The speed was so fast that even Might Guy couldn't react in time.
"This is really..." Kawaki Aoba pressed his hand to his forehead, not knowing what to say. In the end, he simply waved his hand and muttered:
"Forget it. Do whatever you want. I don't care anymore."
Although Might Guy was technically under his control, Kawaki Aoba had no intention of using him.
After all, they were old comrades, with a bond forged over many years. Kawaki Aoba's methods were sometimes ruthless, but he was not heartless.
Besides, he wasn't short on powerful subordinates now — he was even keeping the reanimated Third Raikage under his command. How could he bear to make things difficult for Might Guy?
Under Guy's amazed gaze, Kawaki Aoba used the powers of the Float-Float Fruit to levitate into the sky and soar away.
"That white-haired gentleman... he's a good person," Might Guy thought aloud, watching him leave. "I must find a way to repay him in the future. But... he looks really familiar. Where have I seen him before?"
After Kawaki Aoba disappeared, Might Guy turned and went searching for his father, Might Duy.
Although Guy had already fled, Duy, as his father, instinctively worried for him. Seeing Guy open the Gate of Death earlier must have broken his heart.
Meanwhile, soaring above the trees, Kawaki Aoba, who had just received a "good person" card from Guy in his heart, quickly spotted his next targets.
"Kurosuki Raiga, Juzo Biwa, Kisame Hoshigaki... you dared to trespass into the Land of Fire. You're not leaving alive."
Below, deep in the dense forest, three figures were running at full speed, panic clear in their every movement.
"That guy... he isn't chasing us," Kisame Hoshigaki said, glancing back nervously.
Even though they had escaped far from the battlefield, Kisame's heart still pounded heavily.
"Terrifying... he's too terrifying. How does Konoha have a monster like that? He must be some kind of secret weapon."
Kurosuki Raiga's face was twisted with fear, still haunted by the sight of Might Guy unleashing the Eighth Gate.
Only Juzo Biwa managed to stay relatively calm.
"Something's wrong," Juzo muttered. "Think about it: if you were that monster, would you just let us go? Why didn't he chase us? Something's off."
Though the other two sensed that Juzo's logic made sense, fear clouded their minds. They didn't have the courage to turn back and investigate.
Kisame, trying to suppress his fear, mocked Juzo:
"If you're so sure, why don't you go back, Juzo? Maybe you'll kill that green-skinned freak and become a hero of Kirigakure."
Juzo's face darkened, but he remained silent. Alone, even he was too afraid.
"Tch." Kisame clicked his tongue in disdain, but before he could say more, a chilling sensation ran down his spine.
"Not good! Enemy incoming!"
A loud shout broke the tension as a terrifying chakra burst approached rapidly — the same brutal aura from before.
Without thinking, the three bolted in different directions.
Juzo and Raiga instinctively dodged left and right, leaving Kisame exposed at the center, frozen in horror.
A sudden strike landed — a Finger Gun: Empty Flash (Shigan: Kūdan).
Kawaki Aoba's fingertip jabbed Kisame's back. Though it didn't pierce clean through, an overwhelming force exploded within Kisame's body.
The Shark Ninja, Kisame Hoshigaki, collapsed to the ground — dead.
Facing a man who had already lost his will to fight, Kawaki Aoba's assassination was swift and effortless.
The remaining two turned pale as they witnessed Kisame's death.
Unlike Guy, they immediately recognized Kawaki Aoba.
"That's the guy who controlled the Third Raikage!"
"The man rumored to revive the dead!"
Panic surged through Kurosuki Raiga's eyes as a horrifying realization dawned:
"Wait... could it be... that Eight Gates Formation just now... it wasn't the green-skinned freak's technique? It was this guy's? Are you part of Konoha? Was all of this a conspiracy?"
---
Conditions for Exchanging the One-Tail
Congratulations. You guessed half of it right.
But unfortunately, the other half was wrong — and for that, you'll pay with your life.
---
Opening the first seven gates of the Eight Gates Formation, Kawaki Aoba's power soared. Even if he wasn't as overwhelming as Might Guy at full Eight Gates, the difference wasn't much.
Electricity crackled from Kurosuki Raiga's Thunder Blades as he prepared to resist, heart pounding.
Though Kawaki Aoba's aura resembled Guy's after opening the Gates, Raiga noticed a key difference: the blood-red steam emanating from Kawaki wasn't as violent as Guy's terrifying green vapor.
Maybe… maybe if I give it everything... I can escape.
That desperate hope flickered for an instant—
Pfft!
Blood sprayed into the air.
Kurosuki Raiga stared wide-eyed at the gaping wound in his chest, disbelief etched into his face.
"H-How...?"
With just one move, Raiga's resistance was crushed.
"Nothing is impossible. You're simply too weak," Kawaki Aoba said coldly, then turned his gaze toward Juzo Biwa.
