Chapter 170: Normal Combat Power

The young Mangetsu Hozuki was a quiet person, unlike his talkative younger brother. He took down the scroll from his back and spread it open in front of Yuto.

The words "断,大,长,钝,爆,雷,双" were lined up in order. However, the characters for "断", "大", "爆", and "雷" were dull and unlit, indicating they hadn't been sealed in the scroll.

Yuto's lips curled slightly as he subconsciously touched the black bandage wrapped around his right arm. He knew the "爆" character would never light up again.

With a puff of summoning smoke, a peculiar weapon appeared in Mangetsu Hozuki's hand. The blade was flat, resembling a split flounder, with air holes at the end, making it usable as a shield.

—Twin Sword: Hiramekarei!

Mangetsu flicked his fingers, causing the twin swords to spin around his hand, making the air whistle around them.

Takashi Kaguya, a Jonin, threw the unconscious Kenichiro to the ground as bone spikes emerged from his elbow. Meanwhile, Mei Terumi stepped back several paces. As a wielder of both the Boil Release and Lava Release kekkei genkai, she was best suited for long-range attacks, making it tactically wise to let Mangetsu and Takashi, both close combat shinobis, move forward to force Yuto into making mistakes.

The atmosphere was tense, like the stillness before a storm.

The Third Shinobi World War had deepened the enmity between Konoha and Kirigakure due to Yuto Hyuga's interference.

Hiruzen had killed the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi. Yuto had slain three of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist: Kushimaru Kuriarare, Jinpachi Munashi, and Jinin Akebino. And during Orochimaru's last battle as a Konoha shinobi, he had massacred the ninja forces of the Land of Water.

—From top to bottom, Kirigakure had been slaughtered by Konoha.

The hatred between the two villages ran deep. Mangetsu and Mei had deliberately slowed their pursuit, hoping to draw out Konoha's elites for a chance to kill them and make Konoha bleed.

They were well aware that the ones chasing them were unlikely to be Hiruzen or the recently returned Minato. As long as it wasn't either of those two, Mangetsu and Mei were confident they wouldn't be defeated.

Of course, Yuto was equally confident.

—'With Kirigakure's current group of trash, I can kill as many as they send!'

Boom!

Yuto stomped the ground, choosing to launch an aggressive attack first.

It was the Heavenly Foot of Pain. The earth groaned in agony as it fractured and shattered once again.

Both Yuto and Tsunade shared a penchant for destruction. Their training sessions often left the battlegrounds overturned with layers of rock. The two of them were so used to the rubble that it felt like walking on flat ground, but others would find it uncomfortable.

"He's coming!" Takashi roared, bone spikes emerging from his feet to anchor himself in place. The tremors from the ground made his throat taste of blood, but to cover for his teammates and prevent Yuto from advancing too easily, he placed his hands on the ground, channeling chakra furiously.

—Dance of the Seedling Fern!

Countless giant bone spikes shot up from the ground. Yuto snorted coldly as the Lion's Fang on his right hand roared to life, charging straight into the bone forest and shattering dozens of spikes in the blink of an eye.

At the same moment, Mangetsu's arms swelled to enormous proportions. Using the Water Release: Great Water Arm Technique, he enhanced his strength and funneled it into his arms.

In the next instant, he appeared before Takashi, holding Hiramekarei up as a shield.

Yuto's right hand struck Hiramekarei, producing a grating explosion of sound.

"The turtle shell form is tough, and you've got some brute strength…" Yuto observed as he found his attack unable to break Hiramekarei. He then changed his fist into a claw, gripping the edge of Hiramekarei with his Ryuun Steel-coated hand, gathering his strength in his left arm, and delivered a powerful elbow strike from above.

Mangetsu and Takashi were smashed into the ground together, but Yuto didn't care whether they lived or died. He pushed forward with Lion's Fang, charging towards Mei.

—'In a one-versus-many situation, take out the spellcaster first.' This was a principle Yuto had learned in his previous life.

Mei, the girl with reddish-brown hair, puffed out her cheeks, channeling all her chakra into her mouth before opening wide and spewing out a viscous acid, turning the area in front of her into a lake of strong acid.

—Lava Release: Acid Monster Jutsu!

As they say, information is life for a shinobi. As Yuto Hyuga's fame grew, so did the amount of information about him circulating in the hidden rooms of the major villages.

*'After using Lion's Fang Bite, Yuto Hyuga finds it difficult to change direction and will mostly choose to charge straight ahead.'* Mei knew this, which was why she directed the Acid Monster Jutsu entirely in front of her.

But Yuto Hyuga wasn't a fool and had already prepared a countermeasure.

Bang!

He scraped his left hand against the ground, using the rubble to break the skin, and performed a summoning jutsu.

A gigantic slug appeared.

"Sorry about this, Slug-sama."

"It's alright, Yuto-kun." The slug understood his intentions immediately and didn't hesitate to crash into the acid lake.

As the strong acid corroded the slug's body, it triggered a splitting reaction, dividing into countless smaller slugs. It transformed itself into a steamroller, flattening a path through the acid lake.

Such damage was negligible to the slug.

But the current situation was life-threatening for Mei Terumi.

Seeing the terror on the young girl's face, Yuto felt no pity as he continued his advance over the slug's body.

When he was less than two meters away from Mei, two powerful gusts of wind suddenly rushed toward him from behind.

Mangetsu and Takashi had caught up.

"Too bad, you're too late…" Yuto smirked, dispersing the Lion's Fang and darting to the left, carrying the unconscious Kenichiro on his back as he did so.

All that was left in the original spot was a sealing tag with a complex chain of summoning symbols.

The three Kirigakure shinobi simultaneously noticed the exploding tag. Mei's face turned pale, Takashi instinctively halted, but Mangetsu charged straight ahead without hesitation.

"Hydrification Technique!"

Mangetsu finally spoke. Despite his sharp teeth giving him a menacing appearance, his voice was surprisingly gentle and firm.

In the blink of an eye, the Hozuki clan's foremost genius transformed into a massive water monster, enveloping his two teammates and wrapping the exploding tag within his body, intending to tank the explosion head-on!

'To be able to use such a high-level Water Release technique in a forest, I should say he's worthy of being recognized by the Seven Ninja Swords… But still…' Yuto sighed, bringing his fingers to his mouth and lightly whispering:

"Detonate!"

Chakra acted as the fuse, igniting the exploding tag, which summoned countless more tags, triggering a chain of explosions that seemed endless.

The center of the forest was engulfed by massive shockwaves and fireballs.

Yuto retreated to a safe distance, laying Kenichiro down as he calmly observed the scene, waiting for the results of the battle.

Even without activating his mask mode or using the Strength of a Hundred Technique, his "normal combat power" was still formidable.

Among those below Kage level, he was one of the strongest!

TN: "断,大,长,钝,爆,雷,双" These are the kanji written In the seal indecating the Seven Swords.

断 (Duan)- "Sever" or "Cut": Kubikiribōchō

大 (Da) - "Big" or "Great": Samehada

长 (Chang) - "Long": Nuibari

钝 (Dun) - "Blunt": Kabutowari

爆 (Bao) - "Explosive": Shibuki

雷 (Lei)- "Lightning": Kiba

双 (Shuang) - "Double" or "Twin": Hiramekarei

(End of Chapter)