Looking at the soft-spoken and delicate-looking Hiromi, everyone in the room had strange expressions. Even Yoru couldn't help the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.
Alright, fine—you're a medical-nin. I'll accept that.
But saying you need protection? Let's not kid ourselves—of the four in the room, aside from Yoru himself, the strongest wasn't even Hōzuki Mangetsu, but that medical-nin, Uzumaki Hiromi!
That's right.
This orphan of the Uzumaki Clan might bear the title of "medical-nin," but her combat strength was anything but weak. In both Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, she was at an elite jōnin level. Most importantly—she wielded a top-tier Fūinjutsu (Sealing Technique) arsenal.
A Ninja Blade was great, yes—but someone like Uzumaki Hiromi didn't actually need it.
Seeing the two girls decline, Yoru didn't force it. He simply sealed the remaining two swords back into the scroll.
After some light conversation with the four, Yoru excused himself to rest. The last 48 hours of hell had been incredibly draining—two major battles back-to-back, both of which had completely depleted his chakra twice. He wasn't injured, but both his body and mind were on the edge of collapse.
Over the next two days, Yoru focused on recovery.
Hiromi and Fuyuna Yukiko took care of him attentively, hovering constantly even though Yoru had repeatedly told them to focus on the frontline situation. Still, the two girls refused to leave his side, caring for him diligently.
Many others came to visit as well—most of whom Yoru had never even interacted with before. Several high-ranking jōnin from Kirigakure, and even some Bloodline Limit clan elites, all dropped by to chat.
But no matter how the conversation started, it always circled back to the Ninja Blades—to the point where Yoru was starting to feel extremely annoyed.
Yagura came by once during that time too.
When he heard that Yoru had given Nuibari to Yuyuri and Kiba to Mangetsu, he wasn't surprised. He didn't even linger on the topic of the swords, as if he genuinely didn't care who they went to.
Instead, their conversation focused entirely on the situation at the front.
Yoru had been hoping for an early offensive. After all, Konoha's frontline currently only had Jiraiya and Uchiha Fugaku. The sooner the war resumed, the lighter Kirigakure's pressure would be.
If they delayed further and Konoha brought in more reinforcements, the resistance they would face would only increase.
Yagura agreed with Yoru's analysis, but the last battle had cost Kirigakure heavily.
With the fall of all Seven Ninja Swordsmen, the blow to morale had been devastating. The Mist was in no condition to press the attack. Everything now had to wait for the Mizukage's strategic orders.
Yoru didn't argue. He simply returned to quiet recovery, replenishing his chakra and stamina.
Once Yagura left, Yoru finally had a moment of true peace—and began to reflect on everything he currently possessed.
"My current power still isn't strong enough."
He gently stroked the hilt of Hyōrinmaru, thinking to himself.
"Even though Hyōrinmaru is powerful, and with Tenkyō Tenrin (天象从临 – Heavenly Ice Reign) I've technically stepped into Kage-level territory, I'm still not enough to take on the true monsters out there."
"Even that day… Fugaku wasn't going all out. If he had activated the third stage of Susanoo, Hyōrinmaru in Shikai likely wouldn't have been able to restrain him. Not to mention… he never even used his Mangekyō's unique dōjutsu."
Yoru's thoughts raced.
With his current setup, he could contend with normal Kage-level opponents.
After all, Kidō techniques, Hohō, Hakuda, and Zanjutsu, when combined with Hyōrinmaru, gave him extremely high combat versatility.
But if he went up against old monsters, he still wouldn't stand a chance.
Let's not even bring up others—just the two elite Konoha shinobi currently on the frontlines:
Jiraiya in Sage Mode, and Fugaku in high-tier Susanoo mode!
Against opponents like that, Hyōrinmaru in Shikai was not lethal enough.
"What I need… is more advanced Kidō. Higher-level combat techniques. Or even… Hyōrinmaru's Bankai."
He stared at the blade, deep in thought.
The Kidō he currently had were few and far between, mostly acquired from opening loot boxes.
His high-level Hadō included:
Hadō #90: Kurohitsugi (Black Coffin)
Hadō #73: Sōren Sōkatsui (Twin Lotus Blue Fire Crash Down)
High-level Bakudō included:
Bakudō #81: Dankū (Severing Void)
Bakudō #73: Tōzanshō (Inverse Mountain Crystal)
Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō (Six Rods Light Restraint)
His Bakudō lineup was manageable, but his Hadō set was lacking.
Kurohitsugi consumed an enormous amount of chakra and required a full incantation to activate.
In a high-speed battle, who the hell was going to wait around for you to chant that whole death poem?
Impossible.
As for Sōren Sōkatsui, while it was decent in power and could be used without incantation, its burst potential was limited.
"If I could get access to Hadō #78: Zangerin or Hadō #88: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō, I could make up for that shortfall."
"Even something like Shunko would be ideal."
He pulled up the exchange interface.
Hadō #78: Zangerin – A-rank Kidō, cost: 30,000 points
Hadō #88: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō – S-rank Kidō, cost: 80,000 points
As for Shunkō (瞬閧): even its basic entry-level form cost 10,000 points, and the advanced variants—
Mugen Shunkō
Shunkō: Raijin Senkei
Shunkō: Bakuen Musō
—each cost 50,000+ points.
Just looking at those numbers was enough to kill his motivation.
He glanced at his balance—just a pitiful amount of points.
Yoru let out a helpless sigh.
"The road to power really is a long one…"
"Maybe I should just open more loot boxes… Who knows, I might get lucky..."
"Why the long face? You're the hottest name in the village right now."
The tent flap opened, and a beautiful girl with long reddish-brown hair stepped inside.
It was Terumī Mei.
She smiled sweetly and walked over to Yoru.
"I see elites and higher-ups visiting you day after day. Don't tell me you don't like being the center of attention?"
"They're just power-hungry parasites. I'd never hand the Ninja Blades over to them."
Yoru snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her.
"What about you? Done with your work?"
"Not even close."
The moment work was mentioned, Mei's face twisted into a grimace.
"You have no idea what kind of disaster Suikazan Fuguki left behind before he died. It's a mess—an unfixable mess!"
"I knew the Intelligence Division was a wreck, but I didn't know it was this bad. A third of the staff are dead weight, people shoved in by connections. Another third were in bed with Suikazan and have records of selling intel."
"The final third… barely usable."
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin