Chapter 133 (Patreon)

“Mihawk-sama—”

Shhk!

In the depths of the dark forest, an Allied shinobi wearing a Konoha flak jacket and the forehead protector of the Allied Shinobi Forces was cut in half by a single sweep of Nemesis.

The shinobi stared at Mihawk in disbelief as his body collapsed.

Poof!

Before the two halves struck the ground, his appearance rapidly changed, revealing the pale body of a White Zetsu.

Mihawk looked down at the corpse with faint irritation.

“They certainly move quickly.”

The chakra signatures of the White Zetsu were nearly identical. Even their strange Transformation Jutsu could not deceive Mihawk’s Observation Haki.

He had only recently left the Second Division’s battlefield, yet he had already encountered a White Zetsu disguised as an Allied shinobi.

It appeared that the remaining White Zetsu had begun infiltrating the Allied forces.

There was no telling how many unprepared shinobi would be assassinated tonight.

Mihawk had no intention of worrying about the other battlefields, however.

He was merely irritated that one of them had been foolish enough to target him.

Hinata activated the enhanced vision of her Tenseigan and surveyed the ground beneath them.

“Mihawk-kun, there are still many of them underground. They’re moving quickly.”

Mihawk returned the Black Blade Nemesis to its sheath.

“There’s no need to chase them. We’ll eliminate any that cross our path.”

“All right.”

Hinata nodded and deactivated her Tenseigan’s long-range vision.

The two continued toward the Fourth Division.

Neither of them was in a hurry.

Their battle on the front line had already ended, and they were now being redeployed as reinforcements.

According to the message from headquarters, the Fourth Division’s opponents were former Kage resurrected through Edo Tensei.

Kabuto Yakushi had temporarily withdrawn them, and they were unlikely to resume their attack before morning.

The Fourth Division was also resting at the moment.

Mihawk had spent the entire day training his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception without expending any meaningful strength. Hinata, on the other hand, had consumed a considerable amount of chakra through her repeated use of gravity.

There was no reason to rush, so Mihawk matched his pace to hers and allowed her to recover along the way.

While passing a lake deep within the forest, Mihawk and Hinata stopped to wash the blood and dust from their bodies.

Both possessed exceptional perception and visual abilities. No one could approach the lake without being noticed, so they had no reason to worry about being watched.

The clear water washed away the grime accumulated throughout the day.

Hinata’s remaining fatigue faded, while Mihawk felt pleasantly refreshed.

Near midnight, they finally emerged from the forest and entered a barren region filled with rocky hills of varying sizes.

They selected a rock formation covered in cracks and impact marks and set up their tent beneath it.

Both Mihawk and Hinata wore portable sealing tags around their wrists.

These small seals were ordinarily used to store shuriken, kunai, and other weapons.

Mihawk had once wondered whether an entire storage scroll could be sealed inside one of them. After confirming that it was possible, almost everyone on Team 8 began carrying a wrist seal containing food, water, tents, blankets, and other supplies.

Once the tent was ready, Mihawk decided to sleep first.

There was nothing to gain from remaining awake throughout the night when another battle awaited them tomorrow.

Inside the tent, Mihawk rested his head on Hinata’s lap and closed his eyes.

As his breathing gradually became even, he reviewed everything he had learned from today’s training.

The army of twenty thousand White Zetsu had posed no threat to him.

He had only killed seven or eight thousand because he had deliberately restrained his pace and used them as moving targets for the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

For most of the day, nearly every Ranged Slash he released had been created by severing the lines of death running through the air itself.

The Breath of All Things allowed him to hear the rhythm of the air, while the Mystic Eyes revealed the exact point where that airflow could be killed.

It was only during the final hour of the battle that Mihawk returned to using conventional swordsman Ranged Slashes so that he could compare the two methods.

The difference was obvious.

By severing the air’s lines of death, even a casual swing of Nemesis could release a Ranged Slash several meters—or even dozens of meters—long.

It did not require the same concentration as a conventional Ranged Slash.

Even after using the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception continuously throughout the day, Mihawk’s mind remained perfectly clear. There had been no burden or fatigue. If anything, his control had only become sharper as the battle continued.

Until now, he had primarily viewed the Mystic Eyes as a convenient power for dealing with particularly troublesome enemies.

Today’s training had shown him that there was no reason to restrict them to that role.

The Mystic Eyes of Death Perception could be seamlessly incorporated into his swordsmanship and used as naturally as the Breath of All Things.

Thousands of moving targets attacking from every direction had allowed Mihawk to greatly improve his practical control over the Mystic Eyes.

For him, today’s battle had been nothing more than a valuable training session.

With that final thought, Mihawk fell asleep.

Hinata carefully lifted his head from her lap and placed it on a pillow.

After covering him with a blanket, she sat beside him and began keeping watch while continuing her own training.

Today’s battle had also given Hinata something valuable.

She seemed to have discovered an entirely new application of her gravitational power.

————

For Mihawk and Hinata, the remainder of the night passed peacefully.

Apart from the first White Zetsu, no other infiltrator approached their camp in disguise.

The situation on the other battlefields was entirely different.

The White Zetsu’s nearly flawless Transformation Jutsu filled the Allied shinobi with suspicion. No one could be certain that the person standing beside them was truly an ally.

However, every technique had a weakness, and there would always be someone capable of exploiting it.

The confusion caused by the White Zetsu’s transformations would soon be resolved.

At the same time, Naruto Uzumaki and Killer B had left the Island Turtle and were fighting for permission to enter the war.

Tomorrow would be the day Naruto finally stepped onto the battlefield.

It would also mark the beginning of an even more intense stage of the Fourth Shinobi World War.

……

The following morning, Mihawk opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was Hinata sleeping with her head resting against his chest.

None of the warning seals they had placed around the camp had been triggered. It appeared that the rest of the night had remained peaceful.

Hinata must have kept watch for quite some time before finally falling asleep.

Mihawk gently stroked her hair before softly shaking her awake.

“Hinata, wake up. We need to keep moving.”

Hearing his voice, Hinata slowly opened her eyes and nodded sleepily.

“…All right.”

The two quickly rose, packed away the tent, and took out some water to wash their faces.

After eating several pieces of dry rations to fill their stomachs, they resumed their journey.

This time, they no longer travelled on foot.

Hinata manipulated repulsion and gravity around their bodies, causing both of them to float into the air before flying toward the Fourth Division.

As the sun gradually rose, the two entered a vast desert region.

Through the Tenseigan’s vision and Mihawk’s Observation Haki, the numerous chakra signatures belonging to the Fourth Division could already be sensed nearby.