Soon, another corpse lay motionless on the ground.
"Finally, it's over!"
"We actually survived!"
Everyone slumped weakly onto the ground, still struggling to believe what had just happened.
That was the Seven Swords of the Bloody Mist—the legendary warriors capable of conquering a small country overnight.
If even a team of elite jonin would have struggled just to survive such foes…
Yet they not only did it, but they also ensured that the name "Seven Swords" would vanish today.
And all of this was made possible under Seiki's leadership!
The admiration in everyone's eyes when they looked at Seiki was nearly suffocating.
Asuma said hoarsely through excitement, "Seiki, you defeated the Seven Swords. From today onward, your name will echo across the entire shinobi world!"
Kurenai's face flushed red with excitement, "Seiki, you'll become a legend like the Sannin!"
If before this battle, Seiki's name had only spread within Cloud and Mist territories, now his fame would surely reach Iwagakure and Sunagakure on the other end of the shinobi world!
Everyone nodded heavily, filled with pride—no wonder he was the one they chose to follow!
Yet Seiki gently shook his head. "Not me alone—we did it together!"
"Seiki, you…"
"If it were someone else, would they still have risked their lives trusting me? Without your trust, I'd only have fled like a defeated coward."
Upon hearing Seiki's words, many whispered blankly, "Were we really that important?"
"Of course! Those who believe in miracles are no less miraculous themselves!" Seiki's warm and gentle gaze swept across each of them. "We *are* Konoha's greatest team—and this miracle belongs to all of us!"
Tears welled up in nearly everyone's eyes. Truthfully, they had always blamed themselves for being too weak, forcing Seiki to stay behind at the risk of death to protect them.
Never did they expect that instead of blaming or resenting them, Seiki truly regarded them as his greatest partners!
What an incredibly kind person Seiki was!
If emotions could be quantified, their state could be described like this: [Admiration +1, +2, +3...+] → [Fanatic Mode Activated!]
Seeing things going well, Seiki concluded, "Alright then, let's collect the spoils of war. Let's take these ninja blades back—we might even form our own Five Ninja Blades group!"
Unclaimed ninja blades can be summoned away, but those being wielded cannot.
In Seiki's memory, during the Fourth Great War, Samehada and Hiramekarei weren't summoned because they were wielded by Yugito and Chojuro respectively.
Ideally, they should reseal them anyway.
After all, no one can eat, sleep, and bathe while hugging a blade all the time.
"Huh? Isn't the Cleaver Sword broken?"
"Don't worry—it repairs itself by sucking iron from blood. And don't be shy! Chop a few more times, why don't you? Call it eco-friendly disposal."
On the way back.
"Haha, Guy? Isn't Dad really amazing?"
"Super amazing!"
"Aaaaaah..."
Because Guy gave a thumbs-up, the makeshift stretcher tilted slightly, and Might Duy immediately let out a desperate scream of pain.
Seiki shook his head helplessly beside them. The aftereffects of opening the Eight Gates were just too severe. Even a tough guy like Might Duy screamed in agony just from moving slightly.
Hearing this piercing scream, the Konoha ninjas on patrol flinched and rushed over.
When they saw it was Seiki, they relaxed.
"Special Jonin Seiki, weren't you out on a mission? Why did you return so quickly..."
Before he could finish asking, another ninja nearby let out a sharp scream.
"This... this isn't the Hidden Mist's Ninja Blade, is it?"
Hearing that exclamation, the surrounding ninjas reacted quickly.
"Kubikiribōchō, Kabutowari, Shibuki..."
"Isn't it said that the Seven Swords of the Bloody Mist never part from their blades, and their blades never part from them?"
Asuma gave an exaggerated casual wave with a seemingly "embarrassed" look on his face. "Well, actually, we just happened to run into the Seven Ninja on our way back and took down five of them casually!"
Instantly, the camp fell into complete silence.
Fifteen minutes later.
Jonin who had heard the news crowded into the meeting room, while many Genin and Chunin sneaked around outside, pressing themselves against the walls to eavesdrop.
Slap!
Jiraiya slapped himself across the face, then stared wide-eyed as he asked, "You're telling me the Hidden Mist's Seven Swords came to ambush you, but instead ended up getting five of them killed by you?"
Seiki emphasized, "It was all of us together!"
Jiraiya chose to ignore that comment, pretending not to hear. He wasn't stupid—he perfectly well knew who the leader was; everyone else probably only contributed about ten percent to the battle.
The other Jonin inside the meeting room were equally stunned.
"He killed eleven Jonin yesterday and now five members of the Seven Swords today. The Mizukage's probably bawling his eyes out by now!"
"We might as well start calling Special Jonin Seiki 'The Reaper' from now on!"
"Sigh, I became a Jonin at twenty-seven and considered myself somewhat of a genius, but to Seiki, I'm probably just another nameless face in the crowd!"
"Are all new recruits monsters these days?"
Seeing the reaction, Seiki hurriedly explained everything that had happened.
Yet rather than calming their shock, his explanation only deepened their astonishment.
Although it wasn't exactly what they imagined—a one-versus-seven battle—killing enemies instantly in single combat was already impressive enough!
"Killing a member of the Seven in mere seconds? Did the Seven Swords become a timekeeping unit or something?"
"That's absolutely nuts! When I was Seiki's age, I was still just a Chunin!"
They all knew Seiki was powerful, but because he'd previously worked mostly alongside Namikaze Minato, Orochimaru, or Jiraiya-sama, without many solo accomplishments, none of them truly understood how strong he really was.
Now they finally got it.
He was strong enough to wipe the floor with all of them single-handedly.
Even Jiraiya couldn't help but draw in a cold breath.
Honestly speaking, even if he faced those seven alone, he wouldn't fear them—but taking down one per second? That was something he simply couldn't do.
In terms of instant kills, he really couldn't compare to Seiki.
Obito was drooling uncontrollably, his bottom sticking out as he crouched outside, "Senpai is soooo amazing! If only I could be as strong as you, maybe Rin would… heh heh…"
Kakashi gave him a disgusted look before tightening his fists, "It seems like the gap between Senpai and me is getting bigger…"
Just then, chaos broke out from outside.
"Whoa! It's the Hokage!"
"Good, the Hokage's here to back us up… Wait, do we even need backup now?"
Why's everyone hanging around here? Where's the reinforcement? Confused, The Third walked into the meeting room, clearly puzzled.
Then he saw the five shinobi swords, "This… This is…"
"Sensei, I'm afraid your visit might've been unnecessary," Orochimaru shrugged, "Judging by the current situation, the crisis seems to have passed!"
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