Chapter 117: Chapter 117: Artoria Template

The slash missed.

Hatake Sakumo quickly steadied his body and looked around.

The moment Natsuki’s Soru ended, he closed in and thrust his sword.

Decisive and fast, aiming straight for Natsuki’s heart.

Water Breathing: Second Form — Water Wheel!

Seeing this, Natsuki twisted his body, leaping into mid-air, dodging the sword strike.

At the same time, Kurosawa in his hand descended rapidly.

The blade light, carrying water flow, poured down like a tide.

Hatake Sakumo retreated while raising his sword.

Infused with a massive amount of chakra, the short sword in his hand emitted a dazzling white light.

Clang!

The white light and the water flow collided.

Natsuki and Hatake Sakumo both felt their bodies tremble and retreated simultaneously.

But Natsuki was in mid-air at this moment. Before he could make a move, Hatake Sakumo seized the opportunity.

His body turned into a blur, and the short sword thrust toward Natsuki’s thigh like a venomous snake.

Water Breathing: Sixth Form — Whirlpool!

Seeing this, Natsuki’s body generated a force out of thin air, spinning upward again.

Hatake Sakumo’s sword missed.

Natsuki gripped his sword with both hands and slashed at him.

Water flow surrounded his blade, biting toward Hatake Sakumo like a water dragon.

Hatake Sakumo wasn’t flustered. Showing exquisite footwork, he suddenly widened the distance, moving to the left.

He delivered a backhand slash, aiming for Natsuki’s arm.

Geppo!

Natsuki stomped the air with both feet, generating propulsion, and instantly disappeared from his spot.

"What kind of taijutsu is this?"

Seeing this, Hatake Sakumo couldn’t help but show a look of astonishment.

Although he was present when Natsuki fought Rasa, he was also engaged in combat and didn’t have the spare energy to focus on the details of their fight.

"Geppo."

Natsuki landed steadily and replied. "A taijutsu I created."

"Truly remarkable."

Hatake Sakumo couldn’t help but praise.

It was his first time seeing this kind of taijutsu that could achieve short-term flight.

"It is indeed unbelievable."

Sarutobi Hiruzen, watching from not far away, sighed emotionally.

"Geppo is different from taijutsu in the ninja world."

Tsunade nodded and said. "It relies not on chakra, but on a strong physical body."

"Yes."

Sarutobi Hiruzen said in confusion. "I really don’t know where Natsuki got the inspiration from."

"Perhaps this is what a genius is."

Tsunade chuckled and said. "A genius’s train of thought is always different."

"True."

Sarutobi Hiruzen evaluated. "Although ordinary people can’t learn Geppo, being able to learn it gives a significant advantage in combat."

Clang!

Natsuki and Hatake Sakumo clashed again.

Their styles were actually quite similar. Both their kenjutsu emphasized speed.

Because of this, theoretically, Hatake Sakumo should suppress Natsuki.

Because he was faster.

But in reality, they seemed evenly matched.

Both Sarutobi Hiruzen and Tsunade saw the reason.

Natsuki’s reaction speed was fast.

One had fast sword strikes, and the other had fast reaction speed. Like the sharpest spear and the sturdiest shield, it resulted in a stalemate.

But eventually, a victor would emerge.

However, neither Sarutobi Hiruzen nor Tsunade could be certain who would win.

Hatake Sakumo took a step back, widening the distance.

He caught his breath and gripped his short sword tightly.

After fighting for so long, he had a clear understanding of Natsuki’s strength.

It was time to bring out his true skills.

Otherwise, they could fight for a long time.

Hatake Sakumo narrowed his eyes and suddenly stepped forward.

A brilliant silver light appeared in the air.

His offense, like a violent storm, was actually a bit faster than before.

But Natsuki still reacted.

One-Sword Style: 36 Pound Phoenix!

He swung his sword, and a flying slash hit the silver light dead on.

Seeing this, Hatake Sakumo increased his chakra infusion.

He pushed his speed to the limit, swung forcefully, and directly sliced through the flying slash, flying toward Natsuki like a silver venomous snake.

At the critical moment, Natsuki simply let go of Kurosawa in his hand.

Broken Phantasm!

Kurosawa suddenly exploded.

Soru!

Natsuki disappeared from his spot.

Hatake Sakumo’s pupils contracted. In an instant, he slashed toward the center of the explosion.

At the same time, he retreated backward.

Even so, he was affected by the aftermath of the explosion, his clothes becoming scorched.

He wasn’t injured, just feeling a faint burning, stinging sensation.

