Naruto: I Became a Sword Saint in Konoha Chapter 225 225: Konoha's Sword Saint [225]

After two waves of ninjutsu clashed, both sides engaged in close-quarters combat.

In such a chaotic battlefield, most people didn't even have ti to form hand seals. Even if they managed to, they wouldn't dare use ninjutsu recklessly in such a ssy environnt where it was hard to distinguish friend from foe. At most, they could only throw techniques toward the enemy's rear.

In this close-quarters combat, Minato and Kuzuki each faced their own opponents.

Amid the chaos, Minato's reflexes—far superior to an average person's—played a crucial role. Facing a storm of thrown weapons and assassination attempts, he could always sense danger in advance and slip past attacks, driving his kunai straight into the enemy's vital points in return.

When it ca to using kunai, Minato's skill was second to none in the shinobi world. Whether throwing them from a distance or wielding them in close combat, he could unleash a terrifying level of lethality.

And after receiving Hoshiyomi's guidance, Minato's close-combat prowess had improved even further. With two kunai in hand, he wielded them like extensions of his body. On this chaotic battlefield, few opponents could withstand even a single exchange with him.

Compared to Minato's ruthless dominance, Kuugetsu appeared much weaker. Her issues with her dominant personality still plagued her, and without the ergence of her alternate persona, her fighting style remained overly cautious.

On the battlefield, there's no right or wrong—only life or death.

Kuugetsu understood that principle, but instinctively, she still couldn't bring herself to kill.

Despite her solid swordsmanship, when faced with charging Iwagakure ninja, she just couldn't bring herself to drive her blade into their vital points.

Throughout the battle, she mostly evaded attacks. When she couldn't dodge, she had no choice but to block head-on. But she was just a ten or eleven-year-old girl.

Against peers, her strength might be considered impressive—but against Iwa shinobi, who were like wolves and tigers, she simply couldn't match them. After a few blocks, her hands were already starting to feel sore.

If not for her father and the other uncles and elders constantly watching over her, she might've already been injured.

By now, those uncles and elders had also noticed that sothing wasn't right with Kuugetsu. The battlefield was far too chaotic—even if they wanted to protect her, they couldn't always stay by her side. If Kuugetsu kept acting like this...

One uncle, who was particularly fond of her, couldn't help but speak up:

"Kuugetsu, this is the battlefield. You're a shinobi. If you keep hesitating like this, we won't be able to protect you. You need to toughen up."

Just as he was speaking, an Iwagakure shinobi suddenly lunged forward. The uncle was caught off guard and reacted a split-second too late. Although he managed to block the enemy's kunai, his hands were restrained in the process.

At the sa ti, another Iwagakure shinobi charged straight at Kuugetsu. She gasped in alarm, twisting her body to narrowly avoid the thrust of the kunai, then struck the attacker's back with the hilt of her sword.

The Iwa shinobi's attack missed. He thought he was done for—but to his surprise, the Konoha girl's strike was soft and didn't do him much harm.

He didn't turn back to fight her. Instead, he kept his forward montum, aiming to drive the kunai in his hand into the back of the uncle who was still locked in a standoff.

Kuugetsu instantly noticed this and, seeing the man's kunai about to pierce the uncle, she scread in her heart: Absolutely not!

In that life-or-death mont, she didn't have ti to think. Desperate to save the man, she clenched her teeth and threw her ninja blade without hesitation.

The blade shot out like a teor and pierced straight into that Iwa shinobi's back, killing him instantly.

This should have been a great mont.

The uncle had finally dealt with the enemy in front of him and turned to praise Kuugetsu, only to see her frozen in place, staring at her hands with a face full of terror and confusion.

He quickly shouted, "Watch out, Kuugetsu—behind you!"

Behind her, another Iwagakure ninja had already thrust his kunai forward. The uncle's pupils shrank in alarm, but the distance was too great—he couldn't get there in ti.

Just as panic filled his heart, sothing unexpected happened.

At the critical mont, Kuugetsu twisted her waist, narrowly avoiding a fatal blow. The kunai only grazed her side.

At the sa ti, Kuugetsu moved quickly, grabbing the man's arm with her left hand and bringing her right hand down against the reverse direction of the man's joint

A bone-chilling snap was heard as the Iwa ninja's arm imdiately twisted into a strange 90-degree angle.

The kunai fell from his grasp as he cried out in pain—but it was as if Kuugetsu had predicted this. Her right hand, already waiting mid-air, caught the falling kunai by its hilt, then in one fluid motion, she turned and sliced open the man's throat.

The entire sequence was seamless—like flowing water.

The uncle watching nearby was completely stunned.

Monts ago, she had looked like a clumsy, frightened rookie, and now she had perford such a clean and efficient kill.

He instinctively sensed that sothing in Kuugetsu had changed. He didn't think too deeply about alternate personalities—he just assud she had matured.

He laughed heartily, turning and kicking away an Iwa shinobi trying to sneak up on him. Then he grabbed Kuugetsu's ninja blade from a nearby Iwa corpse and tossed it back to her:

"Catch! Keep fighting like that!"

Kuugetsu caught the blade and imdiately sliced an Iwa shinobi nearby clean in half. Then, touching the wound at her side, she muttered under her breath with a strange tone:

"This cut'll serve as a lesson. No matter how stupid I am, I should at least have so basic sense of awareness. Still... I guess that was a bit of progress. Tch, if only I could stay in control for a few more rounds."

With those words, she gripped her blade tighter and, no longer standing still like before, charged forward. Just like Minato, she began actively picking her opponents.

Her killing techniques were now as swift and decisive as Minato's—no less lethal.

From afar, Hoshiyomi had been quietly watching the actions of his two disciples. Seeing Kuugetsu's performance, he couldn't help but smile.

So she held on this long before letting the inner personality take over—and she's already killed soone. Not bad at all.

Looks like there's hope she might achieve full personality integration on this battlefield.

As he was thinking this, a deafening explosion suddenly erupted in the distance. Fragnts of flesh and shattered limbs could even be seen flying through the air.

The violent, gory spectacle stunned many on the battlefield into a mont of silence.

Then, a furious roar pierced the silence:

"Gekkō Hoshiyomi, get out here! I'll make you pay for the lives of my twelve clansn!"

The ferocious voice belonged to none other than Takekawa, captain of the Explosion Release unit, and a shinobi who used Explosion Release.

He had his reasons, of course. One, he was truly enraged. Two, according to Yōgan, Hoshiyomi had previously used a secret technique that consud a huge amount of chakra and was likely unable to fight at full power.

Takekawa wanted to take advantage of this and use provocation to draw him out. If he couldn't, at least it would deal a blow to Konoha's morale.

But if Hoshiyomi really did respond... then he would make the man pay for his clansn with his life!