Chapter 134 - Glory

Drop Some power stones! If you like the chapter! It helps to keep me motivated to upload more!💎💎💎 

------

Akio flew swiftly through the sky, hurrying back to the Uzumaki Clan.

In his sensory perception, the chakra of his three disciples remained strong—there were no signs of serious injury, which allowed him a small sigh of relief.

"Well, that makes sense. At the current strength of the Uzumaki Clan, even without me, they shouldn't necessarily be at a disadvantage against Kirigakure…" Akio muttered to himself.

But when he arrived, reality hit him square in the face.

The Uzumaki were being pushed back under the assault of Kirigakure's shinobi. If it weren't for some special weapons they had, the casualties would've already been devastating.

Akio glanced around, and his expression darkened.

"That idiot!"

In the distance, several shinobi from the Yuki Clan, who had awakened their kekkei genkai, had joined forces to construct a massive ice crystal labyrinth. Inside it, Jitou was punching left and right but couldn't find a way out.

"No wonder we're at a disadvantage…" Without Jitou, Izuko was being surrounded by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and Nanako was barely managing to hold off the Third Mizukage.

Akio descended rapidly. A few Kirigakure shinobi who were trying to sabotage the Uzumaki Chakra Diffusion Cannons were instantly repelled by a blast of repulsive force.

"Great Elder!"

"Thank goodness, the Great Elder is back!"

Cheers erupted from the battlefield as Akio exhaled lightly.

"It's true… the Uzumaki really do need some hardening."

He gave a slight nod to his clansmen and rescued a few who were in critical danger before instantaneously appearing next to Izuko.

He swept his gaze over the enemies. These early-generation Seven Ninja Swordsmen looked familiar. Akio could only recall the name of the chubby one—Fuguki—who was later killed by Kisame. The others, while looking quite young, also seemed familiar. They must have appeared in the original series.

Izuko let out a breath of relief. "Sensei, is it settled?"

Akio nodded. "Kumogakure has been wiped out."

Without wasting more words, he turned to the seven enemies before him.

"Another one looking to die," sneered one of them, his right eye covered with a black eyepatch—he was the wielder of the Blastsword: Shibuki.

Akio shook his head. "Izuko, go assist Nanako. I'll handle things here."

Izuko obeyed and left. The man with the black eyepatch spoke arrogantly again, "Did you hear that? He says he's going to take all of us on by himself, and you guys aren't even reacting?"

"Don't be careless, Jinpachi. That old man should be the Uzumaki Clan's Great Elder—someone who's survived since the Warring States era."

Before Akio could respond, a loud voice echoed across the battlefield.

"Seventh Gate—Gate of Wonder, open!"

"Daytime Tiger!"

A tiger-shaped blast of pressurized air exploded from the ice maze, shattering it and killing several Yuki clan members. Jitou, enveloped in blue steam, leapt out and landed next to Akio.

Akio's face turned even darker. "Why didn't you do that earlier? You clearly had the strength to escape but tried to outsmart the maze instead. Don't you know you lack the brains for that?"

Jitou chuckled awkwardly, flashing his pearly white teeth. "Didn't expect it to be so complicated, Sensei."

"Complicated, my ass. The ice crystals shift positions—I couldn't even get out myself! Go assist the others—no, wait. Since you've opened the Seventh Gate, you handle these seven instead."

Akio figured he was better suited to rescuing people, and Jitou's Seventh Gate state wouldn't last long anyway.

"Yes, Sensei!" Jitou responded.

"You old coot, we're the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist—" Jinpachi didn't even finish his sentence before Jitou flashed forward and punched him square in the chest, sending him flying with blood spurting from his mouth.

Akio nodded and flashed away. At this stage, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were no more than elite jōnin. They'd only held a stalemate against Izuko earlier, so Jitou in his Seventh Gate form should make quick work of them.

"Storm Release: Laser Circus!" Back on the battlefield, Akio fired streams of storm-style lasers from his hands, weaving through the chaos and instantly taking down dozens of Kirigakure shinobi.

"Great Elder!" Several elite Uzumaki patrol members rushed to his side. Akio nodded.

"Protect the clan members. Follow Chief Izuko's instructions."

"Yes, sir!"

Akio's remaining chakra was below 40%, but with Izuko and the others keeping most of Kirigakure's top fighters occupied, he was more than capable of acting as support.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!" Even though he didn't have much chakra left, his 40% was still three to four times greater than that of an average S-rank shinobi. So creating over twenty shadow clones to cover the battlefield was no problem.

From there, the tide of battle turned overwhelmingly in the Uzumaki's favor. Every time a clansman was in danger, one of Akio's clones would appear in time to save them.

When more than half their forces had fallen, Kirigakure's shinobi finally realized: ever since Akio's arrival, the Uzumaki had suffered no more casualties. They were simply using them as training dummies to refine their jutsu.

A few Kirigakure shinobi crept toward Akio.

"That's the old guy. If we kill him, we can wipe out the Uzumaki and avenge our ancestors!"

Hearing that, Akio froze for a moment, his reaction delayed by half a beat.

He looked at the familiar attire on the approaching enemies and sighed.

"Kaguya, huh? Not a single one among you has awakened the Shikotsumyaku. You've truly lost the glory of your ancestors."

"Wind Release: Wind Cutter!" Akio formed hand seals and casually unleashed a B-rank wind jutsu, eliminating the enemies in an instant.

He vividly remembered the grandeur of the Kaguya clan in the Warring States era—the elder who died for the clan, and Kaguya Jōrei, one of the Warring States' four greatest fighters, known for his invincibility. Yet in just forty-some years, they had declined into an ordinary clan.

While he was lost in thought, Jitou hobbled over, carrying three differently shaped swords on his back.

Akio frowned. "The other four escaped?"

Jitou nodded. "That spiked sword was strange—it drained a lot of my chakra. I'm out of steam, Sensei."

"Samehada, huh? I see…" Akio realized he'd forgotten to brief Jitou on the abilities of the Seven Ninja Swords. Truthfully, he couldn't remember much besides Samehada.

"Jitou, hang on to those three blades and go rest. The battle's almost over."

"It's already over, Sensei," Izuko and Nanako walked over.

"The Third Mizukage?"

"He ran, Sensei," Izuko replied.

Akio nodded. "I see. Then let's finish this war."

On the battlefield, the ordinary Kirigakure shinobi were still fighting, clearly unaware that the Mizukage had abandoned them.

Izuko and Nanako entered the fray. Now that their trial-by-fire for the clan was over, they showed no mercy and quickly brought the fighting to a halt.

Surprisingly, the last hundred or so Kirigakure shinobi actually surrendered. Perhaps the Mizukage's betrayal had broken their spirits.

Among the surrendered, Akio saw no trace of Kaguya clan members, which brought him a hint of comfort.

"At least, even if you've lost your ancestral glory… you haven't forgotten their pride."

---

For early access to advanced chapters visit my P@treon:

P@treon/ Dexy3

Thank you so much for your support and for reading!