But he had no time to think further, as he saw Natsuki reappear and leap into the air.

Water Breathing: Tenth Form — Constant Flux!

A massive amount of chakra transformed into a coiled water dragon. In an instant, Natsuki launched a continuous series of rotating slashes.

The overlapping blade lights filled Hatake Sakumo’s vision.

But such a terrifying killer move still didn’t defeat him.

He stomped fiercely on the ground. The ground cracked, and rubble flew up.

Hatake Sakumo’s speed reached its peak.

The short sword in his hand disappeared, replaced by countless silver lights.

Natsuki only felt that Kurosawa in his hand had trembled an unknown number of times in the blink of an eye.

Each tremble represented Kurosawa clashing with Hatake Sakumo’s short sword.

And the giant water dragon above Natsuki’s head was also sliced to pieces in an instant.

"Is Natsuki going to lose?"

Nawaki’s eyes widened.

This was his first time seeing Natsuki’s Water Breathing: Tenth Form — Constant Flux being countered.

Tsunade frowned and didn’t answer.

"Sakumo’s kenjutsu can indeed be called the best in the ninja world."

Sarutobi Hiruzen praised.

Actually, Natsuki’s kenjutsu wasn’t bad either.

But a slight difference in speed makes a huge difference.

In the current ninja world, where combat power hadn’t inflated to the point of Gundams blasting each other, speed was still very important.

If Hatake Sakumo lived to the late stages of the story, he would be restricted everywhere.

Because his opponents would possess Mangekyo Sharingan, Wood Release, Sage Mode, Rinnegan, and so on.

Right at that moment, the situation changed again.

After Hatake Sakumo countered Water Breathing: Tenth Form — Constant Flux, his burst of power didn’t end.

His entire body suddenly stopped, and then he thrust out his final strike.

The brilliant blade light was blinding like the sun.

Within the blade light, Hatake Sakumo’s short sword traveled at extreme speed.

This was clearly his peak strike.

Tsubame Gaeshi!

Kurosawa in Natsuki’s hand rapidly lengthened by a section.

Since Kurosawa was projected, he could freely alter its length.

The reason he made it longer was that executing Tsubame Gaeshi required a longer sword.

The sword Sasaki Kojiro used was called Bizen Osafune Nagamitsu, which was 1.5 meters long, longer than most swords.

Natsuki swung his sword.

In an instant, the entire space seemed to freeze.

But he didn’t freeze, rapidly swinging two more strikes.

Hatake Sakumo’s originally calm expression suddenly showed shock.

Because from his perspective, in the blink of an eye, three blade lights appeared before him.

These three blade lights sealed off all his positions.

Hatake Sakumo felt that no matter where he dodged, he couldn’t avoid these three strikes.

Left with no choice, he could only raise his short sword to meet them.

The sound of collisions rang out continuously.

After three sounds, there was a crisp snap.

Under Natsuki’s control, the three blade lights accurately hit Hatake Sakumo’s short sword.

In fact, he was aiming for the short sword from the very beginning.

Because this was a spar, not a life-and-death duel.

Half of the blade fell to the ground.

Hatake Sakumo stared blankly at the broken sword in front of him.

But his mind was still filled with the Tsubame Gaeshi Natsuki had just used.

That strike was too stunning, leaving him unable to recover for a long time.

"Did he win?"

Nawaki hadn’t quite processed it.

"He won!"

Uzumaki Kushina immediately cheered.

Although Yakushi Nonou didn’t speak, she also subconsciously pumped her fist.

"What kind of kenjutsu was that just now?"

A look of bewilderment appeared on Tsunade’s face.

"That strike... why did it feel a bit like a space-time ninjutsu?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen felt it was unbelievable.

This was a kenjutsu that had never appeared in the ninja world before.

"How is that possible?"

Hearing this, Tsunade subconsciously denied it. "It’s impossible to have such a kenjutsu."

"Swinging three strikes in an instant is indeed possible."

Sarutobi Hiruzen steadied himself, took a deep breath, and said. "But Natsuki gave the feeling of one strike turning into three."

Tsunade recalled the moment and found that it was indeed the case.

One strike turning into three, as if three Natsukis were swinging their swords simultaneously.

But there was only one Natsuki.

The most reasonable explanation was the overlapping of space or time in that instant.

Natsuki slowly withdrew his sword.

Tsubame Gaeshi was indeed very powerful, but the burden was also huge.

Otherwise, Sasaki Kojiro could just use Tsubame Gaeshi right off the bat to end the battle.

