Black Moon Crowd.

A team of bounty hunters with samurai as the main members.

There are 100 people, 80% of whom are samurai who are proficient in swordsmanship, and the rest are made up of ninjas.

The leader's name is Kuroda, it is said that it is his surname, the name is ominous, he was born in the country of iron, and he once had a sword duel with Mifune, the current general of the country of iron, but because he was defeated by Mifune in a sword duel, he felt shameless to stay in the country of iron, and left the country of iron thirty years ago and wandered around the ninja world.

When he reappeared, he was a bounty hunter who took the head of a small daimyo in one fell swoop and slaughtered the mansion of the daimyo of that small country, thus making a name for himself in the underground black market and attracting the favor of many employers.

Then, as he became more and more active in the underground black market, a group of powerful samurai naturally gathered around him to work for him, and even some defected ninjas were impressed by his superb swordsmanship and joined his team.

Eventually, a team of bounty hunters called the Black Moon Crowd was formed.

At the height of its fame, even the Xuan Ape crowd shy away from the team and found it difficult to go head-to-head.

On the rooftop of a wild hotel, Kazuhime has all kinds of information about the Black Moon Crowd, and has a general understanding of the Black Moon Crowd to deal with next.

In addition to the leader Kuroda, among the Black Moon people, there are many tricky samurai and ninjas.

After all, it can be rampant in the underground black market for more than 20 years, and it can still stand, no matter how you look at it, it is not a simple team.

According to the information provided by the former bounty hunter Kakuto, Kuroda, the leader of the Black Moon, may have surpassed the current Iron Country General Mifune after a long time of honing his swordsmanship between life and death.

Moreover, Kuroda's swordsmanship is different from Mifune's concept of "harmony", he attaches great importance to killing, and has thoroughly trained himself into a killing sword!

As far as swordsmanship is concerned, it is more dangerous than Mifune, the great general of the Iron Country.

"Samurai..... A product of the old era, I can't imagine that there is such an existence in this era. The Sword of Slaughter may bring me a lot of fun."

Kazuhime took out a photo of Kuroda, a white-haired old man with wrinkles on his face, a pair of eyes that seemed to be dead and turbid, staring for a long time, making people feel a sense of horror swallowed by this stagnant water.

"Besides, sword duels and other things seem to be a lot more fun than I imagined. After all, the worst thing I'm good at is swordsmanship."

Kazuhime touched the Kusanagi sword at his waist.

Although she has a sword of the level of Kusanagi Keng, she has not undergone systematic swordsmanship training, and in any case, she is a ninja, not a samurai, and will spend a lot of time on swordsmanship.

Even if Susanoh uses the chakra sword, it is just a violent dismantling with the materialized chakra. She prefers to convince people with strength rather than skill.

She was born with a body comparable to that of a tailed beast and a chakra, and it would be a real waste if she didn't bring such advantages into play.

Thinking of this, Ichihime put away the information and photos without slowness, stretched out the chakra wings behind his back, and shook the void lightly, shaking the air, setting off an invisible wave of qi, and flying off the ground into the sky, like a meteor disappearing in the sky.

At the junction of the land of Takino and the country of iron, the headquarters of the alliance of the five great powers, it is already a decent size, and judging from the appearance alone, it can be expected that this is an incomparably magnificent giant fortress.

Since the four generations of the head of the Thunder Shadow, as well as Konoha's Hokage Tsunade, went to Turtle Island, the high-level leaders of the alliance who remained at the headquarters at this time were only Tsuchikage Onoki, Kazekage Rasa, and Mizukage Terumi Mitsumi.

However, as the country of samurai, the country of iron is also an important part of the alliance, so Mifune, as the general of the country of iron, can barely be regarded as one of the heads of the alliance's high-level, and his job on weekdays is to be responsible for adjusting the contradictions between the five shadows. And the Five Shadows also have great respect for Mifune, even if Mifune's strength is not as good as theirs, it is definitely the best under the Five Shadows.

"Black Moon Crowd...... Did you contact them?"

