After entering the Land of Waterfall, Kitsuchi kept a major chunk of the ninjas he trained with himself and distributed the remaining along with more Iwa ninjas around the Ito family's territory. They immediately began their plan of creating unrest in the territory by kidnapping civilians.
At the same time, Kitsuchi summoned his best spy. Sho appeared in front of him and asked, "What are your commands for me, Kitsuchi-sama?"
Kitsuchi said, "I want you to infiltrate the Ito family's main town. Keep an eye on the ninjas coming in and out of the town."
Sho nodded and asked, "Alright. Is there anything, in particular, I should keep track of?"
Kitsuchi nodded and answered, "Yes. I'm looking for a Konoha ninja named Suzuki Fujin."
Kitsuchi showed Fujin's appearance from the Bingo book and added, "He is now in the Anbu and generally wears Hawk or Turtle masks. The last time he moved, his teammates were a blond Yamanaka ninja, a long-purple-haired kunoichi who uses a sword, both likely in their early twenties. And the last member was probably around the same age as Fujin.
If a squad that is similar in appearance shows up, then you have to inform me right away."
Kitsuchi handed him 40 seals of 5 types. The seals were specifically made by the Fuinjutsu Grandmaster sent by Onoki to assist Kitsuchi. He picked up the first seal and said, "If you recognize Fujin's squad, then crush this seal. I will understand the message."
He pointed at the other four seals and said, "This seal is if an Elite Jounin from Konoha arrives instead. This seal is for any other Konoha squads. And the last seal is for considerable reinforcements being sent by Takigakure. Like at least more than 20 ninjas. And the last seal is to inform us about when Konoha's squad quit their mission and leave. Are the instructions clear?"
Sho took the seals and said, "I will do my best, Kitsuchi-sama."
Kitsuchi smiled and said, "Good luck. Don't engage in any battles with them though. We won't be able to provide much aid."
Sho nodded and took his leave. A few days later, he entered the Ito family town under disguise. Around a week after entering, Sho convinced that servant to work for him. When the previous Anbu squad from Konoha arrived, he quickly crushed the appropriate seal to inform Kitsuchi.
When the Anbu squad went to investigate the villages with the missing population, Kitsuchi checked them and confirmed that they weren't Fujin's squad. Due to the seals, the Anbu squad never suspected anyone spying on them while they were inspecting the village.
Kitsuchi waited patiently for a month until the Konoha Anbu retreated and began the attacks after they left to force Konoha to send an even stronger squad. Luckily for him, Fujin's squad was the next one to be sent.
When Sho learnt about the appearance of Fujin's squad, he immediately crushed the seal to inform Kitsuchi. As soon as he received the message, Kitsuchi was thrilled. His six-month-long effort and patience were finally rewarded. He cooperated with the Fuinjutsu Grandmaster to create the perfect trap for him.
He redistributed his forces, calling back the majority of the ninjas that he had trained to counter Fujin. Once the distribution was done, they did multiple attacks at the same time to force the Ito family to split up their forces, so that Fujin's squad would have little to no reinforcements and thus prevent any unforeseen circumstances from occurring.
When Fujin reached the village with just his squad, his tactic succeeded. The only part of the plan that didn't succeed was that Fujin didn't step into the village. Kitsuchi didn't manage to find out about Fujin's expertise in Fuinjutsu and thus revealed a flaw at the last step. Despite that, Fujin was in a very bad position in Kitsuchi's eyes. So his plan could be considered a complete success.
As he continued building up his chakra, Kitsuchi said, "Surrender. Otherwise, you and your teammates will have no means of survival."
Yugao, Fumito and Bunjiro became very tense. However, to Kitsuchi's surprise, Fujin chuckled and said, "I recall Roshi saying something similar. Still, what a good scheme! Formation Sixty Six!"
As soon as they heard that, chakra gathered at the feet of the Four Konoha Anbu and Fujin's clones. All jumped high into the air. Almost instantly, Kitsuchi slammed his hands on the ground.
'Earth Release: Opening Earth Rising Excavation jutsu'
A large mound appeared under the Konoha ninjas and a huge blast of force was released at them. Fujin looked down at the attack and thought, 'I thought that this attack could only be used to target the ones hiding underground. To think that he would use this against us. If we were hit directly, even I might have been blown apart even if I used Iron Skin jutsu!'
