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Chapter 82N
🕑 Added 2025-07-03 15:04:02 +0000 UTCChapter 82N
"Water Clone?"
Biwa Jūzō’s face turned pale.
A mere water clone could use Wind Style? Such a level of ninjutsu mastery already surpassed his understanding. And if what stood before him was only a water clone, then where had Sarutobi Hiruzen’s real body gone?
Realizing this, his eyes started darting rapidly.
At that moment, the floodwaters rushing down scoured away the dense mist that had filled the narrow space. Even Hatake Kakashi and Sarutobi Asuma, who were locked in combat, had to pause. Kakashi used an Earth Style technique to slip underground and easily avoided the surging current.
Only Sarutobi Asuma suffered, as someone proficient in Wind and Fire Style but lacking the ability to burrow.
He had no choice but to leap onto the rocky ceiling, chased by the flood at his heels. Only after the torrent was split and diminished by the corridors along the way did he start running back the way he came.
"Kirigakure... one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen?"
Kakashi cautiously poked his head out from the rock wall, eyeing Biwa Jūzō in the distance, who was carrying the Executioner’s Blade. He had overheard the earlier conversation between Sarutobi Hiruzen and Jūzō. But frankly, he didn’t buy Jūzō’s story about collaborating with the Uchiha.
If the Uchiha clan were that stupid, they'd have been wiped out long ago!
Still, he couldn’t help but wonder—what exactly had Jūzō come here for? Why target Sarutobi Hiruzen instead of the acting Fifth Hokage? The logic didn’t make sense.
Then again, he didn’t dwell on it. He had his own reasons for being here—revenge. To kill Sarutobi Hiruzen and offer some comfort to his late father’s soul. To dispel the unresolved anger burning inside him.
"Perfect. Let him test the waters first."
Revenge was his business.
He wasn’t going to rely on anyone else, much less cooperate with Kirigakure.
At that moment—Blades flashed again.
"Konoha-ryū Kenjutsu: Dance of the Crescent Moon."
From the surging flood below and the rocky walls on either side, three Sarutobi Hiruzen figures leapt out, each wielding a wind-infused blade aimed straight at Biwa Jūzō. It was one of Konoha-ryū Kenjutsu’s ultimate techniques: the main body attacking in coordination with two clones from the left, above, and right simultaneously.
A deadly move, especially in such a cramped environment with little room to maneuver.
"When it comes to cutting people down, I fear no one!"
Biwa Jūzō was from Kirigakure.
One of the few at the top of the Blood Mist Village, he had climbed to the seat of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen over a mountain of corpses. Hiruzen's power chilled him, yes, but the desperation of near-death only ignited his killing instinct.
So what if he died?
He had nothing to fear!
Having made up his mind in an instant, Jūzō used Body Flicker to charge at the Hiruzen on the far right. The Executioner’s Blade and the wind sword clashed in midair. Jūzō’s powerful slash shattered the water clone, but the real Hiruzen, positioned in the center, struck back with a blade that carved a deep, bone-revealing gash into Jūzō’s back.
Blood spurted like a fountain.
Dance of the Crescent Moon was not easily countered, especially not when performed by Sarutobi Hiruzen, the "Professor"
And—
Hiruzen’s attacks weren’t done.
"Earth Style: Rock Pillar Spears!"
Just as Jūzō landed on the rocky wall to his right, the premeditated attack launched. A spear of stone shot up from the ground, piercing through his foot, then angled up and stabbed into his lower leg. Blood, flesh, and shattered bone sprayed into the air, filling it with a heavy scent of blood.
This masterstroke ended the fight immediately.
The two clones dissolved into falling water.
From beginning to end, the entire Dance of the Crescent Moon had been performed by water clones. Hiruzen's true body had been hiding underground the whole time, only surfacing now that victory was decided. Standing atop the fading waves, holding his wind sword, he kept a steady distance and looked down at the crippled Jūzō.
"The outcome is decided."
Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at Biwa Jūzō. "Tell me—who sent you to kill me? If you answer honestly, I’ll give you a quick death." That talk about Uchiha and Kirigakure collusion—he didn’t buy it. As an experienced statesman, he suspected it was just an attempt to provoke internal conflict within the village.
What he wanted now was the real instigator. Not knowing who wanted him dead would leave him restless.
As he spoke, he quietly activated genjutsu.
But—
The moment his genjutsu landed on Jūzō, something unexpected happened.
"Aaaaagh!!!"
Jūzō suddenly screamed in agony.
Blood spurted from his eye sockets. His black irises turned a searing crimson, forming a bizarre six-pointed pinwheel pattern. Hiruzen was briefly stunned, then felt a chill to the bone—as if plunged into icy water.
Uchiha.
It really was the Uchiha!!!
"Uchi—"
All words, all fury, all resistance dissolved under the gaze of that blood-soaked eye. Overwhelming dōjutsu dragged Sarutobi Hiruzen into an inescapable illusion. At the same moment, Jūzō’s right eye ruptured completely, bursting like a rotting grape and falling with a mix of blood.
In the last moment before he succumbed to the illusion, Hiruzen threw his wind sword with full force—impaling Jūzō in the abdomen.
"Guh—!"
Jūzō coughed up blood.
His right eye destroyed, both legs disabled, his abdomen pierced—his consciousness began to fade. In a haze, his mind tried to recall why he was even fighting Hiruzen.
Right. He remembered. He had to kill Sarutobi Hiruzen. Only by doing that could his village win the coming war against Konoha.
He had to kill Sarutobi Hiruzen. He had to…
That obsession rooted deep in his mind kept him from collapsing.
Drawing on the last of his strength, enduring the pain that wracked his body, he leapt up, swung the heavy-as-lead Executioner’s Blade, and slashed once more toward Hiruzen’s neck.
This time, Hiruzen couldn’t use Earth Style to harden his body.
And so—
Blood exploded in midair.
Kakashi, arriving too late, stood frozen before the scene, speechless.
Comments
Vick
Wow, so one illusion space where he can drain a personne spiritual power and one remote genjutsu launcher. Not bad for MS.
