Naruto: I, the villain template, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 215 Fifty years is too long; let's seize the day.

In the battle between Yoshitaka and his group and the samurai, the once magnificent Daimyo Mansion was already in ruins.

But at this moment, whether they were samurai or demons, the surrounding ruins were shrouded in a thick black mist, and visibility was only a few meters.

It was as if I had entered some kind of realm, as if I had stepped into another world. There were no insects chirping, no breathing, no enemies, only the endless sound of rain and my own heartbeat. Everything was as quiet as if it were dead.

Fear gradually crept into their hearts. No one dared to act recklessly in this environment, otherwise they wouldn't even know whether they were killed by their comrades or by the enemy.

Unfortunately, although the black mist obscured the ghosts' vision and even their sounds seemed to be muffled by the mist, their beast-like keen sense of smell and intuition were their best compass.

The scents emanating from the samurai were exceptionally clear to them, and the unique scents of their companions were even more familiar. This inability to see allowed these demons to rediscover their silent and stealthy nature and advantage in the darkness.

Therefore, after only a brief pause, the dozens of demon generals focused their senses on their smell and instantly pounced to bite at the source of the samurai's scent.

In an instant, amidst the chaotic and noisy sound of rain, screams and wails were mixed in.

puff! !

Near the center of the black mist, Mifune swung his sword without turning his head, slashing at the dark figure behind him.

The severed head rolled down, hitting the ground with a dull thud, along with the crisp sound of armor hitting the ground.

—That was just a samurai who had rushed into the Mifune guard area in a panic.

"...Ninjutsu? Hidden Mist Technique?"

Mifune's brows furrowed, the scar on his forehead became more menacing, and his eyes, like those of a beast, sliced ​​through the black mist looming before him.

No, this is not the Misty Concealment Technique, and he will not give Yoshitaka a chance to form hand seals.

So that's unsealed ninjutsu? It can't be swordsmanship, can it?

Suddenly, as if sensing something, Mifune's expression changed slightly, and he quickly examined the meridians in his body.

This black mist, once inhaled, is actually corroding chakra?!

Realizing this, Mifune slowed his breathing and forcibly suppressed the unease in his heart.

With his feet slightly apart, he slowly raised the sword above his head, blade facing forward. His gaze swept across the blade, cutting into the black mist before him. His robes billowed in the rain as he closed his eyes.

He knew that in this environment, vision was useless; closing his eyes would actually make his other senses clearer.

Snap... Snap...

He stepped onto the waterlogged ground, shifting his feet slightly and cautiously observing his surroundings, making a soft splashing sound.

Every pore on Mifune's body was opening up, feeling the chill of the damp fog caressing his skin.

Without a doubt, this was the most favorable battle environment for Yoshitaka.

He could not sense any killing intent in the black mist, and a figure could jump out and attack him at any moment, but Mifune's steps remained steady, and his swordsman's senses had spread to several meters around him.

Even if someone suddenly leaps and slashes at him from the shadows the next moment, it will definitely not be him who gets cut in two.

"Yilong".

Suddenly, Mifune gripped his sword tightly and spoke out of the blue, "I know you can hear me. Do you really think someone who uses such despicable methods deserves to be called a swordsman?"

As he spoke, Mifune stopped and focused on his auditory perception.

The indifferent voice lingered in the fog for a long time, but no one answered. He continued to wait patiently, but beneath the layers of armor, something seemed to be slowly wriggling.

Those were muscles poised to strike; his entire body was slightly curled up, like a Pallas's rabbit waiting for a mouse to peek out of its hole, just in time for the explosive bite.

This was both a test and a provocation.

If Yoshitaka doesn't intend to respond, then he will remain helpless against him, and can only stand here, waiting for Yoshitaka to make a move and passively fight back.

If Yoshitaka responds...

"Then this battle will end very quickly," Mifune thought to himself.

The moment the thought arose, the voice indeed rang out.

"Mifune, have you read Musashi's *The Mirror of Heido* and *The Book of Five Rings*?"

Yilong's voice seemed to come from all directions, yet it was also like clouds and smoke, sometimes near, sometimes far, elusive and unpredictable.

Mifune frowned slightly, his eyes flickering, as he searched for the source of the voice, and continued, "My teacher was once defeated by Musashi's 'Niten Ichi-ryu', so I naturally understand Musashi's swordsmanship philosophy."

The Book of Five Rings and the Mirror of Heido are works by Musashi; the former is a "book of military strategy," and the latter is a "book of swordsmanship."

Amegakure's assassination techniques were modified from this, and Mifune naturally studied and refined its principles.

"In that case, do you think the Book of Five Rings is more important, or the Mirror of Military Strategy?"

