Renjiro flickered towards Kazuki, while his clone flickered towards the other Kiri Jounin. Fujin, Hoka, and Mieko also flickered. Hotaka was left alone. He was shocked at how quickly the team dispersed. He muttered, "They are just kids and they move this quickly…"
Both he and his dog moved towards the last remaining enemy.
The Kiri ninjas had just dispersed momentarily. They intended on regrouping immediately. However, 5 of them were immediately engaged by Konoha ninjas. That last one was engaged a few seconds later.
Kazuki's face was grim. He didn't want to engage Renjiro.
Fujin flickered towards the Kiri ninja who was the farthest from any other Kiri ninja. He grabbed his sword and attacked his enemy.
The Kiri ninja was Matsuzaki Masa. He was an elite chunin. He noticed Fujin approaching him. He furrowed his eyebrows due to how quickly Fujin attacked him.
He grabbed his kunai to block the hit. At the same time, he was moving backwards. After clashing with Konoha ninjas for the last few days, escape became their priority. He might have underestimated Fujin under normal circumstances, but he had just witnessed Fujin blow a rank C jutsu instantly without any hand signs.
Fujin flowed his chakra through his sword. Masa immediately noticed it! He immediately moved backwards with no intent to engage Fujin. Fujin was surprised that his opponent was able to sense the chakra flow.
He swung his sword from a distance. A sharp flying slash of chakra went towards Musa. Musa was very surprised! He didn't expect his opponent to be able to attack with his sword from a range. He quickly dodged.
Fujin followed up with 3 more slashes, but Musa dodged all 3! Each time, he dodged with more precision and lesser movement. Musa smirked and said, "You are too green brat! I have sparred against all 7 Swordsmen of the Mist! Your sword is ineffective against me."
Though Musa sounded arrogant, in reality, his mood was very grim. He was thinking, 'This brat is troublesome! I have to watch out for his Great Breakthrough jutsu in addition to his sword slashes.'
Fujin didn't pay much attention to his opponent's words. He made a hand sign, and dozens of Wind clones appeared. Musa observed the clones properly and focused on one clone.
Fujin frowned, 'First sensing chakra flow and now looking at that clone. Looks like he is a sensor as well.'
Of the 12 clones Fujin made, 11 were made with just 0.5% of his chakra. While the last clone had 10% of his chakra. Musa focused on the clone with the largest chakra.
2 of the weaker clones went forward and used Wind Explosion jutsu on Musa. However, Musa moved behind and made a couple of hand signs. 6 Water clones appeared around him. Each contained 5% of his chakra.
One of those clones created a Water Wall to block the winds generated by the jutsu. Fujin muttered, "This will be annoying."
He and his clones disappeared into the forest. Musa was surprised that his opponent retreated. He spread his chakra field and noticed that Fujin and his clones were surrounding him from all sides, but not making a move on him.
His face became grim. He analyzed, 'This brat is smart. He realized that he couldn't beat me and decided to stall for time. Konoha reinforcements might be coming anytime. I need to create a breakthrough so that everyone can escape!'
Though his analysis was sound, he didn't guess Fujin's thoughts correctly. Fujin didn't intend to waste time. Instead, he wanted to use the circumstances to force his opponent to make a move and give an opening.
After all, unlike the Chunin Exams, Fujin couldn't depend on his advantage of having a higher chakra reserve. His opponent's chakra was only slightly less than his.
Fujin strategized, 'I don't have much of an advantage in chakra and in terms of experience, I'm highly disadvantaged! I'll need him to give me an opening, otherwise, it'll be tough to defeat him.'
Fujin's strategy depended on another important factor. That is, his teammates shouldn't be defeated. Fujin subconsciously didn't consider this aspect much. It was due to his trust in the ability of his teammates and sensei.
Musa analyzed the options available to him, 'There are 3 ways. One is I try to kill this kid. But I have a feeling that it'll be very difficult. Second is that I could try and go away from him and team up with someone. This way we could cooperate more. And the third way will be to send water clones away to aid others while I stop this kid.'
Musa analyzed for a few seconds and made his decision. Immediately, he and 4 Water clones ran towards Fujin. The other 2 water clones ran in the directions where there was only 1 wind clone. Musa's water clones had a lot more chakra than Fujin's wind clones. So he was confident that they would get away.
Fujin smiled at seeing his enemy using this tactic. 2 of his wind clones used Wind Instantaneous Body jutsu to appear behind the Water clones that were escaping and used Great Breakthrough jutsu on them. The Water clones were surprised. They were both dispersed. Fujin's Wind clones also dispersed.
Fujin smiled, while Musa was grim. Unlike Shadow clones, elemental clones don't return the chakra on being dispelled. This minor clash had cost Musa 10% of his chakra, while Fujin lost just 1%!
Fujin's other clones flickered as well and used Wind Explosion jutsu on Musa and his clones. While Fujin moved away from Musa and kept his distance. In the battles happening, other than Renjiro's Shadow clone, only Fujin was the Konoha ninja who kept his distance. All others tried fighting at close range.
Musa managed to defend against all attacks, however, he couldn't get close to Fujin. He frowned and decided to use the 2nd tactic. However, as soon as he changed his direction, Fujin chased him and his clones once again harassed him.
This forced him to stop and confront Fujin, who just retreated back and didn't confront him. The two exchanged attacks in this manner a few times.
Musa's face became ugly. Fujin's tactic was very annoying. He cursed Fujin loudly and taunted him, but Fujin didn't reply and continued the same tactic.
However, despite the high number of exchanges, Musa wasn't injured at all! He never gave any openings for Fujin to exploit. Fujin, who was at a distance waiting to sneak attack, frowned. He thought, 'Are all Kiri ninjas so tough to kill?'
At the same time, others were engaging in a clash as well. The quick attack by Renjiro and his students ensured that the Kiri ninjas stayed separated. They had witnessed their teamwork in the short clash and didn't want them to get together.
Hoka's opponent was another elite chunin. His name was Ona Danjuro. Just like most Kiri ninjas, he too was an expert at Water Release jutsus. As soon as he saw Hoka's Byakugan, he immediately moved away from him and quickly made a few hand signs.
'Water Release : Wild Water Wave jutsu'
A huge wave of water appeared and crashed towards Hoka. Seeing the wave, Danjuro thought, 'I should never get in close combat with him. I still remember how Sensei was killed by Hyuga Hizashi in the 3rd War! Despite being so strong, he couldn't retaliate at all after having his chakra points closed.'
Hoka immediately flickered out of the way and flickered once again to come close to Danjuro. Danjuro moved backwards while making more hand signs.
'Water Bullet jutsu'
Hoka could have dodged them. However, he wanted to fight head-on. So he gathered chakra in his palm and used Vacuum Palms to stop his water bullets.
Danjuro was surprised to see such a young Hyuga use this jutsu. The Vacuum Palms and Water bullets clashed. Some of the Vacuum Palms went through the Water bullets and moved towards Danjuro. Danjuro immediately dodged.
He created more distance from Hoka and engaged in a long-distance battle. Hoka tried getting close many times, but Danjuro managed to keep his distance and used mid-range Water jutsus. Hoka could only engage him with Earth jutsus and Vacuum palms.
