantage. These Kirigakure Ninja, who had undergone the elite soldier policy, were clearly determined individuals; even at this point, they fought to the death and would not retreat, believing that Kaguya Nobunaga would soon return.
However, the Kaguya Nobunaga they pinned their hopes on had lost his life a short while ago and could not lead them out of this predicament.
Because it lost its Chakra maintenance, the Hidden Mist Jutsu gradually dissipated. The Kirigakure Ninja did not continue to cast it because they realized it was pointless and merely a waste of Chakra; it was better to save it for fighting the Konoha Ninja.
Hyuga Masato wove through the battlefield. Without the Shikotsumyaku, which was the natural enemy of his Taijutsu, the immense power of the Gentle Fist was fully unleashed. Even when besieged by multiple people, they could not do anything to Hyuga Masato; instead, he found opportunities to defeat them one by one.
The current situation was very favorable for the Konoha Ninja. The only thing Hyuga Masato needed to worry about was Kaguya Nobunaga returning to the battlefield; he just hoped that Fūmori Masaki could finish off Kaguya Nobunaga.
Suddenly, someone entered his Byakugan's line of sight. Hyuga Masato expressionlessly struck down the Kirigakure Ninja in front of him with a palm strike, his lips curling slightly upward, for the person approaching was none other than Fūmori Masaki. This meant that Kaguya Nobunaga had already been finished off; otherwise, Fūmori Masaki could not have returned.
"Truly, the younger generation is formidable. Although he is not a pure Taijutsu Ninja, he was able to... the awakener of the Shikotsumyaku," Hyuga Masato thought to himself.
Just like Hyuga Masato, Satomi was also worried about Fūmori Masaki. When she saw Fūmori Masaki rush out of the forest, she could not help but show a look of surprise and joy, nearly getting ambushed by a Kirigakure Ninja behind her. Fortunately, her skills were solid; she was only grazed slightly before she knocked the guy who had ambushed her to the ground.
Fūmori Masaki nodded to Satomi and immediately threw the bone spikes he had picked up. These bone spikes were already sharp, and after being infused with Wind Release Chakra, they became even sharper. Several Kirigakure Ninja could not dodge in time and were pierced and fell to the ground.
A Kirigakure Ninja spotted these bone spikes and widened his eyes in disbelief. The other Kirigakure Ninja noticed as well, and upon discovering that these bone spikes were thrown by a Konoha Ninja, they considered a grim possibility—Kaguya Nobunaga was already dead.
Fūmori Masaki even pulled out some more bone spikes and waved them in front of these Kirigakure Ninja with a smile on his face. This undoubtedly reinforced that possibility, and the Kirigakure Ninja began to believe that Kaguya Nobunaga had indeed died, and at the hands of this Konoha Ninja.
Originally, the Kirigakure Ninja hoped that Kaguya Nobunaga would return soon, but instead, they were met with this situation. Their morale plummeted, while the Konoha Ninja, under Hyuga Masato's command, saw their morale soar. With the enemy exhausted and their own side energized, there was no longer any suspense in this battle.
After losing their leader, Kaguya Nobunaga, the second-in-command immediately understood that the surprise attack had completely failed. The best method now was to preserve their remaining strength and retreat as quickly as possible. Hyuga Masato understood the method the Kirigakure Ninja would choose, and he naturally did his best to expand their victory and wipe out all these Kirigakure Ninja here.
After a fierce battle, only a small portion of the Kirigakure Ninja escaped. The rest either died there or were severely injured and unable to move, obediently being captured by the Konoha Ninja. Although they did not achieve the goal of total annihilation, Hyuga Masato was already very satisfied. There was no point in continuing the chase; the few remaining enemies could not stir up any trouble, and their own side had suffered relatively heavy losses.
While organizing the battlefield, Hyuga Masato walked to the other side. Satomi was checking if Fūmori Masaki had any injuries. Although the battle with Kaguya Nobunaga had been intense, Fūmori Masaki was not seriously harmed; Kaguya Nobunaga had basically never touched him. On the contrary, he was quite worried about Satomi; the Kirigakure Ninja who had ambushed her had nearly scared him—
"Fūmori, we owe this to you," Hyuga Masato walked over and said with a smile. "This is a great achievement; the Hokage will surely be very pleased."
"It was also with Lord Hyuga's guidance and help that I was able to complete the new technique," Fūmori Masaki smiled. "If it weren't for this new technique, it wouldn't have been so easy to finish him off."
"The Shikotsumyaku is indeed very powerful, and this time, having lost Kaguya Nobunaga, there shouldn't be a second person in the Kaguya Clan who has awakened the Shikotsumyaku," Hyuga Masato said. "Kirigakure has suffered heavy losses, and the war pressure on our side should also decrease."
"Yes, this way I can take the wounded back to the Village to recuperate. However, just in case, we should bring in people from the Village who have recovered some combat capability," Fūmori Masaki said.
"That works too," Hyuga Masato said. "By the way, is Kaguya Nobunaga's body still there? It wasn't destroyed by your new technique, was it?"
"No, it's just that because I didn't know how to preserve it, I had to leave it there for now," Fūmori Masaki shook his head. "Let me take you to see the body."
Fūmori Masaki and Hyuga Masato arrived at the location of the battle. Looking at the bone spikes covering the ground, Hyuga Masato was somewhat moved; this Kaguya Nobunaga had such Ninjutsu, which was truly unexpected.
Fūmori Masaki uncovered the camouflage and saw that Kaguya Nobunaga's body was still there, letting out a sigh of relief. He had been worried that someone might steal it, such as that black fellow who had been sneaking around for a thousand years, but that guy didn't know any research, so he probably wouldn't steal this thing.
"With this body, we can learn some intelligence about Kirigakure," Hyuga Masato said. "And since you mentioned Sealing Techniques, it reminds me—Fūmori, the Village should request that the Uzumaki Clan send some Ninja to help. Their Sealing Techniques and Barrier Ninjutsu are very useful."
When Kirigakure raided the coast of the Land of Fire, it was the Land of Whirlpools that had obtained the information in advance and notified the coastal guards, thereby blocking Kirigakure. After that, the Land of Whirlpools assisted the coastal garrison many times. It could be said that the coastal battlefield was protected by the Land of Fire's samurai forces and Uzushiogakure together. Originally, Tobirama intended to send a portion of people to assist the Land of Whirlpools after driving out the Land of Lightning, but because Kirigakure's main force moved north, reducing the battlefield pressure on the Land of Whirlpools, Tobirama did not do so.
The Land of Whirlpools certainly had the surplus power to send Ninja into the mainland now. Fūmori Masaki nodded, indicating that he would ask Lady Mito to write a letter to request reinforcements.