Back on the battlefield, Mangetsu stood along with 17 Hunter ninjas. They were treating the wounded and sealing the dead. One ninja approached Mangetsu and hatefully said, "Kisame managed to escape. We need to organize more hunting parties to trap and kill him!"
However, Mangetsu shook his head and said, "No."
His words surprised his subordinates who were around him. Mangetsu explained, "It's pointless. Kisame was already in a battle before we found him. And despite outnumbering him so much, we weren't able to kill him.
So any hunting squads we send will be killed by him. Even if they manage to inform us, what's the use if we can't kill him? Only Mizukage-sama can kill him, but he can't move around so lightly."
The hunter ninjas sighed on hearing the explanations. None of them argued against him. They had just fought Kisame. And his strength was far beyond their expectations!
Suddenly, a hunter ninja approached Mangetsu with excitement and said, "Captain, look what I found!"
Mangetsu immediately looked at the ninja. His eyes widened as he saw what the Hunter ninja was holding. He immediately grabbed it and observed it properly. After a couple of minutes, he nodded and said, "There is no mistake. This is the hilt of Kubikiribocho! But…"
His voice became a bit unsteady as he asked, "Who damaged it to this extent? There is almost nothing left of the sword. Also, where is Juzo?"
No one answered him. Mangetsu instructed, "Search this battlefield. See if you can find any pieces of the blade. Also, see if you can find any dead bodies."
The hunter ninjas nodded. The ones who weren't gravely injured immediately got to work.
Due to the high intensity of the battle, neither Fujin nor Kisame had any time to pay attention to and pick up Juzo's sword. In addition, the entire battlefield was flooded by Kisame. So, the sword was a few meters under the water. Even if they had time, neither Fujin nor Kisame were very interested in that sword.
Only Zetsu could collect the sword, but it didn't see any point in doing that as Juzo was dead. As the ones who managed to hold on to the battlefield until the end, the sword landed in the hands of the Kiri ninjas.
They quickly found some of the shattered pieces of Kubikiribocho. Mangetsu observed them and concluded, 'It looks like they were cut by wind. The masked ninja that Kisame was fighting was using Wind jutsus. Did he defeat Juzo before fighting Kisame?'
While Mangetsu was storing the pieces of Kubikiribocho, a ninja appeared holding the damaged head of Juzo. The head was very damaged. Kisame's attack had poked a hole through Juzo's head and destroyed his brain. A large part of his face was unrecognizable. So the Hunter nins weren't able to identify him.
However, having fought alongside Juzo for so long, Mangetsu had no doubts. He sighed and muttered, "Biwa Juzo was killed by that masked ninja who was engaged with Kisame in a fight. From our reports, Kisame and Juzo had joined the same organization. It looks like they came in a conflict."
His words silenced the ninjas around him. Though they were trained to hunt them down, everyone knew how difficult that task was. To see that one of their famed Swordsmen was killed left them with a complicated feeling.
Finally, one ninja asked, "Who could that masked man be? To first kill Juzo and then fight Kisame…"
Mangetsu muttered, "He used Wind Vacuum jutsus and wielded swords. From the recent rumors, there is only one such person who is very active."
The expressions of all the Hunter nins became serious. Finally, one hatefully said, "The Spectral Swordsman!"
Mangetsu nodded and said, "Yeah. Though I suppose we need to be thankful to him for once. He killed Juzo and didn't even take the sword away. In addition, he also allowed us to attack Kisame and understand how strong he is."
The Hunter nins weren't sure what to say. After clearing the battlefield, they looked for the base they had created. Unfortunately, the base was in ruins. They could only collect the dead bodies buried under the cave and retreated from the Land of Hot Water. The high losses forced them to call off their operations in that country.
While the Kiri ninjas were retreating, Fujin was wrecking his mind trying to find a solution to an issue he had realized. He analyzed, 'Though my plans for creating a Wind Domain are excellent, I overlooked one important aspect. That is ninjas who can absorb chakra. If I just emit chakra and let it form a domain around me so that I can control winds, doesn't that mean someone like Kisame can just absorb it?
Granted that there aren't many ninjas with this ability, but the ones who do are absolutely broken. Pain, Madara and later Obito and Sasuke would all be able to directly absorb the chakra I emit. If I can't use my main fighting style against them, then my chances of victory would drop hard. How do I counter that?
The only thing I can think of so far is to directly convert all the chakra I emit into wind. This way, they can't absorb wind. Hmm, no, Rinnegan might still be able to absorb it, but there is nothing I can do about that.
Regardless, I won't be able to make the winds sharper or concentrate them in one place without chakra. Though I could create sharp winds out of their absorption range, it will lose effect as they will have sufficient time to dodge.'
Fujin thought for several hours, but he couldn't come up with any ideas he could implement at that time. He sighed internally and thought, 'The only way I could stop them or make them pay is if the chakra I emit is Nature Chakra. But I haven't learnt Senjutsu yet…
Sigh, there is no other way I can think of currently. If I can't think of a good way, I'll have to be very careful while fighting any of them. Without the Wind Domain, I won't have much of an advantage against them.
Fortunately, Madara is dead while Obito and Sasuke won't have that ability for quite some time. Nagato won't expose himself and I can escape from Kisame. Not to mention, I still have a long time before I master my Wind Domain. If I can learn the Flying Thunder God by then, then I can escape easily even if I encounter Nagato and create an alternative fighting style that is equally dangerous.'
While Fujin was wrecking his brain and the Kiri ninjas were returning to Kirigakure, a meeting between 8 rank S ninjas was taking place!
In a cave, the illusionary bodies of the Akatsuki members appeared. As soon as they did, Orochimaru joked, "We seem to be missing some members."
No one joined in his joke. Pain informed the group, "Biwa Juzo is dead. In the last 3 days, we have lost 2 members."
Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to Kakuzu, whose partner was missing as well. Sasori asked, "How did they die?"
Zetsu answered, "Juzo was killed by Konoha's Spectral Swordsman during a mission. The other one died in friendly fire."
Once again, everyone stared at Kakuzu who replied unapologetically, "He was too slow."
Orochimaru asked, "You attacked him, didn't you?"
Kakuzu didn't bother replying. Orochimaru turned his attention to Itachi and asked, "Juzo was your partner, wasn't he? I wonder who you would team up with next?"
Itachi didn't respond. Pain offered Kakuzu and Itachi to team up, however, both refused. So, Pain announced that they would begin looking for new members.
Kakuzu looked at Zetsu and asked, "Spectral Swordsman is on my hit list for his bounty. How strong is he and what are his abilities?"
Quite a few Akatsuki members were interested in the answer. Though Fujin had gained a lot of fame recently, none of them expected him to kill an Akatsuki member.
White Zetsu answered, "He is very strong and dangerous. His Vacuum jutsus are far more lethal than what the Bingo book mentions. His sensor skills are top-notch as well. He nearly killed us a couple of times."
Black Zetsu added, "He is a Fuinjutsu Grandmaster and can apply explosive and paralysis seals stealthily. Juzo died because he wasn't aware of those seals being applied on his body. In addition, his chakra reserves and speed can be categorized as rank S. More importantly, he is very cunning and schemes continuously. Even Kisame fell into a tough spot due to him. Don't underestimate him or you might lose a few hearts."
Zetsu's words weren't too much of a surprise for the Akatsuki members. After all, Fujin wouldn't have been able to kill Juzo had he been weak. Still, no one was too alarmed as Juzo was one of the weakest members of Akatsuki.
Since no one had anything else to add, Pain said, "We will be taking the first step towards our goal soon. Our target is Han, the Jinchuriki of Five Tails."
[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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