Yoshitaka's voice came again, and Mifune's gaze paused, stopping slightly to the left ahead, and he said, "Naturally, the 'Mirror of Military Strategy' is more important."

His vision was impaired in this environment, yet he still managed to pinpoint Yoshitaka's location, perhaps by sound or by intuition.

"As expected, in your eyes, swordsmanship is more important than military strategy." Yoshitaka's tone was tinged with amusement.

"Military strategy is but a minor art; swordsmanship is the key to victory."

Mifune narrowed his eyes, fixing his gaze on that direction, and deliberately retorted, "Do you really think that mastering military strategy and then resorting to underhanded tactics can make up for a lack of swordsmanship?"

"Yes, the essence of swordsmanship lies in the fundamentals: footwork, stance, and techniques. One must practice diligently and tirelessly, day in and day out, for fifty years. Unfortunately, for those of us whose lives are precarious, fifty years is too long, so..."

At this point, Yilong paused, his tone suddenly turning cold:

"We must seize every minute!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the short sword emerged silently from the black mist, drawing a sword arc even more delicate than a stream of rain.

Not in front of me, but behind me.

Even before the words left Yoshitaka's mouth, the dagger had already arrived behind Mifune.

Breath of Rain - Fourth Form - Silent Nourishment!

Yoshitaka's slash, brimming with murderous intent, was delivered at a speed that clearly exceeded all limits.

The dagger, with its rapidly rising wind, whipped up rain and mist that lashed out at Mifune like a python!

At that speed, any ninja, even an elite Jonin from a major country, would be beheaded without warning.

However, Mifune is not a ninja, but a swordsman, and it can even be said that he is the strongest swordsman in the entire ninja world at present.

The instant the words left his mouth, Mifune moved without hesitation.

He saw the black dagger slicing through the white mist and flowing air, so he subtly sidestepped it with a tiny movement to avoid its trajectory.

The short sword almost grazed his neck, and the famous sword Kurosawa in his hand cut upwards, intending to use the momentum to sever the arm that was reaching out from the black mist.

But at that moment, a chill ran down Mifune's spine, making the hairs on his body stand on end.

The short sword, which was just a hair's breadth away from being properly grazed, had black mist swirling around its blade that sent a chill down Mifune's spine.

If Yun Chuan were here, he would recognize that this move is very similar to the most basic sword move in Tai Chi sword.

—A white rainbow crosses the stream.

The white rainbow crossed the stream, not with one sword strike, but with two.

This was originally a complete and continuous sword technique; after "Silent Nourishment," "Swift Rain" naturally followed...

"Rain Breathing - Fifth Form - Rainbow in the Mist!"

Yilong's tone was cold, and a clear sound rang out from the blade, transforming the rain and mist into a sword edge.

In that instant, Mifune's pupils contracted, reflecting the cold glint that had pierced through them. With almost unbelievable speed, he slammed his feet into the watery ground.

Bang! !

Mifune's figure disappeared from the spot, leaving a large crater in the ground, with cracks extending several meters and stirring up rain and mist.

"ah!!"

Blood splattered in the air and landed on the ground like arrows. Mifune screamed involuntarily and was sent flying backward!

In mid-air, a stream of crimson blood could be seen flowing from his eye, a tiny, almost invisible hole that pierced his left eye.

A knife sliced ​​a shocking, bloody gash across his face, and the heavy rain even soaked his dark, bloody, crimson eye sockets!

It was so close, so very close, that one stab would have pierced his head.

"die!!"

Overwhelmed with shock and rage, Mifune's face contorted in fury and violence. No longer heeding the corrosive influence of the black mist, he unleashed most of the chakra he had left, flinging the white blade from the famous sword Kurosawa in his hand.

Click, click, click! Click!

The sword light, imbued with the aura of a wild hunt, expanded several times in an instant after being thrown out, carving a thick, long trench in the ground. Stone chips splashed around, creating patches of mist that threatened to envelop Yoshitaka in the distance.

But in the next moment, the figure vanished like smoke and mist, its toes touching the ground as it moved backward. The surrounding black rain and mist gathered around it, and its figure disappeared into the black mist in an instant.

The Sky-Splitting Slash that Mifune unleashed once again vanished without a trace, failing to create even the slightest ripple in the fog.

"Damn it! Damn it!!"

Ignoring his still-bleeding left eye, Mifune gripped his knife tightly with both hands, making a sickening sound. The composure that had remained on his face vanished, replaced by a look of gloom and mixed anger.

"Shameless scoundrel! Come out and face me!" he shouted, somewhat losing his temper. "Don't you have even the slightest bit of swordsman's dignity?!"

