Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi

"A sealing jutsu?"

In an instant, a thousand thoughts raced through Orochimaru's mind, his expression changing through various colors. All sorts of ideas rose up, only for him to shake his head and reject them. That old fool Danzo, no matter how useless, wouldn't have failed to detect any intelligence in this area. Since Danzo hadn't said that Kusuo knew any sealing jutsu, the possibility of him mastering a high-level sealing technique was almost zero.

"So, what method did he use to sever my connection with the reanimated bodies?" For a moment, Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. His interest in Kusuo himself had suddenly surpassed his interest in the Konoha Crush operation.

Yes. Orochimaru was very curious. As an out-and-out mad scientist who had performed countless human experiments in his life, this was the first time he had encountered something he couldn't explain. He even wanted to rush right up to Kusuo and ask him personally what was going on.

Unfortunately, even if he knew what Orochimaru was thinking, Kusuo would never answer him in this lifetime. He had only recently discovered that his system-enhanced Crimson Blade could harm spiritual bodies during his fight with the One-Tailed Shukaku. Without a doubt, this would be his greatest trump card from now on.

To be able to directly cut through a physical body and slash the soul—if news of him mastering such an unbelievable sword technique got out, it would cause a sensation. The whole world would be shaken. The consequences of that would likely make the entire ninja world extremely wary of him. It would make it very inconvenient to walk the path of a ninja, just like with Shisui Uchiha. No powerhouse would allow someone else to possess a dojutsu that could change their will at any time. If such a power existed, it had to be their own.

So, the secret of the Crimson Blade was something Kusuo planned to keep to himself, never to be spoken of.

CLANG!

Sparks flew. A wave of air rolled out. He had just slashed out, clashing with Hatake Sakumo's short blade, letting out a crisp hum.

"That's familiar. Your sword style... it has the shadow of our Hatake clan's techniques," the White Fang said, his somewhat weary face showing not much emotion, merely offering his evaluation based on their previous exchanges.

Another slash. Kusuo stabbed towards his vital point, but the White Fang dodged with his agile movements.

"Yes, what you sense is correct, because—" Kusuo smiled faintly, then suddenly unleashed a powerful slash, pressing down on Hatake Sakumo with the force of ten thousand catties.

"Because I am a member of the Hatake clan!"

The moment his voice fell, POW!

A huge roar. A cloud of dust filled the air. The entire rooftop of the building had been crushed by Kusuo's one slash. Shattered stones flew out with terrifying force, and Hatake Sakumo's body fell along with them.

At this moment, the shock in Hatake Sakumo's heart was like a raging sea. He had had a vague guess when he heard the boy call Kakashi "cousin." Then, in the battle, he had noticed the faint shadow of the Hatake sword style in his every swing. And now, his guess had been confirmed by the boy himself. Such an outstanding junior, from their own Hatake clan, how could he not be proud?

The Hatake clan... has a successor.

BANG!

A large hole suddenly burst open in a part of the dilapidated roof, and Hatake Sakumo shot upwards with his sword.

ZING!!!

The blade carried a sharp, cold edge. The sword light, as fast as a flashing meteor, reached Kusuo's brow in the blink of an eye. This slash was terrifyingly powerful. It contained the entire spirit and energy of the White Fang of Konoha. Its power, speed, and penetration were all impeccable. The gale force wind it carried felt like blades scraping across the face.

This one slash... even if Kakashi and the others had seen it clearly, their bodies would certainly have been unable to react.

But a faint smile hung on Hatake Sakumo's face. He knew that this boy could one hundred percent block it.

CLANG!

As expected. With a crisp sound, Kusuo easily raised his sword in front of his face, the tip of the opposing blade hitting his own and letting out a melodious sound.

"Boy, our contest of swordsmanship is enough. For the Hatake clan to have you, I am deeply gratified," Hatake Sakumo said loudly. "This time, use that sword aura of yours that cuts through everything. Use your slash to shatter my body. I no longer wish to be manipulated like this." His clear voice carried a noble righteousness. As expected of the man who would abandon a mission for the lives of his teammates.

"Alright," Kusuo said succinctly, withdrawing his forward-thrusting sword. He understood. For a powerhouse like Hatake Sakumo, being brought back by the Impure World Reincarnation and forced to fight was an insult.

"Not good!" Orochimaru's face changed drastically when he heard Sakumo's words. Unfortunately, he could only control the actions of the reanimated bodies, not their thoughts or speech.

Kusuo simply made two simple movements.

Sheathe, then draw the sword.

BOOM!

A sword aura as wide as the sky came slashing down. As the slash flew through the air, there was even a distorted ripple. The White Fang's reanimated body was shattered, turning into a sky full of fragments.

Orochimaru's eyes turned cold. He found that he had indeed temporarily lost control of them again. A single slash was not enough to completely destroy the spiritual body's strength. But it should be known that the current Orochimaru was not at all proficient with the Impure World Reincarnation. And with only a single sample of Hashirama's cells given to him by Danzo, forcefully controlling one peak Kage-level expert was already his limit. If he were given more time, perhaps he could re-gather the scattered fragments into a reanimated body.

But obviously, Kusuo was not going to give him that chance. At that moment, Kusuo was already charging at him with his sword. The sharp, cold sword aura rushed towards him, and Orochimaru could even feel a stinging pain from his soul from the edge of the blade. This heart-pounding sensation made him even more certain that there was something wrong with this sword.

