In the arena, which was supposed to be the battlefield for deciding which Genin was good enough to be promoted, two massive hurricanes, created by two rank S ninjas, clashed! In the blink of an eye, it became obvious that Sakumo's attack had a huge advantage over Fujin's counterattack. The Konoha ninjas became worried, but there wasn't a hint of emotion on Fujin's face.
In fact, he had pretty much expected it. His jutsu paled in comparison to Sakumo's attack. Not only had he not strengthened his elements with Yin and Yang chakras, he hadn't even poured a quarter of the chakra Sakumo poured into his jutsu. While ordinary ninjas couldn't see the difference, the stronger ones and sensors immediately noticed this anomaly and wondered what he was up to.
As the Flashing Hurricane entered into the Swamp Hurricane, the lightning sparks began eroding the swamp. However, even though the swamp was being eroded, it started consuming the electrical energy within the Flashing Hurricane.
At the same time, the winds in the Swamp Hurricane infiltrated into the Flashing Hurricane. Even though Sakumo's winds were enhanced by Yang chakra and he was better than Fujin in this aspect, Sakumo couldn't compare with Fujin in terms of control over the winds. Sakumo immediately resisted Fujin's attempt to wrestle control over the Flashing Hurricane.
This created a peculiar situation. On the surface, it looked like Sakumo's jutsu was overwhelming Fujin. However, the real battle was being fought over the control of Sakumo's jutsu. And, the more electrical energy was consumed by the swamp, the bigger Fujin's advantage got.
Along with this clash, there was another aspect that almost everyone missed. While everyone's attention was focused on the hurricanes, the ground underneath continued converting into swamps and expanding continuously. Had he been conscious, Sakumo would have spotted it very easily. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. By the time he realized, the swamp had expanded up to just a few meters away from him.
Fujin chuckled and thought, 'Finally, he noticed it. Unfortunately, it's too late.'
Suddenly, a large muddy dragon appeared from the swamp and lunged at Sakumo. Sakumo immediately bombarded it with lightning, neutralizing it instantly. However, behind the swamp dragon was another smaller hurricane that rose from the swamp! This move caught Sakumo off guard.
Fujin smirked while thinking, 'Even though my combination jutsu isn't as strong as yours, this is the true essence of my jutsu. Due to the high amount of wind chakra I poured into it, I can spontaneously start hurricanes from the swamp. While it has its limits, it is plenty to deal with most ninjas. Now then, how will you defend from this?'
Sakumo's position became extremely vulnerable. Despite facing just one opponent, he was fighting three battles simultaneously. The first and the most apparent was the clash of the two hurricanes, where Fujin had successfully slowed down Sakumo's offensive. The second was the battle to maintain control of the Flashing Hurricane, which was the most decisive battle. And now, he had to deal with the new hurricane, which flowed in the opposite direction of his Flashing Hurricane and continuously reduced its strength while posing a danger to Sakumo.
Despite seemingly losing the initial clash, Fujin gained an overwhelming advantage over Sakumo. Instead of defeating Fujin, Sakumo's terrifying jutsu provided Fujin with a chance to break the deadlock and win the battle.
A wide grin appeared on Fujin's face as the three factors continued increasing his advantage. In just half a minute, Sakumo seemed unable to hold on. Fujin extended his arm forward and muttered to himself, 'It's over. Once I gain control of his winds, I can create a new Wind Domain with it. Sakumo won't be able to escap…'
His eyes suddenly widened. He quickly dispersed his Wind Cloak, which transformed into winds and moved very quickly as he cursed, 'Shit! Is he aiming to kill everyone here?'
When he realized that he had lost the exchange and was about to be trapped inside his own jutsu, Sakumo simply exploded all the Lightning chakra that was still in the Flashing Hurricane.
Even though the explosion wouldn't harm Fujin much, it would harm most of the unconscious people and even the ninjas in and around the stadium. In the worst-case scenario, thousands of civilians and over a hundred ninjas might die!
Both Konoha and Suna ninjas became fearful of sensing the massive explosion. The Flashing Hurricane collapsed due to the explosion, and so did Fujin's Swamp Hurricane which couldn't withstand the explosion. Even the swamp in the ground was ruined to a great extent.
