The Thunder-Fire Sword was formed primarily from a beam of blue-violet lightning, surrounded by white-hot flames and dark purple electrical arcs. From only a few meters long when it first appeared, it expanded to several dozen meters in the blink of an eye.
The instant it fully took shape,
the small patch of sky surrounding Yuu seemed to darken. Violent energy fluctuations spilled outward, even creating a brief vacuum in the continuous curtain of rain below!
A heart-stopping pressure spread in every direction.
Then…
"Slash!!!"
With a forceful shout, Yuu tightened both hands around the hilt and swung downward with all his strength!
At that moment, the lightning and flames that had already been condensed and compressed to their limits separated from the blade of the Sword of the Thunder God.
To an observer, it looked as though an enormous blade of light had torn through the gloomy heavens and layers of storm clouds before descending at a speed nearly impossible for the naked eye to follow!
The sword descended…
like light itself!
The giant eagle's pupils trembled. It attempted to dodge sideways, but compared with the lightning-fast Thunder-Fire Sword, its movements were still slightly too slow.
Hiss—!
The blade of light grazed the edge of the giant eagle's enormous body!
Naturally, this had been intentional.
After all, Yuu's goal was to obtain a summoned beast, not kill the giant eagle. From the beginning, he had never intended to target a vital area.
However, for the sake of intimidation, he could not miss completely either, so he chose the nonfatal edge of its wing.
Although the giant eagle had dodged and avoided taking a direct hit to its main body, the terrifying lightning-fire energy still tore through the feathers and flesh at the tip of its right wing.
It left behind a blackened, smoking wound as easily as a red-hot table knife cutting through butter!
"Screech—!!!"
The giant eagle cried out. Its massive body lost balance and spiraled downward toward the mist-covered mountains below!
Meanwhile, the enormous Thunder-Fire Sword descending from the sky had only lost a small portion of its power.
It continued falling without slowing, crossing nearly a thousand meters before smashing into the summit of another towering mountain below!
In an instant,
lightning and flames expanded outward.
Purple-white light swelled into an enormous sphere that completely swallowed the mountain peak. Ring-shaped shock waves spread outward one after another, creating visible ripples in the air!
Rumble…
Deafening explosions continuously rang out, reaching the high sky two or three seconds after the impact itself.
The scene continued for nearly a minute.
When the light gradually faded, one could see that an entire section of the mountain peak had been forcibly cut away.
A blackened ravine stretching more than a hundred meters and cutting deep into the mountain appeared across the severed surface, resembling a gigantic and horrifying wound!
Rocks of every size tumbled down the steep mountainside in all directions, like a collapsing waterfall.
The surrounding clouds had also been completely swept away for a short time, making the astonishing sight even more conspicuous!
"…Wait. Was there someone over there just now?"
Yuu carefully examined the area around the sword scar.
There truly had been someone there.
Around a minute earlier, an unnamed Root ninja had been standing in that exact location, stunned by the miraculous burning-cloud phenomenon in the sky.
Although the man desperately attempted to evade the instant he realized that the Thunder-Fire Sword was descending toward him, even using Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique to burrow into the mountain rock, the strike was simply too fierce, its attack range too broad, and Lightning Release naturally countered Earth Release…
Before he could fully enter the ground, the scorching heat and shock wave had already arrived!
At this moment, Shin was trapped inside a rocky crevice underground, his life or death unknown.
However,
Yuu no longer had time to think about anything else.
Although the earlier strike had borrowed the power of nature and possessed astonishing might comparable to Sasuke's Kirin in the original story, Yuu was still human and had not overcome gravity.
His body was now being pulled downward at high speed.
When he was still several hundred meters above the mountain,
Yuu used his remaining chakra to activate the Transformation Technique, once again becoming an agile peregrine falcon.
After flapping his wings several times, he barely neutralized the force of his fall and finally landed unsteadily on a rocky clearing near the summit.
"Haa…"
Yuu released a long breath.
He first took two soldier pills from his clothing, placed them into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed them to recover chakra.
Then,
he walked forward several steps and saw the objective of his trip inside a crater filled with shattered rocks.
The giant eagle had long since lost its original majestic and imposing appearance.
It lay among the rubble, its enormous body trembling faintly.
When it heard Yuu's footsteps, it opened its eyes. The contempt and unruliness from before had completely disappeared, leaving only deep wariness.
