A squad of four Takigakure ninjas were rushing towards the Ito family's town. One said, "Captain, what do you think is happening in this territory? It's been nearly four months since the first missing case was reported. And despite sending so many ninjas, they have still failed."
The captain of the squad replied, "It's difficult to say. The situation is very serious and peculiar. If the Ito family doesn't resolve this soon, then they might be overthrown."
The ninja was surprised. He asked, "Is it that serious? After all, only some civilians went missing."
The captain answered, "That is why no serious action has been taken until now. However, as the number of missing cases keeps rising, everyone will become very serious. After all, what's the use of a ninja village if it can't protect its citizens? Everyone will begin migrating to other countries. So it is a critical period for the Ito fam…"
He suddenly stopped speaking. All four ninjas stared in the Western direction. Their eyes opened wide and their throats dried as they saw a massive firestorm raining down from the skies!
One of the ninjas bulked and muttered in terror, "What the hell is happening there?"
Another gulped and commented, "This… this looks like Armageddon!"
The captain said, "I don't know. But we need to get away and go to the town very quickly. If something like this falls on the town, the entire town will be destroyed!"
They immediately ran away. Unlike them, Iwa ninjas didn't have the option to run away. Kitsuchi rapidly made hand seals and shouted, "Take cover!"
Hearing his command, every Iwa ninja who wasn't close to him went underground. Kitsuchi slammed his palms on the ground. A gigantic dome rose from the ground and covered him and the ninjas around him.
The firestorm finally impacted the ground. In an instant, all vegetation in the vicinity was destroyed. The fire spread in the surrounding areas and soon a massive forest fire would spread in the Land of Waterfall.
The sharp winds released by Kurogane impacted the ground and the dome. The dome and the ground were instantly covered in long scars. However, the dome held on and the sharp winds couldn't dig into the ground.
The attack, which the Taki ninjas believed would destroy an entire town, ended up not injuring even a single Iwa ninja!
Fujin observed from the sky, 'Normally, digging into the ground against me is suicide. But everyone who went underground is at least 40 meters deep into the ground. I can't penetrate that deep. They know how deep my attacks can penetrate.
Sigh, this is why I like keeping my abilities a secret. Fighting is infinitely easier when the enemy doesn't know what to expect from me. Still, though hiding deep underground counters me to an extent, they are trapped there as I can attack when they try to come up.'
Unfortunately, there was no way for Fujin to hide his exposed secrets once again. In fact, after this battle, even more of his secrets would be exposed. Iwagakure might even spread them around, so even the other hidden villages might become aware of his capabilities.
While Fujin was observing, Kurogane said, "Killing them won't be easy. Fujin, support me."
Fujin didn't need to be told twice. He immediately riled his chakra up and said, "My clones will provide you with ground support. Take advantage of the openings."
Fujin's clones landed on the ground. At the same time, Fujin shot a Vacuum Cannon at the top of the dome Kitsuchi had created. At the same time, Kurogane opened his mouth and exhaled Wind Breath at the same spot.
Within the dome, some sensors said, "They are attacking the dome from the top. Be ready to defend yourse…"
Before they completed saying, the Vacuum Cannon hit the top of the dome. It penetrated the dome with ease, leaving a gigantic hole. Kitsuchi, who was standing at the center of the dome, immediately moved out of the way while hardening his body. He weaved a hand seal.
'Earth Release: Fist Rock jutsu'
The Vacuum Cannon hit the ground and created a 25-meter-deep hole in the ground. Mere fractions of a second later, Kurogane's Wind Breath arrived at the opening created by the Vacuum Cannon. At the same time, Kistuchi's right arm turned into rock and he punched towards the hole, aiming to block the opening. He shouted, "Be careful! We don't know what that summon can do!"
The ninjas nodded and all instinctively hardened their bodies with the Iron Skin jutsu as well. They didn't want to escape underground as they knew that coming back up and joining the battle would be a challenge.
