The ones who have been following them for a rather long time finally make their moves now that they are passing through a valley between high rocky cliffs.
They destroy the rocks on top of the cliffs to make them fall on Zoro's group. It seems like they have planned to attack in this location from the beginning. That's why they only followed from afar since the beginning.
But the escort group has anticipated this since they entered the valley. Yasu has finally detected the pursuers before they entered the valley, so they are sure those guys would attack here.
B who has full control of Gyuki's ability takes out 2 of Gyuki's gigantic tails to slap the falling rocks away, protecting the whole group.
Then B, grabs Zoro and Yugito with the tails and throws them to the top of the cliffs to handle those who dropped the rocks on them.
Zoro lands on the left side while Yugito on the right side. Each of them is facing 5 ninjas who wear black clothes that cover them from head to toe, only leaving their eyes visible.
"You don't wear any village identities, huh? Are you hiding it or are you mercenaries hired by a hidden village?"
They don't answer Zoro and just get ready to fight.
"I see, you are determined to hide your identities, huh? Well, doesn't matter."
Zoro holds a sword with his left hand without taking it out. The ninjas are throwing shurikens and kunais to him. Some have paper bombs attached to them.
"Ittoryu Iai: Shi Shishi Sonson!" (1 Sword Style Acting Draw: Death Lion's Song!)
Zoro flashes and appears behind one of the ninjas in an instant. He is much faster than usual now as he uses his Wind Chakra on his feet to make his move swifter.
This is something he has been trying to do since his fight against E. The fight against Raikage made him even more determined to learn this skill which tries to imitate the Lightning Chakra Mode, but he changes it to Wind Chakra.
He's still not that skillful at controlling his chakra like them though, so he can only use it on either his arms or legs. But it still enhances his speed and power on those parts.
Unlike Lightning Chakra, Wind Chakra doesn't strengthen his nerves nor increase his metabolism. But it helps him move faster by reducing the air resistance when moving which then also increases his attack power.
Furthermore, he also uses Wind Chakra on his sword, making his attack much sharper. So the ninja he targeted couldn't dodge as it is not only a surprise attack, but also fast and powerful.
His slash cuts the ninja's body in half instantly without much resistance. He kills one of the 5 ninjas easily, surprising the other 4 who thought he won't be a hard opponent to deal with because he is still young.
"Now, why don't you come at me before I initiate the attack."
Zoro says that while grinning and wielding all his swords. The surprised ninjas quickly return to their senses and prepare their attacks.
3 of them rushes at Zoro while the other 1 stays behind. All of them are forming different sets of hand seals.
"Earth Release: Deep Swamp!"
The ground where Zoro stands turns into mud and his feet are sinking, making him unable to move. Then the other 3 ninjas who have finished their hand seals surround him from 3 sides.
"Water Release: Drowning Flood!"
The ninja puts his palms on the ground, then a massive amount of water appears and moves toward Zoro like a flood. He can't move, so the water quickly engulfs him.
"Water Release: Water Bullet!"
This ninja jumps to the air and shoots a massive water bullet at Zoro after the flood goes up to his waist.
"Lightning Release: High Voltage Discharge!"
The last ninja's arms are covered with lightning. Then he shoots a lot of lightning bolts from his hands towards Zoro.
It's a bad situation for Zoro because if they hit him, not only will he receive damage from both jutsu, the lighting will also electrocute him even stronger because of the water.
But he is still calm and just lines up his swords into 1 horizontal straight line. He coats them with Advanced Armament Haki and Wind Chakra to strengthen his attack.
Then he twists his body as much as he can to the side before swinging his swords while spinning his body in the opposite direction.
"Kokujo O Tatsumaki!" (Kalasutra Great Dragon Twister!)
He can't rotate his body as much as usual because of the swamp that restricts his feet. But thanks to his Advanced Armament Haki and the Wind Chakra, his Dragon Twister is still very strong.
Because he can't move, the tornado blade appears on him with him staying in its center. It now acts like a shield, blocking the Water Bullet and Lightning Bolts. It even sucks the flood and the mud that traps his feet.
The wind tornado blade now becomes a water tornado with lightning striking on its surface. Zoro is standing inside the tornado unaffected while the 3 ninjas that attack him are trying to get away because the tornado is trying to suck them.
But then Zoro suddenly senses the ninjas are running away. He clicks his tongue as he can't chase them now. His technique is trapping himself and he can't destroy it yet or the electrocuting water will hit him.
"Torao!"
Zoro calls Torao who is in his shadow before he suddenly falls into his shadow because Torao pulls him in.
Then they move out of the tornado through the shadow. But they can only use the shadow to get outside of the tornado because Torao's Shadow Movement technique can only move through shadows.
The area is barren and the only shadow connected to them is the tornado's shadow. So they can't chase the ninjas through the shadows as the tornado's shadow isn't connected to other shadows.
Zoro plans to chase them, but they have gone too far. So he just returns with the corpse of the ninja he killed. He's sure they will attack again, after all, so no need to chase them.
When he wants to get down, he realizes that Yugito is still fighting. So he decides to give her a hand and reduce the enemy's number more.
Torao turns into his tiger-sized form and jumps to the other side with Zoro on his back. Then while still like that, Torao runs very fast towards the battle location.
Yugito hasn't killed anyone yet as it has only been a while since they started fighting. But it seems like Yugito doesn't have much trouble fighting against 5 ninjas at once alone.
Her fight impresses Zoro because she actually can set traps while fighting them. Though her traps are limited to landmine and binding traps that are set on the ground. Probably because the terrain limits her options.
"Seems like she has a solid plan, let's not disturb her and just watch from this distance."
Zoro watches as she taunts her opponents and gets away to pull them into her traps. Then when they don't get closer, she approaches and attacks them.
She skillfully uses kunais and wires to break their formations. She also uses the wires to guide her fire jutsu after she manages to bind her opponents.
Slowly, she injures the enemies, although she can't kill any of them yet. But her enemies still become very wary of her. Then they see Zoro watching from afar and 2 of them nod before charging at Zoro.
Yugito who knows their intention just lets them be and even shakes her head. She keeps focusing on fighting the other 3 enemies.
Meanwhile, the 2 ninjas have reached Zoro's location and are just about to attack him. They intend to capture him and use him as a hostage because he looks like an easier opponent than Yugito.
Because he hasn't helped Yugito ever since he arrived, they thought he was not as strong as her. Zoro also doesn't move and only puts his hand on a sword, making them think he is too afraid to fight.
But then before they realize it, Zoro's sword has already been drawn. It has gotten unsheathed from its scabbard on the right and now is on Zoro's right side.
"To think you are delivering yourselves to me. How smart of you."
Zoro says it sarcastically while smirking. The 2 ninjas finally realize that they have deep cuts on their bodies. Zoro was swinging his sword from right to left at a very high speed and they couldn't see his sword cutting their stomachs.
The cut doesn't cut their bodies in half, but it's still very deep. It cuts their internal organs and even touches their backbones. So obviously, it's enough to kill them.
The other 3 ninjas are shocked, and Yugito uses this chance to bind them with wires. Then she burns them with her fire jutsu, defeating the remaining 3.
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Chapter 71. Extortion
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