Fujin asked, "Can you create Shadow Clones?"
Shiro answered, "Just one. I'm not very good at it. Also, it exhausts my chakra very rapidly."
Fujin nodded and said, "Don't worry. Just make one with minimal chakra. Your clone will follow my clone to see where those bloody footprints go. Check whether you can smell some of the scents here on that route."
Shiro nodded. He created a Shadow Clone with 15% of his while Fujin created one with 1% of his chakra. Both immediately left along the trail left by the bloody footprints.
Shiro asked, "Which track should we follow?"
He had smelled two tracks of Hidan's scent. They could only follow one route unless they split up and made Shiro and his ninja dog move into two separate teams.
Fujin didn't intend to split the team so quickly. If the other team found Hidan, then they would be in danger and he didn't have the ability to teleport as of now. He answered casually, "The one where you can smell a hint of blood."
Shiro was surprised by the answer. However, he followed the instruction without any delay and the four moved once again.
Fujin thought, 'Hidan's fighting style involves a lot of blood. His weapons should still be smeared in enemy blood. By comparison, the Kumo ninjas would be careful enough to not make such a silly mistake.
Not to mention, knowing Hidan, he should leave a bloody trail in his path. As long as there is no unexpected factor, I should get to him. The only thing I need to worry about is how I can read his memory while these three are with me…'
Fujin was finally hopeful once again. Though they were moving slightly slowly, he felt that they had a high chance of catching Hidan.
While they were following the tracks, Hidan met another bunch from Kumo. Darui and his teammates had finally found Hidan. Despite not being good at smelling, everyone could smell a stench of blood from Hidan.
Hidan exclaimed, "Another bunch from Kumo? You are too eager to be sacrificed to Lord Jashin!"
His words immediately angered the Kumo ninjas. Darui said, "So you admit to killing our ninjas. Good. Let me see where you get the courage to do so!"
He weaved hand seals.
'Lightning Release: Black Panther'
Darui released black lightning which immediately took the form of a panther and reached Hidan in the blink of an eye. The speed of the jutsu was too fast. Hidan was surprised.
He had a relatively easy time killing ninjas from Yugakure. Though he struggled a bit against the Kumo ninjas, it was due to being outnumbered rather than being outmatched.
The jutsu hit Hidan and electrocuted him. His screams were heard. A black glow appeared around him due to the black lightning. The Kumo ninjas enjoyed Hidan's screams. However, to the surprise of the Kumo ninjas, Hidan's screams slowly became softer. By the time the attack was over, Hidan was still standing. Only his clothes were damaged.
Hidan looked at the Kumo ninjas hatefully and was about to curse when he felt someone grab his neck. One of the Kumo ninjas took advantage of Hidan's inattentiveness and snuck up on him. He lifted Hidan by his neck and slammed him into the ground.
He looked at Hidan and asked, "Do you know how we were able to track you?"
Hidan tried to release his neck from the enemy's grip, but the Kumo ninja was much stronger physically. Plus he was just given shock therapy by Darui. The ninja answered his own question, "We lost your trail multiple times. But each time we did, we found several people who you butchered. It was only due to the blood trail you left that we managed to find you!"
The Kumo group wasn't as skilled as Fujin's squad in terms of tracking. As a result, tracking Hidan was quite difficult for them. However, whenever they lost his trail, they found a few people or families that were slaughtered by Hidan. As a result, they were able to stay on his trail and eventually reached him.
Having ensured that Hidan would regret killing mindlessly at the last moment of his life, the Kumo ninja grabbed a kunai and stabbed it into Hidan's heart!
The Kumo ninjas just watched from a distance. After all, the one attacking was an Elite Jounin as well. Though they were alert against Hidan due to him having 8 Kumo ninjas, they were still confident in defeating him easily.
However, to the surprise of every Kumo ninja present, Hidan dug his nails into his forearm and caused the Kumo ninja to bleed. At the same time, he grabbed his retractable spear and attacked the Kumo ninja while ignoring the kunai stuck in his chest.
The Kumo ninja quickly backed away. The remaining Kumo ninjas quickly grabbed their weapons and looked with shocked expressions. Darui asked, "How is he still alive?"
The ninja who had just fallen back replied, "I don't know. I'm sure that I stabbed his heart."
C said, "Remember the words of our dying comrade? His last words were 'He is Imm…'. Do you think he meant to say that he is an immortal?"
Darui replied, "It could be. What an annoying opponent. No wonder they didn't survive…"
While the Kumo ninjas were talking, Hidan got up and removed the kunai from his chest. Immediately, blood poured down from the injury. He licked the blood on his nails. Immediately, several tattoos appeared on his face and body. At the same time, he used his foot to draw the sacrificial diagram on the ground with the blood that had poured down.
He looked at the Kumo ninjas and cursed, "You Motherfuckers! The ritual has now begun! Let's experience the ultimate pain together!"
The Kumo ninjas were confused by his words. However, they didn't dare to underestimate him anymore. The 8 ninjas spread out and surrounded Hidan from all sides. A few began weaving hand signs.
While the Kumo ninjas were engaged in a battle with Hidan, Fujin's squad was rapidly moving towards the location where Hidan and the Kumo ninjas were fighting. Unfortunately, they were still too far away to be able to detect the fight. Luckily for them, the two sets of scents kept merging on the same path again and again. As a result, they were able to confirm that they were moving in the right direction.
At the same time, the Akatsuki members led by Konan were flying in rapidly. They had crossed over the vast area of the Land of Fire and had entered the Land of Hot Water thanks to the high speed of the Giant Drill-Pecked Bird they were riding. Since none of them were the talkative type, they flew in complete silence.
As for the Yugakure and Shimogakure ninjas, they were still some distance away and they didn't have the advanced tracking capabilities of the other three forces.
At the place where Fujin's team was heading, the Kumo squad were by themselves. The only difference was that instead of 8, there were only 6 ninjas. The remaining two were lying lifelessly on the ground. One of the ninjas cursed, "That bastard ran away."
C said, "How far can he go? With that bloody wound, tracking him wouldn't be difficult. But, we need to plan first. Otherwise, we will lose more people."
Samui analyzed, "His abilities are very peculiar. I now understand how he was able to kill those 8 ninjas. Stab wounds and jutsus have no long-term effect on him. In addition, he can ensure that one of us suffers the same damage that he does, allowing him to kill that person by stabbing his own heart."
Darui continued, "However, to do that, he needs to lick the blood of that person. As long as we don't let him injure us, he won't be able to use that curse against us. The best way to fight him would be to fight him from a distance."
Samui questioned, "But how can we fight him from a distance? So far, the only wound he couldn't shrug off was when you cut his arm off. But if we fight from a distance, we can't do that. He isn't impacted much by our jutsus and moves fast enough to dodge any weapon we throw."
C said, "One of us would need to fight him at close range. As long as he can avoid getting injured and we keep Hidan away from the circle, we will be able to neutralize him."
Darui said, "I will do it. Unless he somehow reattaches his arm, he won't be able to keep up with me, let alone injure me. I'll cut his legs off and then we can keep attacking him until he dies. If not, we will tie him up and carry him to the village. If we can get his technique, then the village will benefit a lot."
Everyone nodded at Darui's idea. Hidan's technique was just too absurd. If they could gain it, they wouldn't have to worry about much during fights. Even if a small percentage of ninjas in Kumogakure mastered that technique, their village would become invincible in war!
[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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