[A/N: Thanks Hackman for the comment on the previous chapter :)]
Zetsu, who was hiding underground, instantly felt something drilling through the soil. It immediately went deeper into the ground. A fraction of a second later, the Vacuum Bullets passed through the space it was in earlier, barely missing its head by a few inches. It pierced through the Venus Flytrap-like extensions around its head, tearing away a good chunk of it!
White Zetsu looked at the damage and said, "This guy is scary! He almost killed us again. I'm afraid Juzo will have a tough time if he can even find time to attack us while fighting him."
Black Zetsu said, "Juzo is strong as well. But we need to inform Tobi and Pain. This fight will be a close one. Let's first ask Kisame to reinforce him."
Zetsu immediately left the battlefield. Fujin sensed his movement and wondered, 'Did I scare it away?'
He dodged Juzo's attack and analyzed, 'Unlikely. Black Zetsu doesn't want to expose its fighting abilities. He should have gone to call in for reinforcements. I will have to end the fight before they arrive. I can't take on two ninjas close to the rank S at the same time.
I should also consider the possibility of just one half having left and the other half staying back to observe or interrupt. Though I doubt he would want to expose himself, I should maintain my chakra field in case he does so.'
He turned his attention towards Juzo as he wondered, 'Why is he so determined to kill me? I have given him several opportunities to retreat. Sigh, I didn't want to get on Akatsuki's radar so quickly.'
Despite being aware of him, Fujin barely had any memories of Juzo. After all, he was barely even shown in the series. Though Fujin did collect all his information available with Konoha, it didn't include any information about how loyal Juzo was to Akatsuki and Pain as Hiruzen couldn't make information he received from Itachi public. So Fujin couldn't guess his intentions.
As they battled, Fujin felt Juzo's killing intent increasing steadily. He thought, 'I don't remember who killed him and how, but I know that he will end up dead soon. So I wasn't very interested in killing him. But if he wants to go all out, I can't afford to hold back.'
[A/N: The timeline regarding Juzo's death is very messed up!]
Without having to monitor Zetsu's location, Fujin became very determined and focused entirely on Juzo. He flickered to dodge the incoming attacks and flickered again to appear next to Juzo and slashed his sword at his waist.
However, Juzo flickered away without any seals as well. He appeared behind Fujin and attacked him with his sword. However, Fujin flickered out of the way as well. Juzo immediately followed him.
Both Fujin and Juzo flickered continuously trying to outspeed one another and land a fatal blow. Loud sounds of their blades clashing with each other were heard several times. Several scars were left in the ground and several trees were cut. However, Fujin was unharmed while Juzo didn't take any more damage.
Fujin appeared in front of Juzo once again and attacked with his sword. Juzo flickered away to dodge. Fujin stopped swinging his sword and immediately flickered as well. Both appeared close to each other at the same time. Having the initiative, Fujin slashed horizontally aiming to hack Juzo into two.
Juzo raised his sword defensively while building up his chakra. Fujin's sword hit Kubikiribocho once again. And yet again, a new crack appeared in the sword. This one was the largest yet as it moved almost halfway into the sword!
The large Kubikiribocho had around a dozen cracks in it by now. Though Juzo was also proficient in using Chakra Flow, his chakra flow didn't have any element to it. Due to Fujin's Wind Chakra, his sword was much sharper than Juzo's despite the Kubikiribocho being a better sword.
Juzo used the force of Fujin's attack to fly backwards while spitting out a large amount of water towards Fujin. Due to its volume, it built momentum and began collapsing towards Fujin.
Fujin stood his ground and built up chakra as well.
'Wind Release: Infinite Breakthrough jutsu'
He exhaled extremely strong winds. The Winds directly broke through the water and forced it back. They continued moving towards Juzo who was quickly backing away while weaving hand signs.
'Water Release: Great Waterfall jutsu'
Juzo expelled a large amount of water from his mouth high into the sky. After reaching high enough, it began cascading down towards the Windstorm heading at him.
The Winds broke into the Water and changed its direction back towards Juzo. However, the high volume of water dulled the wind blades in the jutsu and slowed down the jutsu until it was harmless.