At this time, in the temporary conference room of the alliance headquarters, only the four people of Tsuchikage, Kazekage, Mizukage, and the Iron Country Commander were here

Yes.

Mifune, who occasionally caught a glimpse of some document, suddenly looked up at Tsuchikage Onoki with a bit of surprise in his eyes. "Yes, the Black Moon Crowd has a very powerful reputation in the black market, and their leader, Kuroda, is a tricky person. If you use it well, it can do amazing things."

Onoki responded lightly, not thinking that there would be any problems in hiring the Black Moons. "Kuroda? The Black Samurai on the Black Market?"

Kazekage Raksha also seemed to remember something, and said suddenly. Onoki nodded.

"That's right, in the era I lived through, the black samurai Kuroda was a very strong swordsman, and his swordsmanship was once praised by Hanzo, the leader of the rain hide. However, then I heard that he lost to Lord Mifune in a sword competition held by the daimyo of Iron Country in the past, and then left Iron Country for some reason and began to mingle in the black market."

With that, Onoki cast an inquiring glance at Mifune.

Mifune looked at Kuroda's photograph and sighed at the silent light in his eyes that looked like a pool of stagnant water.

"There is such a thing. But at that time, I was just lucky enough to beat him, but I didn't expect him to leave the Iron Country directly after defeat. Originally, I wanted him to be my deputy and work with him under the daimyo, but I didn't expect it..... It's really a trick."

"To be highly praised by His Excellency Mifune, it seems that this Kuroda's strength is worth looking forward to." Terumi also joined the conversation.

Although the era of the samurai has long passed, Terumi does not underestimate this collective too much.

Just like the shrine maidens of the Oni Country, the ninja temples of the Five Great Powers, before the advent of the era of one country and one village, before that, shrine maidens, samurai, and monks were all flourishing.

Even if the influence begins to shrink now, it will suffer if it is taken too lightly.

"Kuroda is very strong, and his kendo is different from mine, the kendo I insist on is 'harmony', while his is killing. If it's a life-and-death battle, maybe I'll be killed by him. Although he is a samurai, he will never stick to the tradition of samurai, and for him, as long as he can kill the enemy, he is the strongest swordsmanship."

Mifune's face became serious. "Unscrupulous?"

"Yes, he likes to kill to intimidate his enemies. I've heard that after he left the Iron Country, he became famous for slaughtering the Daimyo of a small country because of a bounty mission. After that, he did all kinds of things, but he also destroyed people, left no living mouth, and was obsessed with killing. The so-called bounty mission is just an excuse for him to find a strong man to kill. This kind of thing is really ......"

Mifune put down the photo and sighed again. In this regard, the three shadows did not say anything.

They only want to use the power of Kuroda and the Black Moon, and as for Kuroda's character and methods, there is no point in exploring it.

Besides, the black market is a mixed place, and there are no people of any kind. But there are no good people, those who can mix on this platform, and those who can make a name for themselves must be people whose hands are dyed with countless blood.

"In addition to the Black Moon Crowd led by Kuroda, the overall strength of the Thunder Light Troupe and the Shura Crowd is also good, and they are all a group of difficult ninjas. If it is used well, it can bring us good profits, and then we can hand over some dangerous tasks to them."

Luo Sha said out loud at this time.

"They are all experienced in combat, and as long as the money is in place, even if it is a life-saving mission, they will rush to it. That's the personality of a bounty hunter."

Onoki nodded in acknowledgment, although the alliance has 120,000 ninjas, its strength is also very limited, especially some dangerous missions, which are likely to cause huge losses to the alliance.

Leaving these dangerous tasks to bounty hunters who work for their lives not only preserving the Alliance's own strength, but also helping to suppress the arrogance of the enemy.

For the Alliance, the loss is nothing more than some money.

"Next, you wait here for the Thunder Shadow and the Hokage to come back, while the reserve funds are still sufficient, the old man needs to contact some more bounty hunters and let them serve as cannon fodder for the Alliance."

Bounty hunter blasts that take advantage of the black market in the midst of war

Enemy, this is already Onoki's usual means. The other three didn't speak, just nodded, acquiescing to Onoki's approach.

