After opening the storage room underneath the Raikage Building, a wide smile appeared on Fujin's clone's face. Had Hiruzen seen that smile, he'd shiver and recall a few unpleasant memories. It was the smile Fujin had whenever he extorted elemental crystals from him. In front of the clone's eyes was a storage room filled with Lightning Crystals! In a matter of seconds, the entire room became empty as all the crystals went into the storage scrolls Fujin's main body had arranged.
Of course, it wasn't the only storage room. There were four more storage rooms. Two of them were filled with Lightning Crystals just like the one which the clone had just plundered. The last two had the remaining four elemental crystals.
Fujin's clone emptied all 5 storage rooms. He calculated that he had taken 4369 Lightning Crystals, 822 Fire Crystals, 764 Water Crystals, 712 Wind Crystals and 484 Earth Crystals! It was a massive loot! Fujin never expected Kumogakure and Ay to be so generous.
Fujin's clone thought, 'I have to admit, the people in Kumo are undoubtedly the most generous folks. As soon as I arrived, all of them obediently left the building and let me take whatever I wanted in any quantity. Even Konoha has never been so generous towards me.
Jokes aside, these shouldn't be all elemental crystals Kumo has. Ay should still have quite a few stored in storage scrolls while other factions in Kumo should have some too. Regardless, this will be a big loss. According to my calculations, these should be over half of the elemental crystals Kumo has. I wish I could see Ay's reaction when he realizes that these storage rooms are empty, hehehe.'
Meanwhile, his remaining clones were going through the remaining scrolls, looking for any techniques available in the building. They also came across several trap scrolls, but it wasn't too difficult for Fujin's clones to identify the traps before they opened the scrolls. In the end, not even a single trap was triggered.
The Elite Jounin and the communication ninja ran through the burning forest and reached Darui's group. Both were shocked to see the injuries on everyone's bodies. Darui looked at them and asked, "Why are you here?"
The Elite Jounin quickly replied, "There is an issue in the village. Mabui wants to talk with you immediately."
The other ninja quickly handed the Chakra Transmission Communication device to Darui. He put it on and asked, "Mabui, can you hear me?"
His eyes widened and his pupils dilated as he heard Mabui's question, "Darui, do you know any ninja who wears a long black cloak and a demon mask?"
He asked in disbelief, "How did you know?"
Mabui replied, "So, you know who he is… Quickly give me all the information regarding him. We're in a mess."
Darui quickly said, "Hold up, Mabui! Please tell me how you know about him. What's the situation in the village?"
Mabui answered, "He showed up a few minutes ago and has taken over the Raikage building! Somehow, he managed to place thousands of seals on the buildings under our noses and is keeping all of us out. He said that a blonde girl with you told him that Raikage-sama could kill him and has given us 4 hours to summon him. Otherwise, he threatened to destroy our village."
To say Darui was shocked was an understatement. He couldn't understand how Fujin could make a move against their village so quickly as it had only been a few minutes since their fight ended. All the ninjas around him noticed his expression and promptly enquired what was happening.
Darui barely managed to reply, "Akuro… He has attacked our village and has occupied the Raikage building…"
The eyes of C, Samui, Yugito and Jin widened in shock. All of them were stunned. Jin was the one to recover his thoughts quickest and said, "The place he reverse summoned to must be closer to our village. No! The village is protected by a barrier. It means that he had a way to reverse summon himself inside the village! He must have an accomplice inside the village!"
Everyone nodded. Mabui shouted in frustration, "Stop discussing among yourself and tell us who this lunatic is! We're planning to make a move against him soon!"
Darui immediately shouted back, "No, wait! Don't act rashly!"
He quickly informed Mabui about their encounter with Fujin and reported everything that had happened. As she heard, Mabui's eyes kept widening and her expression kept becoming grimmer. It was noticed by everyone around her. She muttered in disbelief, "He took on the entire army by himself, killed dozens of our ninjas, and injured all 5 of you before coming here within a few minutes?"
Mabui had a hard time believing what she heard. However, she knew Darui wouldn't joke at such a critical time. The ones around her were equally shocked. The one who had the ugliest expression was none other than Inazuma. Due to his experience, he could see the larger picture and immediately understood how terrible the situation was for them.
Darui said, "We'll make our way back to the village immediately. Even though we're injured, Yugito, C, Samui and I can still fight. We can reach the village within three hours, faster if we travel on Two Tails and then fight him."
Even though he said those words, Darui didn't have much confidence. Their wounds would worsen if left untreated. He couldn't be sure how much fighting capabilities he'd have after such a long trip. The only one who might be able to fight was Yugito. However, he had seen how terrible the enemy's battle tactics were. He knew that hundreds, possibly thousands, of Kumo ninjas could end up losing their lives if he repeated the same tactics inside the village! As for the civilian casualty, he didn't even dare to estimate it.
Mabui replied, "No, take care of your wounds first. I'll contact Raikage-sama and check where he has reached."
Darui replied, "Alright. Keep me updated."
Mabui quickly contacted Ay's group and asked for the Chakra Transmission Communication device to be given to Ay. She quickly informed him about the events related to Akuro. Ay's expression was a sight to see! When he left the village to hunt Fujin down, he never imagined that the village would become such a mess! Despite his stubborn nature, he couldn't help but regret his decision to go after Fujin even after knowing that it could be a trap.
He said, "Even though Darui said that his chakra reserves must have fallen low and that he retreated, Akuro must have confidence in himself to openly attack us. Be careful and don't do anything hastily. I'll make my way to the village within four hours. Tell Darui to stay put. With those injuries, he'll just be in the way."
Mabui sighed in relief and replied, "Alright, Raikage-sama."
Seeing that Ay had stopped speaking and his grim face, Bee asked, "What do you mean return within four hours? We're at least 10 hours from the village if we continue moving at this speed."
A Lightning cloak suddenly appeared around Ay as he said, "The village is a mess. I'm heading ahead. Bee, come with me. The rest of you follow our original plan. Inspect the five bases, but be careful and don't trigger any traps. You've already heard from Jin how well-hidden the traps are. So, take every precaution and give your safety the highest priority."
The six Kumo Elite Jounins nodded. A red chakra cloak appeared around Bee as he and Ay left the others behind. Bee said seriously, "Brother, you can't sustain your chakra long enough to run all the way to the village in this manner. What is happening in the village?"
Ay replied, "Don't worry, I'm well aware. I'll slow down at times to conserve my chakra. As for the village…"
Ay informed him about Akuro's actions. In the village, Mabui said, "Raikage-sama said that he'll return to the village within four hours. We'll be safe."
Everyone around her sighed in relief. After hearing what he had done against Darui, none of them wanted to confront Akuro. Everything they heard about Akuro was bad news. Be it his disgusting fighting tactic, his terrifying strength or his jutsu leaving wounds that couldn't be healed. Needless to say, what horrified them the most was the possibility that Akuro might know the Lightning Chakra Mode!
They knew very well how overwhelming and mighty that technique was and wanted nothing to do with him even if he was low on chakra. If they could stay outside for a few hours without fighting, they'd be glad. They just prayed that their enemy wouldn't suddenly change his mind and attack them before Ay returned.
However, there was one exception. Inazuma said in a grim tone, "No! We can't wait for the Fourth to return! We have to make a move!"
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