"I can't let him cut me!"

The moment the thought arose, Orochimaru immediately made a decision. He grabbed the nearby Sword of Kusanagi with his mind, and with a clang, it suddenly elongated, then struggled in the vast sword aura. Seeing this, Orochimaru's pupils shrank. How is this possible? The sword he was using was the legendary Sword of Kusanagi. There were only three in the entire ninja world. Two of them were in his hands, and the one before him was the one he was most proficient with. It could extend and grow at will, comparable to the Adamantine Staff transformed from the great summoned beast Enma. Even Enma himself had admitted that even his transformed staff would have a hard time facing the legendary Sword of Kusanagi in Orochimaru's hands.

But this sword... was actually struggling in the sword aura casually unleashed by Kusuo?

Not daring to test it further, Orochimaru immediately retracted the elongated Sword of Kusanagi. He held it in his hand, and it was still trembling and humming, as if the sword itself was protesting.

"Striking Shadow Snakes!"

Making a split-second decision, Orochimaru immediately used his signature technique. Countless black and brown mottled venomous snakes ferociously rushed forward to bite.

Kusuo's expression didn't change. He continued to close in on Orochimaru's main body while swinging his sword.

Schlick! Schlick! The sound of snake bodies being severed was heard. But using this opportunity, Orochimaru had already jumped down from the roof.

Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma, who were directly below, immediately blocked his path. Faced with Orochimaru, they had no chance of winning. But as jonin, blocking his escape was still no problem.

"Kusuo, quick! We'll block his path for you!" Asuma shouted to Kusuo. Without realizing it, he had grown accustomed to his student's decisive way of finishing off enemies. In any case, if every swing of his sword was comparable to a Kage-level strike, what was wrong with him, a mere jonin, taking a back seat?

A sword aura howled, and Kusuo's movements were extremely fast. The scorching mark on his forehead flickered, as mysterious as a messenger from the netherworld.

Sizzle~

One slash stabbed into Orochimaru's body. A sizzling sound was heard as the inherent high temperature of the blade rapidly melted the girl's body, letting out a large amount of white smoke.

"Good job, Asuma-sensei," Kusuo praised him lightly after stabbing Orochimaru.

"Don't mention it... er, huh?" Asuma habitually scratched his head, about to be modest, when he was stunned to find himself being so humble to a boy in his early teens. And the latter's tone was the same. Was it because of his strength? Or was it because of his long-standing otherworldly temperament?

Not just him, but even Kakashi and Kurenai beside him didn't seem to have any reaction to this exchange, as if it were perfectly normal.

"Sigh, my dignity as a teacher," Asuma lamented, then immediately focused his gaze on Orochimaru seriously.

"Dammit! You destroyed my vessel again!" The constantly melting body of Orochimaru was like puddles of white mud, dripping down in clumps. His face, melted and twisted by the disintegration of his cells, was incredibly venomous.

Kusuo walked in front of him, calmly pulled out the sword stuck in his body, and then...

Schlick! Schlick! Schlick!

With three quick slashes, Orochimaru's entire body was cut into four pieces.

Kurenai and Asuma's faces lit up with joy, thinking they had dealt with such a powerful enemy. Just as they were about to speak, a cackling laugh suddenly came from behind them.

"Hoh hoh~, a nice sword. It seems my idea of using a swordsman to fight a swordsman was wrong after all. There is no longer a swordsman in the entire ninja world who can compare to you. Not even the White Fang."

A new Orochimaru body had appeared behind them at some unknown point and was commenting with a smile, as if nothing had just happened.

Only Kusuo turned his head calmly and looked at him quietly. "Stop pretending. I just destroyed another one of your bodies. How many more times can you use your Living Corpse Reincarnation? Aren't you afraid of your soul having problems?"

Hearing Kusuo's light words, Asuma and the others were completely baffled, not understanding at all.

Orochimaru's face, however, suddenly turned cold and fell. "It seems you know quite a lot." For some reason, he felt very exposed in front of Kusuo, as if many of his secrets had been seen through. The Living Corpse Reincarnation... only his teacher could see through this jutsu at a glance. Counting Tsunade and Jiraiya, there were no more than three people. How did he know?

Counting all the things that had happened before, this brat had too many secrets. So many that even the well-informed and cold-hearted Orochimaru found him troublesome.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

At this moment, the sound of a large number of footsteps came from the street corner. Countless Konoha, Sound, and Sand ninja had finally arrived together. They all faced each other with their weapons drawn, all having been attracted by the commotion of the battle here.

But the moment they arrived, they were so shocked by the sight before them that their eyes widened. The great Hokage Tower... had actually been beaten to pieces? The Konoha ninja's hearts were screaming. Weren't they told that with the protection of the Four Violet Flames Formation, the tower would be fine?

The hearts of the Sound and Sand ninja were in even greater turmoil. Their intelligence had said there was a Konoha ninja who was good with a sword that they had to be extra careful of. But looking at the surrounding buildings, almost all of them had been cut open by various sword slashes. The stone and decorations were pulverized, and there were sword trenches dozens, even hundreds of meters deep everywhere. And you're telling me he's just "good with a sword"?

Holy crap, not even an S-rank ninjutsu could cause this kind of destruction, right?

"Gulp..."

The sound of swallowing rose and fell, because when these ninja looked for the weapons of the people present, they found that, it seemed... only the boy in red in the lead was holding a sword...

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