'I need to change my tactics… Hmm?'
Fujin glanced towards his left and saw dozens of kunai with explosive tags flying towards him. A couple of dozen Kumo ninjas from the army's vanguard had moved around the battlefield to sneak up on Fujin. In addition, Fujin sensed a couple of dozen ninjas quickly moving towards his right as well.
Lightning appeared in his left hand again as Fujin flung it towards the incoming kunai. The Lightning transformed into a net, deflecting every kunai and disabling all the explosive tags.
A moment later, he jumped and appeared on a branch behind him as the ground under him turned into spikes. His new position was immediately bombarded by Water and Lightning combination jutsus as more Kumo ninjas jumped into the battle.
Finally getting a breather, Darui said, "That guy is intense. Are you guys alright?"
Everyone nodded. Even though the fight was intense, no one was injured. Well, no one but one. Darui looked at Yugito and asked, "Yugito, how's your leg?"
Yugito replied, "I think his punch cracked some of my bones. However, Two Tails' chakra has healed most of it. I can fight normally. That said, be careful in a frontal battle against him. His strength is phenomenal."
Darui said, "Yeah, there's no doubt about it. He was able to stop my blade with just his fist."
Suddenly, Jin said, "Darui, all his clothes are densely inscribed in seals. That is why your blade was stopped so easily. You guys need to be more careful in close combat. Those seals raise his defenses by several levels. Your attacks might not have as much effect on him as you think. In addition, I'm not sure whether those seals have any offensive features."
While Darui and the rest were having a quick discussion, Fujin was standing in the forest surrounded by electrified water. However, he wasn't worried. On the contrary, it made it difficult for the Kumo ninjas to make any follow-up attacks.
Fujin analyzed, 'A frontal assault against the 7 of them will only result in a loss. The only real way I can change the tide of the battle is by using Kirin. However…'
A helpless smile appeared on Fujin's face. As good as Kirin was, it was just too strong. He didn't want to risk killing either Darui or Yugito. That would have far-reaching repercussions.
Darui was Ay's right hand. Among everyone in Kumo, he was the only acceptable successor to Ay. Losing someone like him could force Ay to take drastic measures, such as targeting the young ninjas of Konoha and perhaps even other villages. While Fujin wasn't afraid of him and could take him on, the future would change drastically if Kumogakure killed any of Naruto's batchmates.
On the other hand, Yugito was a Jinchuriki. If she died, Matatabi would die as well and revive somewhere a few years later. Even though Fujin had created the Phantom Haven, his ability to gather information was still nowhere near Zetsu's level. And unlike the Three Tails, Fujin didn't have a clue about where it would resurrect. Hence, Fujin didn't want to kill her for the time being.
Fujin analyzed, 'I guess there is just one option then… The most basic tactic… Let's see how they respond.'
In Kumogakure, Mabui was still swamped with work. She sent a new Anbu squad to the base where the Anbu squad who didn't respond was headed. In addition, the remaining Anbu squads had reached their respective bases. Not daring to get close to the base, they observed the bases from a safe distance and reported the situation to Mabui.
Mabui's expression was very ugly. She thought, 'This is the worst-case scenario! They didn't see a single person inside the base! Where is everyone? How could everyone just disappear? Even if I assume Konoha sent their best ninjas, how could they neutralize everyone in every base so clinically that no one was able to contact us?'
Mabui was disturbed by the information. She was barely hanging by a thread when a few old people walked into the Raikage's office! They were led by Inazuma, who used to be an advisor to the Third Raikage. Needless to say, the people with him were the remaining council members.
Mabui frowned on seeing them entering in such a way. She asked, "Why are all of you here?"
One of the council members snorted and asked, "Why don't you tell us that?"
Another said calmly, "The whole village has been restless the entire day. You guys have even put up a barrier. Lord Raikage is nowhere to be seen and Darui led a huge army away deeper into the country a few hours ago. How long are you going to keep us in the dark about what is happening?"
Mabui plainly replied, "You can ask Raikage-sama when he returns. For now, I'd appreciate it if you don't disturb me."
The events of the last 24 hours had made her weary. She was in no mood to pretend to be polite and entertain the ones who obviously came to create trouble.
Seeing her reaction, Inazuma sighed and asked, "Why are you treating us with such hostility? Even the civilians can see that something is wrong. Instead of asking for our aid, you're trying to do everything by yourself. Here, read these."
Inazuma handed Mabui a few scrolls. Puzzled, Mabui opened and went through them immediately. A frown appeared on her face as she muttered, "Several towns and other places in the country are experiencing unexplained hurricanes? How are there hurricanes in this climate?"
Inazuma replied, "Obviously someone or something is causing it. Luckily there haven't been any casualties due to it yet, but such hurricanes will gravely affect our economy and trade. Even if no new hurricane is formed, a good portion of traders and merchants won't travel within our country for a few months. We can't take it lightly and need to get to the bottom of this."
Mabui's frown got deeper. She was already troubled by the news of the bases and the traps and now suddenly had to worry about something completely different. She decided, 'Even though it is important, it is not as important as figuring out what is happening in those bases. However, it can't be ignored either. I'll use this to keep them busy until Raikage-sama returns.'
Fujin was almost done deciding when he suddenly flickered. Moments later, a black lightning spear passed through his previous location. After their little discussion, Darui and the rest quickly rushed towards Fujin. Knowing how dangerous he was, they didn't dare to let normal ninjas fight him for too long.
Sensing Fujin dodge rather easily, C grumbled, "So sensing isn't his weakness."
Darui muttered, "It doesn't matter. It's time to end this."
'Storm Release: Laser Circus!'
A halo of bright light spread around Darui's hands and encircled them. Dozens of Lightning beams fired from it towards Fujin. Unlike his previous attack, Darui had taken time to supercharge this attack properly. He had poured almost 10% of his chakra into a single attack! Sensing the immense chakra, the other Kumo ninjas retreated.
Fujin looked at the incoming beams and thought, 'Storm release is quite fascinating… It would go perfectly with this identity. A shame that my talent in Water manipulation is beyond terrible…'
Fujin knew that there was no point in dodging those beams. He stood at his spot and released a large amount of Lightning charges. They began spinning at a rapid speed and formed a Lightning vortex.
Darui frowned and thought, 'He didn't try to dodge… He must know about Storm Release.'
Darui immediately controlled his beams to spread them apart and attack Fujin from every direction. However, to his surprise, he began losing control over his beams! Instead, the beams all moved towards the Lightning Vortex as if it were a black hole! The Kumo ninjas were shocked. No one had ever seen Darui lose control of his Lightning!
C, who had observed everything clearly, muttered in disbelief, "That's incredible. I have never seen Lightning being used in this manner. That vortex he created naturally attracts electricity around it. The closer Lightning gets to the vortex, the stronger the force of attraction is. Since he waited until your attack was very close to him, you couldn't control your own attack."
Fujin looked at the Lightning vortex and thought, 'It'll be inappropriate to not return the gift, won't it?'
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