Without exaggeration, in terms of experience and skill, he is the strongest swordsman in the entire ninja world.

However, facing this half-baked swordsman and ninja whom he had once looked down upon, and in such a frustrating situation, he finally tore off his mask of peace and superiority, revealing the deep-seated malice that had been hidden in the dry well for years.

However, faced with Mifune's almost unreasonable questioning, Yoshitaka did not state his ideas as before, but gave the response that Mifune wanted.

"In that case, I'll give you that chance."

As Yoshitaka's voice reached Mifune's ears, a new change occurred once again in the rain and mist. The howling wind surged like a tidal wave, and the rain that was originally falling vertically began to fall diagonally.

In a place invisible to Mifune, white mist rose from Yoshitaka's body, and the sweat flowing from the spring was instantly evaporated by the high temperature.

His skin was like heated steel, and the blood in his veins seemed to be burning, flowing freely like thawing spring water.

It surged forth, releasing the potential within every cell, each cell breathing freely like a spring bud breaking through stone, unparalleled power rising from every limb and bone.

Everything was crystal clear to Yilong. He entered a state of complete concentration once again, feeling as free as if he had been freed from chains, breathing without restraint and letting every fiber of his body stretch out at will.

"Rain Breathing - Land Form - Listening to the Tide".

A slight burning sensation came from the three stripes, and his senses became more active. It was as if all that remained around him was the sound of rain and the black dagger in his hand. His senses seemed to be magnified tenfold.

With this perception, he will break through the speed limits of any previous time.

"call!"

Pushing his abilities to a whole new level once again, Yoshitaka slowly exhaled a breath of hot white air, his eyes lowered, and said, "If you can block it, then block it, Mifune, the general of the Land of Iron."

As soon as he finished speaking, a loud explosion rang out.

"Rain Breathing - Seventh Form - Rainstorm!"

Yilong felt that the sound of the rain around him was stretched to an extreme level of melodiousness, as if it were dancing in the air, and the surrounding black mist was like rubber, kneading and changing.

The black mist swirled around the short sword, transforming into clearly visible blade patterns that spread across the blade like spiderwebs, revealing a menacing appearance.

Yoshitaka's attack, imbued with all his killing intent, was like a black python slicing through the rain curtain across the sky.

But in that instant, Yoshitaka clearly saw that Mifune's pupils moved.

Although the strike was incredibly fast, Mifune was already on guard thanks to Yoshitaka's warning.

Faced with the overwhelming killing intent, Mifune turned around amidst the raging tide and drew his sword, the long blade groaning as he gripped it tightly.

All the chakra in his body was released at this moment, and the white sword arc that drew out the extreme shriek in the air was like a giant swinging his arm to shake the surging python!

boom!!

The two swords unleashed tremendous force and a circular shockwave, shoving Mifune backward half a meter, causing the waterlogged ground beneath his feet to crack instantly.

But the next moment, under Mifune's cold and ferocious gaze, the already tattered short sword in Yoshitaka's hand could no longer withstand the sharpness of the famous sword and Yoshitaka's speed.

Click!

With a mournful cry, it was completely broken in two.

This strike landed on the notch of the short sword, which was precisely Mifune's true objective.

Mifune, who had anticipated this, ignored the broken and cracked tiger's mouth, ignored the pain of his right eye being pierced, and ignored the blood gushing out from the blade fragments embedded in his flesh!

Without pausing or hesitating, he released the sword that had brought him victory and clenched his fist.

"Die!!"

He suddenly took a step forward and threw a punch at Yoshitaka's neck, his face contorted with malice, as if he wanted to devour him whole!

At this moment, Yoshitaka had no time to stop.

At this critical moment, a smile appeared on his face, and his gaze moved from over Mifune's shoulder to the swirling black mist in the distance.

Yoshitaka never understood why Mifune always called himself a swordsman, and why he assumed that all swordsmen were upright and honorable.

At least, Yilong always felt, and always said, that he was a petty person, a petty person who would stop at nothing.

Behind Mifune's blind spot, a figure slashed through the black mist, as if cutting through a curtain of fierce rain. An angry face was reflected in Yoshitaka's eyes. His right foot, which he swung out, brought up a cloud of blood mist, as if it had sliced ​​through the rain and mist and even space itself.

"Blood Demon Art: Blood Scythe Void Rift!"

At that moment, Mifune also sensed the gust of wind behind him. His eyes widened in fury as he watched Yoshitaka desperately try to turn to the side, only to see his fist slam into Yoshitaka's chest. He couldn't help but curse, "I've never seen such shamelessness..."

Before he could finish speaking, Asa's attack came from behind.

puff! !

(End of this chapter)