Fujin didn't attack anymore and just observed Juzo getting hit by his own attack despite knowing that it wouldn't harm him. He analyzed, 'He is strong. Very strong. Though I have an advantage in chakra reserves and strength, I don't have an advantage in speed. His movement and combat speed are as fast as mine while his reaction speed is even faster.
Due to his significantly richer battle experience, he is able to negate my advantage in terms of strength very easily and has no issue dodging my Vacuum Bullets and Blades of Wind. Even if I use Vacuum Slash, I will probably be only able to cut that sword in half while he will flicker away. It will be the same with Vacuum Gatling.'
Fujin sighed internally as he thought, 'These attacks can easily rip into those Iwa Jounins trained to counter me. But against Juzo, though I will make things difficult for him, I won't be able to land a killing blow.
Not to mention, I doubt this will be my last clash with the Akatsuki. Exposing those skills now would put the entire Akatsuki on guard against those attacks. It will be disadvantageous for me in the future.'
As Fujin was analyzing, Mist began covering the entire region. Fujin stood in his spot as the mist engulfed him. Unknown to Juzo, a glint appeared in Fujin's eyes.
Just like Fujin, Juzo was thinking hard as well. He thought, 'From the reports, he should be barely 15 years old. To be able to give me such a hard time at such a young age… Another fearsome talent has appeared in Konoha.'
Juzo couldn't help but shudder as he suddenly had a thought. It was, 'They still have the 3rd Hokage in addition to the two Sannins who are in their prime. And from Itachi's words, Hatake Kakashi and Might Guy are very impressive as well and live up to their father's reputation. Now this guy. If Konoha still had Uchiha Fugaku and Itachi in addition to them…'
Juzo felt a chill at that thought. Once Fujin, Kakashi and Guy reached rank S, Konoha could have had a greater number of rank S ninjas than Akatsuki!
Juzo stopped thinking about such a hypothetical scenario and turned his attention back to Fujin who was being engulfed by the mist. He was confused as he wondered, 'Why didn't he push on the attack? Is he afraid of fighting me when there is a lot of water around me? But that doesn't explain why he is letting the Mist engulf him and not blowing it away.'
Juzo had expected Fujin to use a Wind jutsu to blow the mist away. He intended to take action at that time and create an opening. However, Fujin's inaction made his tactic pointless. So Juzo decided to make use of the mist and made a hand seal.
'Water Release: Water Clone jutsu'
4 Water Clones appeared around him. They immediately moved silently towards Fujin's location. Juzo looked at the cracks in his blade and thought, 'I will have to let Kubikiribocho drink some blood now.'
He disappeared and began moving through the mist. Not a single sound was heard as he moved.
The 4 Water Clones arrived where Fujin was standing. To their surprise, he was still standing in his spot with his eyes closed. They observed him for some time, but Fujin didn't make any movements at all and stayed like a statue. All 4 clones wondered, 'What scheme is he cooking?'
In order to not let him bide time, 2 of the Water Clones moved towards him. One appeared behind him and another appeared in front of him. Both swung their swords at the same time.
Fujin's eyes snapped open and gazed into the eyes of the Water Clone in front of him. Despite the attack, he didn't move. The two swords cleaved him into 3 pieces!
However, no blood was spilled. Instead, the two clones felt a breeze. At the very next moment, Fujin exploded, launching wind blades around him. Both the water clones were too close to react and were hit by the blades. Though the attack wasn't extremely fatal, it was enough to dispel them both.
Juzo's remaining two Water Clones were surprised. They realized, 'A Wind Clone!'
Juzo, who was hiding not too far away, was shocked as well. He thought, 'Impossible! I didn't feel him move at all. Where is he? I can't feel him at all in this Mist.'
Juzo and his clones became very alert. Not being able to find Fujin in the mist made Juzo nervous for the first time. He stayed on alert but his eyes suddenly widened. He thought, 'The mist is mixed with some foreign chakra. SHIT!!!'
[A/N : Bonus chapter on next Sunday if the fic gets 1000 Power Stones. Bonus chapter on next week's Saturday if the fic gets 2000 Power Stones.]
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