Fortunately, Kitsuchi couldn't hide the high amount of chakra built up for this jutsu, giving Fujin plenty of time to plan a counterattack. Fujin's clones all made the same hand seal. At the same time, Wind moved blasted around their bodies and helped them move in such that they were vertically above each other with the four Konoha ninjas at the top.
Immediately, 4 layers of barrier appeared. A frown formed on Kitsuchi's face as he noticed the barrier. The frown became worse as he noticed a large amount of chakra Fujin was building up. He thought, 'Such proficiency with the barrier. But it won't help him much in this situation. All barriers can be destroyed. He will eventually run out of chakra. The bigger issue is the chakra he is building up. What is he planning?'
The blast force due to Kitsuchi's jutsu hit the first barrier. It crumbled instantly. The clone dispelled itself before the attack hit him. The 2nd barrier endured the impact for a couple of seconds before crumbling as well. The second clone dispelled itself as well. Finally, the attack hit the third barrier. Multiple cracks appeared on the barrier but it held on.
Seeing that Kitsuchi's attack was stopped, the remaining Iwa ninjas weaved hand signs.
'Earth Release: Stone Pistol jutsu'
All the Iwa ninjas shot small stones at the barrier. As they travelled up in the air, their size increased until they could be considered boulders.
However, Fujin wasn't concerned about the attack. He bit his thumb and thought, 'It was great that I didn't expose this against Roshi. Otherwise, I'm afraid that Onoki might have shown up to kill me.'
'Summoning jutsu'
Just like how Kitsuchi patiently waited for Fujin, Fujin had been patiently hiding his trump cards as well. Very few knew about his summon or his mastery of Fuinjutsu and barriers. Not a single person was aware that he could use Lightning jutsus. Those were the trump cards he saved when a day like this arrived!
The Summoning jutsu directly consumed nearly 35% of Fujin's chakra! The stones shot by the Iwa ninjas crashed into the 3rd Barrier and crushed it as well but the clone safely moved above the last barrier. Despite there being only one more barrier, the Iwa ninjas didn't rejoice. A loud jagged roar was heard throughout the region for multiple kilometers!
A massive silhouette of a Winged Sabertooth appeared above the large barrier. He spread his wings wide and stared at the Iwa ninjas below as the Konoha ninjas landed on his back. The Iwa ninjas gulped as they felt a menacing stare.
Kitsuchi was shocked. He thought, 'What the hell? He has a flying summon?'
Up in the sky, the beast said grumpily, "Took you three long years to summon me?"
Fujin chuckled and said, "Kurogane, everyone below is an enemy. So feel free to go on a rampage. But be careful. They spit out rocks at a high speed."
Kurogane said, "Alright. I had always heard about how humans are very innovative and skillful. I hope they live up to it."
Fujin smirked. All three of Ryo's children were unique. The youngest, Goro, had a mischievous personality and loved pranking and having fun. The middle one, Kaito, loved flying and spent most of his time sailing over the vast world. And his oldest, Kurogane, was a battle maniac. He regularly sought strong foes and entered into bloody duels or wars. It was the reason why his body was covered in fearsome scars!
Kitsuchi thought, 'Shit, my plan didn't consider his ability to fly! If he decides to fly away, there isn't much I can do.'
Kitsuchi's expression became very ugly. Fujin had rarely shown his summon to anyone. So even in Konoha, very few knew what his summon was. In fact, even Renjiro, Hoka and Teru, the three people closest to him didn't know what his summon was. So there was no way for Iwa to get this information.
Despite the unfavorable circumstances, some hope appeared in Kitsuchi's eyes. He analyzed, 'I expected him to fly away with the help of his summon. But surprisingly, they are hovering in the same area. If he decides to stay and fight, I might have some opportunity. But it is still very low.'
An opponent who could fly and attack from a range was very annoying to deal with. But Kitsuchi had trained the ninjas in survival. So he had some confidence in fighting against Fujin.
As he planned his counterattack, the last barrier disappeared and the two clones began falling to the ground. At the same time, nature chakra gathered in Kurogane's wings as he flapped them. A very strong windstorm, multiple times stronger than Fujin's Infinite Breakthrough jutsu, was released towards the ground.
Kurogane perfectly controlled the winds so that they wouldn't hit the two clones. As soon as the winds passed the clones, they got in action as well.
'Fire Release: Searing Migraine jutsu'
Both exhaled a massive amount of fire into those strong winds. Iwa ninjas looked up as hellfire rained down on them!