The Secret Country.

The village, which used to have a few hundred villagers, was no longer alive, and the fire that burned the whole village burned down and plunged the village into a sea of fire.

The corpses in the village were burned by the flames, emitting a scorching and bloody aura.

Not far from the fire-covered village, a group of black-clad figures wearing hats were resting on the spot.

The leader was an old man over sixty years old, with gray hair, wrinkled face, a scar on the right side of his face, and a pair of eyes that were as deep and quiet as death, quietly staring at the fire-covered village not far away, causing a faint flame to dance in his eyes.

The old man was dressed like a samurai in ancient times, wearing the black stacked armor of the previous era, the black headband tied the white hair into a ponytail, and the old withered palm was placed on the katana at his waist.

The handle of the katana is black, the same color as the black armor on the old man's body.

"Mr. Kuroda, the reclusive samurai of this village, has been wiped out, and there are two remaining stops, namely the Land of Flowers and the Land of Iron, and then the bounty mission on the side of the Five Great Powers Alliance."

A samurai wearing a hat from the Black Moon Clan stepped forward and bowed his head beside the old man Kuroda, his attitude respectful, and there was a bit of awe in his tone.

As the veritable leader of the Black Moon, the strength of the old man Kuroda has long been intimidating to all the samurai and ninjas in the team. As one of the largest bounty hunter teams in the black market, the Black Moon is not short of funds.

They usually have only two jobs, one is to receive bounty tasks on the black market, and only large bounty tasks with bounties of more than 20 million taels are eligible to be undertaken by them.

The second task is to find powerful samurai in various parts of the ninja world, and their leader, Kuroda, wants to hone his swordsmanship by fighting all the samurai in the ninja world who are skilled in swordsmanship.

In this burned village, there was such a samurai.

But the samurai had long since retired, and vowed never to fight again, hoping only to live in peace. So, in order to force him to take action, Kuroda asked the members of the Black Moon to slaughter the entire village.

Enraged, the warrior broke his oath and took up his sword again, wanting to avenge the villagers.

Perhaps because he hadn't held a sword for too long, Kuroda's swordsmanship seemed to Kuroda to be very sluggish, and in disappointment, Kuroda slashed him with a sword.

In short, in this battle, the Black Moon Crowd could see that the leader Kuroda was very disappointed.

Perhaps in his opinion, the samurai's sword has become so sluggish that he is no longer worthy of being a samurai. After all, the belief that the Black Moon Crowd believes in is not money, but killing.

They like to fight all kinds of strong people, and feel that if they can die in the killing, they are proud of it. Money, just an excuse they are looking for to kill.

「.... Iron Country."

The eyes that were originally stagnant finally fluctuated a little, and Kuroda's dark eyes swept lightly.

"What a nostalgic name. Speaking of which, does the old man's swordsmanship surpass that guy from Mifune?" Kuroda touched the only scar on the right side of his face.

It was a mark that had been cut with a sharp blade.

Thirty years later, this scar still makes him feel a dull ache.

"Mr. Kuroda's swordsmanship is invincible, that's an undeniable fact. The so-called generals of the Iron Country are just vain names. After all, if something like a sword is not stained with blood every day, it will become extremely dull."

The samurai on the side said firmly.

"Then, let's go, I hope that the next opponent will not let the old man down again." "Yes!"

The samurai and ninjas who belonged to the Black Moon all stood up, and there were as many as 100 people gathered around Kuroda.

Between the forests, the Black Moon Clan, led by the Kuroda samurai, began to gallop rapidly, aiming in the direction of the country of flowers, preparing to challenge the samurai there.

suddenly

Kuroda, the leader of the team, suddenly noticed something, suddenly stopped his galloping footsteps, and stood in a clearing, his originally calm eyes suddenly became fierce, and through the gap in the forest leaves, he probed deeper into the darkness.

When the rest of the people saw Kuroda's action, they also stopped their figures and began to look around vigilantly. "Come out, the old man has already found you."

Kuroda said to a stout tree.

