"Shwaa!"
Saitama swung his blade in a flash, meeting the incoming Water Dragon head-on.
"Slashhh!"
The sword moved at incredible speed, slicing through the Water Dragon's head in an instant.
The dragon split apart from where Saitama stood, both halves flying to either side without harming him at all.
"Saitama!"
Shibi called out, halting his steps about ten meters away from Saitama. He simply stood there, frowning as he weighed the pros and cons in his mind.
"You guys go first!" Saitama waved offhandedly. Someone needed to hold off the pursuers and buy the rest a chance to escape.
Shibi glanced back at the approaching enemies. His insect allies sensed the approaching enemies' strength.
Clutching his jaw briefly, he steeled himself and resumed running.
Saitama cast a glance toward the escaping Konoha ninja, then focused himself. Standing firm on a tree branch, he waited for the enemies to catch up.
Though he understood his teammates' decision was entirely rational, Saitama still felt somewhat touched.
"Hmph, isn't this the Uchiha kid, Saitama?"
Biwa Juzo landed on a branch opposite Saitama but didn't launch another attack immediately.
Without speaking a word, Saitama's gaze shifted toward the female kunoichi standing beside him, who had especially vibrant hair.
"You deal with him. I'll continue chasing," Terumi Mei instructed, seeing that Biwa apparently knew this Konoha ninja.
In her opinion, as one of the Seven Swordsmen, Biwa Juzo's strength was definitely sufficient to handle this seemingly young ninja.
Saitama's eyes flickered. Without speaking a word, lightning surged around his blade before he slashed forward, aiming to block Mei from advancing further.
Lightning surged from Saitama's blade, slicing through a nearby tree ahead of Terumi Mei's path. She skidded to a halt just in time.
"Huh?" Terumi Mei hesitated briefly, pulling her step back to stand next to Biwa Juzo.
"What's going on here?"
Although Terumi Mei and Biwa Juzo never really got along, ignoring the enemy and walking away under such circumstances wasn't something trivial.
"Don't underestimate this guy. It was only recently that he took down Kuma Rokkaku."
"And I personally still carry injuries left behind by this Konoha ninja. Leaving me alone here probably won't work out too well."
Although the Mizukage and Ao were following closely behind and should arrive shortly, Biwa Juzo knew full well that facing this man alone, given Saitama's speed, he likely wouldn't last until reinforcements arrived.
Juzo carried the massive Cleaver Sword across his shoulder. The previously cut portion had already regenerated.
As one of the Seven Swordsmen revered across the Shinobi World, the unique characteristic of the Cleaver Sword wasn't its indestructible hardness—it was its ability to automatically repair itself after being damaged, provided it made contact with blood.
In other words, so long as this blade could continuously draw blood, it was effectively unbreakable!
That might not be an amazing trait, but it certainly wasn't bad either.
"Oh?"
Only now did Mei Terumi truly turn her attention to Saitama, and behind her bangs, her eyes glimmered with a hint of amusement.
He looked much younger than her, and Mei Terumi was slightly surprised by Saitama's strength.
"Then hurry up and finish him off!" Mei understood this wasn't the time for idle talk.
"Shwaa!"
Saitama wouldn't allow the enemies to continue conversing. He knew there was another real big boss waiting behind — if Yagura arrived, there would be no way for him to escape!
He lowered his blade along his thigh as chakra erupted from his body like a dam breaking loose, surging wildly.
The tree branch where he had stood shattered under one stomp of his foot. His entire figure then transformed into lightning, rushing toward the two enemies who stood together.
"Ding!"
Even though Biwa Juzo was far from the strongest, as a member of the Seven Swords of the Bloody Mist, he still managed to predict the trajectory of Saitama's clear attack.
Meanwhile, Mei leaped aside, avoiding the confrontation.
Saitama had aimed that strike directly at Biwa Juzo — he needed to take out one opponent first — Biwa Juzo, the weaker foe.
[Water Dragon Bullet!]
The moment Biwa Juzo blocked Saitama's attack, Mei immediately launched a ninjutsu, sending a Water Dragon Bullet straight toward Saitama's flank.
"Deng!" Saitama kicked Biwa Juzo hard — apparently, he had anticipated this kind of assault.
The kick sent him flying several meters backward, dodging the water dragon's strike as he landed gracefully.
"Boom!"
Biwa Juzo's counterattack came next, slashing fiercely downward from above.
Yet such an attack appeared quite childish in Saitama's eyes.
His Three-Tomoe Sharingan spinning in his eye, Saitama cautiously kept his focus on Mei.
Saitama had already figured out Biwa Juzo's attacking pattern. Only Mei's techniques currently posed a serious challenge to him, especially since she specialized in Boil Release — specifically effective against taijutsu users.
"Zira!"
