Naruto: The Wind Calamity

Chapter 917: Chapter 910 : Probing Akuro

Danzo answered, "No, he retreated before he could be completely surrounded. Even without the Lightning Chakra Mode, he is very quick. Don't let your guard down."

The Root ninja was about to nod when he sensed Danzo charging his chakra and inhaling deeply once again. Four sharp streaks of blue light burst from the inferno, cutting through the firestorm like spears of judgment. Each one was quite far from the rest, but Danzo could easily see that they would converge towards him.

Without wasting any time, he shot four Vacuum Bullets in response. Piercing into the firestorm, each Vacuum Bullet met a Lightning Ray head-on, producing a crackling blast of static and compressed force as they clashed midair.

Though the Lightning Rays were destroyed, the Vacuum Bullets didn't emerge unscathed. Their stable vacuum cores collapsed due to absorbing too much lightning. However, instead of allowing the remaining chakra to dissipate, Danzo manipulated the remnant chakra.

The fragmented winds twisted and coiled unnaturally, forming four tiny serpentine figures of swirling air. Under normal circumstances, the four tiny serpentine figures would have collapsed within a few seconds due to how little the chakra used to create them was. However, these tiny wind serpents had taken form within the firestorm created by Danzo and his subordinate. They greedily absorbed the surrounding inferno, quickly transforming into four massive Fire-Wind Dragons! Since a major chunk of the chakra in the firestorm came from Danzo, there was no instability in the burning Dragons.

On the other side of the firestorm, Akuro's eyelids twitched. Since his eyes were closed and he was entirely reliant on sensing, he easily understood the mechanics behind Danzo's technique. The reason he understood it so clearly on the first try was that he was extremely familiar with it!

Fujin thought, 'Fucking asshole! This is an application of my Wind Domain! Not just Hiruzen, this old rat too! Copying my techniques without even paying me any royalty. I should have exploited them more!'

Despite his thoughts, Fujin was glad that Danzo hadn't entirely replicated his Wind Domain. Had he done so, then the battle would become far more difficult than what he calculated. Knowing how difficult it would be to lure Danzo out of Konoha again, Fujin would have no choice but to face his creation head-on with an element that was inherently weak against it.

There was another thought in the back of Fujin's head, a thought he struggled to suppress. It was to create his own Wind Domain. Thanks to the firestorm in front of him, he would need little chakra to transform his Wind Domain into a Scorch Domain. With it, Fujin could dismantle all of Danzo's games with ease and create an environment that was extremely favorable for him.

If Danzo were to be trapped inside his Domain, Fujin wouldn't care whether he could use Izanagi ten times or a hundred times. The battle would only have one result. No matter how many times Danzo came back to life, he'd die instantly!

Unfortunately, he couldn't take the easy way out. Fujin sighed, 'A pity. If I were to use it, the cat would be out of the bag. Death isn't absolute in this world. Then again, that's exactly why I'm targeting him. How ironic…'

He chuckled as the four Fire-Wind Dragons tore through the Firestorms and surged forward, each locking onto Akuro's position with unerring precision.

Akuro's figure blurred as he dodged the first, then sidestepped a second with casual ease. The third dragon swerved, trying to catch him mid-movement, only for Akuro to twist mid-air and land lightly on a burning branch that shattered beneath his weight. He vanished again before the flames could touch him.

Danzo's expression remained calm as he tracked Akuro's movements with Shisui's eye, manipulating the dragons with minor shifts of chakra. Each movement he made forced the dragons to change direction, trying to restrict Akuro's movements, hemming him in gradually.

However, despite Danzo's finesse, Akuro's speed simply outpaced the dragons. Unless they could suddenly move several times faster, there wasn't a hope of them ever catching Akuro.

Danzo observed silently, 'Even though his eyes are closed and sealed, it hasn't affected his movement in any way. From the way he moves, it seems like he's sensing every little disturbance in the air to gauge his surroundings accurately. Doing so should have been impossible due to the heavy cloak he's wearing, but since he can do so, some of the seals on his cloak must be aiding him in doing so.

