Chapter 103 (Patreon)

“You’re not the only one who can fly.”

Mihawk’s gaze shifted from the Deva Path to the enormous rhinoceros charging toward him.

The summoned beast thundered across the damaged street, each step shaking the surrounding buildings and sending fragments of stone flying through the air.

“And do you really think something like this can stop me?”

Shhk.

Mihawk returned his katana to its sheath.

Black Armament Haki spread across the blade within, while a faint dark-purplish glow gathered around the scabbard.

He lowered his stance.

The rhinoceros charged closer, its enormous horn aimed directly at his body.

Mihawk released a quiet breath.

Then he vanished.

Boom!

The ground beneath him shattered from the force of his movement.

By the time anyone saw him again, Mihawk was already standing behind the rhinoceros, his katana extended at his side.

Shhk!

A sharp sound, like a vast sheet of cloth being torn apart, echoed across the village.

A dark line appeared across the rhinoceros’s body.

For a single moment, the enormous creature continued charging as though nothing had happened.

Then blood erupted from the wound.

Its body separated along the path of Mihawk’s slash, and the colossal pieces crashed into the street one after another.

Boom! Boom!

The impact sent clouds of dust rolling through the surrounding ruins.

The rhinoceros did not disappear and return to wherever it had been summoned from.

Mihawk’s blade, reinforced by Advanced Armament Haki, had passed through its hide, muscles, and bones in a single draw.

The summoned beast had been killed outright.

“Incredible!”

Standing atop Gamakichi’s head, Naruto stared in amazement.

“Mihawk’s swordsmanship has become even more terrifying!”

Mihawk had not released one of his enormous Ranged Slashes.

He had used nothing more than a draw and slash, yet he had cut apart a rhinoceros large enough to resemble a small mountain.

Fukasaku’s eyes narrowed.

“That wasn’t chakra.”

Shima nodded slowly.

“The power surrounding his sword penetrated the creature’s defenses the moment his blade reached it.”

Even the two great sages of Mount Myōboku had never witnessed swordsmanship like it.

Mihawk did not spare the remains of the rhinoceros another glance.

The moment it fell, he continued toward the Animal Path.

Realizing that she had become his next target, the Animal Path immediately retreated.

The restored Asura Path stepped between them.

Mechanical components shifted throughout its right arm, transforming the limb into a large cannon barrel.

Purple chakra rapidly gathered inside it.

Boom!

A concentrated beam of energy erupted from the cannon and tore through the air toward Mihawk.

“Far too obvious.”

Mihawk showed no intention of dodging.

His katana swept upward.

Shhk!

A narrow dark-red Ranged Slash struck the center of the beam.

The concentrated chakra attack split lengthwise.

Its two halves screamed past Mihawk on either side before crashing into the ruined streets behind him.

Boom! Boom!

Twin explosions erupted across Konoha.

Mihawk emerged from between them without slowing down.

Whoosh!

The Asura Path’s Rinnegan widened.

Mihawk had already appeared directly in front of it.

“So that one put you back together.”

His gaze briefly shifted toward the Naraka Path standing farther behind the formation.

Mihawk raised his katana.

“Then I’ll dismantle you properly this time.”

The Asura Path immediately transformed its remaining arm into a serrated blade and swung it toward Mihawk’s neck.

Clang!

Mihawk caught the weapon with his katana.

Black Armament Haki coated the blade, surrounded by the same faint dark-purplish glow Nagato had witnessed earlier.

The Asura Path attempted to force its weapon forward.

Mihawk’s expression did not change.

Crack!

The unseen force surrounding his blade passed through the point of contact and erupted inside the Asura Path’s mechanical arm.

The reinforced joints split apart.

Gears shattered, internal conduits ruptured, and fragments of metal burst from beneath the artificial skin.

The serrated blade broke into pieces.

Mihawk stepped forward.

Shhk!

His katana flashed across the Asura Path’s torso.

The blade cut through its reinforced exterior while the Advanced Armament Haki surrounding it penetrated deeper, crushing the mechanisms beneath the surface.

Mihawk did not stop after the first strike.

Silver flashes filled the air.

Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!

His katana moved too quickly for the naked eye to follow.

Each slash tore through another section of the Asura Path’s body. Arms, mechanical joints, armor plates, and concealed weapons were severed one after another.

Clang! Clatter!

Broken components rained down around Mihawk.

By the time he stopped swinging, the Asura Path’s head was the only part of its body that remained remotely intact.

Everything beneath it had been reduced to a mangled pile of shattered metal and artificial flesh.

Boom!

Mihawk kicked the ruined body away.

It crashed through the remains of a nearby wall before disappearing beneath the rubble.

Without slowing, Mihawk turned toward the Naraka Path.

