Very sharp!
Haruto Saito never expected his sneak attack to be this successful! But it was understandable because he had used four A-rank Sealing Explosive Tags—an incredibly rare resource!
These tags were a finite resource. Haruto had only managed to obtain a dozen or so. Once they were used up, they were gone forever! These could very well be the last A-rank Sealing Explosive Tags left in the world!
Of course, Ringo Arashi died so swiftly because he was unprepared!
Had he known Haruto possessed A-rank Sealing Explosive Tags, he would have taken precautions and never fallen so easily!
The explosion was equivalent to the combined impact of three A-rank Fire Release techniques, stunning everyone on the battlefield!
The sheer force of the explosion was abnormal!
The only person present capable of launching such a powerful Fire Release attack was Jiraiya! Only if he had unleashed an S-rank Fire Release Forbidden Technique could such devastation have occurred! But he hadn't!
Furthermore, every ninja present was an elite with strong sensory capabilities. They could all tell that something about this explosion was unusual!
Flames soared into the sky, illuminating the surroundings as if it were daytime!
Haruto had already vanished, performing a hand seal and disappearing into the depths of the forest!
He had burrowed underground, hiding first before making his next move!
If he could remain undetected, he could prepare for another assassination attempt! This tactic could be used repeatedly, but the key question was: would he be discovered?
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and Tsunade's group all halted their battle in unspoken agreement!
They didn't know what had happened. Who was the explosion targeting? Was someone else here? Were they friend or foe? Or was this a third party altogether?
The deafening roar of the explosion gradually faded.
The atmosphere grew tense!
The flames from the explosion quickly subsided, but the surrounding trees had been ignited, forming a sea of fire that kept the battlefield brightly lit!
"What just happened?!"
"Who unleashed such a powerful Fire Release explosion?!"
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru gathered together, warily scanning their surroundings.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist also moved closer, all looking around cautiously.
"Arashi? Where's Arashi?!" Momochi Akagen suddenly shouted.
Silence followed.
No one knew.
Ringo Arashi did not respond. The dead do not speak!
…
Meanwhile, southwest of the Land of Whirlpools, at Jisui Harbor—
This was a port village with a population of tens of thousands.
In the dead of night—
Inside a residence in the southern residential district, in a study, Hattori Ryuuno had just received a report from his subordinates, his face lighting up with joy. Earlier that day, he had personally come to Jisui Village to interrogate a captured remnant of the Uzumaki Clan!
He had successfully extracted crucial intelligence regarding the legendary Uzumaki treasure trove!
This was a well-guarded secret within the Uzumaki Clan, known only to a select few!
"Excellent! Excellent!" Hattori Ryuuno muttered, standing before his desk with his hands clasped behind his back, repeating his excitement.
Suddenly—
His expression changed dramatically! As if sensing something, he rapidly formed hand seals!
"Summoning Technique!"
Poof!
White smoke rose before him, and a scroll appeared in midair—an item summoning scroll. This particular scroll was unique, emitting an unusual aura!
He quickly unfurled it.
Besides some intricate patterns, the scroll contained only seven words: Break, Big, Long, Dull, Explode, Thunder, Twin…
These words represented the Seven Ninja Swords wielded by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist!
This was the contract scroll that could summon those seven swords!
However, in order to summon the swords, one critical condition had to be met—they had to be without owners! If a sword had a master, it could not be summoned, as its wielder also had a contract with it!
At this moment, six of the seven words were glowing dark red.
Only one—Thunder—was black!
This could mean only one thing—
The Thunder Swords: Kiba were now masterless!
Something had happened!
The wielder of the Thunder Swords was dead?! Ringo Arashi had died!! One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist… was dead!!
"How is this possible… Who did they encounter…?" Hattori Ryuuno's eyes widened in shock. His face twisted with rage as he clenched the scroll tightly, his knuckles turning white!
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were renowned as the strongest squad in the ninja world! They wouldn't fall so easily!
Of course, that wasn't to say they were invincible. A team of powerful shinobi assembled temporarily could defeat them. But as a standing force, no squad was stronger than the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist—this was an undeniable fact!
******
Poison Forest—Battlefield!
The firelight illuminated the faces of everyone present, painting them red and casting flickering shadows. Both sides remained on high alert, scanning their surroundings and analyzing the situation!
"I can't sense Arashi's presence… His chakra signature is gone…" Momochi Akagen gripped his Executioner's Blade tightly, his voice heavy. At his words, every shinobi present stiffened.
Ringo Arashi could not have simply left. He lacked any teleportation techniques, and there was no reason for him to hide himself!
That left only one possibility—Ringo Arashi was dead!
"Look! His sword!" someone suddenly shouted in shock.
With the flames dying down in the explosion's center, many could now clearly see the Thunder Swords: Kiba lying on the ground!
The swords remained. But their wielder was gone!
He was dead!
"The attack was aimed at him… He's dead…" Momochi Akagen declared grimly. His face didn't show much sorrow, but his eyes burned with fury!
If Ringo Arashi had died at the hands of Tsunade's group, he would have accepted it. They were famous shinobi, and in a life-or-death battle, death was a natural risk for any ninja!
But Ringo Arashi hadn't died fighting them—
He had been assassinated!
"A coward hiding in the shadows! Come out!! Who?! Who did this?!" Momochi Akagen roared, his voice booming like thunder.
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru exchanged glances, their expressions mixed with surprise and delight.
Whoever had intervened had done a magnificent job!
One less member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen meant a drastic reduction in pressure on them! Although the Swordsmen still held the advantage, Tsunade's group now had a much higher chance of escaping!
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had no weak links. Their battle strategy relied on coordination—losing one member disrupted that balance!
In the distance, hidden in the darkness, Haruto Saito observed silently.
He had retreated underground after his attack, distancing himself to avoid collateral damage should the battle resume at full force.
"Arashi was killed by the explosion!" the only female member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen suddenly declared!
This realization struck everyone hard!
Momochi Akagen's eyes widened before his face twisted into a snarl. "Damn it! It was that assassin!! It was him—the underground assassin! He's here!"
"Shit!" Haruto's heart skipped a beat.
He had to give them credit…
They figured it out so quickly?! Were they really that sharp?!
Could he even keep playing this game now?