Chapter 81: Facing Him Head-On
Kael spread his Explosive Flies in all directions around the Konoha encampment. It wasn't long before he picked up the trail of a Root squad, identifiable by their animal masks. They were still twenty kilometers from the Konoha border camp.
Kael's eyes narrowed. "This is our chance!" he snapped, his voice urgent. "I've got their route. With no other Konoha shinobi to interfere, our odds are much better!"
He mentally called for the Thunder-Wind Eagle. A moment later, a sharp cry echoed from above. A black dot in the sky rapidly enlarged, then dove, landing on the ground with a thud that kicked up a cloud of dust.
The Thunder-Wind Eagle was over twenty meters tall. Kael couldn't just leap onto it. He had it lower its head, then pushed off the ground and landed on its neck. He turned to his ANBU squad. "Everyone, get on!"
He then issued a mental command to the Earth Dragon. "Little Dragon, you and the others follow us underground!"
The group immediately set off toward the Land of Fire.
Northern Land of Fire, near the border of the Land of Hot Water.
A squad of eighteen, identical to Kael's in number, was advancing rapidly toward the border. Their leader was a man in his forties with black hair, sharp features, and a perpetually cold expression.
It was Shimura Danzo.
A Root operative in a fox mask moved up beside him. "Lord Danzo, should we head to the nearest Konoha camp first, or go directly to the Hidden Hot Water Village?"
Danzo didn't break his stride, merely tilting his head. "Who is the commander of this camp?"
The Fox operative bowed his head. "It's Sarutobi Tsubasa, sir."
A cold smirk touched Danzo's lips. He spoke a chilling sentence in a completely casual tone. "Oh? That one... Then we'll stop at the camp first. We'll take them with us and wipe out the Hidden Hot Water Village."
"Yes, sir!"
Just then, a Root ninja in the middle of the formation tensed. "Careful! A powerful chakra signature is approaching us from the sky, five kilometers out, closing fast!"
The moment he spoke, Danzo's eyes flashed with a razor-sharp light. His hands flew through seals. A massive amount of chakra gathered in his mouth. The next instant, he exhaled a scythe-like, bone-white, semi-circular blade of vacuum wind, slashing it diagonally toward the sky.
Wind Style: Vacuum Wave!
SHIICK!
A high-speed, rotating ball of wind that had been hurtling toward them was cleanly bisected by the attack. It dissipated into two harmless gusts of wind.
"Using Wind Style against me? How foolish," Danzo said flatly, a cold smirk on his lips. He raised his hand and gave a signal. The entire squad instantly halted and fanned out into a defensive formation. From that single incoming jutsu, Danzo could tell the enemy possessed a wide-area attack. He wasn't afraid, but if his Root operatives were clustered together, they would be vulnerable to repeated strikes.
WHOOSH!
A fierce gale blew as a colossal eagle appeared in their vision. It slowly flapped its wings, then landed on the ground in front of them.
"Hidden Hot Water shinobi?" Danzo's eyes narrowed. He felt a strong sense of dissonance. When did the insignificant Hidden Hot Water Village get the nerve to attack Konoha shinobi?
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh. One by one, figures leaped down from the eagle's back. Including the young man sitting on the eagle's head, their numbers were exactly the same as the Root squad's.
Danzo stared icily at Kael, who was clearly the leader. "Hidden Hot Water ninja? You dare to attack me? Do you have any idea what you are doing?"
"What the f*** is wrong with you?!" Before the fight even started, Kael's anger flared. Danzo's arrogance was infuriating. He'd already sent men to try and take over their village, and now he was personally leading a force to wipe them out, and he still had the audacity to ask what Kael was doing?
What? Are we just supposed to roll over and die?! What am I doing? I'm here to take you on, you bastard!
As if sensing Kael's rage, the ground beneath Danzo and his men began to tremble. Their expressions changed. The next moment, the earth split open, and a massive, dark chasm appeared.
BOOM!
A colossal, primeval beast erupted from the ground right under Danzo. The Earth Dragon's massive maw, wide enough to swallow a house, snapped shut, trying to devour him. Danzo easily dodged, but the attack instantly shattered the Root's perfect formation.
Danzo, who had leaped to safety, looked up at the bizarre, segmented beast, whose tail was still hidden underground even as its head towered nearly a hundred meters in the air. His eyes narrowed.
A monster of this size was comparable to the Sannin's personal summons. Its attack speed was a bit lacking, but its sheer presence was overwhelming and posed a huge threat to his men. A creature this massive could cause immense destruction with its every movement.
With that thought, Danzo drew his ninja blade. He exhaled a stream of razor-sharp, wind-natured chakra, coating the blade. His face hardened. He took two steps forward and, with both hands, brought the blade down in a vicious slash against the Earth Dragon's massive body.
SHLICK!
A wound a foot wide was instantly carved into the Earth Dragon's side, running all the way up its body. Thick, reddish-brown blood gushed from the cut. The dragon's hide, which was as tough as rock and metal, offered no resistance to Danzo's Wind Style.
A red rain fell from the sky. In agony, the Earth Dragon's hundred-meter-long body dove back into the earth to escape.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
Four summons of varying sizes were flung from its back as it retreated, landing hard on the ground. At Kael's command, three of them immediately charged into the fray, heading for the now-engaged Root and Hidden Hot Water shinobi. The Ironclad Hedgehog, the Earthen Beetle, and the Blazing Worker Ants, all upgraded by Kael's secondary synthesis, were now a significant threat even to Chunin. And if a Jonin wasn't careful and got bitten by a Blazing Ant... it was a death sentence.
Only one creature remained: a massive yellow dog, built like an elephant, snarling as it stared fixedly at Danzo.
"Goldie, now!" Kael commanded mentally.
A flash of lightning. Goldie vanished. In an instant, it crossed the hundred-meter distance, reappearing as a streak of pure electricity, its foreleg crackling with explosive blue lightning as it aimed a four-clawed strike at Danzo's head.
Hell Stab: Four-Fingered Spear Hand!
The attack was so fast, Danzo barely had time to react. But his hands moved on pure instinct, blurring through seals.
Body Flicker Technique!
The lightning spear pierced only an afterimage. Only then did the deafening sonic boom of Goldie's attack catch up, ripping through the air.
CRACKLE!
Goldie snapped its head to the left, its amber, lantern-sized eyes locking onto Danzo's new position. The blue arcs of electricity enveloping its body flared, and without hesitation, it launched itself at Danzo again.
"Lightning... Style... Chakra Mode..." Danzo stammered, his eyes wide with utter shock. He had thought it looked familiar from a distance, but now, up close, he could see it clearly. This dog was releasing lightning chakra from every point on its body. It was the Hidden Cloud's signature technique!
He whipped his head up to look at Kael, roaring in disbelief, "You're the Raikage's dog!"