Naruto Card King

Chaos, slaughter, and a desperate fight for survival!

Haruto Saito felt that he might very well die here today. He was completely surrounded, with a total of eight elite Jōnin attacking him from all sides—five of them were Rain Ninja Jōnin, while the other three were samurai.

Beyond them, there were more than forty Chūnin, Genin, and samurai of similar rank participating in the battle.

However, most of them could not interfere directly.

The eight powerful enemies attacking Haruto left no room for anyone else to get close. The other enemies could only circle around, harassing him and preventing his escape.

Haruto had not expected things to turn out this badly. The situation spiraled out of control mainly because the two Rain Ninja Jōnin who had first engaged him fought with reckless desperation, and he had not been able to shake them off in time.

Under normal circumstances, Haruto should have already been dead. The only reason he was still standing was the Black Armor—its defense was simply too strong! It had already endured dozens of blade attacks for him, and if one counted ranged weapons, the number of strikes absorbed had exceeded a hundred. Of course, there were times when Haruto had deliberately lowered his guard, which contributed to this high number.

However, the Black Armor did not cover his entire body. His lower legs, neck, and face were unprotected. Whenever an attack targeted these areas, he had to dodge carefully. So far, he had managed to avoid injury.

Even so, his situation was growing more dire by the second.

But there was still a sliver of hope—he just needed to activate the Black Flash Curse Seal!

Normally, activating the seal would take a little over a minute. But this time, two minutes had already passed, and he still had not succeeded. He was forced to fight while attempting to pour chakra into his armor, preventing him from focusing completely.

The prolonged activation process had already cost him another low-grade chakra restoration card—his last one.

This was his final chance!

He needed at least two more minutes to fully activate the Black Flash Curse Seal.

A faint regret crept into Haruto's mind. If he had chosen to keep running instead of killing Inoi earlier, things might have been different. He had five uses of the Black Flash remaining at that time. If he had relied on those, he might have already escaped the camp without ever engaging in this intense battle.

"Get out of my way!"

A sudden scream rang out—a woman's voice, yet to Haruto, it sounded like the most beautiful melody in the world.

BOOM!

A terrifying shockwave rocked the battlefield. Tsunade had arrived, flashing into the forest with overwhelming presence, her entire aura surging with power. She stomped her foot into the ground with devastating force.

"Monster Strength: Heaven's Stomp!"

The forest trembled as though struck by an earthquake. Trees shattered, the ground cracked open, and debris flew in all directions.

Everyone around Haruto was thrown into disarray. The Jōnin barely managed to jump away, but the Chūnin and Genin were not so lucky. They stumbled and collapsed, unable to keep their footing. Even Haruto had to leap into the air to avoid the upheaval.

Just as his body was mid-air, Tsunade flickered beside him, grabbed him, and vanished.

With lightning-fast movement, she carried Haruto out of the forest in a blur. The soldiers stationed around the area were caught in the shockwave and lay scattered on the ground.

Moments later, Jiraiya appeared in mid-air, soaring tens of meters high. He rapidly formed a series of hand seals.

"Fire Release: Supreme Dragon Flame Bomb!"

A tremendous surge of chakra erupted from Jiraiya's body. He was unleashing a massive technique! A colossal fireball, more than ten meters in diameter, blasted from his mouth and crashed into the forest, igniting everything in a roaring inferno.

In the silent, dark depths of Rain Ninja Village…

At the training grounds, Hanzō was still in the midst of his practice. To him, there was little distinction between night and day—he could rest whenever he wished. Moreover, at his level, he required only short breaks to regain his full strength.

CRASH!

The massive wooden doors of the training grounds suddenly shattered as a large bird, its wingspan exceeding a meter, slammed into the area. It glided down and landed in front of Hanzō.

"What is it?" Hanzō opened his eyes and asked.

"Leader, Tsunade and Jiraiya… They are at the White Rock Mine," the rain falcon spoke, its tone full of respect.

"Tsunade? Jiraiya?"

Hanzō's eyes flashed with keen interest as he instantly stood up, his excitement evident. "Who else? How many?"

"Aside from them, only one other person was present. He was the first to be discovered. It seems… he is the Black Warrior."

"The Black Warrior?!!"

Hanzō's eyes widened in disbelief, his mind buzzing as he hastily asked, "Are you certain? The Black Warrior? It's really him?"

"In'i called him the Black Warrior, and the man did not deny it. It must be him."

"The Black Warrior… The Black Warrior!"

Hanzō muttered the name twice, his eyes gleaming. His hands trembled slightly with excitement. "The Black Armor… The Black Armor has finally surfaced!"

A man of Hanzō's temperament should not have been this emotional. However, he had spent years searching for the Black Armor, tirelessly pursuing it. He knew its true significance better than anyone else.

Long ago, the Black Armor had belonged to the now-destroyed Black Martial Nation. The very force that wiped out that nation had been the predecessors of the Rain Ninja Village during the Warring States Period.

There were top-secret records about the Black Armor within Rain Ninja Village.

Hanzō had read them!

More importantly, part of Hanzō's own strength came from samurai techniques. His abilities were incredibly diverse, including many self-created forbidden and secret arts. But his primary combat skill lay in close-quarters swordsmanship—a legacy of the samurai. However, he had modified these techniques, using a scythe instead of a katana.

He had long coveted the Black Armor, but it had always been an elusive legend.

And now—unbelievably—it had appeared before his eyes! So suddenly! So unexpectedly!

"Wait!" Hanzō's mind clicked as he turned to the rain falcon. "Tsunade, Jiraiya, and the Black Warrior… Does that mean the Black Warrior is Orochimaru?!"

"Absolutely not. The Black Warrior's strength is vastly inferior to Orochimaru's. By the time I left, he was already surrounded and struggling to break free. However, Tsunade and Jiraiya seemed to be attempting to rescue him."

"Orochimaru isn't there?" Hanzō repeated, but then dismissed the thought.

It did not matter!

What mattered was the Black Warrior—the Black Armor. That was far more important to Hanzō than Tsunade or Jiraiya!

...

Half an hour later, the White Rock Mine encampment blazed with light.

Hanzō stood on a large rock before the burned-down forest, gripping his scythe. Before him, a row of kneeling ninja awaited orders. He had arrived more than ten minutes ago and had already heard their reports.

Tsunade and the others had escaped. No one had been able to stop them.

Tadanobu Teiji was dead. In'i was also dead. Hanzō now knew everything.

Behind him, over ten elite warriors from Rain Ninja Village stood silently. The weakest among them was a Jōnin-level fighter, and some were Kage-level.

More Rain Ninja reinforcements were on their way. They simply could not arrive as quickly as Hanzō.

Beside him, the captain of his personal guard, Terado, stood like his shadow.

"Issue orders! The First Army will march to the Rain-Fire border and lock it down! The Second Army will mobilize to the southeast!"

"Issue orders! The scout division will deploy in full force—find Tsunade, Jiraiya, and the Black Warrior!"

"Issue orders! Activate all intelligence networks! Spread the news of the Black Warrior's appearance across the Land of Rain!"

"Issue orders! A reward of ten million ryō for anyone who provides accurate information on them!"

"Issue orders! A bounty of fifty million ryō for the heads of Tsunade, Jiraiya, and the Black Warrior!"

"Issue orders! The Vanguard Army will be restructured into independent squads. Spread out and search for them. They must be found!"

Hanzō gave command after command, his eyes gleaming with a hint of madness.