After a few minutes of very high-speed combat, all four Shadow Clones were dispelled. However, the Konan was very annoyed. Fujin's clones had flickered almost non-stop and peppered the three of them with Air and Vacuum Bullets all the time! As a result, dispelling them took longer than it should have. In fact, the main reason why the clones were dispelled was because they ran out of chakra.
Konan looked at Kakuzu and asked, "What did he mean by those words?"
Kakuzu replied, "I guess his team only pretended to retreat and went around me instead. However, his claim of being able to catch Hidan by now should be a bluff because his team would have slowed down due to having to move around me. Still, their team had a Hyuga and an Inuzuka. So, this should be the path Hidan must have taken. We need to chase faster and catch up with them."
Konan was about to speak when Itachi said, "This area has completely been destroyed by your jutsus. Finding Hidan's trail from here would be impossible."
Konan frowned upon hearing Itachi's words. However, she realized that he was right. The terrain was completely ruined. All trees nearby were burnt and even the snow below had melted into water. Whatever trail Hidan might have left behind would have long been destroyed in their fight. She said, "I will call Zetsu. We will depend on him to find Hidan."
Kakuzu and Itachi agreed with her decision. There was no other alternative. As for the person who had given them the headache, he was flying above the clouds while relaxing on Kaito's back.
He let out a chuckle on receiving the memories of his clones and thought, 'I wonder if they are panicking right now. Though chances of it are low. Oh well, it doesn't matter. This will ensure that they focus on finding Hidan rather than chasing after those three. Besides, let them experience 1% of the frustrations that I felt over the last couple of days.'
The words Fujin's clone said were all lies. He just wanted to make them feel a sense of urgency and fight seriously so that he could get a better measure of their abilities and strength. While Fujin could have done what his clone said, it involved a lot of risk.
For starters, catching Hidan was difficult as he constantly kept on changing his location. Until he stopped moving, his squad would have a very difficult time catching up to him. Not to mention, they might have to face Akatsuki on their way back. With little chance of being able to read the Bishop's memories, Fujin had no interest in taking such a huge risk.
Lying on Kaito's back, Fujin began analyzing his battle with Kakuzu and the skills of Konan and Itachi. He analyzed, 'Konan and Itachi's powers are quite similar to what I remember. Though Konan's control over the paper is too good. If we fought seriously, I'll likely end up on the losing side. But, once my Wind Domain is ready, she'll be at a huge disadvantage against me.
Itachi barely did anything in the fight. I guess he didn't want Akatsuki to gain another S-rank ninja. I can't judge him yet. That said, there is no need to judge him. As for Kakuzu…'
Fujin had a complicated expression on his face. He thought, 'Rank S ninjas are difficult to deal with. Apart from Kisame, Kakuzu might be the worst match-up for me. I guess he'll compete with the Raikage for that spot.
My fighting style is based around high speed and relentless assault with jutsus that have high penetrating ability. Though directly killing is difficult, one mistake against me would imply a hole opening up in their body. At that level of combat, one major injury is all I need to turn the advantage in my favor and eventually win the battle.
However, against Kakuzu, my fighting style fails. As long as I miss his heart, I basically do him no damage. His threads reconnect with each other after being pierced or cut through. They can also replace his missing body parts. So I can't whittle him down like whittled down Juzo.
I guess dealing with him like Naruto did would be the best way to take him down. Actually, if he had split into five, or rather, four bodies like he did against Asuma's team and Kakashi, I would have a better chance of defeating him.
Those bodies individually aren't a threat to me. I could have used clones to destroy them one by one without letting Kakuzu merge back with them. Unfortunately, he seemed to have realized that as well and hence never gave me the chance to do so.
After I learn the Flying Thunder God jutsu, I should start learning the Rasenshuriken. It's about time I had an extremely destructive jutsu in my arsenal. Also, what do I do about the large-scale Vacuum jutsu? I could have destroyed all 4 remaining hearts while he was pretending to be dead if I had such a jutsu. Sigh, so much to do…'
Though Fujin had quit the Anbu and devoted all his time to training, he still felt like he needed more time. It was a result of him trying to learn a lot of high-level techniques that weren't related to each other at the same time.
Flying Thunder God and the Eight Inner Gates were extremely difficult techniques to learn and needed a lot of time. The Wind Domain was equally difficult and Fujin didn't even have any guidance for that technique.
As a result, Fujin never felt like he had enough time. Only after he finally masters these techniques, would he have free time to pursue other techniques he intended to learn.
While Fujin was in deep thought, Kaito continued flying. He flew across the Land of Hot Water and entered the Land of Fire. However, he wasn't headed towards Konoha. Instead, he flew towards the Land of Rivers. One of the reasons why Fujin made his team retreat without him was because he wanted to make a quick trip to the Land of Birds.
Back in the Land of Frost, without interference from Fujin and with Zetsu's help, the Akatsuki members quickly found Hidan. They had taken the threat of Fujin's clones seriously and hence moved very quickly. To their confusion, Zetsu and his clones didn't find any traces of either Fujin or his squad.
After intercepting him, Kakuzu fought with him and lost another heart before defeating Hidan. Intrigued by Kakuzu's immortality, Hidan agreed to join the Akatsuki and became Kakuzu's partner.
In a remote place in the Land of Birds, a large Flying Sabertooth landed in front of a hill. Kaito asked, "Is this the place, Fujin?"
Fujin got off and said, "Most probably from what I remember. Let me inspect."
Fujin's eyes glowed as he observed the hill. As he recalled from Zankoku's memories, he found the cave hidden behind one of the walls of the hill. Zankoku had sealed the entrance when he abandoned this hideout. Fujin destroyed the cave and entered it.
He quickly moved towards a corner of the cave. He weaved a hand seal and placed his palm on the ground. The ground opened up and a skeleton appeared underneath it.
Fujin stored the skeleton and thought, 'If I manage to get my hands on Edo Tensei, I can use this skeleton to revive the bishop Ketsueki. I have a feeling that the intel I'll get from him will be the key to understanding what Jashin is and how those rituals work. At the very least, it'll be more useful than Zankoku's memories and his dead body.'
Fujin turned his attention to the cave. It had been a long time since the ritual was conducted here. Though the cave wasn't destroyed, it wasn't in an optimal condition due to the passing of time. Many seals had faded away. Quite a few were no longer complete. Fujin still recorded as many of the seals as he could find in a scroll. Unlike the seals he found from Hidan's ritual, Fujin had no intention of sharing these seals with anyone.
He left the cave and sealed the entrance once again before flying towards Konoha on Kaito's back. Though Hidan had escaped, this matter wasn't closed. In the original story, no one found the place where Hidan underwent the ritual. However, Fujin's involvement meant that it was no longer the case.
Fujin, his squad and a couple dozen Yugakure ninjas had all been to the cave where the ritual took place. It was impossible to keep that place hidden anymore. Once it was understood that the cave had seals that were never seen before, every major force would flock to that cave.
In addition, Hidan's abilities were revealed to Darui and other Kumo ninjas. If his abilities were linked with the seals in the cave, the entire ninja world could become chaotic once again!