Feeling Kawaki Aoba's killing intent wash over him, Juzo's body trembled. Fear overtook reason.
Run? Impossible.
Fight? Laughable.
Beg for mercy? Useless.
Both his comrades were slain in an instant — what chance did he have?
It's over, it's over. That guy is coming again. I'm going to die, I'm going to die...
Overwhelmed by terror, Biwa Jūzō dropped to his knees with a loud thud.
"Lord, please don't kill me! I am an elite Jōnin — I can still be useful! Keep me alive, and I can do many things for you!"
Jūzō trembled violently, not daring to lift his head, waiting helplessly for Kawaki Aoba's final judgment.
As for Kawaki Aoba, he was somewhat surprised by the sight.
In his memory, Biwa Jūzō wasn't someone who feared death so easily — during his time with the Akatsuki, he had shown a willingness to sacrifice himself alongside Itachi Uchiha.
This cowardly behavior now didn't seem like him at all.
If it were Kisame Hoshigaki, perhaps it would have made more sense.
However, after a brief moment of reflection, Kawaki Aoba shrugged it off.
People change.
The fact that Biwa Jūzō now clung desperately to life didn't mean he wouldn't be willing to die for a cause in the future.
Just like a certain Uchiha Kenji — hadn't he transformed from a dropout into a manipulative mastermind after a single drastic event?
No one ever said that only the Uchiha clan could undergo extreme changes in the ninja world.
"You want to become my subordinate, is that it?" Kawaki Aoba asked, lips curling into a faint smirk as he stared down at the groveling swordsman.
"Very well. I'll grant your wish."
Hearing those words, Biwa Jūzō let out a shaky breath of relief.
He thought he had escaped death.
However, just as he relaxed, a powerful palm came crashing down on the top of his head.
Biwa Jūzō, deceased.
"Heh. I forgot to mention," Kawaki Aoba said casually, brushing off his hands.
"If you want to serve me, you'll have to start by dying first."
With that, Kawaki Aoba disappeared in a blur.
The next second, he reappeared beside a large tree a hundred meters away.
With a brutal spinning kick, he shattered the massive trunk — a tree so thick two men would be needed to wrap their arms around it — into splinters.
A white figure tumbled out from within.
Kawaki Aoba caught the figure mid-air by its head and, with a tremendous force, slammed it into the ground.
A loud bang echoed through the forest, leaving a massive crater where the figure lay motionless.
"I usually let you pests go," Kawaki Aoba muttered coldly, "but this time, you know a little too much."
The figure was none other than White Zetsu.
This wasn't Kawaki Aoba's first encounter with one — even in the Suna battlefield's underground tunnels, there had been a few lurking.
It wasn't surprising to find one here either.
He figured that this particular White Zetsu had been assigned to monitor the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Unfortunately for it, it had crossed paths with him instead.
In the past, Kawaki Aoba had avoided dealing with White Zetsu clones directly, cautious of stirring up suspicion from higher powers like Obito Uchiha or the Akatsuki.
But now, since this one had witnessed too much, it had to be silenced.
Still, as he stared at the limp body, an idea crossed his mind.
Technically speaking, isn't this thing also a corpse?
Setting it carefully on the ground, Kawaki Aoba began chanting the incantations for his Necromancy Technique.
The results were disappointing.
No matter what he tried, the body remained inert.
Most White Zetsu were artificially created beings — victims of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's Infinite Tsukuyomi from a thousand years ago — transformed into plant-like organisms.
By all rights, they were living corpses.
But maybe...
Maybe the problem was that their original human souls had long since dissipated, or perhaps they simply lacked a proper "brain" or "soul" to work with.
Kawaki Aoba shook his head, giving up on the mystery for now.
Instead, he sealed the White Zetsu's corpse into a storage scroll.
Ugly, but it might come in handy later.
Afterward, he turned back to the task at hand.
He carefully lined up the corpses of Biwa Jūzō, Raiga Kurosuki, and Kisame Hoshigaki.
This time, he intended to raise all three at once.
As the necromancy ritual began, the souls of the trio — already departed to the Pure Land — were forcibly summoned back.
The chakra consumed by resurrecting them together was comparable to reviving someone like the Third Raikage — not a small cost.
However, while their overall value couldn't match someone like the Raikage, they were still elite Jōnin — respectable assets nonetheless.
Previously, Kawaki Aoba had considered reviving other members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, but after examining their shattered remains, he abandoned the idea.
Their bodies were too damaged to work with — his Necromancy Technique required relatively intact corpses, unlike the Impure World Reincarnation.
Suddenly, coughing sounds filled the air.
"Cough, cough... what's... happening?"
"Didn't I die?"
The familiar confusion in their voices made Kawaki Aoba chuckle lightly.
He was already used to this.
Without wasting time, he informed them of their current situation — and once again handed the choice over to them:
Serve him in death — or vanish forever.
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