3.42

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Now aware of my capabilities, they did not send any fodder to face me as one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist directly came to face me. It was the fastest among them, Kushimaru Kuriarare, who wielded the Nuibari, or the Sewing Needle.

I had made my research on them before coming, suspecting I would have to face them.

As he approached me, a mist also appeared around us, blinding me as it quickly grew thick enough to stop me from seeing anything. Unfortunately for them, it didn't do anything to block my other senses.

Kushimaru moved at high speed within the mist, and was surprisingly silent as he did so. He didn't even disturb the mist as he moved, showing his high mastery of the Jutsu.

Suddenly, he stopped running around, and rushed at me, stabbing his sword at me as fast as Danzo had attacked me a year ago.

And unlike before, I wasn't helpless before it as I unsheathed my sword, parrying his strike. Moreover, the difference in power allowed me to slightly break his defense, cutting into his shoulder.

Before I could continue though he retreated, and I felt my instincts warn me. Quickly parrying every incoming projectiles, which were all formed of water, I felt another presence approach while Kushimaru continued running around.

Not willing to remain on the defensive any longer, I jumped in the direction of Jibiki Funato, the Third Mizukage.

But as I did, I suddenly felt my instincts warn me, but I could not feel anything through the Force or my other senses. Still, trusting my instincts, I slashed the air in front of me, and sure enough, I encountered a little resistance.

It ended up being an invisible wire, and instantly I understood why Kushimaru had been running around before.

Contracting my muscles, I released my Almighty Push. It was much stronger than in the past as a mighty shockwave erupted out of me, clearing away the mist surrounding me and sending both Kushimaru and the other Swordsman who had rushed at me flying.

But as the mist cleared away, I saw the Third Mizukage in the middle of rapidly weaving handsigns, alongside a few other Shinobis I could not recognize.

I knew I had to stop them, but the 8 remaining Jonins of the Kaguya Clan all rushed at me, attacking me from all sides and forcing me to focus on them.

They were strong, and skillful, and while I still had the upper hand, I only managed to kill two more of them before the Kiri Shinobis finished their Jutsu.

As they did, a large dome appeared all over us, trapping us in. It looked like a simple barrier, but the moment it manifested I suddenly felt like I was several dozen meters underwater, with a strong pressure pushing me from all sides. Moreover, I suddenly found myself unable to breath.

This was already quite debilitating, but it wasn't over as constructs made out of water started manifesting from the part of the sea that was within the barrier, which would no doubt attack me.

Jibiki looked down at me with a smug look as he said, "What do you think of my Funato Clan's forbidden technique? It made us invincible in ancient times, and was made to fight Tailed Beasts. Even Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha would be doomed if they got caught be it."

I paused for a second, staring at him, before I burst out into laughter, almost falling to the ground.

Laughing felt a little painful under the pressure, but I couldn't stop myself as his words rung in my head. His face turned nasty as he barked, "It's now time to die."

I finally managed to lower my laughter, still chuckling a bit as I wiped the corner of my eyes as I said, "Man you're funny. Disillusion after disillusion. Let me teach you the ways of the world."

Clenching my fist, the Mizukage was suddenly lifted off the ground, clutching his throat as the barrier suddenly turned unstable. The Jonin around me rushed to attack me, but as they got close I released an even stronger Almighty Push, sending them flying like ragdolls.

A year ago, using something like Almighty Push would be very taxing and I wasn't capable of using it multiple times in a row. I could hardly use two Force powers at the same time too.

But these limits had faded away under my training, as I still kept the Mizukage off his feet while I blasted the Kaguya Clansmen away.

It was much harder to move under this Jutsu, but I was still strong enough to run at the Mizukage. What my attack had revealed was that him standing there and focusing was vital to the Jutsu, and I had no doubt he had some kind of Jutsu to get himself off my Force Choke, but that would destroy his own barrier Jutsu.

I had to say though, while it wasn't as strong as Jibiki claimed it was, his clan's forbidden Jutsu certainly was strong. Moreover, it was capable of discerning between allies and foes as I was the only one affected. Or maybe it could only affect a single individual.

In any case, if Jibiki wanted to escape my Force Choke, the only way was for him to move away, and break the Jutsu. But he did not, instead continuing to struggle under my Force Choke. Was he trying to stall for as long as possible?

His previous trap having been destroyed by my attack, it seemed Kushimaru had been quite angered by my attack as he now rushed at me in the open, going for a sword fight.

I smirked and stopped, swinging my sword upward as I parried his first strike. Kushimaru fought like he had a rapier, going for quick stabs, and he had good technique. It even paired well with the Funato Clan's Justu.

However, while I'm sure he put many years in training his swordsmanship, we just weren't built the same.

With my left hand still clenched, I continued parrying all his strikes while holding my sword with a single hand. What he did not expect though, was that as he took a step forward to attack even faster, I suddenly kicked him in the shin.

He apparently did not expect a swordsman to suddenly use a kick as I managed to hit him, and despite his armor, he was still forced a step back as he limped. I had struck his artery, and in the best case, momentarily stopped the blood flow there.

Taking the opportunity, I went for the offensive as Kushimaru could no longer escape, and I used a particularly devastating combo.

I started with a quick stab to the lower abdomen, forcing him to crouch a little to shift his center of gravity and parry the strike. With him lowered, I followed with a spin, bringing my sword above myself, building momentum as I made a full 360 and performed an upward slash.

Because he was crouching, while Kushimaru managed to block this strike too, the energy behind the strike had completely transferred to his arms, his back muscles offering no assistance, turning his arms numb.

Finally, now that he was immobilized and his arms were too numb to offer any power, it was time for the third strike. Holding my sword up, I went with an extremely telegraphed downward slash. But while this strike was so obvious even a newbie would easily read into it, it was also very strong as it used all the muscles in my back, along with those in my arms. It was quite weaker than usual this time because I could only use one arm, but it was enough.

And with the state of both his arms and his legs, Kushimaru could only brace himself as I brought my sword down.

It might have taken a while to explain, but this entire fight took place in the span of a couple of seconds, leaving the others no time to assist him as I finished him.

I cut him from shoulder to hip, cutting his entire torso in half as the first of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist died today.