Kurogane's Wind Breath, which travelled like a beam, suddenly dispersed into all directions, filling up the inside of the dome. A second later, Kitsuchi's Rock Fist hit the hole and blocked the attack.
Seeing the winds, most Iwa ninjas quickly used more defensive jutsus. Numerous walls of varied shapes appeared in the dome. However, three ninjas were slower by a few milliseconds.
The Wind Breath hit them. Despite being covered by the Iron Skin jutsu, hundreds of small cuts appeared on their bodies! Blood began sprinkling from their bodies like a fountain.
The surrounding Iwa ninjas watched in horror as their bodies were turned into minced meat in mere seconds!
At the same time, Kitsuchi's Rock Fist was rapidly being eroded. He thought in shock, 'Such terrifying affinity to the wind nature! And the ability to fly. Shit, he will be a menace in the next war! Probably only the old man Onoki and the two Jinchurikis can force him to retreat.'
The Iwa ninjas didn't have any time to grieve for their fallen comrades. They sensed the dome getting damaged. Thanks to their long training, they all knew what was coming.
At the next moment, 36 newer and smaller holes appeared in the dome as Fujin and his two clones shot a dozen Vacuum Bullets each at the dome. The Iwa ninjas quickly took evasive actions. Thanks to being exposed to Han's blinding speed, they were all able to dodge the attacks despite the low distance between them.
At the same time, Kitsuchi weaved more hand seals and slammed his hands on the ground. The dome began transforming into spears. In a second, hundreds of pointed Earth Spears were launched in all directions at a very high speed.
Fujin's clones immediately raised an Earth Wall to protect themselves. Despite being a couple of hundred meters above in the sky, Kurogane was under attack as well. He immediately flapped his wings again.
Hundreds of Wind blades were launched from his wings. They hit the incoming spears and knocked them back to the ground. A few continued down towards the Iwagakure ninjas who quickly moved out of the way, allowing the wind blades to hit the ground without harming anyone and raising a dust cover.
A frown formed on Fujin's face as he analyzed, 'This is getting annoying. Why does everyone have to be so nimble and evasive?'
Though Fujin had fought against enemies while being outnumbered vastly, he had never been troubled so much by them. In most cases, he could use the weaker ninjas to create a handicap for the truly strong enemy ninjas. The losses would instantly make their hearts bleed and make them reluctant to continue the fight. For the first time, he truly had to experience what it was like to be outnumbered helplessly.
He turned his eyes towards the ninjas hiding underground and thought, 'Even them. Instead of coming up to the surface, they are staying that deep and moving towards the village. Once they enter the barrier, I might not be able to harm them.'
Kitsuchi had established strict protocols and procedures to be followed while fighting Fujin in order to keep his losses to a minimum. Anyone who escaped underground had to retreat back to the village and then rejoin the battle instead of coming up normally. Though it would take more time, it was better than dying needlessly in Kitsuchi's opinion.
Fujin observed the situation while analyzing, 'What should I do? I knew that killing Kitsuchi wouldn't be possible, but I wanted to eliminate these ninjas that were specially trained to deal with me. But, is there any point in doing so if it is so difficult? After all, Kurogane's summoning has a time limit. And I can't sustain my chakra for a very long time either.'
As Fujin was planning, his clones moved towards the Iwa ninjas who were with Kitsuchi. Sensing an opportunity, Kurogane dived down. Fujin quickly ate a Soldier Pill and said, "Kurogane, focus on safety first. It's fine if we can't kill many, but ensure that you can fly us away from here."
He quickly instructed his teammates, "If you see an opportunity, use your long-range jutsus, especially your Lightning release Fumito, to kill or injure them. But don't fall off Kurogane. It will be very difficult to save you if you do."
Fujin's teammates ate the soldier pills as well and nodded. They all knew that survival would be impossible if they were to fall off. Kitsuchi saw Kurogane dive down and thought, 'Finally, I can have an opportunity. But if he is diving towards us, he must be very confident in his close-range fighting abilities.'
The long-range battle would soon end and instead, a mid and close-range battle would begin!
