Chapter 947 : Worst Matchup!

Due to all these limitations, Fujin was severely restricted in the battle. When the two fought above the ocean, Fujin dodged every attack the crab threw at him, be it physical or by manipulating water, while continuously bombarding the crab with his Vacuum jutsus.

Within a few minutes, the entire crab was covered with scars far scarier than what it already had. However, it failed to slow it even a bit. On the contrary, its ferocity only increased!

Left with little choice, Fujin focused on bombarding a single spot with his Vacuum Cannon Barrage jutsu. Even if a single jutsu couldn't penetrate more than half a meter, hundreds of hits at the same spot would eventually result in a hole through the massive crab. Fujin hoped he'd eventually make it past the crab's shell and reach the delicate interior which would be more vulnerable to his attacks.

That was when Fujin received another shock. It didn't matter how deep his jutsus penetrated into the crab, even its inner organs were as stone-like as its outer shell! To make matters worse, once Fujin created a hole that went nearly a quarter way through the crab's body, the crab simply retreated underwater!

Since he was merely looking for an exciting fight, Fujin didn't back away and followed the crab into the water. Needless to say, it increased the difficulty of the battle drastically! Under the water, the crab could manipulate water freely, finally giving it a chance to properly counterattack. Its mobility was much higher too, making it difficult for Fujin to concentrate his attack on a single spot.

Fujin didn't mind either of the changes. If anything, it made the battle more interesting and gave him valuable experience. Despite years of operating in the ninja world, his experiences in fighting underwater was negligible. Similarly, his true opponents would be many times more agile than the bulky crab.

The battle underwater dragged on for over a couple of hours. Fujin had to refill his chakra reserves from the artificial chakra reservoir in his Myriad Tetragram Seal thrice to continue battling. He was also hit several times, forcing him to heal himself in the midst of battle.

In the end, he painstakingly drilled 3 holes through the crab's massive body, each passing through spots where Fujin calculated its vitals to be at! What frustrated Fujin to no end was that the crab didn't slow down even slightly despite its horrendous state! On the contrary, it became more ferocious and daring, as if it was taunting Fujin to poke more holes in its body.

Fujin initially thought that the crab was merely putting up a front, displaying ferocity to dissuade Fujin from harming him further. However, by the time the 3rd hole was drilled through its body, Fujin understood that it wasn't a bluff.

Fujin even tried different methods, including using Lightning jutsus underwater. If he wasn't battling underwater, Fujin would have even tried Fire and Earth jutsu. His initial attempts with the Lightning jutsus had proved futile as the crab didn't even flinch no matter how powerful lightning bolt Fujin fired at it. However, the holes drilled through its body allowed Fujin to electrocute the crab from the inside out.

Unluckily, the crab wasn't phased even after Fujin amplified his Lightning jutsus with the aid of the Blade of the Thunder Spirit! Other than Kirin, Fujin tried every Lightning jutsu in his arsenal, but nothing worked. Fujin even tried Rasenshuriken and Saisho no Hikari.

The two powerful jutsus definitely left an impact on the crab, the areas they hit showed similar type of damage as normal ninjas would have. However, they were limited to a very small area on its body. The crab continued fighting as if those injuries were nothing but a flea bite. The archaic crab truly didn't fear any injuries, nor was it hampered by them. Fujin felt that the crab would keep fighting even if he somehow erased half of its body!

Even though the two couldn't communicate, Fujin had a feeling that the archaic crab was even more excited for a battle than him! Unfortunately, unlike the crab who continuously replenished its chakra by absorbing large amounts of nature chakra from the ocean, Fujin's reserves weren't unlimited. He didn't intend to completely empty his artificial chakra reservoirs.

If the hunt for Hidan was the most frustrating chase in Fujin's life, his battle against the ancient crab was undoubtedly the most frustrating battle he had been a part of! Fujin would rather fight Obito than fighting an archaic beast that completely ignored any injury inflicted on it! As someone who preferred fast and precise strikes to quickly neutralize his enemy, the crab was one of the worst matchups for Fujin. He could only put an end to the farce and retreat from the battle.

While it couldn't truly be considered a defeat, as Fujin didn't take any serious injuries while the crab was covered in thousands of scars, had countless small holes on the surface of its hard shell and 3 holes that drilled through its entire body, Fujin was the one who barged into the crab's territory arrogantly and challenged it to a duel. Irrespective of its appearance, it had defended its territory while Fujin had to retreat. While Fujin and most ninjas would consider it a strategic retreat, in Kaito's eyes, it was a defeat, plain and simple!

Recalling these events, Kaito teased, “You wanted to fight them. Why bother complaining? Besides, you wanted to target that behemoth instead.”

Fujin shrugged, “I never said I'd kill them. Head towards the West.”

Kaito adjusted his direction and asked, “West? So not a rematch then?”

Fujin replied, “What's the point in a rematch? I'll just exhaust my chakra again merely for drilling a few more holes…”

Kaito immediately refuted him, “No! You're wrong. Every being has a weakness. The more you clash with it, the better idea you'll gain of its abilities and the higher the chance of you finding chinks in its defense! If you survive enough battles, which shouldn't be an issue for you, you'll eventually kill it.”

Fujin replied, “That may be true, but what do I have to gain by finding its weakness and killing it? Let it survive. The next time I'll visit it would be the time I want to practice some taijutsu against a behemoth.”

Since the beasts in the ocean didn't threaten the future in any way, Fujin had little reason to eliminate them. He'd rather find ways of signing more summoning contracts and add their strength to his arsenal. From his point of view, those beasts were not only great sparring partners, but also possible hidden cards in his arsenal in the future.

Kaito snorted, “That's an eloquent way to put it. You can just say you can't kill it. Anyway, where are we headed to? Who are you targeting this time?”

Fujin answered, “A cult made of fanatics…”

Kaito was surprised. He asked, “There still are people believing in those? What's this one called?”

Fujin chuckled, “As long as humans live, there will always be such cults. They worship an entity called Jashin…”

“Hmm, Jashin…” Kaito muttered thoughtfully. Half a minute later, he said, “No, I can't remember anyone like that. Must be an obscure one.”

Fujin agreed, “It is. They prefer to keep hiding. But they are still quite dangerous, specializing in sealing. I'll have you drop me a few kilometers away.”

Kaito sighed, “A pity. I was looking forward to another fun battle.”

Kaito knew Fujin was well aware of his abilities. If Fujin still believed the situation would be risky for him, Kaito had no reason to needlessly refute him. He trusted Fujin's judgement about such matters.

Kaito flew across the Land of Water, the Land of Fire and then flew past the Land of Earth, reaching its Western territories. Fujin could have directly teleported to the Land of Earth and summoned Kaito from there to save time. However, he decided to use the calming journey through the clouds to go over his plans and verify if he had missed any important clue.

The Western territories of the Land of Earth were barely inhabited, which was why Fujin hadn't visited them earlier. Fujin still had no plans to visit them, but since he was there, he occasionally dropped kunais with the Flying Thunder God marks while flying on Kaito's back.

The duo eventually flew across the country and reached reefs that Fujin found familiar despite never having visited this place. Those were the same reefs that Ketsueki had seen whenever he left the cult. He muttered, “This is it…”

Without any hesitation, Fujin activated his Space Time Sensing Technique. Exactly as per his memories, Fujin sensed several dozen disturbances 10 kilometers away. However, his brows furrowed as he thought, ‘Weird… I only sense 36 disturbances…’