Tsubame Gaeshi was his Noble Phantasm and his ultimate move.

Most Heroic Spirits wouldn’t use their Noble Phantasms until the final moment because the consumption was too great.

Natsuki’s current body had the illusion of being about to fall apart.

He rested for a moment and looked at Hatake Sakumo.

"Sorry."

Natsuki spoke up. "I will pay for it."

"It’s fine."

Hatake Sakumo shook his head and said. "Being able to see that final strike, losing a sword was worth it."

"Natsuki."

Sarutobi Hiruzen walked over and couldn’t help but ask. "Is this a kenjutsu you created yourself?"

"Mhm."

Natsuki replied. "It’s called Tsubame Gaeshi, a kenjutsu created to cut down a flying swallow in mid-air."

"Are you sure what you encountered was a flying swallow?"

Tsunade complained and asked. "Whose flying swallow flies that fast?"

Good question.

Natsuki’s mouth twitched, speechless.

"Tsubame Gaeshi is completely worthy of being rated as an S-Rank ninjutsu."

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed emotionally. "Perhaps your future achievements will surpass Teacher’s."

"The Second Hokage created a massive amount of forbidden jutsu. I am still far behind."

Natsuki said modestly.

"Alright, don’t aim too high."

Tsunade knocked his forehead with her hand and warned. "Creating forbidden jutsu is certainly good, but you must understand that forbidden jutsu are very dangerous."

She was worried that Natsuki would become too obsessed with creating ninjutsu, thereby affecting his normal life or hurting himself.

"I understand."

Natsuki nodded and said.

After all, he wasn’t really creating ninjutsu.

"Natsuki, congratulations on passing the Jonin exam."

Sarutobi Hiruzen finally remembered the main business.

"Thank you, Lord Hokage."

Just as Natsuki finished speaking, a line of text appeared before his eyes.

[Congratulations, Host. You have unlocked Sasaki Kojiro Template Ability 4: Eye of the Mind (False).]

Natsuki couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He had finally unlocked Eye of the Mind (False).

The description for Eye of the Mind (False) was a sixth sense used for combat, a danger-avoidance ability based on innate talent.

Without a doubt, this was a god-tier ability.

Natsuki felt it was like an enhanced version of the Sharingan, or similar to the Mangekyo Sharingan.

The Mangekyo Sharingan possessed the ability to see through the target’s movements.

Eye of the Mind (False) was essentially a passive Mangekyo Sharingan.

[You have awakened the Artoria Pendragon Template.]

Who?

Who did you say?

Natsuki couldn’t help but exclaim "Good heavens" inwardly.

He actually awakened the Artoria template?

Artoria was one of the main heroines in Fate/stay night and its spin-offs.

She was the legendary King Arthur and King of Knights, summoned in the Holy Grail War under the Saber class.

Why did he awaken the Artoria template?

The only similarity between her and Hatake Sakumo was kenjutsu, and at most, chivalry and the samurai spirit shared some similarities.

Or was it related to Natsuki using Tsubame Gaeshi?

Because in the Fifth Holy Grail War, Artoria had fought Sasaki Kojiro.

Natsuki hurriedly looked at the Artoria template.

[Name: Artoria Pendragon (Alter)]

When he saw the first line, he was slightly taken aback.

This wasn’t the regular Artoria, but the Artoria corrupted and blackened by the Holy Grail.

Of course, the blackened Artoria was still Artoria Pendragon. There was essentially no difference.

[Period: Fifth Holy Grail War — Heaven’s Feel Route Saber-Class Servant]

Seeing the second line, Natsuki thought, "As expected."

Under normal circumstances, Artoria’s Master would be Emiya Shirou.

But in the Heaven’s Feel route, she was blackened, and her Master changed from Emiya Shirou to Matou Sakura.

Natsuki continued reading.

[World: Fate/stay night]

[Rank: S-Rank]

[Ability 1: Magic Resistance — UNLOCKED] Effect: When ninjutsu below B-Rank directly attack your body, their power will be greatly reduced.

[Ability 2: Invisible Air — LOCKED] Effect: By wrapping several layers of wind around it, the target cannot see your ninja tool, increasing attack power and accuracy. Unlock Condition: Learn five Wind Release ninjutsu.

[Ability 3: Mana Burst — LOCKED] Effect: Release chakra to strengthen one’s own body and ninja tools. Unlock Condition: Defeat five Jonin relying solely on kenjutsu.

[Ability 4: Infinite Mana — LOCKED] Effect: Infinite mana provided by the Black Holy Grail. Unlock Condition: Forge the Black Holy Grail according to the blueprint.