High above the battlefield, the Deva Path’s expression changed slightly.

He identified the Naraka Path.

Nagato had deliberately kept the Naraka Path away from direct confrontation whenever possible. Its ability to restore the other bodies was too valuable to risk unnecessarily.

Yet Mihawk had understood its purpose almost immediately after seeing the Asura Path restored.

Did he determine its ability from that alone?

The Naraka Path had to be protected.

“Summoning Jutsu!”

Before Mihawk could reach it, the Animal Path formed another hand seal and slammed her palm against the ground.

Boom!

A massive cloud of white smoke erupted between them.

“ROAR!”

A monstrous three-headed hound emerged from the smoke.

Rinnegan shone within all six of its eyes.

The creature lunged toward Mihawk, its enormous paws crushing the street beneath it while its three sets of jaws opened wide.

Mihawk’s eyes narrowed.

He knew this summoning.

Every time its body was damaged, it would divide and create another copy of itself. The more it was attacked, the greater its numbers became.

Trying to cut it apart would only make the situation more troublesome.

But Mihawk had no reason to fight it.

The hound existed only because the Animal Path sustained the summoning.

Remove the summoner, and the beast would disappear with her.

The three heads descended upon him from different directions.

Mihawk’s Observation Haki captured every movement.

The tightening of its muscles.

The direction of each set of jaws.

Even the path its claws would take as they swept toward him.

“Soru.”

Boom!

Mihawk vanished with an explosive burst of speed.

The hound’s three heads crashed together where he had been standing.

Its claws tore through the empty street, sending stone and debris flying in every direction.

Mihawk slipped between the creature’s necks and appeared above its back.

Before the hound could turn, he kicked against the air.

Bang!

Using Geppo, Mihawk shot past the summoning and descended directly toward the Animal Path.

“What?”

For the first time, the Animal Path’s expression changed.

Mihawk had not taken the bait.

He had bypassed the supposedly immortal hound without attacking it even once.

That brief moment of surprise was all he needed.

Mihawk appeared directly in front of her.

The Animal Path instinctively leaped backward.

However, Mihawk had already read the movement through Observation Haki.

The instant her feet left the ground, his red eyes filled her vision.

Shhk!

A silver flash crossed her body.

The Animal Path froze in midair.

A thin line appeared across her waist.

Then her upper and lower body separated.

Boom!

Both halves crashed into the damaged street.

At the same moment, the three-headed hound vanished in a cloud of white smoke.

High above the village, the enormous bird carrying the Deva Path disappeared as well.

The Deva Path began falling from the sky.

Mihawk was already moving toward the Naraka Path.

The extended interval following the Deva Path’s large-scale Shinra Tensei had still not ended.

The Asura Path and Animal Path had been eliminated in rapid succession, leaving the Naraka Path exposed.

Nagato immediately shifted the Human Path and Preta Path toward it, but Mihawk was already too close.

The Naraka Path retreated several steps.

A sharp black chakra receiver slid from beneath its sleeve.

It lunged toward Mihawk and thrust the weapon at his chest.

Clang!

Mihawk’s katana met the chakra receiver.

Dark-purplish Armament Haki flickered around the edge of his blackened blade.

Crack!

The force of the collision penetrated the receiver.

Fractures spread across the black metal before it shattered into several pieces.

The Naraka Path’s arm was thrown aside.

Mihawk stepped through its guard.

Shhk!

His katana passed diagonally through its body.

The Advanced Armament Haki surrounding the blade erupted beneath the surface, destroying the chakra receivers and internal pathways that allowed Nagato to control the corpse.

The Naraka Path staggered.

Mihawk immediately followed with several more strikes.

Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!

Silver flashes crossed the air.

Its arms were severed first.

Another slash cut through its torso.

The final strike removed its head.

The Naraka Path’s body collapsed into scattered pieces around Mihawk’s feet.

There would be no second restoration for the Asura Path or Animal Path.

Only after ensuring that the Naraka Path had been completely destroyed did Mihawk turn toward the remaining enemies.

The Human Path and Preta Path stood before him.

Behind them, the Deva Path descended toward the ground.

Mihawk rested his katana loosely at his side and gave them a faint smile.

“If you intend to kill me, this is nowhere near enough.”

“Incredible…”

Naruto stood frozen in the distance.

In only a short span of time, Mihawk had killed an enormous summoned rhinoceros and destroyed three of the Six Paths of Pain.

He had used no ninjutsu.

There had been no hand seals or overwhelming displays of chakra.

Only speed, Haki, and precise, merciless swordsmanship.

Every movement flowed naturally into the next.

Not a single swing had been wasted.

To Naruto, it almost resembled a performance.

A deadly sword dance in which everything standing between Mihawk and his true target was cut down without hesitation.