With the sound of the branches being trampled on, a slender figure slowly stepped out from behind the trees and appeared calmly in front of Kuroda and the members of the Black Moon.

She was a young girl, about seventeen or eighteen years old, with waist-length black hair tied with a white headband tied between her hair, and she simply decorated her long hair.

The upper body is a tight black leather jacket that exposes the skin of the shoulders, and the lower body is a combination of a black miniskirt and over-the-knee socks, and the tight shorts on the inside of the miniskirt can be seen.

A flintlock pistol is attached to the black belt leg loop on the right thigh, and a long sword with a white handle and sheathed on the left waist.

The clothes on the body are simple and convenient, as if to lighten unnecessary clothing as much as possible to avoid affecting the battle.

On an overly delicate face, there were not too many expression elements, only a pair of dark eyes, staring at the people of the Black Moon Crowd with a smile, as if they were laughing.

"If you're not mistaken, you're the Black Moon, and you're the leader of the Black Moon, Kuroda, known as the Black Samurai." The girl looked at Kuroda, who was in the lead, and said after a while.

"Are you .....?"

Before Kuroda could speak, he followed the samurai, who was very high-ranking beside him, and when he saw the girl's face, he suddenly thought of something.

He quickly pulled out a pamphlet and rummaged through it for a list of bounties for the girl.

"Chiba Kazuhime, the Minister of Demons, Chiba Shiraishi, and the daughter of Uchiha Ruri, the current patriarch of the Uchiha clan of the Oni Country..... The reward amount is 140 million taels. It's a big fish."

Soon, the samurai spoke against the bounty information on the roster.

As a result, the rest of the members of the Black Moon Crowd looked at the girl, that is, Kazuhime's eyes, full of eagerness. In this eagerness, there is an extremely cruel killing intent.

As the leader of the Black Moon Clan, Kuroda was also extremely surprised when he heard the amount of this bounty.

It is not that they are confused by money, but that if they are a businessman or an official, they must have a lot of wealth or power.

And if it is a ninja or a samurai, it must be a strong person on the side of the famous town

Judging from the other party's dress and atmosphere, it is definitely not because of wealth and power that their bounty has reached this level. Moreover, the name Chiba Kazuhime, even he has heard of it.

"The Land of Demons.... I heard that your parents were from Konoha's White Fang Squad, and the leader of the White Fang Squad, Kiki Shuo Shigeru, known as the ninja of Konoha White Fang, once shook the ninja world with a white fang short sword."

Kuroda ignored Kazuhime's words, and didn't care what the other party's intention was when he came to him, but through Kazuhime's identity, he thought of the Konoha White Fang who was once famous in the ninja world.

"It seems like that, but I'm not interested in the things of the older generation. I heard that you are a master of swordsmanship, so this time I will use my sword to meet 'friends', and I hope that you, a black warrior, will not disappoint me too much."

Kazuhime smiled, pulled out the Kusanagi Sword in his right hand, and held the Kusanagi Sword tightly in his hand in a standard sword-holding posture, without the slightest bias.

Looking at Kazuhime's very standard posture with a sword, Kuroda also seemed to be aroused, and his eyes lit up.

"Even if the opponent is a woman, the old man will do his best. And if the old man's sword can be stained with your blood, the old man's sword path will go further."

Kuroda can feel that Kazuhime is not an ordinary ninja, such a person, even if it is a woman, has the value of killing.

So, he held his breath, grasped the hilt of the katana in his right hand, and struck with a posture that was more precise than Kazuhime's.

Kazuhime saw Kuroda's posture. "Draw your sword and slash."

Ichihime sputtered these three words out of his mouth.

As soon as the words fell, Kuroda's figure flashed, flashing in front of Ichihime at a speed as fast as lightning.

The katana that fits the scabbard is instantly unsheathed, cutting out a cold moonlight in Kazuhime's eyes, and the sharp breath makes the skin of Kazuhime's face feel the chill of frozen blood.

Bite!

Kazuhime preemptively slashed out the Kusanagi sword and steadily blocked Kuroda's drawn sword.