[Ability 5: Excalibur Morgan — LOCKED] Effect: Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm. Release all chakra in the body through the sword in hand. Its power is enough to destroy a city. Unlock Condition: After acquiring the Black Holy Grail, rebuild a country. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

After reading it, Natsuki only felt one thing: dumbfounded.

Although it was also an S-Rank character template, he felt the Artoria template was somewhat stronger than the Misaka Mikoto template and the Heroic Spirit Emiya template.

Ability 1, Magic Resistance.

Relatively speaking, this ability seemed a bit useless.

It required enemy ninjutsu to hit him for it to take effect, and it only worked on ninjutsu below B-Rank.

To be honest, with Natsuki’s current strength, the probability of ninjutsu below B-Rank hitting him was extremely small.

But it wasn’t completely useless.

If he was sneak attacked and couldn’t react, then it would be very useful.

Since it came unlocked, he wouldn’t complain.

Ability 2, Invisible Air.

Artoria’s classic ability, and its effect was also very good.

Simply put, it mainly acted on ninja tools, making them disappear or invisible to the enemy.

If applied to a sword, Natsuki would be fighting the enemy with an invisible sword.

The enemy would definitely fall into a disadvantage due to being unaccustomed to it.

It was like a normal person suddenly going blind. They would be very unaccustomed, and their strength would be greatly reduced.

What if it was applied to ranged ninja tools like kunai, shuriken, senbon, or arrows?

Natsuki could only evaluate it with three words: too sneaky!

Its unlock condition was to learn five Wind Release ninjutsu.

Natsuki had already unlocked the Wind affinity when he obtained the Uzumaki Naruto template.

Learning Wind Release ninjutsu would be much easier for him than learning Lightning Release ninjutsu.

Ability 3, Mana Burst.

Its effect was similar to Reinforcement Magecraft and Armament Haki.

Natsuki felt that if this continued, he would become a ninja with high attack and high defense.

But this was a good thing.

Its requirement wasn’t difficult either: defeat five Jonin relying solely on kenjutsu.

Natsuki’s current kenjutsu could be considered the best in the ninja world without exaggeration.

Moving on to Ability 4 and Ability 5, both the ability effects and the unlock conditions became extremely abnormal.

Ability 4, Infinite Mana.

As Natsuki’s strength increased and his character templates multiplied, his biggest weakness became insufficient chakra.

Because all abilities required chakra to take effect.

For example, Unlimited Blade Works.

Although he hadn’t unlocked it yet, four Kakashis’ worth of chakra was most likely not enough.

Now, here came Infinite Mana, which meant infinite chakra.

It’s just that its unlock condition was also heaven-defying, requiring him to forge a Black Holy Grail.

When Natsuki first saw it, he thought it was impossible.

One had to know that the Holy Grail in Fate/stay night was forged by the Three Founding Families of Fuyuki City over a long period.

But after looking at the blueprint for the Black Holy Grail, he found his guess was wrong.

Obviously, the blueprint for the Black Holy Grail had also been localized.

The most crucial parts were two things.

One was the special material to forge the Holy Grail.

The other was a chakra aggregate.

This so-called Black Holy Grail gave Natsuki the feeling that it was equivalent to a Tailed Beast, allowing him to become an existence similar to a Jinchuriki.

But chakra aggregates weren’t limited to Tailed Beasts.

In the ninja world, there were many existences similar to Tailed Beasts, such as the Ryumyaku, Moryo, and the Zero-Tails.

With great power comes great difficulty.

Although Natsuki regretted that it didn’t just give him Infinite Mana directly, he could accept it.

Ability 5, Excalibur Morgan.

It was Artoria’s Noble Phantasm as a Heroic Spirit, the legendary holy sword, and one of the ultimate Divine Constructs.

Obviously, this ability wouldn’t give Natsuki the actual sword.

But the power was terrifying enough, possessing the might to destroy a city.

Translated to the ninja world, it was highly likely equivalent to Nagato’s Chibaku Tensei or Shinra Tensei.

It’s just that its unlock condition was also terrifying: rebuild a country.

Natsuki’s first reaction was that this must be a joke.

Rebuild implied that the country had already been destroyed.

But the problem was, which country in the ninja world had been destroyed?

Did he have to go destroy a country?

Natsuki couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.

Suddenly, his heart stirred, and he thought of the Land of Rain.

If Hanzo died, Amegakure and the Land of Rain would fall into a state of disintegration, which might just fit this condition.

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