Although the attack came suddenly and aggressively, Furina didn't panic. From somewhere, she produced a kunai and steadily blocked the samurai's strike.
"!"
The massive size difference between the katana and the kunai made the scene look extremely bizarre, and the samurai couldn't help but widen his eyes. Clearly, he hadn't expected this outcome either.
He had imagined many possibilities, but never this one. Still, with no time for surprise, the samurai immediately switched to a two-handed grip, intending to overpower Furina.
But the next scene left the samurai even more incredulous. Even though he was already using his full strength, the kunai remained completely motionless, as if nothing had happened at all.
"Nani?"
After this exchange, even someone with a slow mind like the samurai could realize the enormous gap in strength between them. But before he could withdraw his sword and retreat, a tearing pain erupted in his abdomen. His whole body flew backward rapidly until he crashed through several walls and finally stopped.
"If you don't have the strength of those Akatsuki members, don't go copying them and picking fights with me."
Looking at the samurai struggling but unable to get up, Furina didn't bother with him anymore. Instead, she turned around and looked toward the other samurai who had been walking with him.
At that moment, the other samurai's eyes revealed a scarlet Sharingan, but of course he couldn't possibly possess a kekkei genkai. He had simply fallen under Uchiha Hikari's genjutsu.
From the genjutsu-controlled samurai's mouth, Furina learned the reason for their attack. Sure enough, it was just as she had guessed: they were collateral damage. Because during this time, she and Uchiha Hikari had been very close to Fujita Kazu.
After all, the appearances they were using now weren't their original ones, so there was no such thing as personal enemies. They had never made enemies either, so the only remaining possibility was external factors.
Although she wondered why the daimyo here would target Fujita Kazu, one of their own in the Land of Iron, now wasn't the time to hesitate. They needed to hurry over.
If they were too late, not only would Fujita Kazu be in trouble, but the weapon she had waited so long for would likely meet with an accident too. That was unacceptable.
"Let's go."
After exchanging a glance with Uchiha Hikari, the other instantly understood Furina's meaning. The two of them quickly headed toward Fujita Kazu's residence together.
"Those damn brats. I have to hurry back and report to milord. We need to gather people and take them out."
Watching the figures of Furina and Uchiha Hikari gradually disappear, the samurai who had been kicked flying and was supposedly struggling on the ground showed a slight sneer. Then he actually stood back up.
Clearly, his earlier pathetic appearance had been an act. When facing an unbeatable opponent, showing weakness was a good tactic, and this samurai clearly understood that well.
But just as he was feeling smug, he suddenly felt that the chakra in his body seemed to be malfunctioning, slowly slipping out of his control. This was a major taboo for both samurai and ninja.
However, he didn't feel panicked about this change. Because the moment after he sensed the chakra issue, his mind also fell into confusion, and he froze in place, motionless.
Why am I here? What am I supposed to do? Why am I so badly injured?
This wasn't just his confusion. The other samurai, after the genjutsu was released, fell into the same bewildered state. Neither of them knew why they were there.
While the two of them stared at each other in confusion, Furina and Uchiha Hikari had already arrived near Fujita Kazu's courtyard. Although the gate was tightly closed, Furina could still smell the faint scent of blood wafting out from inside.
"..."
Realizing they were too late, Furina didn't hesitate anymore. She directly kicked the door open. The scene in the courtyard was just as she had expected: blood everywhere, and bodies already littered across the ground.
Most of them, judging by their clothes, were Fujita Kazu's people. The young man who had opened the door for Furina before was among them.
But Furina didn't look at them, because right now her attention was drawn to Fujita Kazu, who was collapsed on the ground continuously vomiting blood, and the several samurai surrounding him.
Oh, right, and Chiyo, who had a sword stabbed into the ground beside her, unconscious and of unknown life or death. She hoped the person was okay.
"It's you two. Looks like the ones sent to deal with you failed. You really aren't ordinary people."
After clearly seeing who had arrived, the samurai who appeared to be the leader among those surrounding Fujita Kazu looked even more sullen.
Earlier, when the daimyo decided to take out Fujita Kazu along with the two who were having weapons forged by him, he had tried to dissuade him. But the daimyo's mind was set, and as a subordinate, it wasn't easy for him to object, so he had no choice but to obey.
But looking at the current situation, his earlier thoughts were obviously correct. These two were no ordinary people. Unfortunately, the deed was done, and there was no turning back now.
The best course of action now was to resolve the trouble caused by the previous mistake and leave no future threats. Thinking this, a faint, barely noticeable killing intent appeared in his already cold gaze.
"Looks like I came at a bad time, Mr. Fujita."
Furina seemed not to notice the other's killing intent—or rather, even if she had noticed, she wouldn't care.
Because after they arrived here, whatever ideas those samurai had no longer mattered, since they lacked the ability to turn them into reality.
"Ahem ahem... Looks like I dragged you into this. Really... ahem ahem... sorry about that."
With every sentence, Fujita Kazu coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, looking as though he might stop breathing any second. It was heart-stopping to watch.
"Looking to die."
Seeing Furina and Fujita Kazu chatting casually as if no one else was there, the group of samurai flew into a rage. In such a tense, sword-drawn atmosphere, to act like this—was she looking down on them?
Originally they had planned to test the waters, but now they only wanted to take out this arrogant little brat in front of them.
From the moment they approached, drew their swords, and swung, Furina remained completely still, as if waiting for death on the spot. Just before the blades touched Furina's skin, the samurai all felt a surge of smugness.
Arrogance required ability, but the other side apparently had none. In that case, die.
But the agonizing expression from Furina they had imagined never appeared. Instead, intense pain came from their own bodies, as if they had been sliced open by blades.
"!"
The moment the pain hit, they found the world before their eyes blurring. Then they realized that the person they had just drawn their swords against had somehow turned from Furina into their own comrades.
And the wounds on their bodies had likewise been inflicted by those same comrades they had attacked. This scene wasn't limited to them. Aside from the lead samurai, the rest were all in similar situations.