Chapter 880 : Impact of Fujin's Interference!

Darui thought, ‘So, that's what he meant! I need to help Yugito!’

His figure disappeared once again. Aided by Lightning, his speed was immense. He moved around Akuro to get to Yugito. Unfortunately, before he could do so, Akuro appeared next to him, moving at the same speed and swung his blade at Darui. Darui quickly raised his broadsword to block the attack. He succeeded in intercepting the blade, but, to his surprise, he felt a massive force. At the next second, Darui was launched like a cannonball through the dense forest!

Samui and C quickly moved, flickering in front of Yugito to buy her some time. Sadly, they weren't in the same league as Yugito or Darui. No sooner that they appeared, they sensed a Lightning charge next to them. Their eyes moved, only to see Akuro standing between them. Their bodies instinctively moved, raising their weapons to block Akuro's attacks.

Samui barely got her tanto up in time to block Akuro's slash, but the difference in strength was huge. Samui knew that and tried to flicker backwards preemptively to avoid getting injured. Her plan was to use Akuro's strength to help her get away from him. Unfortunately, she underestimated his speed. Even though her lightning-enhanced tanto blocked Akuro's sword, it continued on by pushing her tanto behind. The sword nicked her, leaving a 5 inch cut on the side of her abdomen. Fortunately, due to her earlier actions, she wasn't cut any further and was sent flying through the forest just like Darui.

As for C, his blade was kicked by Akuro. Even though Fujin hadn't mastered the Lightning Chakra Mode, his strength was still increased considerably due to it. The blade failed to stop his kick and it landed on C's left arm. He grunted in pain as his elbow was dislocated before he was sent flying just like his remaining two teammates.

Though neither bought much time, their screams helped Yugito get a hold of herself. Even when she was barely conscious, Matatabi's chakra was continuously healing the horrendous injuries inflicted by the lightning strike. So, she was no longer in danger.

Her eyes snapped open and Matatabi's chakra flared through her body once again! A small blue cloak formed around her, similar to Naruto's cloak before he unleashed the fourth tail and a crazed look appeared in her eyes. However, her eyes widened as they were filled with just one scene. Before she could completely unleash Matatabi's chakra, Akuro's kick landed straight on her face, sending her flying backwards. The impact once again made Yugito blank out for a few seconds. Luckily, Matatabi's chakra continued healing her.

Akuro looked at her and thought, ‘First the incomplete Tailed Beast Bomb and now the continuous healing… There's no doubt. She has become a perfect Jinchuriki. Though, there may still be some flaws. Her crazed look earlier could imply that Matatabi still has some afterthoughts. However, they should be soothed soon. Regardless, she'll be considered the 3rd Perfect Jinchuriki. Sigh, what an improvement…’

Instead of continuing his attack, Akuro moved continuously as black lightning rained down on him. Darui, despite being sent flying for nearly half a kilometer, returned in no time. As the two repeatedly clashed, Akuro analyzed, ‘C improved his jutsus, creating a hybrid jutsu containing aspects of both Genjutsu and Ninjutsu. His sensing abilities have also improved. Samui's chakra flow has refined further and she is learning barrier techniques. Yugito became a perfect Jinchuriki.

Darui learnt the Lightning Chakra Mode and has even incorporated his black lightning into the technique. Though his control over it is worse than mine, he's improving by leaps and bounds. I can't say if he'll get as strong as Ay, but he'll be a powerhouse in rank S very soon.

All four have improved vastly since my first encounter with them. As I expected… Repeated encounters with me forced them to push themselves further. Leaving them alive in my first encounter was the right decision, hehe. They were the perfect team to practice my Lightning Ninjutsus on.

Anyway, these four aren't the only ones who improved. I'm not sure how strong Naruto and Sasuke have gotten by now, but there's another who has grown scarily in recent times. He might be an even better sparring partner than Darui, but how do I force him to battle this identity of mine…?’

Fujin continued thinking while fighting with Darui. Aided by the Lightning Chakra Mode, the two moved at high speeds. Understanding the difference in their strength, Darui avoided direct physical clashes with Akuro and instead resorted to Lightning jutsus.