Although the speed is very fast, if it is an ordinary ninja, he will definitely be shocked by such a speed of drawing a sword, and then in the process of being cast, Kuroda will easily take off the head.

Seeing that Kazuhime easily blocked his first blow, Kuroda's wrinkled old face was not moved at all, as if he was not surprised by Kazuhime's actions.

The pitch-black figure dissipated from Ichihime's eyes like a phantom, and Ichihime felt that his back was like a thorn in his back, and before he had time to think, his body instinctively turned around and hurriedly slashed out a sword.

The Kusanagi sword and the katana collided again, and the sparks that shot out passed in front of Ichihime and Kuroda's eyes.

So fast! Even if she overestimated Kuroda's speed as much as possible, but after the actual battle, she found that Kuroda's speed was still underestimated.

She couldn't imagine the speed at which an old man over sixty years old could exert himself.

Kuroda was still unmoved, and he didn't have the idea of pity for the jade, and the sword rays released by the katana in his hand were faster than the other, like meteors galloping, dazzling to see.

Kazuhime didn't dare to blink at all, and if she made a mistake, Kuroda would swing a knife and touch her throat. This dangerous instinct keeps warning a little girl.

This old man, Kuroda, can definitely do this kind of thing.

Kazuhime swung the blade violently, perhaps sensing that Kazuhime's strength was very great, Kuroda flashed backwards in a light posture, kicked the ground with his feet, and lightly unloaded the power on Kazuhime's blade, causing her to return in vain.

The swordsmanship is too standard and rigid and doesn't have much flexibility, but the speed and power are strong. In just a short fight, Kuroda has already discerned the general situation of Kazuhime.

Seeing that the sword he slashed with all his strength was easily defused by Kuroda, Ichihime was not discouraged, the other party's skills were far above his own, and it was natural that he could do this.

Yiji is very clear about her swordsmanship level, and her swordsmanship relies on her strong physique.

As far as she's concerned, all she needs to do is hit the enemy.

"It seems that you, little girl, do have the value of killing."

After confirming this again, Kuroda's breathing rhythm began to change, and the light in his eyes became even darker, but in the darkness, there was a faint light, which was very strange.

"I think so too, after all, I'm here with the attitude of learning swordsmanship, and it's better to show all your swordsmanship before I hack you to death. After all, it's a sword to meet 'friends.'"

Kazuhime smiled freely, she and Kuroda didn't seem to be enemies, but a pair of old friends who had reunited after a long absence. It's just that her smile makes Kuroda feel no warmth.

Kuroda didn't say a word, but silently continued to pose with a sword, his heels raised slightly, the air shook, and the figure disappeared like a phantom again.

The sharp and cold sword appeared in the air, easily cutting through the obstruction of the air, and combined with Kuroda's lightning speed, no matter how experienced a ninja was, he would have a big headache.

In terms of swordsmanship alone, Kazuhime did feel unprecedented pressure.

Compared to her, the movements in Kuroda's hands are as if they have been tempered and formed into a physical instinct, and when the knife is drawn, it seems that he does not need to think about it, and he slashes the most exquisite blow.

This level of swordsmanship would not have been possible without decades of penance. And every knife is a fatal position that takes a straight shote's body.

As stated in the intelligence, this guy's swordsmanship is born to kill. "Huh?"

With her superior physique, Kazuhime resisted all of Kuroda's attacks with all her might, but then felt the collision of Kusanagi's sword and katana

It seems that something is unusual.

I don't know if it's an illusion, but Kazuhime felt the abnormality of Kuroda's sword style.

This anomaly made Kazuhime feel a little familiar, as if he had encountered the same situation when he was at war with someone in the past. Delusion? Ichihime frowned secretly, and a vigilance arose in her heart.

The Kusanagi sword and katana collide in the air again, sputtering sparks.

Perhaps the dynamics of the battle were too intense, and the members of the Black Moon Crowd also spread out around, not daring to approach the core battlefield.

In their eyes, whether it is Kuroda or Kazuhime, they move as fast as lightning.

