Chapter 74
Chapter 74
The battlefield was a place where people fought and killed each other. The rain diluted the blood and soaked through clothes, making distinguishing between sweat and tears impossible. They merged into a complex yet clear mixture.
Just like how in the eyes of innocent children, rainwater was nothing more than the sweat of clouds or the tears of the sky.
"That person is amazing!"
A little girl with twin pigtails pointed at Neiki, who was moving swiftly across the battlefield.
"Is he a good person?" asked another boy, holding an umbrella over Hashirama.
In the children's simple world, once someone was identified as a bad person, those opposing that bad person were automatically good people.
Since the Kirigakure had slaughtered hundreds of ordinary villagers in the Land of Waves, the children deeply resented the Kirigakure ninjas, considering them complete villains. Consequently, when the Konoha ninjas arrived, the children cheered for them, believing that since Konoha was against Kirigakure, they must be the good guys.
But Neiki's arrival confused them. Initially, Neiki opposed Konoha, leading the children to think he was an ally of the Kirigakure villains. However, Neiki then suddenly started killing many Kirigakure ninjas, leaving them unable to categorize his actions.
"He is a bad person," Hashirama said with a smile.
"Then who are the good people?" asked Hiwara Fuyuka, biting her finger."There probably aren't any good people here," Inari said, frowning.
Hashirama looked at Inari with some surprise, then laughed softly and shook his head. "There are."
Seeing the confused expressions around him, Hashirama explained:
"Here, both Kirigakure and Konoha are fighting for their own interests. Konoha cannot be considered good, and Kirigakure, due to their wanton slaughter of innocents, are definitely bad guys to you."
"As for that man with the sword, although he hasn't harmed you or the Land of Waves, many people would see him as a traditional villain."
"The only good person here, if there is one, would be me," Hashirama said, pointing his thumb at himself with some pride.
The students exclaimed in understanding and nodded fervently, their expressions sincere and slightly fanatical.
Their voices echoed, "Yes," "That's right," and "Only sensei is the good guy."
"Keep watching. That swordsman is very skilled. My only hope is that one day you can become as strong as him, with the ability to protect yourselves and those around you. That would make me very happy," Hashirama said warmly.
The battle in the valley was becoming more intricate.
Using the Flying Thunder God Technique, Neiki darted back and forth between the Konoha and Kirigakure forces. His black sword was sharp, his movements ghostly. Each teleportation brought significant casualties to both sides, forcing Konoha and Kirigakure to halt their fight momentarily. The battlefield had essentially turned into Neiki versus Kirigakure and Neiki versus Konoha.
Neiki, alone, was opposing more than 400 ninjas from two great ninja villages, making him the focal point of the battlefield.
After inflicting casualties on more than ten Konoha ninjas, Neiki sensed something was off, grinned, and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport to the Kirigakure front.
"He's using us to practice his swordsmanship," Shirakumo Hayate said, panting.
He had gradually grasped Neiki's combat pattern. Neiki, like a slippery catfish, clearly couldn't fight against Konoha's 200 elite ninjas directly. But why would he need to?
Whenever he sensed danger, Neiki would teleport away, bouncing back and forth between Konoha and Kirigakure like a tennis ball, exhausting both sides.
So far, no one had managed to touch even a corner of his clothes.
"I've noticed that his chakra and stamina don't seem to deplete," Nara Suzaku said, also exhausted. To push Neiki toward the Kirigakure, they had exerted immense effort.
But from his appearance until now, Neiki's stamina and chakra consumption should have been much greater than theirs. Suzaku couldn't understand how Neiki was still so energetic. Their strategy of wearing him down was on the verge of collapse.
"I've marked several Flying Thunder God seals. Next time, we'll try to catch him," Suzaku said.
Shirakumo didn't respond because Neiki had already moved back and forth more than ten times. It wasn't to dampen Suzaku's spirits, but Neiki was extremely cunning, hiding each seal intricately and spreading them widely. Unless they were particularly lucky, it was hard to keep track of him.
Dark clouds gathered in the sky.
"Lightning Sword Technique: Judgment Sword!"
Neiki's voice suddenly rang out. As if sensing a dreadful aura, Nara Suzaku and Shirakumo Hayate looked up, eyes wide in shock.
Suspended within the dark clouds was a massive sword made of lightning, terrifying in its form.
They looked toward Neiki within the Kirigakure ranks, seeing his raised black sword crackling with lightning. Every Kirigakure ninja around him stared in terror and despair at the giant sword in the sky.
What kind of jutsu is this?
Does such a god who commands lightning exist in this world?
If not, how could one explain this enormous sword of lightning?
If such a god exists, why would they assist Neiki?
"This is a jutsu using lightning chakra to summon natural lightning. Everyone, spread out! Don't gather together!" Ao shouted, using his Byakugan to see through the jutsu.
Lightning counters water. Facing such a massive lightning sword, many Kirigakure ninjas were destined to die.
Ao had just finished speaking when he noticed Neiki's gaze fixed on him.
He felt his heart skip a beat.
"Wait… wait a moment."
Neiki smiled faintly and swung his black sword at Ao.
With Neiki's movement.
"Boom!"
The enormous lightning sword in the sky descended at incredible speed!
"No!"
Ao was unwilling to die here.
He had nowhere to hide, but he might survive through other means. He couldn't die!
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
"Earth Release: Earth Formation Wall!"
Water on the outside, earth on the inside. As Ao was about to use a third jutsu, the water was vaporized, and the earth shattered. The sky-sword of lightning pierced through all obstacles, impaling him and reducing him to fragments.
The Byakugan on his body shattered into countless pieces of Byakugan essence, merging into Neiki's eyes.
The Kirigakure ninjas stared dumbfounded at Ao's charred corpse. Many of their eyes finally showed fear.
"Such power…"
"Impossible…"
"How can we defeat an enemy like this?"
The state of Kirigakure wasn't much better than Konoha.
Many were scared out of their wits.
Shirakumo Hayate and Nara Suzaku exchanged glances, both looking grim.
"I think… we should retreat."