Chapter 724 : Poking the Beehive!

For a few moments, Baki felt a sense of helplessness. He didn't see any way to counter such a strong jutsu. In fact, he wasn't even sure whether Rasa could stop this technique. The fact that the enemy village had a sixteen-year-old ninja who could go up against their Kage and possibly overpower him was extremely difficult for Baki to digest.

Yet, Baki quickly controlled himself. As the Sunagakure ninja with the highest authority on the battlefield, he wasn't allowed to lose control of his emotions like the rest.

He quickly analyzed, ‘No! A jutsu this strong has to have weaknesses. And, the weakness of this jutsu is rather obvious. Sustaining it will take a massive toll on his chakra reserves. While we can't confront him head-on, we can keep attacking him until he runs out of chakra and then take his head!

However, it'll be a very painful victory. It'll be best if they are able to kill him right here…’

Baki's analysis wasn't off the mark. The Wind Domain had a ridiculous requirement for chakra. A normal ninja wouldn't be able to sustain it. After creating the Wind Domain, Fujin used it to annihilate a division of Suna ninjas and a division of Oto ninjas. In addition, he lost a big chunk of chakra to Kurogaki's Dark Release.

Along with his liberal use of the Assassin's Rush jutsu and blocking the reanimated ninjas, his Wind Domain was almost out of chakra. It became quite evident when Shirogane's bones ripped through Fujin's Ghost Palm.

Baki observed it with a keen look and thought, ‘As I suspected. The technique's power had decreased significantly. Even though he is still ridiculously strong, he won't be invincible once this technique ends!’

The reanimated ninjas and others around, especially the sensors, also noticed the same thing. Sakumo sighed internally while thinking, ‘I guess expecting a jutsu of this scale to be sustained for too long is too much…’

However, unlike the expressions of the Konoha ninjas, there wasn't even a hint of worry on Fujin's face. The Wind Domain began moving once again and strong winds were blasted in the direction of all six ninjas once again.

The sudden move from the weakening Wind Domain caught them off guard and all six ninjas were hurled a long distance backwards. With this attack, Fujin's Wind Domain finally ran out of chakra as well. Without exchanging a single word, everyone in Fujin's group flickered towards the opponents they decided upon!

Baki immediately realized, ‘That technique has run out of chakra! This is our chance!’

He quickly glanced towards three Suna Jounins, all of whom glanced back at him at that moment. Without the need for any orders, they nodded and flickered. The three Suna ninjas specialized in assassination. In a head-on battle, they knew that they didn't stand any chance against Fujin. However, with the reanimated ninjas keeping him busy, they were confident that they would get some openings!

Fujin appeared in front of Juzo and Kaminari and thought, ‘More than 300 elite ninjas for 25% of my chakra… Not a bad exchange. That said, fighting these two and later sealing the rest… My chakra reserves can go seriously low… And, depending on the situation, I may have to fight with Orochimaru as well. Worse, he might have more dead people to summon...’

Kaminari looked at Fujin and chuckled, “Aren't you looking down at us, boy? You want to take the two of us at the same time without that cloak?”
Juzo said, “If we were still alive, I'd have warned him to not underestimate you. However, I suppose it doesn't matter now. How long has it been since you killed me?”

Fujin raised an eyebrow and asked, “Kill you? We never even met.”

Juzo was immediately left speechless. Kaminari looked at Fujin in confusion and wondered, ‘Why is he denying it?’

Juzo, who lived a few years longer than Kaminari, understood why Fujin denied it. He couldn't help but wonder, ‘How much shit did he do to refuse his identity completely? I suppose even Konoha can't handle the backlash if he accepts it openly.
Still, this is humiliating… I never imagined that someone would refuse to even accept that they killed me, a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist! Does my head command no value?’

Fujin's words made Juzo angry, but Fujin ignored him and glanced at Kaminari. He said, “For someone who's being controlled like a puppet by Orochimaru, you sure are cocky. I wonder what your old comrades in Kumo would think if they knew how proud you are to be his attack dog.”