After a brief exchange of looks, the giant eagle lowered its head and released a weak whimper from its throat.
It had clearly admitted defeat.
"…Wouldn't it have been easier if you'd done that earlier?"
Yuu jumped among the shattered rocks and sighed.
Then he stretched out his palm and covered the giant eagle's severely injured right wing with a gentle emerald-green light.
Seed of Vitality.
As the sphere of chakra containing pure life force entered the giant eagle's body, its bleeding rapidly slowed.
Several blackened patches of flesh receded and were replaced by fresh tissue that wriggled and grew, making it look as though time itself were reversing.
"?!!"
The giant eagle abruptly raised its head and stared fixedly at Yuu. Human-like shock seemed to appear across its furry face.
No, seriously… you can do this too?
Then what is there left to argue about?
That was the message Yuu read from the eagle's expression.
For a wild ninja beast like the giant eagle, overwhelming strength was not particularly unusual.
But medical ninjutsu capable of bringing flesh back from the brink of death was something it had never witnessed before, and the benefits it could receive from such an ability were far more substantial.
Thus, only now did the giant eagle seem to truly acknowledge Yuu as its master.
It lowered its head and gently touched Yuu's arm with its hooked beak, expressing friendliness.
A moment later,
most of the energy within the Seed of Vitality had been consumed.
The giant eagle's injuries had also mostly recovered.
It moved its body, attempted to stand, then turned its head toward a particular direction and released several short cries.
"Hmm?"
Following the eagle's gaze, Yuu looked toward the hundred-meter-long sword scar.
"You want to go over there and take a look?"
The giant eagle nodded, then lowered its body.
"Alright."
Yuu leapt onto the eagle's broad back and sat cross-legged.
The eagle released another long cry, flapped its left wing, and took off somewhat unevenly, flying toward the mountain whose summit had been severed.
Soon,
the man and eagle arrived at the edge of the horrifying sword scar.
Even Yuu himself could not help showing surprise when he saw the hundred-meter-long, seemingly bottomless wound from such close range.
"As expected of me!"
Even if the power of this slash did not match one of Uchiha Madara's Susanoo sword strikes, it should already be close.
Unfortunately, this technique was not something he could use under ordinary circumstances.
It had been an attack unleashed by borrowing natural forces in a specific environment.
Changing the location or timing would make reproducing such a Thunder-Fire Sword extremely difficult.
It would have been wonderful if it could be recognized as an攻略 target and join his "harem"…
Mm…
If the galgame system truly recognized the Thunder-Fire Sword as an攻略 target, then considering that Yuu had personally developed it, its identity would technically be his…
daughter?
Yuu felt regretful as he thought about it.
Beside him,
the giant eagle observed the sword scar for a while. It seemed to sense something and began scraping at the ground with its sharp claws.
As the blackened stones were pushed aside, an object covered in blood and barely resembling a human was revealed.
It was the Root ninja Shin, who had used Earth Release to hide underground but had still been critically injured by the shock wave.
"Huh? Why did you dig him out?"
Yuu walked over, examined him, then checked his pulse.
"…He's surprisingly difficult to kill."
That was right.
Although Shin was barely breathing, his chest and abdomen had visibly collapsed, and his limbs were twisted unnaturally, he was somehow still alive, with a faint breath remaining.
The reason was probably related to the layer of rock-like material wrapped around his body.
Yuu had not intentionally targeted him.
If he had truly wanted to kill Shin, there would have been no need to make such a grand display.
The man had simply been unlucky enough to stand within the area Yuu selected and had received the full force of the attack.
But it could not really be called an innocent disaster either.
After all, Root had sent him to monitor Yuu. Something like this would have happened sooner or later.
At once,
Yuu used the small amount of chakra he had just recovered to cast the Mystical Palm Technique, giving Shin some basic treatment and stabilizing the most dangerous internal bleeding and fractures.
As for the Seed of Vitality…
that was unnecessary.
Keeping him alive was already exceptionally generous of Yuu. He could not possibly be expected to treat him with all his strength.
If Shin failed to survive and died, that could only be considered his own bad luck.
Afterward, Yuu used the Binding Seal Formula, creating glowing chakra chains that tightly bound Shin from head to toe.
Only then did he pick the man up and return to the giant eagle's back.