It's not so much a battle between a samurai and a ninja as two jet-black lightning bolts colliding with each other at breakneck speed.

The sharp air currents generated by the collision of the sword and the katana left a conspicuous mark on the surrounding land and trees, showing the brutality of this sword duel.

And Yihime, as the party concerned, after blocking Kuroda's attack again, finally determined something, and his face changed slightly. "Hey, you don't use a sword at all—"

"It's too late."

The quiet words whispered softly from Kuroda's mouth like the murmur of no one in the middle of the night.

Kuroda's quiet and deep eyes suddenly became as sharp and murderous as a falcon. This cold is enough to freeze the flow of blood.

The wrist twisted, and the katana danced with it. "Secret Swordsmanship: Black Tooth!"

Jet-black--

Flashed in front of Kazuhime's eyes.

The black sword light bit into Ichihime's chest with an almost tyrannical momentum.

The sound of a pong was not the sound of a blade piercing flesh, but the katana in Kuroda's hand, which broke in two. The Broken Blade catapulted into the air, spun around, and then crashed into the ground.

Silence dominates the space.

Kuroda Furui Wubo's eyes finally became calm, as if he had seen something incredible, looking at Kazuhime's chest that had not shed a drop of blood under the stab of the katana, and directly stared at his pupils in dismay.

A wave of unease welled up from the depths of his heart, causing Kuroda, who was holding the broken sword in his hand, to instinctively flash backwards and retreat to a safe distance beyond the reach of Ichihime's Kusanagi sword.

"You..."

Before Kuroda finished speaking, a terrifying aura emerged from Kazuhime's body, and even Kuroda, who was used to killing, was nervous, making him unable to continue his words.

"What a mistake. That's the lack of intelligence."

Kazuhime ignored Kuroda at this time, holding the Kusanagi sword with his right hand, and patting his forehead with his left hand, as if he had a headache, for what he had made a mistake.

Immediately, she put down the palm of her forehead, raised her neck, and her eyes, which were originally black and white, were dominated by the red three-hooked jade writing wheel eye, so that the scenery of the entire forest was reflected in these red eyes, and swept coldly towards Kuroda.

"I thought this would be a sword duel, but I didn't expect that you, an old thing, have hidden the same tactile illusion as my mother in swordsmanship, interfering with my five senses and delaying my sensory ability, no wonder when I started before, the feeling was always wrong."

"The sword of killing pursued by the old man is more convenient for ninjutsu to kill than traditional swordsmanship. Moreover, victory is the most important thing, it does not matter by what means. Little girl, this era belongs to ninjas, and swordsmanship must also keep pace with the times, otherwise it will be derailed from the times."

Kuroda replied as a matter of course, not thinking there was anything wrong with it. 「...」

Ichihime was dumbfounded.

I wanted to refute it, but I couldn't refute it at all. Therefore--

Yiji glanced around, and the members of the Black Moon Clan, who were originally just watching the battle, had formed a tight encirclement at this time, surrounding her.

"It seems that the swordsmanship can only end here, and although it is a bit regrettable, I don't plan to remember the name of someone like you, because I am in a bit unhappy right now. I'm tired of playing, so you're going to die for me now."

Kazuhime held the Kusanagi sword with his backhand, and under the surprised gazes of Kuroda and Kurotsuki, his palm loosened, and the blade fell and plunged into the ground.

「

Uchiha Flame Array!"

With the words of Yihime landing - boom!

Bang!

The earth burst with a bang, and red pillars of fire suddenly erupted from the ground and rushed into the sky.

And not one, but ten, twenty, more pillars of fire rushed into the sky and scattered all around, forming a larger encirclement.

The flaming wall of fire connects the pillars of fire to the pillars of fire, sealing off the Black Moon Crowd and the sorcerer Ji.

"Alright, since you're also a ninja, let's end the fight the ninja way. Don't call me mean, this path is yours."

Looking at the Black Moon people, who had begun to be nervous and uneasy, his eyes finally fell on Kuroda, and a cruel smile appeared on Kazuhime's delicate and beautiful face.