Chapter 83: Changing Tactics
A purplish-black pillar of lightning fell from the sky, striking terror into the hearts of the shinobi on both sides of the battlefield, as if a true thunder god had descended.
The massive beam of lightning shifted and danced, following the movements of the Thunder-Wind Eagle's beak. Kael, watching through the ozone-filled air, saw Danzo below, leaping left and right, narrowly dodging the beam but never getting hit. Every spot the lightning did hit was instantly scorched black, leaving an irregular, charred scar across the ground.
Kael shook his head, a little disappointed. The lightning was fast, but the Thunder-Wind Eagle's reaction speed was clearly a few beats slower than Danzo's, rendering the incredibly powerful jutsu ineffective.
"Little Wind, stop wasting chakra," Kael said flatly, patting its head.
The Thunder-Wind Eagle, still eager for a kill, reluctantly cut the flow of chakra. The massive, purplish-black beam dissipated into the air. Kael then had the eagle descend toward Goldie.
Although the jutsu hadn't produced the desired result, Kael felt it had served a purpose: it had forced Danzo several hundred meters away from Goldie, giving them breathing room.
As they landed, Kael also summoned the Earth Dragon.
"Kun Kun, give us a buff, then heal Goldie and Little Dragon. Today, even if we don't kill Danzo, we're going to make him fear us. If this guy decides to target us, the Hidden Hot Water Village will never know peace!" Kael looked at Danzo in the distance, who stood unmoving, seemingly tired. A ruthless glint flashed in Kael's eyes as he gave the order.
"Cluck, cluck, cluck! —Okay, Master!"
Kun Kun immediately began its basketball performance. It flapped its wings, "dribbling" a suddenly-materialized red basketball, its body feinting left and right with exaggerated movements. As the ball "traveled" and spun on its "fingertips," Kael and his summons all felt a massive surge of chakra, their bodies filling with seemingly endless energy.
Kael knew this was just an illusion, a neurological trick caused by the sudden influx of power. The buff only lasted an hour, and it didn't truly make him tireless.
The buff had been applied, but Kun Kun showed no signs of stopping.
Kael's face darkened. "Kun Kun! That's enough! Go heal Goldie and Little Dragon!" he snapped.
At its master's command, Kun Kun reluctantly stopped dribbling... only to pull a microphone out of nowhere and begin singing soulfully.
"It's only 'cause you're too beautiful, baby! Only 'cause you're too beautiful, baby! It's only 'cause you're so, so beautiful, baby! Only 'cause you're too beautiful, baby! You walk towards me, and my heart starts to pound, this feeling I've never... "
At this line, Kun Kun winked one of its beady chicken eyes at Kael, who immediately looked away and began searching for something on the ground, his face grim.
"Woof, woof, woof! —Boss, what are you looking for?" Goldie, who was being bathed in the song's green, healing light, asked, its face a mask of suffering. The wounds on it and the Earth Dragon were visibly closing.
"Nothing. Just a bag," Kael replied, his hand over his mouth as he frantically searched. When he couldn't find one, he ran a safe distance away and plugged his ears.
"Blech... hu, hu, hu... Dammit! That almost made me puke! I've never been this carsick!"
Kun Kun's "lazy, sexy, and magnetic" singing voice was truly a double-edged sword...
Only after the Earth Dragon and Goldie were fully healed did Kun Kun, at Kael's command, finally end its performance, protesting in dissatisfaction.
"Cluck, cluck? —Master, why did you interrupt my art?"
It's my own creation, I just have to live with it, Kael thought, exasperated. "This is a battle," he explained. "There's no time for a full performance. When we get back, you can sing and dance for all your brothers and sisters..."
"Woof, woof! —Oh, the humanity...!"
"Woof, woof! —Old-timer, don't do this to me!"
"Chirp! —I'd like to live a few more years!"
While Kael's primary summons were healing and buffing, Danzo had also taken the opportunity to swallow a military food pill, rapidly recovering from the lingering paralysis. The intense, high-stakes battle had suddenly entered a bizarre, unspoken halftime.
Although the lightning hadn't hit him directly, the stray electricity from the purplish-black beam had numbed his body and slowed his reaction time.
Once he had fully recovered, Danzo approached Kael again. He studied the bizarre collection of summons one by one, his gaze finally landing on Kael himself. Sensing the pathetically weak chakra in Kael's body compared to his beasts, Danzo's eyes narrowed.
Several thoughts flashed through his mind. He stopped twenty meters away.
"Young Hidden Hot Water ninja, what is your name?" he asked coolly.
Kael met his intimidating gaze without flinching. "Then remember it well. My name is Kael Cross."
Seeing this young ninja, who couldn't be more than a teenager, stare back at him without a trace of fear, Danzo became even more certain of his suspicion.
This Kael Cross, this wielder of strange and powerful summons, had to be a secret pawn planted by the Third Raikage!
The pieces all fell into place. Why the Hidden Hot Water dared to kill Saiki and his Root operatives. Why they had received intelligence on his own secret movements, intercepting him and even daring to attack first.
Without the backing of the domineering Third Raikage, Danzo simply could not believe that the insignificant Hidden Hot Water Village would have such power, or such nerve, to make an enemy of Konoha.
Having fought this long, Kael also had a good grasp of the situation. Against his varied summons with their powerful abilities, Danzo, at his current stage, would find it almost impossible to kill him. But Kael also couldn't do any real damage to Danzo, short of a miracle.
His C-rank summons were strong, but they had their limits. Goldie, for example, once Danzo had seen through his attack patterns, was at risk of being countered and killed. Against a Kage-level opponent like Danzo, Kael's summons were still too green.
Their destructive power might be a threat, but their other fundamental stats were no match for Danzo. Their reaction speed was too slow. Goldie's movements, despite his immense strength, were easily read. The same went for the Thunder-Wind Eagle and the Earth Dragon. Their jutsus were too slow to cast. What good was an ultimate attack that could never hit its target? It was better left as a simple deterrent.
Looks like I need to focus more on coordination in this next round... Kael thought. This was his first time commanding his newly-upgraded summons in a real battle, and his inexperience was showing.