Chương 26: Swordsmanship

The Kusanagi clan's secret temporary stronghold was secretly built after the establishment of Takigakure Village.

The place wasn't big, but it was enough to temporarily house the clan. The entire clan didn't have many people; it was only a few hundred. Even though it was a ninja clan that claimed all its members were ninjas, the number of clan members who could actually be called ninjas was barely a hundred. Most of the clan members were chuunibyou or genin, and most of them could only master one to three different elemental ninjutsu. They would only be able to use them five or six times before exhausting their chakra.

Typically, ninjas at this stage rely more on close-quarters combat with swords and long-range kunai throwing, especially the Kusanagi clan.

However, attached to the Kusanagi clan are a large number of orphaned cannon fodder genin.

But in Jieluo's eyes, he was at best a samurai who knew a few tricks and could run faster and jump higher.

Walking nonchalantly through the streets of the temporary stronghold, surrounded by flickering torches, the patrol teams, consisting of teenagers and even a few years old, stood guard with ninja swords in hand and expressions of vigilance. Their eyes were numb and lifeless, and their faces were almost identical, like ice blocks. When they saw Shen Yue, a formal member of the Kusanagi clan, they bowed respectfully and checked him without suspicion before letting him pass.

Watching this scene with great interest, these half-grown brats couldn't help but wonder if Orochimaru's fondness for adopting orphans was a family trait.

The journey was smooth and unobstructed. Following Shen Yue, Jie Luo soon arrived at a main house, a typical Japanese-style garden that emphasized creating a tranquil atmosphere while showcasing the dignity of the ninja clan.

Shen Yue stepped forward and spoke with the ninjas guarding the area, informing them that she had important information to report.

The Kusanagi clan ninja guarding the area dared not be negligent. They gripped the swords at their waists, vanished in an instant, and returned shortly to inform Shin-tsuki of his audience.

After passing through a courtyard with flowers, trees, mountains, and water, we arrived at a Japanese-style room in the main building and met the head of the Kusanagi clan.

The man, around thirty years old, was slender and tall, dressed in a plain white kimono with a knotted rope tied around his waist. This rope is called a shimenawa, commonly seen in shrines, signifying holiness and serving as a barrier marker. It also carries the meaning of protection. As a clan that guards the sacred weapon Kusanagi Sword, the meaning of wearing the shimenawa as a barrier to protect them is quite obvious.

The man had a long sword hanging at his waist. It was a double-edged, straight sword. Jieluo recognized it at a glance as the Kusanagi sword, also known as the Ame no Kumo sword or the Sky Sword.

"What brings you here in the month of Shen?" the head of the household asked.

Upon hearing this, Shen Yue's eyelids twitched, and she glanced discreetly at Jie Luo, who stood not far away with a calm expression and a faint smile on her lips.

Even seeing it with my own eyes, I still can't believe how she managed to walk all the way here without anyone noticing anything amiss.

It was an extremely terrifying assassination technique.

Shen Yue closed her eyes and could already see the state of the family head's death.

Caught completely off guard and ambushed, it's hard to imagine what reason there is for me to have survived.

"It is said that in the clan, your swordsmanship is the most revered."

Startled, the man turned his head sharply to look at Jieluo, who had suddenly spoken. His pupils contracted and expanded violently, filled with horror and disbelief.

Weak, too weak.

If they can't even detect anything unusual, they're just normal human beings.

Jieluo looked at this man, the man she could only look up to in the past.

"Who are you!?" the man asked in a deep voice, his body already tensing up instinctively. He shifted from a relaxed sitting posture to a half-squatting position, his right hand resting lightly on the hilt of his sword at his waist.

"As expected, you can't remember a nobody like me, can you?" Yura smiled faintly, her scarlet eyes fixed on the man, and said, "Master, Kusanagi Terujuro..."

"You are..." The man's face was grim, his expression shifting between thought and uncertainty, before he said, "You didn't die at the hands of the God of Ninjas?"

"Yes," Jieluo said, "Thanks to the family's care, I've returned."

A shadow fell over his eyes, and the man asked in a deep voice, "Was the attack outside the village your doing?"

Without answering such a pointless question, Yura drew his Onikiri from his waist.

"Master, I've recently had some insights and come up with a sword technique. I hope you can give me some pointers," Jie Luo said with a slight smile.

"Onikiri—!" The man slightly opened his eyes, staring at the eerie blood-red blade in Yura's hand, and said, "You can actually wield this demonic blade!"

As he stood up, the man slowly drew his Kusanagi sword. The snow-white, four-sided blade was tinged with a cold, scarlet hue in the candlelight.