"Let's go. Find somewhere we can rest."
"Screech!"
The giant eagle released a low cry and took flight once more.
This time, it traveled to the other side of Eagle Peak, toward a concealed hollow in a mountain wall sheltered from the wind.
This was its nest.
When the giant eagle carried Yuu down onto the broad stone platform in front of the nest, several young and urgent chirping sounds rang out.
Three fluffy creatures, each several times larger than ordinary eagle chicks, stretched their necks and opened their pale yellow beaks wide as they cried out.
Seeing the young birds, the giant eagle's gaze softened.
It hurried over and gently touched each of the three chicks' heads with its beak.
The chicks flapped their tiny wings and cried even louder.
The giant eagle turned and looked toward Yuu.
"…Why are you looking at me?"
Yuu knowingly asked.
Then, under the gazes of all four eagles, he scratched his head and searched through his ninja pouch.
He pulled out a package of rice balls and several pieces of dried meat, then handed them over.
This was his own food, originally saved for the journey.
Now he could only use it to temporarily feed the three chicks.
While he was at it,
Yuu also searched through Shin's ninja pouch and found several scrolls.
He opened them one by one and selected a jar of soldier pills, taking out several and tossing them toward the young eagles.
For humans, soldier pills were not particularly good food. Young ninja who ate too many could even have their development affected.
But for young eagles living in the high mountains and accustomed to raw meat, they were already delicacies.
The chicks pecked at them several times and were quickly captivated by the unfamiliar flavor.
They chirped happily and lowered their heads to eat furiously.
The giant eagle ate several as well.
However, given its size, those few pills could only be considered snacks and were nowhere near enough to fill its stomach.
"Speaking of which…"
Was this eagle male or female?
Did it have a mate that had not yet returned?
Yuu was somewhat curious.
However, the giant eagle could not speak, so normal communication was impossible.
Yuu was also genuinely tired and did not have the energy to think too deeply about anything else.
After seeing the eagle family settle down, he leaned against the mountain wall and began eating to satisfy his hunger.
During this process, the giant eagle spread its wings, blocking the cold drizzle and biting wind from outside.
"…It's already night."
"I'll sleep for a while. Everything else can wait until tomorrow."
Yuu glanced at the gradually darkening sky, tightened his clothes, closed his eyes, and entered a light sleep.
…
At this very moment,
inside a forest somewhere along the southeastern border of the Land of Fire,
more than a dozen figures were silently hiding like leopards in the shadows, observing a Konoha stronghold several hundred meters away.
Among them, a boy without eyebrows stood out especially clearly.
He appeared to be only twelve or thirteen years old, and his body was still somewhat slender, yet he carried a broad-bladed sword nearly as tall as himself on his back.
His entire presence overflowed with killing intent.
Momochi Zabuza, Kirigakure's "Demon."
The surrounding Kiri ninja kept a respectful distance from the boy who had slaughtered more than a hundred members of his graduating class immediately after leaving the academy.
Not one of them dared come within ten meters of him.
No one even dared direct their gaze toward him, afraid that they might attract his attention.
Except…
"Hmm?"
Momochi Zabuza seemed to sense something and suddenly turned around, looking toward a spot behind him.
Another boy stood there.
His entire body, including his face, had dark blue-gray skin. Beneath either side of his nose were markings resembling shark gills, making him look more like a shark than a human.
Kisame Hoshigaki.
He was a genius who had graduated two years before Zabuza.
After a brief exchange of looks, the corner of Zabuza's mouth curved upward into a provocative smile.
But Kisame did not move. His gaze did not change in the slightest.
He merely looked indifferently at Zabuza for a moment before slowly turning his eyes away.
No one spoke.
Silence returned.
Everyone was waiting for the order to begin the operation.
At the same time,
at another gathering point more than ten kilometers away,
Fuguki Suikazan, Raiga Kurosuki, and Ao, who had one Byakugan open, were similarly standing within the moonless shadows of the forest.
Their eyes remained fixed on the direction of Shakuka Town, their bodies ready to move at any moment.
Fuguki repeatedly looked up toward the moon, seemingly using it as a reference to judge the time.
Until, at a certain moment…
"…It's about time."
Fuguki Suikazan raised one hand and gripped Samehada on his back.
After taking a deep breath, he spoke.
"Move out!"