Whether one judged from the perspective of the current war, or from the Sharingan in Senju Haruto's possession, along with his talent and growth, there was absolutely no reason for Yagura to let him go.
More importantly, although Haruto appeared calm and unruffled on the surface, Yagura was convinced it was all just a façade.
At least, that was what Yagura believed.
Haruto, on the other hand, looked utterly bewildered. He couldn't fathom how Yagura had reached the conclusion that he was bluffing.
After all, Kenichi had already been gravely injured before activating his Mangekyō Sharingan. There was no reason for Haruto to waste any extra energy.
And stepping back further, even Fugaku—when unleashing his Complete Body Susanoo—hadn't forced Haruto to go all out. So what chance did someone like Kenichi have?
Their eyes locked for a long moment. Then Yagura made a sharp hand gesture.
The Mist shinobi surrounding him instantly sprang into action, fanning out to encircle Haruto completely.
Of course, with Haruto's strength, he didn't give these people a second thought.
"Do it."
With Yagura's curt order, the Mist shinobi drew their long blades and charged at Haruto.
Yagura and Ao hung back, watching his movements closely, not yet making a move themselves.
"A weapon fight, huh?"
With a glance through his Sharingan at the incoming attackers, Haruto couldn't help but mutter inwardly.
Come to think of it, ever since he'd gained Swordsmanship Mastery from the system's sign-in rewards, he hadn't really had the chance to put it to use.
Seeing this group now, Haruto felt an unexpected thrill rise within him. He reached to his waist and drew the Zanpakutō hanging there.
"That weapon…"
Yagura froze the instant he saw it.
Among all the Hidden Villages, the Hidden Mist loved using weapons the most. They had even produced the legendary Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
Though many of those blades had since vanished into history, that did nothing to dull Yagura's expertise in recognizing fine swords.
And the blade in Haruto's hand… in Yagura's eyes, it was in no way inferior to any of the Seven Swords.
"No… it's even better…" Yagura murmured in awe.
He had never imagined that a Konoha shinobi could present him with such a surprising gift.
All the more reason, he decided, that Haruto must not be allowed to leave this place alive.
Clang!
While Yagura was still marveling, Haruto had already engaged Yagura's personal guard in close combat.
Even without releasing its Shikai, Haruto's Zanpakutō possessed a sharpness and quality far beyond the weapons these shinobi carried.
After all, it was a divine blade forged personally by the Sword God himself.
One sweeping slash was all it took to shear through an opponent's weapon like paper.
The weapon's lethality made the surrounding Mist shinobi flinch instinctively.
But even more unnerving were Haruto's movements—surrounded by seven or eight attackers, it was as though he could see straight through every opening in their defenses.
Bang!
Haruto's right hand clenched into a fist, slamming straight into a Mist shinobi's chest and sending him hurtling backwards under the sheer force.
At the same time, his left hand swung the Zanpakutō in a reverse grip, slicing a wide arc that knocked the attackers behind him sprawling.
Their taijutsu levels weren't even in the same league.
"This guy…" Ao frowned deeply. Without the Byakugan he'd transplanted from the Hyūga Clan, he doubted he could even follow Haruto's movements.
"Bluff or not, he's got some skill. No wonder the Hokage sent him to the battlefield to collect Sharingan eyes," Yagura muttered in a low voice, as if certain he'd figured Haruto out.
Still, he wasn't concerned.
It didn't matter if his subordinates lost in close combat—as long as he himself was here, Haruto wouldn't be leaving alive.
With that thought, Yagura stopped hesitating. His hands blurred through a rapid sequence of seals, then he ordered his men to fall back immediately.
"Suiton: Water Dragon Bullet!"
Yagura barked the words and, without hesitation, drew upon the chakra of the Three-Tails.
As the Mizukage, his chakra reserves were already far greater than a normal shinobi's. Adding the tailed beast's chakra to that… there was no way Haruto could match a ninjutsu of this caliber.
A massive water dragon twisted and coiled into the sky before him, roaring upward in a surge.
The sheer volume of chakra drew Haruto's attention instantly.
"So, you're using chakra now?" he murmured.
Fine—you broke that unspoken rule first.
Since the other side had escalated, Haruto saw no reason to hold back. His own chakra flared outward in an overwhelming wave.
Boom!
The burst of chakra struck several nearby shinobi directly, shattering their bones in an instant.
"AAAHHHH!"
"GAAAHHH!"
Screams tore through the air as the Mist shinobi flew backwards like cut kites, their bodies limp.
Haruto didn't spare them so much as a glance.
If he'd wanted the most efficient counter, he could have used Earth Release to exploit the elemental advantage over Water Release.
But that would be far too boring.
A mere Mizukage didn't warrant him taking things seriously.
"I'll just play along," he said under his breath, forming a fire-style hand seal.
"That seal… Fire Release?" Ao's Byakugan picked it out immediately, his mind reeling.
The Uchiha were Konoha's undisputed masters of fire-style jutsu. Even when several of them combined their flames, they had barely managed to hold back Yagura's Water Dragon Bullet.
And Haruto was planning to challenge it alone?
Didn't he understand the elemental relationships between jutsu?
No… Ao realized suddenly—Haruto knew perfectly well.
Because he can't… that's why he can.
"It's over," Yagura said with a faint smirk.
With Ao, a sensory-type expert, at his side—and with Haruto lacking crucial intel on him—there was no way Haruto could block the Water Dragon.
ROOOAAAR!
The massive dragon bared its fangs and plunged down toward Haruto, ready to swallow him whole.
Yet Haruto didn't dodge, didn't even quicken his pace.
Only when the dragon was about to strike did he finish weaving his jutsu.
Since Yagura was using a B-rank technique, Haruto would respond in kind.
That way, it wouldn't feel like bullying—after all, his opponent was the Fourth Mizukage.
"Katon: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"
In an instant, Haruto unleashed one of the Uchiha Clan's most formidable techniques.
A sea of fire roared skyward, meeting the Water Dragon head-on in a colossal clash.
In both scale and power, Haruto's flames dwarfed the dragon entirely.
Fire and water collided—yet it was the Water Dragon that evaporated in the face of the searing heat.
Billowing clouds of steam rose into the air, visible to the naked eye.
Yagura and Ao both froze where they stood.
This guy's chakra reserves…
How could they possibly be so monstrous?!
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