Fujin, who knew there wasn't much to experiment with his speed and physical prowess, was happy to play along and engaged in a Ninjutsu showdown with Darui. Their battle completely destroyed whatever remained of the beautiful terrain. It also gave time to Darui's teammates to catch their breaths and heal their injuries.

C healed his and Samui's injuries while Matatabi's chakra healed Yugito. Samui muttered, “He's far stronger than the last time we fought against him!”
Yugito nodded, “He didn't use the Lightning Chakra Mode in our previous fights. He only used it today because Darui used it first. Was he only toying with us earlier?”
C gritted his teeth and replied, “He's still toying with us! Earlier, his speed was far higher than Darui's, but now they are evenly matched. He's treating us less like enemies and more like children!”
Samui said, “He does claim that he is from an ancient era. What's the plan now?”
C answered, “We have to stall until Raikage-sama reaches here. Darui is keeping him entertained for now, but he can't maintain this mode for a long time. We'll need to take turns to keep him occupied. Yugito, when Darui retreats, you take the lead. Samui and I will assist you from the back.”

Samui and Yugito nodded. C continued monitoring the battle with his chakra field while the three of them caught their breath.

As Fujin and Darui clashed, Fujin thought, ‘It's complicated. Creating a legitimate reason is more or less impossible. That said, I have never bothered creating legitimate reasons for Akuro's actions. I could simply run into him ‘accidentally’ and fight him for looking at me the wrong way.

I guess that'll cause even more confusion about Akuro's intentions, but whatever. It's not like it matters. All that matters is my identity remains a secret. Though, that could be a challenge too due to his abilities. Oh well, I'll think about it later. I'll settle this battle for now.

As much as I'd love to fight against Ay, I still can't take him on with only my Lightning jutsus. Once I improve my Lightning Chakra Mode, I can target him. Besides, if he arrives, I won't be able to do that…’

Fujin saw as 12 black lightning panthers closed in on him from various directions. He immediately moved while building up his chakra and appeared at a spot where all the 12 black lightning panthers were between him and Darui.
‘Lightning Release: Chaotic Lightning Assault’

Fujin extended his arms and a large spinning tube of Lightning formed in front of him. Without wasting any time, Fujin launched it straight at Darui at a very high speed. Yet, the large distance between them meant that Darui, who's speed was boosted by the Lightning Chakra Mode, had little problem in moving out of the way.

Darui stepped to his left as he wondered, ‘What is Akuro planning? Even though that jutsu is fast, it won't hit me. And, due to its form, it won't neutralize my black panthers either… What in the…???’

The speed of the lightning tube was so high that the tube itself became highly unstable and began falling apart as it travelled towards Darui. As a result, powerful Lightning bolts were randomly hurled outwards due to the massive centrifugal force the Lightning was subjected to.

As a result, the black panthers that Darui had moved out of the way were all hit by those powerful lightning bolts. Not a single one survived and all exploded, damaging the terrain further. The unstable lightning tube continued moving ahead at the same high speed and reached Darui's location when he had barely moved 5 meters to his left.

However, instead of continuing forward, the tube collapsed entirely and all lightning contained in it was hurled around in a spiral manner. Most of the Lightning bolts hit the ground, flew into the sky or moved on the other side, but around 20% of it moved towards Darui.

Even though Darui was ridiculously fast, this change caught him off guard. He had prepared himself to dodge a dozen lightning bolts, but seeing hundreds of bolts shocked him. He did his best and dodged nearly half of them, but the other half hit him!

Had it been Ay, such a jutsu wouldn't hurt him. Unfortunately, Darui's lightning cloak lacked heavily compared to him. It blocked the first few bolts, but every single one after that caused him grave pain. The right half of his body was badly burnt by the lightning bolts!

Before he could gather himself, he heard, “It's a shame you haven't mastered this technique yet…”

Darui suddenly felt a pain in the back of his neck and blacked out, collapsing in the destroyed forest!