Naruto Card King

Haruto Saito realized he needed to take back his earlier judgment of Inoi's strength. He had initially thought Inoi's combat abilities were on par with an elite jōnin with a reputation of around eight or nine thousand points. However, in terms of pure combat power, Inoi didn't even reach the level of an average elite jōnin! His close-combat abilities were utterly pathetic.

That was why Haruto had used Black Mist Flicker five times in a row, eliminating him in an incredibly short span of time!

Haruto had not expected his Black Armor to be able to withstand the attacks of an elite jōnin's kunai. He had never tested its defensive capabilities against such an opponent before.

But Inoi was undoubtedly one of the weakest elite jōnin in terms of combat prowess. He was an embarrassment to the rank! Haruto had even considered using Rasengan or his Shikotsumyaku (Dead Bone Pulse) techniques, but he hadn't needed to.

"Pathetic," Haruto scoffed as he looked down at Inoi's corpse.

In reality, however, Inoi was far from useless. He was an outstanding elite jōnin—more valuable than a pure combat-type elite jōnin. His skills simply lay in a different domain.

It was similar to medical-nin. Even Konoha's elite medical jōnin had front-line combat capabilities that barely reached the level of an ordinary jōnin. Medical jōnin themselves were usually only at the level of a chūnin or even a mere genin in terms of raw combat ability. That was why Konoha had strict rules preventing medical-nin from going to the battlefield—they were valuable for healing but far too fragile in direct combat.

Of course, Tsunade was an exception and couldn't be compared to the norm.

Inoi, on the other hand, was a sensory-type ninja. His main abilities lay in perception, scouting, searching, and tracking. With the right hand seals, he could activate a powerful sensing jutsu that covered several kilometers. He could even control hundreds of scouting birds simultaneously. His mental energy was far superior to that of most elite jōnin.

Although Haruto had dismissed his combat abilities as weak, the truth was that he had only witnessed Inoi's lack of close-combat skills. He had not seen Inoi's full ninjutsu capabilities, nor had he given him the chance to use them. Even in close combat, Inoi was still on par with top-tier jōnin.

Inoi had died incredibly fast. Haruto had used all five of his Black Mist Flickers, and their entire exchange had lasted less than twenty seconds. Assassination was all about speed!

With a wave of his hand, Haruto collected the more than thirty cards that had dropped from Inoi's body, storing them in his inventory. However, the moment he looked up, he was shocked to find himself completely surrounded!

Torches illuminated the area, revealing countless figures. Ordinary soldiers under Tanabe Sadatsugu's command had gathered near the barracks, wielding weapons. More were arriving by the second. They hesitated to approach, clearly intimidated by the display of strength Haruto had shown in slaying Inoi.

Haruto's appearance only added to the terror—he looked like a demon shrouded in black mist.

During the fight, Haruto had been too focused on Inoi to pay attention to his surroundings.

"The Black Samurai!"

"It's the legendary Black Samurai?"

"Has the Black Samurai appeared again?!"

Whispers of shock rippled through the crowd. The people here weren't necessarily well-informed, but they had all heard Inoi shout "Black Samurai" during the fight.

At least two hundred soldiers had gathered, along with more than twenty samurai and shinobi. Among them were two jōnin from Amegakure and a single jōnin-level samurai.

And this was only the beginning. If Haruto stayed in place for even a minute, at least a thousand more enemies would arrive.

He wasn't about to let that happen.

Scanning his surroundings, Haruto cautiously took two steps back. Then, in an instant, he accelerated—lowering his body and dashing toward the nearby forest.

"Kill him!"

"Go!"

The two Amegakure jōnin immediately pursued him. Despite witnessing Haruto kill Inoi, they showed no fear. Amegakure shinobi were forged through relentless hardship. Any jōnin from the Village Hidden in the Rain had been hardened by merciless training and would never hesitate in battle.

The jōnin-level samurai hesitated briefly but then also took action, though his expression was somewhat strange.

The Black Samurai!

He himself was a samurai!

The Black Samurai held extraordinary significance within the samurai community.

With the top fighters moving, the other samurai and shinobi naturally followed suit, all charging into the forest. The ordinary soldiers, however, dared not engage directly in such a high-level battle. Instead, they followed a different strategy.

Under the orders of their commanders, they began to encircle the forest. It was a complete blockade. Every soldier was armed with bows and arrows. Once in position, they prepared to unleash a storm of arrows at a moment's notice.

Even mundane military forces weren't entirely ineffective against shinobi.

For example, barrages of arrows were highly effective when fired simultaneously, capable of inflicting heavy casualties.

Inside the forest, the two Amegakure jōnin rapidly closed in on Haruto.

Their attacks were ferocious—unsurprising, given their origins in Amegakure, a village that bred pure combat-type shinobi. Escaping from them was proving difficult. Even if Haruto landed a powerful strike that sent them flying, they would quickly recover and attack again.

If it had been just one jōnin, Haruto could have risked an injury to finish them off quickly. But against two, he couldn't afford to be reckless.

Even so, Haruto fought back fiercely. He had already realized that his Black Armor possessed extraordinary defensive capabilities. A standard jōnin's blade couldn't cut through it. Knowing this, Haruto could afford to ignore many of their attacks. While the impact still hurt, it created numerous openings for him to counterattack.

Meanwhile, in the southern section of the encampment…

"Who goes there?!" a soldier on a watchtower shouted.

Jiraiya and Tsunade, who had just infiltrated the southern sector, glanced up at him briefly before ignoring him and continuing toward the source of the commotion.

Given their skill levels, they could have easily entered undetected—even in a brightly lit camp filled with soldiers. But they had chosen not to bother hiding.

There was no point in remaining stealthy now.

Even if they could stay hidden while sneaking in, they would inevitably be exposed when rescuing their target. So they might as well go in directly.

Although the soldiers spotted Jiraiya and Tsunade, they were powerless to stop them. The two were simply too strong and too fast. Even a barrage of arrows wouldn't have posed a threat to them.

Neither of them saw any reason to waste time killing ordinary soldiers.

They rushed forward without hesitation, quickly closing in on the chaotic battlefield where the sounds of battle roared.