In front of him, the appearance of the ninja seemed to be, at most, that of an ordinary shinobi from the Hidden Sand Village, but in reality, it was a very well-made disguise. However, the true identity was clear to Tanaka!

Before Tanaka's eyes, the name and title of the individual appeared.

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S Rank Lv2 Danzo Shimura

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'Shouldn't he be imprisoned?' Tanaka thought, knowing a bit about the situation. 'How did he manage to escape?'

The most plausible explanation that came to mind was that one of the ninjas under Danzo's control had managed to slip past Konoha's radar and free him amidst the chaos caused by the war.

After all, who would have time to watch over Danzo while fighting a war against the four great villages, in addition to Hanzo and his Amegakure ninjas?

'Why didn't he flee and still has the audacity to appear here?' Tanaka was confused about Danzo's true intentions. But now that he had identified him, he couldn't ignore his presence.

As he looked in the direction of Danzo, disguised as a Sand Village ninja, a smile curved his lips, and his eyes gleamed slightly.

Danzo was disguised with a pirate-style eyepatch, his hair dyed a faded yellow, and his skin slightly tanned from the sun, wearing the typical outfit of a jonin from the Hidden Sand Village. Additionally, a discreet transformation jutsu reinforced the disguise, making it even harder to notice his true identity.

'If I couldn't see through his name and title, I wouldn't have been able to see through his disguise either, but...'

As he began walking toward Danzo, he was attacked from the left side, only to casually swing the Samehada in the direction of the gas-masked ninja, who was dressed like one of the Rain Village shinobi. He struck with such force, though it was done casually, that the ninja's body bent and was thrown, crashing into another Rain ninja.

Danzo, seeing a young man advancing toward him, was shocked when he realized who it was.

'Why is he coming straight toward me... Was my disguise discovered by him?' Danzo shook his head. 'No, my disguise is perfect, there's no way a kid like him could have found out. But... this is a problem, from what I've seen, this boy is quite powerful...'

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Danzo looked around, thinking about the best way to escape. In his mind, such a confrontation wasn't worth it. After all, he only risked coming here because 'HIS' Sharingan had been ripped out, and when he fled Konoha in haste, he didn't bother trying to retrieve it, nor did he have much hope of doing so.

Now, looking at the boy from the Uzumaki Clan with the sword he recognized as belonging to one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist... he became even more cautious, as he acknowledged the strength of those ninjas, and for him to have acquired that weapon said a lot.

Of course, that wasn't all. Danzo also saw clones of this same Uzumaki flying and attacking like a one-man army. That alone made him take notice and be cautious.

As Tanaka approached, several ninjas looked in his direction. Whether it was due to his striking red hair or because of what had happened earlier, even those who hadn't been directly affected by it still had a lingering fear thinking about the skyward attacks made by his many clones.

"Is that him?" a Cloud ninja murmured.

The one beside him, with a malicious smile, said, "Yes, that's him... Now, it seems to be the real one. If we kill him... we'll become famous, right?"

This piqued the interest of those who heard. If there was something that ninjas valued besides their own lives, it was their name being known, whether it inspired fear or admiration.

Being recognized was essentially what they fought for. Of course, there were other reasons, like fighting for their village, but individually, few truly thought that way, while most were concerned with gaining fame and would even boast about having a bounty on their heads. The higher the value, the happier they were.

With that said, many of them no longer thought about retreating while avoiding a confrontation with someone they knew was powerful. Instead, they sought fame by trying to kill Tanaka.

A Cloud ninja said dreamily, "Haha, with the fame of killing someone so troublesome, I'm going to shine. When I return to the village after this war ends, I'll get married and brag to my wife about it."

Another Cloud ninja exclaimed, "What? Seriously, Osoi? You're getting married already? By the way, my wife must've gone through labor. I want to visit my newborn son... I want to tell him what a powerful ninja his father is!"

The conversation made Tanaka's expression grow a bit strange.

While using the elemental ring and selecting the lightning option, Tanaka began channeling lightning, which circled around Samehada.

The sounds of crackling lightning echoed as sparks extended violently toward the ground, leaving burn marks in their wake.

Now that the bond between Samehada and Tanaka had been established, though still shallow, the power from simply having Samehada surrounded by lightning became intimidating enough to make the ninjas charging at high speed stop for a moment as caution shone in their eyes.

However, not everyone stopped. Osoi advanced, shouting, "Die for me!"

The sword in his hand, raised for a downward strike, began to descend as he jumped toward Tanaka.

Seeing this, Tanaka's smile didn't fade as he applied a bit of force, swinging Samehada from bottom to top, clashing against the Cloud ninja's attack.

"Rumble!"

"Ka cha, Ka cha...!"

"Ahhhhhhh!!!"

What began as a series of screams from Osoi, who was electrocuted the moment his sword shattered and Samehada reached his waist, turned into a terrifying sound of bone fractures that sent chills down spines. Along with painful howls, Osoi's body was launched toward a Cloud ninja standing only 10 meters away, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.

"Boom!!"

"Boom!!"

"Boom!!"

Three consecutive violent crashes resounded as Osoi's body collided with the Cloud ninja, and the two were then sent flying into another ninja. The last one spat blood from the impact, and a few meters away, they fell with a loud 'thud,' one of them dead while the other two groaned in pain.

Those who had previously sought fame by going after Tanaka began retreating, fear evident on their faces. At this moment, the fear of dying in such a gruesome way, with their bones crushed by that enormous sword, consumed them, surpassing even their greed for fame.

As for Tanaka, he had a satisfied smile, pleased with Samehada's performance. In the end, the fame of being 'the most terrifying of all seven swords of the Mist' was not unfounded.

Meanwhile, Danzo, who witnessed the scene, was already planning his escape.

'This boy... is more dangerous than I imagined,' Danzo thought, quickly assessing the situation. 'Even so, there's still time. The Sharingan can wait... I won't waste my future chances by being reckless now. It's time to retreat and observe from afar.'

||- Note -||

Chapter 100 is already released on Pa treon!

patre on.com/Tozoku