Fuguki Suikazan did not manage to flee very far.
The Senju Greatsword swept sideways. It was hard to tell whether it had cut off Fuguki Suikazan's head or smashed it off.
Samehada fell to the ground. The blade came alive, wriggling like a fish toward Yako and tentatively extending its handle toward his hand.
Samehada's huge mouth opened, its long tongue wagging obsequiously.
Yako snorted coldly.
"You've existed for decades, like a living creature. You must possess some kind of special soul.
Perfect. I can test a jutsu I've been developing."
Samehada sensed killing intent. After trembling, it quickly crawled away into the distance.
However, three wooden dragons burst from the ground and dragged Samehada back.
Samehada tried to absorb the chakra within the wooden dragons, but the dragons were far better at absorbing chakra. Before long, Samehada lost the ability to resist, whimpering through its split-open mouth.
Yako clapped his hands together.
"Ninja Art: Three Gods Soul-Grinding Technique!"
Around Yako, three translucent divine statues suddenly appeared.
The statues were ten men tall. They lowered their heads at the same time, looking down at Samehada beneath them.
The Three Gods reached out together, forming a triangular prism-shaped barrier between them.
The barrier descended, crushing down on Samehada.
Samehada's outer appearance did not change at all, but the source of its vitality—that special soul—let out a silent wail.
Yako felt the strength of the soul's resistance and was extremely satisfied.
Samehada's soul could be considered immortal, capable of continuing to exist indefinitely. It was far stronger than an ordinary human soul.
Yet even such a soul had little ability to resist before the Three Gods, who specialized in souls.
This jutsu was one he had prepared for those souls in the shinobi world that should have died long ago, yet shamelessly clung to immortality.
The Sage of Six Paths, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, Asura, and Indra were all listed in his death note.
Yako picked up Samehada.
Samehada's soul had been ground away. Its blade body had gone limp, like a sea cucumber that had lost all elasticity.
Dragging the dead Samehada, Yako returned to the place where they had fought earlier and saw six corpses neatly arranged on the ground.
Nara Shikaku handled things very meticulously. Everything was in perfect order.
Nara Shikaku said, "Lord Fox, Might Duy was the main force in this battle. He restrained three of the Swordsmen alone and created the opportunity for us to act.
I recommend promoting him to jōnin. Under specific circumstances, Might Duy possesses elite jōnin or even Kage-level strength."
Might Guy raised his head and looked at his father. Because of Jōnin Shikaku's recommendation, his father was scratching his head in embarrassment.
When his father had taught him the Eight Gates Formation, Might Guy had already felt his father was not as useless as he appeared.
But hearing Jōnin Shikaku say his father possessed Kage-level strength filled Guy with indescribable joy.
Yako nodded.
"Jōnin Shikaku, write the application once we return to the village. I'll review it and approve Might Duy's promotion to jōnin."
"Yes, Lord Fox."
Nara Shikaku had heard from Ebisu that Lord Fox had stopped Might Duy from using his trump card, saying there was no need.
In other words, the strength Might Duy had shown was not everything he had.
Might Duy still had an even stronger ability.
That ability was so powerful even Lord Fox considered it excessive. Against the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, there had been no need to use such a trump card.
He wondered where Might Duy had obtained that inheritance, for it to be powerful enough that Lord Fox repeatedly treated him as special.
Yako looked at the six corpses and said:
"I was careless. I didn't bring Fuguki Suikazan's body back. Blossom Deer, go in the direction of two o'clock, about eleven hundred meters away. You'll find Fuguki Suikazan's corpse there."
"Yes, Lord Fox!"
Arranged just as neatly as the corpses were the ninja blades—or fragments of the ninja blades.
Yako walked over and used the Senju Greatsword to chisel apart the remaining intact blades one by one.
Then Yako flung out a wooden vine, binding the seven ninja blades together into a thorny hedgehog-like ball.
"Wait for me a moment. I'm going to deal with the ninja blades."
Yako vanished with Body Flicker Technique and appeared inside the Kazekage Building in Sunagakure.
Pakura was handling documents and was badly startled.
Yako looked at Pakura's back and nodded repeatedly.
"Not bad. Pakura, the Kazekage robe you modified is backless. Very suitable for you."
Still shaken, Pakura said, "Fortunately, there are no assistants in my office. Otherwise, our relationship would have been exposed."
Yako said, "This month, I will destroy the Land of Water and subdue Kirigakure. I'll try to destroy the Land of Lightning and subdue Kumogakure next month.
If our relationship is exposed, then it's exposed. What does it matter?"
Pakura thought that was true.
Fox was about to become the number one person in the shinobi world.
Pakura said, "Fox, someone has been secretly spreading a rumor that you're the King of the Underworld of the Shinobi World—Underworld King Fox. Be careful."
Yako said indifferently, "It's fine. It's just a title with a stronger intimidation factor. I have many titles. I don't care if one more is added.
Right, I almost forgot the real matter. I came to ask you to help me weld something."
"Weld?"
Pakura sometimes found it very difficult to keep up with Fox's train of thought.
"Weld what?"
Pakura looked behind him and finally saw an iron thorn ball behind Fox.
Her pupils widened.
These…
These weren't iron thorns.
Weren't these Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Blades?
"You… You want to weld the Seven Ninja Blades together?"
"Yes. Use Scorch Release to weld the places wrapped by the ironwire vines. Completely destroy the Seven Ninja Blades, and let them serve as a warning.
Even top-tier ninja blades like the Seven Ninja Blades can one day break, and their wielders can die."
Pakura did not understand Fox's thinking.
But she supported him completely.
Yako left a Flying Thunder God kunai in place and vanished with Pakura.
When Pakura saw her surroundings clearly, she found herself inside a tree hollow somewhere in the Land of Rain.
Inside the tree hollow were tables, chairs, and a large bed made from Wood Release.
A large bed…
Pakura blushed for an instant.
She decided to handle the serious business first.
Scorch Release fireballs appeared, burning against the iron thorn ball made from the Seven Ninja Blades.
A few minutes later, the metal melted, and the Seven Ninja Blades were welded together into a thorny sphere.
Yako nodded repeatedly.
"Not bad, not bad. A very good piece of installation art."
Yako was just about to send Pakura back to Sunagakure when she pushed him toward the large bed.
"Underworld King Fox, delaying you for a little while shouldn't interfere with your great cause of unifying the shinobi world, should it?"
"That would delay me far too much. Wouldn't that take several hours?"
Half an hour later, Yako quickly admitted defeat.
"Pakura, your strength is growing pretty fast. You've cultivated the Diamond Seal well. Your chakra reserves and physique have improved so obviously. No, no, this can't continue. If it does, you really will delay my great cause of unifying the shinobi world!"
More than an hour later, Yako returned to a place near the coast of the Land of Water.
He threw the iron thorn ball made from the Seven Ninja Blades to Nara Shikaku and signaled for him to store it away.
"This iron thorn ball will be useful when we subdue Kirigakure later.
Let's go. I was delayed by a small matter. We're heading to the capital of the Land of Water."
Nara Shikaku keenly noticed that Lord Fox's aura seemed a little strange.
It was like…
In any case, it did not seem like official business.
Too much.
This was the Shinobi World War, yet Lord Fox was being a bit reckless.