In addition, he's also reading my chakra control and predicting the dragons' arcs, helping him stay one step ahead of me. This dual-pronged approach shows he's far more careful than he lets on. That's his true nature.

In addition, he must also use some other ways. I have tried to fool him by manipulating my chakra incorrectly and creating additional disturbances in the air, but he hasn't been fooled even once so far.'

Danzo wasn't surprised by his observations. When Akuro closed and sealed his eyes, Danzo had deepened his understanding of Akuro. As for hitting Akuro with the Fire-Wind Dragons, Danzo knew very well that was impossible. That wasn't his goal. His actions so far were merely to probe and investigate his opponent.

Suddenly, Danzo's chakra flow changed once again. The moment Akuro shifted to dodge another dragon, he sensed a subtle change in his chakra flow, as if an external force was influencing him. His chakra flared as he instantly disrupted his own flow, removing any foreign influences.

However, that momentary distraction allowed the Fire-Wind Dragon to close in alarmingly! It still missed him by inches, but it came far closer than any other attack so far.

Another couple of dragons closed in on his new position as Akuro once again felt an external influence once again. A frown appeared behind his mask as he disrupted his chakra flow again and dodged both dragons and thought, 'How annoying. Even though he can't place me under a Genjutsu, he can still distract me momentarily with Shisui's eye. In a fast-paced battle, that one moment can be lethal.'

For someone who gained fame as the Spectral Swordsman, Fujin was well aware of how critical a single moment could be in an intense conflict. Too many ninjas had lost their lives to him due to momentary lapses in concentration. Fujin did not doubt that Danzo would be even more ruthless in this aspect.

Despite his expressions being hidden behind a mask, Danzo could feel Akuro's annoyance. He thought, 'Even though you claimed no one other than Shin'en no Kōshi could place you under a Genjutsu, you still closed your eyes when I opened Shisui's eye. Breaking out of Genjutsu isn't the same as being immune to it. Let me see whether you are as experienced as you claim to be.'

Danzo continued using Shisui's eye to distract Akuro at critical moments in an attempt to catch him by surprise. Ironically, he didn't even bother using any strong Genjutsu in his attempts since he knew Akuro would break the Genjutsu instantly. Doing so ensured Danzo could keep using Shisui's eye for much longer. Additionally, he realized that Akuro couldn't estimate the strength of the Genjutsu. If he could, Akuro wouldn't have bothered disrupting his chakra so violently as those weak Genjutsu wouldn't have impacted him in any way.

For an old schemer like Danzo, getting every little detail about his enemy was another card he could use to plan and create traps for his enemy. It improved his mood somewhat as he continued making life difficult for Akuro. Yet, a frown appeared on Danzo's face merely a couple of minutes later.

Danzo couldn't help but think, 'Akuro… He no longer feels tense. Instead, I feel like he is smiling behind his mask. It's almost as if he's treating this like a game…'

Danzo's guess wasn't off the mark. Although Danzo's tactic was annoying, Fujin was aware of the entities he might face in the future. For him, this little game of Danzo was a good training opportunity. Despite his exposure to rank S ninjas, such confrontations were much much lesser than what Fujin would have liked.

Of course, treating an intense battle against an opponent as deadly as Danzo like a game could be extremely dangerous. A single mistake could prove costly. Fujin would never take such a needless risk without a good reason. Luckily, he had two.

He chuckled while dodging the Fire-Wind Dragons by mere inches and thought, 'Danzo isn't Shisui. Even with Hashirama's cells, there's a limit to how much he can use Shisui's eye. Using it so liberally now will affect his strength later. That said, even this advantage would not have made me participate in this little game of his. However…'

Even though his eyes were closed, Akuro turned his head towards an incoming Fire-Wind Dragon. Though it looked quite strong and intimidating, it didn't have the power to harm Akuro. After all, Akuro's cloak could tank hits from a transformed Yugito! As a result, the danger was minimal. What Fujin was more on guard against was Danzo or his clones using Wind Vacuum jutsus to target him.

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