Backflipping to evade Biwa Juzo's slash, Saitama lifted his blade and slashed upward. Lightning surged along the sword, cutting once more into the large cleaver blade. A roughly ten-centimeter-long gash formed on one side of the sword edge.
Biwa Juzo didn't even flinch, stepping back swiftly to create distance between himself and Saitama.
As Saitama prepared to give chase, his Sharingan caught sight of Mei diving from above — instantly, lightning crackled across his body.
[Boil Release: Monster Ball Technique!]
Mei, despite having a small mouth, spat out deadly liquid.
Exuding a sharp, pungent odor, orange-yellow acid rushed toward Saitama.
"Boom!"
Planting his foot firmly on the ground, Saitama shot sideways, leaping toward a nearby tree several meters away. There was no way he'd risk touching it with his body — this was a jutsu even Susanoo couldn't withstand.
"Hmph!"
Watching the lightning surge around Saitama's body and dodge her technique, Mei scoffed coldly through her mouth.
Anything touched by the acid began smoking and vanished within moments.
Leaning on the tree trunk, Saitama cast a glance downward without uttering a single word.
"Swoosh!"
Saitama's ears twitched. He could hear someone approaching again—time was running out.
"Pop!"
With a single hand seal, Saitama created a clone. The two Saitamas exchanged a glance before rushing toward their separate targets.
"Boom!"
Biwa Juzo barely had time to react when Saitama's boot slammed into his face. His body flipped midair before crashing sideways through the trees.
Saitama didn't slow down, continuing his relentless attack.
Meanwhile, the cloned Saitama did his best to keep Terumi Mei engaged.
As a Ninjutsu-oriented ninja, Mei couldn't match Saitama's speed at all, but Saitama also couldn't truly harm her.
After all, Mei's jutsu covered wide areas and carried immense power.
So the clone could only try its best to keep Mei occupied here, preventing her from interfering in the main battle.
"Tch!"
Just as Biwa Juzo got back on his feet, Saitama struck again—an electrified blade aimed directly at his throat.
"Damn it!" Biwa Juzo glanced at the trapped Mei, realizing he'd have to rely on himself now.
"Clang!"
He brought his Cleaver Sword up defensively. Although kicked away earlier, he hadn't lost his grip on it once.
Seeing his strike blocked, Saitama didn't ease off. Instead, he increased the chakra flowing into the blade.
Brighter electrical arcs surged along the sword as Saitama pressed forward, forcing Biwa Juzo backward.
"Hmph!"
Biwa Juzo tightened both hands around the hilt, leaning his weight against the blade—but still found himself completely overpowered.
With a grunt, he slammed his right foot into the ground, angling his body until he finally stopped sliding back against Saitama's pressure.
"Zzzzt! Zzzzt!"
Electric surges coursed through Biwa Juzo's body. Assuming the sound came from Saitama's blade, he ignored it.
"Crack!"
Fissures suddenly spread across the Cleaver Sword's surface. Biwa Juzo's eyes widened in shock, his body stiffening—he instinctively thought about dropping the weapon.
But sensing Saitama's force momentarily disappear, he warily jumped backward.
Due to his posture and sword positioning, Biwa Juzo's visibility wasn't great. He could barely track Saitama's position, missing subtle movements entirely.
Crouching low, Saitama watched Biwa Juzo retreat while smirking slightly. A brilliant blue light crackled in his left hand.
"Boom!"
A surge of energy shot through his calf muscles as Saitama launched himself toward Biwa Juzo like a missile.
At that exact moment, Biwa Juzo was shifting his massive sword aside—to fully expose Saitama in his line of sight.
[Chidori!]
Saitama growled out the rare name of his technique!
"What?!"
Biwa Juzo's eyes went wide with disbelief. Before his body could even react, Saitama was already standing right in front of him.
From where he stood and with the height difference, the only thing Biwa Juzo saw were those piercing Sharingan eyes—the last vision he'd ever have.
"Rip!"
Without hesitation, Saitama's left hand tore straight into Biwa Juzo's lower abdomen.
Seeing the look of disbelief on Biwa Juzo's face, Saitama remained expressionless. With a swing of his sword in his right hand, he slashed across Juzo's throat, successfully finishing him off.
"Hoh... hoh..."
The strength drained instantly from Biwa Juzo's body. He could no longer resist, struggling to breathe.
Saitama turned his gaze toward Terumi Mei on the other side. Feeling emptiness within his body, he leaped forward without even glancing back.
Within his perception, two chakra signatures were rapidly approaching this location.
While dealing with harassment from Saitama's clone, Terumi Mei didn't have time to pay attention to Biwa Juzo's situation. She never thought someone as strong as Juzo couldn't last even a moment.
So long as they delayed just a bit longer, the arriving Mizukage would make this ninja, Saitama Uchiha, taste what real power felt like!
At a spot hundreds of meters away, Yagura suddenly changed expression, abandoning his usual composed demeanor.
