Chapter 946 : Fujin's Defeat!

Fujin observed Zankoku's soul carefully once again, but it wasn't any different from any other reanimated soul. In the end, he could only dispel the two reanimations.

At the next moment, a hundred Shadow Clones appeared in the hideout. Without the need of any commands, all segregated into smaller groups and divided the new seals among themselves to research.

Since Fujin had read Ketsueki’s memories, he already had a decent base in regards to the new seals practiced in the Jashin cult. While reading memories wasn't much different from reading from scrolls, Fujin also got access to Ketsueki’s experiences with those seals, be it the difficulties in learning them, his understanding of each seal, his preferred ways of applying the seals and so on. As such, the process was easier than when he learnt the seals from Konoha's library without any assistance.

For the next 3 days, Fujin and his clones kept working on the seals from Ketsueki’s memories. On the fourth day, Fujin sat alone in his hideout, analyzing everything he had learnt so far, ‘Hmm… I have a feeling Ketsueki’s knowledge about the cult's Fuinjutsu isn't complete… After becoming a Bishop, he was only focused on learning seals required for the ritual. He didn't focus on any other aspects.

The cult should still have several more seals that focus on combat. The barrier around their village should still have quite a lot of seals unknown to me. I'll need to read Shimeiryuu's memories to learn the extent of their Fuinjutsu. He should possess all knowledge regarding it, except for perhaps the seals exclusive to only the Pontiff. Anyway…’

Fujin let out a long sigh, ‘Though I am nowhere close to mastering the seals from Ketsueki’s memories, I should be capable of recreating his ritual. The only thing I'm missing is the Seed of Jashin, the most critical component of the ritual. Also…’

Fujin looked through his collection of scrolls before pulling a few out. He opened each of them and laid them out in front of him. These scrolls contained the seals used in Hidan's ritual.

After observing them all, Fujin noticed, ‘As I remembered… The seal formation in both rituals is quite different from each other. Makes sense considering how different the powers they grant are. I suppose every Bishop has his own unique ritual.

Luckily, most of the seals are similar though the formation is different. There are only 13 different seals in the ritual, 9 of which Ketsueki knows of. Figuring out the purpose and usage of the remaining 4 will not be difficult once I master Ketsueki’s seals. It's just a matter of putting in the time.’

Fujin looked at the scrolls for a few more seconds before storing them back. His gaze turned towards the remaining two unconscious pirates in his hideout. In mere seconds, both were dead and all four dead bodies disappeared from his hideout.

Stretching and cracking his body, Fujin finally stepped out of his hideout. Biting his thumb, Fujin muttered, “Now then… Let me see what you have got…”

Fujin stretched his limbs and cracked his neck, his body waking up after days of silent planning. The morning mist clung to the rocks around his hideout, as if the world itself held its breath. With a single bite to his thumb, blood welled up, and a familiar glint returned to his eyes. He muttered, almost like a whisper to fate itself, “Now then… Let me see what you have got in store for me…”

‘Summoning jutsu!’

A smoke cloud spread as soon as Fujin slammed his palm on the ground. From within it, a towering silhouette took form. Then, with a sudden gust, massive wings tore through the haze, scattering the smoke and revealing Kaito’s imposing figure.

Fujin hopped on Kaito's back and said, “It's time for another adventure, old friend.”

A feral grin appeared on Kaito's face as his wings spread to completely reveal its majestic appearance. Within seconds, Kaito took flight, his silhouette leaving the small island far behind. As he broke through the clouds, Kaito cheerfully said, “It's about time you got over getting your ass kicked! You shouldn't brood over a humiliating loss for such a long time, Fujin! Where are we heading to this time? Do you want a rematch?”

Fujin’s eye twitched as he shot an annoyed glance at Kaito. A rare crack appeared in his ever-composed demeanor, indignation flashing across his face as the memory of his battle against the gigantic sea crab surged in his mind. He immediately rebuked, “Humiliating loss my ass! That thing can't be considered a living being!”

Kaito chuckled as Fujin cursed under his breath, “No matter how many times I cut it or even poked a hole through it, it didn't even react. It was more like a machine than a living being. What's even the point of fighting something like that?”

Kaito recalled the scenes of the battle between Fujin and the giant crab. As the only witness to an epic battle in the deep ocean, the battle was still very fresh in his memories.

The battle had begun like every typical battle of Fujin, i.e., his enemies being peppered with a large number of sharp, precise, high speed wind jutsus! Be it because of the thrill such a battle brought, or the situation, Fujin was even more overbearing, trapping the entire crab within his Wind Domain seconds into the battle!

Unfortunately for Fujin, that's where his pre-battle plans ended. The crab's armor was almost as tough and resilient as the Raikage's skin! Fujin's normal Wind jutsus failed to even leave scratches on the crab's tough exterior. He was merely wasting his chakra.

As such, Fujin was forced to switch to the Wind Vacuum Technique early on in the battle. It was a technique that had never failed Fujin. Over the years, Fujin had faced countless powerful foes with a myriad of bizarre abilities. Yet, he hadn't encountered even a single foe who didn't take evasive maneuvers when facing that deadly technique. Even ninjas with weird bodies like Kakuzu and Orochimaru preferred to dodge and protect their vitals while Obito tried to phase through every attack.

Unfortunately, for the very first time in his short ninja career, Fujin's Wind Vacuum technique, a technique feared all across the ninja world, failed!

It wasn't that Fujin failed to penetrate the crab's armor. No, Fujin succeeded in doing so, albeit with several complications that dulled the deadliness of the technique. The crab's massive body, which supposedly made it an easy target, also became the biggest obstacle for the Wind Vacuum technique.

Despite being one of the sharpest techniques, the penetrative power of Wind Vacuum attacks had a severe limitation. Once the vacuum jutsu penetrated something, it would absorb the material into its vacuum core and quickly lose the very property that gave its penetrative power.

Under normal circumstances, that isn't an issue. The vacuum jutsus would easily penetrate through any ninja long before its vacuum core collapsed. Even defenses like the Earth Wall jutsu wouldn't be sufficient to cause the vacuum core to collapse. The only true obstacle for Vacuum jutsus would be if a ninja hid deep underground.

Unfortunately, the crab's massive body made it unlike any ninja. Even though the vacuum jutsus could penetrate its hardened shell, it would collapse long before it penetrated into its body.

Fujin had another variation of the vacuum jutsu, one he learnt from Danzo a few years ago. The Vacuum Cannon Barrage jutsu consisted of multiple vacuum cores within it. It could penetrate hundreds of meters into the ground. As such, Fujin should theoretically have had the means to turn the crab into a pincushion with relative ease.

However, the crab's physique caught Fujin by surprise. Unlike normal instances, when the vacuum core only absorbed blood, flesh and bones, the vacuum jutsus that penetrated the crab's massive body attracted a large amount of nature chakra! It wasn't because the crab actively did so. No, over its lifetime, the crab had absorbed so much nature chakra that it had permanently become a part of its body. Every cell in its body was infused with nature chakra, creating such a phenomenon.

As a result, even his modified vacuum cores couldn't last long inside the crab's body. Attacks like the Vacuum Slash or Vacuum Blade merely left scratches on its surface. Vacuum Bullets and Cannon barely penetrated a few centimeters into its thick shell. Even the destructive Vacuum Cannon Barrage jutsu failed to penetrate half a meter into its thick shell!