To everyone's horror, the explosions spread towards the stadium. Thankfully, winds appeared between the explosion and the stadium, intercepting the lightning charges and shockwaves. As they passed through the winds, the winds absorbed the shockwaves and neutralized most of the lightning charges. In the end, the people in the stadium only felt a breeze and harmless static currents.
While the ninjas were relieved, Fujin's expression let out a sigh and muttered, "To fall prey to this tactic, that's humiliating…"
Even though he was unharmed, it was ironic that he was at the receiving end of a tactic that he loved using. Sakumo held the civilians in the stadium hostage to force Fujin to give up his advantage.
While Fujin didn't particularly care about their lives and focusing on sealing Sakumo might have been better for the war, he couldn't just stand and let thousands die. It would allow the ones who find him as an eyesore to target him politically. Not knowing whether Hiruzen would die or change his fate, Fujin didn't want to deal with such a headache.
Fujin analyzed, 'Along with holding the people hostage, it was also a suicidal attack. Had he been alive, he would have been gravely injured. However, he'll just heal up now.'
As Fujin predicted, Sakumo took heavy damage from the explosions too. However, he regenerated even before Fujin could take any advantage of his injuries. The battlefield was reset as it was earlier with one major change.
Sakumo's chakra reserves were still full, while Fujin had expended his Wind Cloak. In another case of irony, it was Fujin who was being limited by his chakra reserves!
Orochimaru quickly caught on to this detail. He chuckled and asked, "Are you still counting on external help, Sensei? Even if that kid defeats Sakumo, he'll be all out of chakra. And, if you recall Jiraiya, my summons will destroy Konoha. Hahah…"
Hiruzen had a serious expression but became confused when Orochimaru suddenly stopped laughing and a dumbfounded expression appeared on his face. He couldn't help but wonder, 'What happened for his expression to change so drastically?'
He wasn't the only confused person. Orochimaru was even more confused as he wondered, 'What the hell? Why did all my summons suddenly go back?'
The time that Sakumo blew up his jutsu matched with the time when the giant snake blew up in the Ryuchi Cave. As such, Orochimaru received bad news right after he received good news.
He realized, 'Without my summons, Jiraiya will come here. Even though this stadium is far from the village, he'll come here in around five minutes. This will be tricky…'
He quickly analyzed, 'On second thought, it may not be a bad thing. Though I won't be able to give Sensei the ending I want him to get, I can kill both Jiraiya and Fujin along with Sensei. Konoha would truly be finished then.'
Orochimaru immediately intensified his attack and joined up forces with the two former Hokage to kill Hiruzen. Hiruzen noticed the change and analyzed, 'Something must have happened to force him to attack so fiercely. Even though I don't know what it is, it should be advantageous for me.
I'll continue stalling for time. Even if Fujin gets exhausted, the Suna ninjas won't be able to last for long. As long as I don't fall, Konoha will win the war!'
Hiruzen changed his fighting style and became completely defensive. He blocked and dodged any attacks his former student and teachers threw at him while spending his chakra minimally.
Even though the arena was covered in dust, Fujin and Sakumo were looking in each other's direction. Fujin thought, 'It looks like I won't be able to reinforce Hiruzen after all. In the end, Orochimaru's arrangements were enough to ensure that I'll be tied down…'
Fujin was about to go on the offensive once again but suddenly stopped.
'Lightning Release: Lightning Hound jutsu'
'Water Release: Great Waterfall jutsu'
Fujin turned his head and saw Kakashi's Lightning jutsu merging with Renjiro's water jutsu and moving towards Sakumo at a great speed. Sakumo immediately retreated but was engaged by Guy in an intense Taijutsu battle.
Renjiro flickered in front of Fujin and said without taking his eyes off Sakumo, "Dealing with him will take a long time. Unfortunately, time is not a luxury we have for now. I'm not sure how long the old man can hang on. We'll hold him back, you reinforce the old man."
[A/N: Latest chapter: Betrayal!]
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