Fujin's remark immediately made Kaminari lose his cool! Never had he been insulted to this degree. He immediately riled up his chakra and was about to curse and attack when his eyes widened. Taking advantage of the fraction of a second Kaminari lost himself to rage, Fujin flickered in front of him and swung his blade at him!

Unlike his usual approach, Fujin didn't target his throat. After all, it was useless against an Edo Tensei and Fujin didn't want to leave himself open for a counterattack. Instead, he attacked Kaminari's sword, which he instinctively raised.

The two blades clashed. Lightning flowed through Kaminari's blade, making it far stronger than a normal sword. However, it was too weak against the Vacuum core along Fujin's blade. In one smooth motion, Fujin cut Kaminari's sword into two and continued swinging his sword towards his chest. However, he suddenly stopped and retreated as several Water Bullets flew through his previous location.

Juzo appeared next to Kaminari and mocked ruthlessly, “What a surprise. Even death failed to tone down your arrogance.”
Kaminari snorted and said, “He just caught me off guard.”

His chakra flared once again and Lightning charges appeared on his body. Having realized how devious Fujin was and recalling how he was played twice by Fujin's squad before his death, he no longer intended to give him any opportunities.

All three disappeared and an intense clash ensued. At the same time, others began their battles as well.

While the most crucial battles were happening in the arena, the rest of the village was in chaos as well. Shikaku dispatched several powerful ninjas to take care of the gigantic snakes and lead the ninjas on the walls to victory against the Suna and Oto ninjas.

He had already sent Jiraiya, who had already crushed one group and was moving towards the second. Inoichi, Choza, Tsume, Eagle and a few others were also dispatched to stop the summons.

However, one group managed to break through the ninjas stationed at the walls. With no one living near the walls, they rushed straight towards the village, intending to cause as much harm to Konoha as possible! In a couple of minutes, they reached the outskirts of the village.

In a dark basement, a pair of eyes suddenly opened. He got up and muttered, “Seriously? You have the entire village and you come this fucking way?”

In Fujin's compound, there was a bit of panic. Over a hundred former Kiri orphans, who were currently Anbu Trainees, watched 3 large snakes along with a couple of dozen enemy ninjas heading straight towards them.

Hikari muttered fearfully, “They are heading towards us… I have never seen such gigantic snakes!”
Takeshi said, “Calm down. Sensei has trained us for a long time. We can't disappoint him. With our Kekkei Genkai, we can take those gigantic snakes down!”
Sayaka immediately said with full seriousness, “Don't get overconfident. These snakes are Orochimaru's summons. We can't take them lightly.”
Yuji chuckled and said, “Don't worry, when has Takeshi ever taken anyone lightly?”
Sayaka looked at him and scolded, “I'm worried more about you, Yuji!”

She turned her gaze towards their Anbu instructors and said, “Don't worry, our instructors are still here. Even if Sensei isn't here, they can instruct us how to deal with them.”

Everyone nodded obediently. Unknown to them, Monkey had a worried expression behind his mask. He thought, ‘We don't have enough manpower to face them… The only way we'd have any chance at victory is if I make the trainees fight. However, this is very risky.

Even though they have a couple of years of training, they have never been on an actual mission. If I make them fight here, many would die. Considering their immense potential, this will be a painful loss for the village. However, what other choice do I hav… Huh?’

In shock, Monkey asked, “What are you doing here?”
Fujin's clone asked in return, “Why are you so agitated? Calm down, I'm just a Shadow Clone.”

Monkey sighed in relief and said, “Thankfully you're here. I was getting worried about sending the trainees to battle. Even though you're just a clone, our losses will be significantly lower… What's the issue?”

He suddenly felt uncomfortable as he saw Fujin's clone looking at him like he was the biggest idiot in the world!

Fujin's clone turned his gaze back towards the enemy and asked, “What do you mean by losses?”

[A/N: Loved the discussion in the comments in the previous chapter :)
Had another moment like when I had the idea to expand upon the Edo Tensei jutsu. Worked quite a bit on changing the plot of one of my future arcs, which should make that arc far more interesting and fun than my initial plans.
I still need to work out on impact it'll have on the rest of the story, but I have plenty of time to do that. Thanks, Mohammed Sheekh and Kwabena :)]