The pervasive scent rising from the bodies strewn across the ground was something Boruto and the others found difficult to stomach. This gruesome, bloody scene wasn't something the youngsters of this new era could easily accept.
Noticing the shift in the trio's expressions, Kimimaro offered a helpless smile. If they couldn't handle this level, how would they have possibly survived in his time? These kids probably wouldn't have lasted a day.
Kimimaro shook his head resignedly. He then turned, closed his eyes, and stood silently, facing the direction from which the Mist Shinobi reinforcements were approaching.
Seeing Kimimaro's stance, Mitsuki immediately had a bad feeling.
As time ticked by, second by second, figures began to appear in the distance, leaping across rooftops.
Mitsuki let out a quiet sigh. "What a hassle for these Mist Shinobi... coming all this way just to die."
Hearing Mitsuki's sudden remark, Boruto, standing nearby, froze for a moment. "I don't understand!"
Sarada and Mitsuki turned to look at him.
"The Mist Shinobi just want to protect their village! Why do they have to be killed like this?" Boruto protested, looking at the carnage littering the ground. A wave of naive idealism seemed to wash over him. "Even if he's angry, shouldn't he go after the ones responsible? The ones who injured the Sixth Mizukage were clearly those individuals!" He felt Kimimaro was slaughtering the innocent.
Sarada opened her mouth, wanting to voice her thoughts, but she too felt this was going too far. Was it truly necessary to kill so many innocent Mist Shinobi?
The Kirigakure ninja drew closer.
Kimimaro's eyes snapped open. In an instant, a surge of bone spikes erupted from the ground, one after another. Within the blink of an eye, any shinobi who had entered a twenty-meter radius around Kimimaro were instantly impaled. These Mist Shinobi didn't even have time to utter a word.
Witnessing the violent explosion of bone from the earth, the reinforcements arriving behind seemed stunned. They stared at Kimimaro in shock.
In the next second, Kimimaro leaped onto one of the bone spikes, balancing on a single foot as he gazed towards the distant shinobi. Sharp, deadly bone protrusions emerged from his elbows, palms, shoulders, knees – every joint bristled with weaponry.
A smile touched Kimimaro's lips.
The next moment, he vanished, transforming into a gale-force wind that shot towards the Mist Shinobi troop. His speed was so incredible it startled the arriving ninja.
"What kind of monster is this guy?!"
"Quick, stop him!"
"What is that all over his body? Are those bones?"
Even as they spoke, a chilling wind enveloped them. A split second later, they tasted iron in their throats, followed by the inability to breathe.
Turning their heads, they saw Kimimaro already sweeping past them, plunging into the crowd like a wolf among sheep, unleashing a frenzied massacre.
Blood sprayed wildly, its thick, metallic scent filling the air.
Boruto watched as one Mist Shinobi after another fell to Kimimaro's relentless slaughter. His fists slowly clenched.
Mitsuki noticed Boruto's change. "Boruto! Don't!" he warned. "You can't stop him!"
"Even if I can't stop him, are we just supposed to stand here and watch him kill people?" Boruto felt this was fundamentally wrong. What gave Kimimaro the right to slaughter innocents just because he was powerful? "Doing this is just..."
"Just what?"
A new voice interrupted. Sasuke appeared behind Boruto and the others, holding Haku's hand. The two stood there quietly.
Boruto paused, surprised. Haku wasn't wearing combat gear but rather a standard woman's kimono, giving off a completely different impression – more like a kind older sister from next door. It was a stark contrast to the capable, imposing presence Haku had projected previously. For a moment, Boruto was simply stunned.
Sasuke chuckled softly. Were all kids this age like this?
However, Boruto quickly snapped back to reality and looked imploringly at Sasuke. "Sasuke-sensei, hurry and stop this guy!"
"Stop him from what?"
"Stop him from killing innocent people!" Boruto gestured towards the bodies on the ground. "These are all innocent Mist Shinobi! If he keeps killing like this, who knows how many will die? These people haven't done anything to deserve death!"
Hearing this, Sasuke nodded slowly. "Mm. These people are indeed quite innocent." He glanced at Boruto. "How about this? Once my... 'thing'... is repaired, I'll take you back to Kimimaro's ancestral lands. I hope you'll be able to stop the Mist Shinobi of that time from slaughtering Kimimaro's clan."
"Huh?" Boruto was taken aback.
Sasuke looked towards Kimimaro in the distance. "The Kaguya clan was originally a powerful Kekkei Genkai family in Kirigakure, numerous and strong. But because of the Era of the Bloody Mist, shinobi with Kekkei Genkai were ostracized, treated like monsters... and eventually massacred."
"So," Sasuke continued, "since you feel these Mist Shinobi are innocent, you should also understand that Kimimaro and his clansmen were innocent too."
Boruto froze upon hearing this.
"But... even if the Kirigakure of the past slaughtered Kimimaro's clan, it wasn't these people here now..."
"You're not wrong," Sasuke conceded. "But what right do you have to tell someone else to stop seeking their revenge?"
Boruto fell completely silent. If these people were innocent, weren't Kimimaro's clansmen innocent too?
Sarada lowered her head, seemingly ashamed of her earlier thoughts. While these Mist Shinobi seemed blameless, who truly had the right to stop Kimimaro's vengeance?
"Lord Sasuke!" Haku turned, pleading with him.
Suddenly, however, the sound of a fierce collision echoed from the front lines.
Kimimaro staggered back a step.
Sasuke's eyes widened slightly in surprise. Someone... actually managed to push Kimimaro back? It seemed the Mist Shinobi still had some capable individuals among them.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, focusing intently on the figure slowly materializing. A form condensed from flowing water gradually took shape.
'Is that Suigetsu?' The Hydrification Technique was a secret ninjutsu of the Hozuki clan, practically a unique type of Kekkei Genkai in its own right.
However, as the figure solidified into a human form, revealing their true face, it became clear it wasn't Suigetsu. The resemblance was there, though. Undoubtedly a member of the Hozuki clan. Could it be someone from the current generation? Impossible. The Hozuki clan members weren't supposed to be in Kirigakure anymore. What was going on with this person?
"Shikotsumyaku? You're from the Kaguya clan?" the newcomer exclaimed, recognizing Kimimaro's Kekkei Genkai immediately – something shinobi of this current era shouldn't be able to do. "There are still Kaguya clan members alive?"
'A shinobi brought from a different time point into this new era?' Sasuke mused. Hozuki clan... then this must be Mangetsu Hozuki. He did bear some resemblance to Suigetsu.
"Hozuki clan? You're not from this era, are you?" Kimimaro questioned, equally perceptive. The opponent hadn't expected to be identified so quickly, but it didn't seem to matter.
"Regardless of which era I'm from," Mangetsu declared, "if you dare to attack Kirigakure, I absolutely will not let you get away with it..."
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