Hagoromo immediately released the seal on the scroll.
In the next instant, a giant shuriken nearly as tall as he was appeared in his hands.
This was exactly why shinobi needed to make money—specialized ninja tools like this had to be supplied at one's own expense.
This super-heavy, oversized shuriken was no ordinary weapon. Its weight alone made it extremely unsuitable for Hagoromo in his current condition.
And that proved to be true.
Relying purely on physical strength, Hagoromo had to use both hands just to lift it. Standing on the tree branch, he spun several times in place, using centrifugal force to finally hurl the massive shuriken outward.
The moment the shuriken left his hands, Hagoromo rapidly formed hand seals.
Shuriken Shadow Clone jutsu!
The giant shuriken soared to its apex. By the time it reached its highest point, Hagoromo's seals were complete—and the single shuriken instantly split into nearly a thousand copies, raining down like a violent storm upon the enemies below!
The Hyūga squad captain was momentarily dumbfounded.
What was this kid doing?!
He actually pulled off a long-range, large-area ninjutsu?!
The Sand shinobi charging forward were equally stunned. Enemy ninjutsu ahead, enemy attacks raining from above—this situation was extremely bad.
Regardless of how much damage the Shuriken Shadow Clone jutsu actually caused, any shinobi with decent skill could dodge such an attack. But anyone who failed to evade was instantly skewered, left ice-cold and lifeless on the battlefield.
The charging Sand forces immediately fell into disarray.
Meanwhile, the instigator—Hagoromo Kamishiro—paid no attention to the results of his jutsu. He was already following the Hyūga captain as they charged straight into the enemy's flank.
Once the large-scale bombardment ended, waves of Konoha shinobi surged forward, clashing with the enemy at close range.
Hagoromo ran at full speed. As he moved, his right index finger hooked into his ninja pouch, smoothly drawing a kunai into his hand.
"Sorry," he murmured. "You're the first."
Without slowing down in the slightest, and without even applying extra force, the cutting power generated purely by his speed sliced cleanly across a Sand shinobi's throat.
That shinobi couldn't even be called unlucky at first.
During the earlier storm of shuriken, he had failed to dodge in time—but by sheer luck, he hadn't been hit at all. Unfortunately, his luck ended there.
Two enormous shuriken had landed like a pair of door panels, pinning him in place and robbing him of all mobility.
By this point, his fortune was exhausted. Immobilized and helpless, he became a living target on the battlefield, instantly dispatched by Hagoromo—his first kill of the day.
In chaotic battles like this, staying in one place was suicide. Constant movement was essential.
Even in his previous life, Hagoromo had experienced group fights—he understood this principle well.
That was why, after killing his first target, he never stopped moving. He charged straight toward his second opponent.
This one was a burly Sand shinobi. At a glance, it was obvious he specialized in brute strength.
The man didn't even spare a glance at his fallen comrade. When he noticed the masked youth charging toward him, he didn't retreat—instead, he flashed a cruel grin.
The long blade in his hands cleaved down viciously toward Hagoromo.
Hagoromo shifted his trajectory slightly to avoid a direct hit, then raised the kunai in his right hand, attempting to block the strike.
Clang!
The gap in age and raw strength was undeniable.
Hagoromo's kunai was knocked flying in an instant.
At the same time, however, the enemy's blade stalled for just a fraction of a second.
Seizing that opening, Hagoromo rapidly retreated several steps, slipping out of the sword's effective range.
The Sand shinobi's expression didn't change.
So what if his attack had been momentarily stopped? The kid had lost his weapon—one more swing and he'd be cut in half.
Gripping his blade in reverse, the Sand shinobi took a heavy step forward, pursuing Hagoromo.
Against opponents like this—large-framed shinobi who specialized in power—it was usually safe to assume they lacked speed. After all, across the entire shinobi world, how many people were like the Raikage brothers, capable of combining overwhelming strength with terrifying speed?
This Sand shinobi was a disposable extra, the type destined to fall shortly after entering the scene. Naturally, he belonged to the "ordinary" category.
Which meant—
Speed was now Hagoromo's domain.
As the Sand shinobi raised his arm, his long blade slashed upward toward Hagoromo's abdomen.
If that strike landed, the result would be fatal.
But he had forgotten one thing.
A shinobi's greatest weapon was never their blade—it was ninjutsu.
The enemy clearly expected Hagoromo to panic or falter, yet his expression remained calm. In his left hand, crackling arcs of lightning chakra erupted.
Hagoromo stepped diagonally forward, narrowly evading the blade, then lunged—
His left hand pierced straight through the enemy's chest!
Blood poured freely from the man's chest and mouth. As for his death pose—one could generously reference a certain infamous pirate who once died at the hands of a Marine admiral.
He was alive for a single heartbeat longer.
But the next moment, even last words were impossible.
Instead of withdrawing, Hagoromo pressed forward. With the corpse still impaled on his arm, he charged ahead at high speed, covering nearly ten meters in an instant.
Thanks to his sharp dynamic vision, while killing his second target, Hagoromo had already locked onto his third and fourth enemies, clustered together ahead.
Using the enemy's corpse as a shield, Hagoromo advanced. The shuriken and kunai flying across the battlefield failed to harm him in the slightest.
The explosive acceleration granted by Lightning Release left the third enemy with no time to react—
Once again, he was pierced cleanly through by Chidori.
A word of warning: forcibly skewering enemies like candied hawthorn in the middle of a battlefield is not a tactic ordinary shinobi should ever attempt to imitate.
However, after witnessing his comrades fall in rapid succession, the fourth enemy finally reacted.
Ignoring the fact that two of his teammates were still barely alive, he thrust his straight blade forward—piercing straight through their bodies and stabbing toward the Hagoromo hidden behind them!
Hagoromo instinctively sensed the danger and immediately ducked and twisted his head. Unfortunately, with two bodies still hanging from his arm, his movement was delayed by a fraction.
The blade struck his shoulder.
He had underestimated this opponent.
The first victim aside, the second and third enemies were no more than average chūnin. But this one—
He was different.
Hagoromo let out a muffled grunt. At this point, he could no longer force his way forward. He had to retreat, to pull his arm free from the "human skewer."
Thup. Thup. Thup.
Suddenly, three soft impacts rang out.
Three kunai struck the two corpses Hagoromo had been using as cover.
This time, Hagoromo didn't ignore the incoming projectiles.
He immediately withdrew his arm—and burst backward, retreating at full speed.
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