Jieluo gently stroked the spine of the sword with his palm, flicked his finger, and the scarlet blade became even more crimson and chilling. The blade responded in kind, emitting a soft, excited, and bloodthirsty hum.

A chilling, murderous aura lurks everywhere...

Watching this scene, Shen Yue held her breath.

"It's strange, this knife seems to have been waiting for my arrival." Jieluo smiled faintly, her scarlet eyes flickering with ghostly flames in the candlelight.

No, the will-o'-the-wisps really did start burning.

Red Secret Technique: Infinite Blade Strands of hair spread along the fine lines and residual blood on the blade, densely covering it, with specks of eerie blue sparks leaping until the eerie blue ghost fire spread and enveloped the entire blade, and the roaring vengeful spirit skeleton writhed and twisted in the eerie blue karmic fire.

Ordinary swords cannot withstand Yura's demon fire, but Onikiri is different.

The flames burned for only a moment before extinguishing, leaving the blade still crimson and cold.

"Incredible..." Kaguya's eyes trembled slightly as he spoke with difficulty, "To develop Onikiri to this extent, a hellfire composed of resentment and hatred...?" His feet moved slowly and alternately on the tatami mats, his body shifting sideways as he probed to create distance and read Yura's sword aura...

What is sword energy?

It's not some trivial long-range slash that you throw with a single blade, but rather a kind of energy, something that belongs to a warrior.

Jieluo raised his sword with both hands, assuming a stance, and held the sword to the right side of his face, with the tip pointing towards the ceiling, standing tall.

This is a technique that Yura recently learned: the Kusanagi-ryu swordsmanship, a katana technique, the first katana.

Seeing this, Hui Shiliu's eyelids twitched.

This is a fatal strike, a strike that will surely kill. It is a sword swung with the determination to die, a resolute attitude without the slightest hesitation, a fight to the death.

This is a code word that only swordsmen understand.

It is an extreme form of disregard and humiliation.

This kind of desperate swordsmanship, practiced by ordinary soldiers, only requires a few days of training to be enough to take on a seasoned warrior in battle.

"You bastard..." His eyes were filled with seriousness, a feeling only swordsmen understood. Hui Shiliu said coldly, "You monster, do you have no joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness at all...?"

Without joy, there is no fighting spirit; without anger, there is no killing intent; without the emotion of sorrow, one will kill without mercy or hesitation. Therefore, one's sword energy cannot be read by the opponent in battle.

Therefore, in sword duels that emphasize speed and preemptive strikes, it is not easy to predict the opponent's next move.

This gives them a preemptive advantage in duels between sword masters.

A duel of swordsmanship is very quick; it can be decided in the blink of an eye whether someone is alive or dead.

In ninja battles, ninjas often exchange dozens of blows back and forth, which, in the eyes of the Yura and Kusanagi clans, is nothing more than a game between children.

Cold sweat silently trickled down Hui Shiliu's forehead, cheeks, and back.

After becoming a yokai, Yura has reached the level of a sword saint in both reading and concealing sword energy. The Kusanagi clan has always tried to erase human emotions and make them perfect swordsmen, and Yura is the greatest masterpiece created by this clan.

"Any last words, Lord Kaguya-sixteen?" Yura merely assumed a sword-wielding stance, smiling faintly, "If you don't intend to attack first, I'm about to..."

In fact, even before he could see Yura at this close range, Hui Shiliu already knew that this guy's swordsmanship had far surpassed his own, as unpredictable as a ghost or god.

Sweat dripped down his chin.

If you can't read the sword energy, and your sword path is predicted and seen through, then you won't even be able to withstand a single sword strike. So, how about provoking her?

"Indeed, given your talent in swordsmanship, I should have killed you back then!"

"You know, right? The village you were born in! It was massacred by me and my men!"

"Who told those lowly people to refuse to offer food! So, I had no choice but to order them all killed! And your parents too..."

Jieluo smiled faintly. During the Warring States period, the ninja clan was short of money, and it was common for them to occasionally act as bandits to collect supplies. Jieluo had also participated in this. Otherwise, it would have been very hard to raise so many orphans.

Looking into those calm, cold, and emotionless crimson eyes, an invisible fear and despair gripped Hui Shiliu's heart so tightly that it almost stopped beating.

"Go to hell!!!"

With a loud shout, a sword, as swift as lightning, pierced through Hui Shiliu's hand!

Shen Yue closed his eyes. Although his swordsmanship was terrible, even he could see that the patriarch was completely defeated in the clash of sword energy!

He didn't understand swordsmanship, and seeing Jieluo was like a frog at the bottom of a well looking at the bright moon; Hui Shiliu understood swordsmanship, and seeing Jieluo was like a mayfly seeing the blue sky.

Therefore, they became even more desperate and collapsed.