In his perception, Biwa Juzo's presence had weakened again and again, and in the blink of an eye, disappeared entirely from his sensory field.
Unless Juzo had mastered a space-time jutsu in just minutes, there was only one possible explanation left—he was dead!
Ao stayed slightly behind together with Yagura, completely trusting in Terumi Mei and Biwa Juzo's combined strength. Seeing Yagura's facial change, Ao quickened his pace, also sensing something was wrong, and increased his speed to keep up with Yagura.
After killing Biwa Juzo, Saitama quickly left that place, following the special markings left by Shibi, racing to catch up with the other team members who had already left the danger zone.
Although the battle with Terumi Mei and the others had lasted merely one or two minutes, Shibi and the rest had already moved beyond danger and disappeared from the enemy's sensor range.
With so many sensor ninja within the squad, Shibi and others followed the optimal escape route.
Meanwhile, the clone that remained at the scene fighting against Terumi Mei still diligently completed its mission.
"Hmm?"
Terumi Mei once again spat acidic liquid to force Saitama back. Her eyes narrowed with suspicion.
It had been quiet on Biwa Juzo's side for quite some time now. Seizing the opportunity, she jumped backward, glancing over toward Biwa Juzo's direction.
Upon seeing this, her entire body trembled—Biwa Juzo lay lifeless on the ground, his massive blade resting over him.
The clone naturally spotted what his original had done, but to buy more time, he kept advancing to keep Terumi Mei occupied.
"Whoosh!"
Yagura increased his speed and soon arrived at the scene.
First, he scanned his surroundings, noticing Biwa Juzo lying there lifeless, then spotted Saitama still locked in combat with Terumi Mei.
Frowning, he and Ao landed together on a tree branch.
Upon seeing Yagura's arrival, Saitama immediately recognized his identity. Without hesitation, he abandoned attacking Terumi Mei further, jumping backward to create distance.
"Boss, this is just a clone—he hasn't gotten far yet!"
Terumi Mei was also exhausted from the fight; Saitama's speed was simply overwhelming. She could only rely on various techniques to keep pushing him away constantly.
Though not a scratch marred her skin, Terumi Mei was panting heavily, pushing tangled hair off her forehead as she spoke.
"Hmm!"
Yagura gripped his cane adorned with a flower in his right hand. His sensor abilities detected no trace of Saitama's main body, so he knew the enemy had already fled. He saw no point in chasing further.
When Saitama was alone, his speed truly became incredible. He didn't dare conserve chakra either—stimulating chakra surged through his lower limbs as he became a human-shaped lightning bolt darting through the forest.
"Fourth Mizukage!"
The clone version of Saitama casually held his sword across his chest, completely unconcerned about his current predicament. He even spoke to Yagura in a calm, relaxed voice.
After all, he was just a clone. His death wouldn't be a true loss—only a brief pain for the original at most.
"ZAP!"
Yagura remained silent, just staring at Saitama as if trying to memorize his appearance.
Crackling lightning surged along Saitama's blade—the last remnants of his chakra.
"Hmph!"
Seeing Saitama still wanted to fight, Yagura slowly raised his staff to chest level. A smile curved his lips whose meaning couldn't be deciphered, while his purple eyes gradually sharpened.
"Deng!"
Saitama launched himself forward, leaving a crater at his starting position.
"Lord, watch out!"
Terumi Mei had fought against Saitama long enough to understand how terrifying his speed could be. She worried the Mizukage might get hurt if caught off guard, despite how powerful he actually was.
[BOOM!]
Yagura's staff, adorned with a single flower, smashed into Saitama. The Sharingan in Saitama's eyes had only just caught a blurry glimpse of Yagura's movement before his body could react, and he was already hit.
Part of this was due to his heavy energy consumption, but it clearly showed Yagura's overwhelming power.
"I'll remember you!"
Yagura's strength bore no proportionality to his physical stature. One strike from his staff immediately robbed Saitama of combat ability, leaving him paralyzed on the ground.
Standing over Saitama, he spoke this line slowly, though his gaze focused on the direction where the original Saitama had escaped. Residual chakra ripples still lingered there.
The clone struggled to lift his head. The Sharingan in his eyes had already vanished, revealing normally clear black-and-white pupils.
His lips parted slightly, as if trying to say something...
[BOOM!]
In a puff of white smoke, the clone disappeared without completing a single sentence—struck down by another blow from Yagura's staff.
"Lord..."
Ao approached. He'd just confirmed Biwa Juzo's death, and his expression looked grim.
"Clean up and proceed directly to the Main Camp. We will avenge this!"
Yagura raised his hand, cutting Ao off before he could speak. From his tone, one could clearly hear suppressed fury.
After all, with a subordinate killed right under his nose and failing to stop the fleeing enemy, he inwardly blamed himself for carelessness.
"Understood!"
The two remaining subordinates nodded, their bodies straightening.
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