"So 4 of them run away, huh?"
Zoro and Yugito have returned to the group and reported the result to Raikage.
"Seems like their goal was just to delay us and not defeat us. So when they saw the difference in power between them and Zoro-kun, they didn't hesitate to retreat. But because Yugito-san didn't show overwhelming power when fighting them, they thought they could fight her and even defeat her, so they kept fighting her."
Dodai quickly makes an assumption from the reports, which is correct. The ones that chase them only want to stall for time, so they shouldn't really go all-out in the fight.
"I agree. With Master Raikage and B-san here, I doubt they think they can defeat our group. So they will only try to stall time as long as possible. But it seems they got too carried away when fighting Yugito. Maybe because she is young and didn't show overwhelming power just like what Dodai-san said."
Yasu, their sensor ninja also agrees with Dodai and everyone else thinks it seems to be the most possible case.
"That means they will do more things to slow us down after this. Maybe they've even planned on where to attack us in this route," says Samui after thinking for a while.
"Hmph! Doesn't matter. If they attack again, then we'll just defeat them. Yasu, Zoro, if you sense them to get closer to us or seem to do something suspicious, report to me right away. I will blow them up before they can even do anything."
"You will go yourself?" Zoro asks after Raikage gives that order.
"We can't waste time, so I will attack them myself. It will be the fastest way to solve this problem."
With Raikage's speed, none of the enemies will be able to escape like when Zoro fought them.
"Then, do you want to do it now? The 10 people in the back are still keeping the same distance since I found them."
"Hmm, alright, might as well do it now when we've stopped already."
Raikage tells Zoro to get on his back and guides him to the enemies. Zoro thinks that this is embarrassing, but he can't disagree because he's the one suggesting them to dispose of the 10 pursuers right now.
After Zoro gets on his back, Raikage activates his Lightning Chakra Mode. Surprisingly, it doesn't affect Zoro even though the lightning bolts are zapping on his body.
"No need to be that surprised. With great control, I can decide whether my lightning will affect you or not. Although you will still feel the force of my Lightning Chakra Mode, you won't get electrocuted by my lightning, so don't worry."
"I see, I'm glad then."
Zoro nods in understanding. It's just like a Swordsman's One with The Sword state where they can decide whether to cut something or not.
He achieved this state a long time ago. If he doesn't want to cut it, then even a thin thread or a thin paper won't get cut no matter how sharp his sword is.
That's why if he wants, he can avoid cutting people in half. But most of his battles so far were death matches where he killed or be killed. Also, he has Wind Chakra that increases the sharpness of his attacks, so he often just cuts his enemies.
Anyway, Raikage runs at a very high speed while Zoro uses his Observation Haki to locate the 10 enemies that chase them so far.
With his strong senses and Observation Haki, Zoro can keep up with Raikage's speed. He has gotten more used to Raikage's speed after their match too, so this isn't much of a problem.
They reach the 10's location in a very short time, surprising the 10 who thought they had stalked the group far enough to not get detected.
Zoro gets down from Raikage's back and the muscular man quickly rushes to attack the 10 chaser ninjas.
Raikage attacks them with his powerful and high speed punches. None of them can even see Raikage's high speed movements, so they can't even fight back.
Now Zoro understands well why people say speed is power. With such speed, someone can defeat their enemies with ease and doesn't give them any chance.
It makes Zoro think that he really still has a long way to go. He can't handle the current Raikage's speed yet. But the Raikage years later who he thinks must have gotten stronger and faster will still lose against Madara even though he fights alongside the other Kages.
Furthermore, that Madara is still not in full power as he isn't the Jinchuuriki of 10 Tails yet. So Zoro really still has a long way to go before he can reach the top.
'And there are still Kaguya, the Otsutsuki clan, Naruto, Sasuke, and other hidden powerful perverts. Hmm, maybe my lack of progress lately is more because I got too arrogant, thinking I'm already strong instead of not finding my own path.'
Zoro is now determined to keep thinking that he is still weak so he will keep striving to get stronger and train as hard as he can every day without being complacent.
He is not smart, so it's hard for him to find the correct answer to his situation. But he knows he can't stay idle. It's hard to find the answer, but it's easy to keep trying, so he will keep trying to get stronger through his training.
Zoro watches as Raikage defeats the 10 ninjas easily. He doesn't kill them and just knocks them out before telling Zoro to tie them up.
After they are tied, Raikage tells Zoro to get on his back again while carrying the 10 tied-up ninjas. Zoro sighs as he follows the order and they return to the escort group in a short time.
"Yasu, contact the village to pick these guys in the next town. We need to interrogate them and find out who sent them here."
"Yes, Master Raikage."
Yasu writes the message in a small scroll and summons an eagle to send it back to the village. Then the group resumes their way to the next town with the 12 captured ninjas being dragged by Zoro.
There are 12 of them captured because Yugito didn't kill 2 of the 5 she fought while Raikage left all of the 10 he fought alive.
They were considering how to carry these 12 and Zoro volunteered to pull them alone after they were being tied together with sealed chains and got their chakra sealed.
Dragging 12 people is heavy, but Zoro gladly does it because it's like a form of training. He often pulls things heavier than these 12, so it's light work for him.
"Hmm? Hey, Zoro, ya fool! Did you keep those weights on your body all this time?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Damn, ya fool! No wonder you were very heavy when I threw you to the top of the cliff."
"Ah, right, sorry about that. I've reduced the total weight to just 250 kg, but it must still be pretty heavy."
"... Just 250 kg?"
"... How much did you usually carry?"
"For daily use, I usually carry 5 tons. 1 ton on each limb and 1 ton on my body. But when I trained, I increased the total to 10 tons."
He still also used additional weights to lift when he trained. But he doesn't think he needs to say it because everyone's jaw has already dropped when they hear the total weights he used with his weight straps.
"You can lift that much, so your muscles should be very powerful, kid. But it seems you are very focused on strength and neglecting your speed and agility quite a lot. With powerful muscles and a lean body, you should be able to be fast and agile. Furthermore, you have great senses, so you should be able to handle high speed movements."
Zoro nods when Raikage says that. He too has now realized that he doesn't train his speed well enough even though he can achieve high speed movements with his body condition.
When he uses Iai skills, he can move at a very high speed that his opponents can't catch up with him. But he can only move that fast in a straight line for a short distance.
What he needs to achieve is to move very fast for a long distance while being able to maneuver agilely and respond to any situation while moving at that speed, just like Raikage.
So Zoro takes Raikage's advice seriously and is very thankful for it. Aside from being thankful for this advice, Zoro is also thankful to Raikage for letting him learn more about the Lightning Chakra Mode.
When he was on Raikage's back before, Zoro also used his Observation Haki to feel how the Lightning Chakra Mode works.
Being in touch directly with it really helps him understand more about how Raikage uses his chakra in that Mode.
So now he will be able to improve his imitation technique that uses Wind Chakra and he's sure soon he will be able to use Wind Chakra Mode and when he becomes skillful with his Fire Chakra, maybe he can create Fire Chakra Mode too.
All in all, this job is really beneficial for him. He is very glad now that he gets this job even though he isn't a ninja from Kumo.
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Chapter 72. Zoro vs Kisame
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