Chapter 80: 4 vs 20,000 (Part 2)
Onoki was rattled. Two of the four men before him were infamous throughout the ninja world, and they were not his friends.
The Third Raikage took a step forward. "Though we have come for war," he said, "let us first exchange greetings. Onoki, Tsuchikage, withdraw your Stone ninja from the Land of Rain. If you do, we will have no need to fight."
Onoki, hovering in the air, sneered. "Are you kidding me? With just the four of you?"
"Since the Land of Rain became a battlefield for the great nations," Hanzo of the Salamander said, "countless of my people have been displaced, killed without reason. The great nations fight, and the small ones are the sacrifice. Lord Onoki, have you ever considered the impropriety of your actions?"
Onoki just laughed. "And who are you to speak to me of war?" he said. "The head of a insignificant little village? Do you think latching onto the Cloud's leg will save you?!"
Hanzo, who had been trying to maintain his composure, felt a flash of anger. So this was how it was. No matter how strong he became, the people of the great villages would never respect him. Only by making his own village strong could he live with dignity in this world.
As his mind was racing, the Third Raikage stepped in front of him. "Hanzo is an ally of the Cloud," he said, his voice a low growl. "A hero of the ninja world, and my friend. Onoki, do not push your luck."
Dana was speechless. His father was so smooth, so effortlessly winning hearts and minds. Was he a natural, or was this a practiced skill? Look at Hanzo. He was completely won over. His entire demeanor had changed.
Onoki's face was now a mask of fury. "Hehehe," he sneered. "Raikage... Hanzo... very well. If you've come to die, then I will be happy to oblige!"
He raised his hands, preparing to use his Dust Release.
"Dust Release: Primitive—"
But in the instant he raised his hands, the four figures before him vanished.
"What?!"
They were all incredibly fast, disappearing in an instant, bypassing him and charging towards the Stone's main camp.
This was their plan all along. Against the flying Onoki, simply dodging his Dust Release was not enough. They had to attack his main force to draw him out.
Two of the figures were wreathed in a blazing blue chakra, their passage marked by a trail of dust and smoke, easily visible in the dense forest. It was the Third Raikage and Arashi, their Lightning Release Chakra Modes a shared family art. The other two were much more subtle. Hanzo was using a conventional Body Flicker Technique, but with incredible speed and agility. Dana was surrounded by a faint corona of white electricity, and every step he took left a scorched, smoking footprint.
Onoki paused for a second, then realized what they were doing. Though the idea of four men attacking his camp of 20,000 was absurd, he turned to pursue.
"Those bastards! So fast!" In that single moment of hesitation, they had already put a considerable distance between them, especially the Third Raikage, whose path was a blazing, obvious trail.
Though Onoki's flight ignored the terrain, in a short burst of speed, he was not necessarily faster than them.
The four of them had split up. Dana was weaving through the trees, his eyes closed, the entirety of the surrounding several kilometers appearing in his mind, including the airborne Onoki. Though his eyes were closed, his movement was unimpeded.
Let's give it a try.
He estimated the distance between them and then, in the middle of his high-speed run, came to an abrupt stop on a large tree.
"Three... two... one..."
At the perfect moment, he leaped from the canopy. Onoki was just a short distance in front of him.
"What?! The little brat!" Onoki was startled.
In mid-air, Dana clapped his hands together. "Lightning Release: Overclocked Thunder Severing Wave!"
A sharp, brilliant beam of lightning shot from his mouth. The thumb-thick beam seemed to have a physical form as it swept upwards towards Onoki, emitting a low hum before disappearing into the sky.
At the last second, Onoki just barely managed to use his "Stone Fist Technique," encasing his entire arm in a thick layer of rock to block the attack.
The sharpness of the unseen jutsu was far beyond what he had imagined. The rock beneath his feet shattered, and the reinforced stone on his arm did not hold.
The moment the jutsu was finished, before it had even fully dissipated, Dana had already dropped back into the canopy and was on the move again, with no intention of discussing the principles of Dust Release with Onoki.
After the jutsu had faded, Onoki, a cold sweat on his brow, slowly lowered his arm. The timing of that surprise attack had been so perfect it sent a chill down his spine. If he hadn't, with his wealth of experience, immediately made the correct decision, he might have been taken out.
But even so...
Blood dripped from his arm and fell into the forest below. He flexed it. It was not a debilitating injury, but to be wounded by a child was a blow to his pride.
"Brat!" he roared in the direction Dana had disappeared. "Do you dare to tell me your name?!"
Dana, unafraid, leaped back out from the canopy with a grin. "Yotsuki Dana! Goodbye, old man Onoki! Watch out for my sneak attacks!" He then dropped back into the forest and disappeared from sight.
If I'm crazy enough to fight 20,000 men with my dad, he thought, do you really think I'm afraid to tell you my name?
The battle-high had not yet faded. He felt exhilarated.
"Another prodigy from the Yotsuki clan!" Onoki thought, his heart filled with a bitter resentment. "Dammit! Why are all the geniuses in other people's villages?!"
This was another of Dana's bloodline abilities: an incredible affinity for Lightning Release. He could use most lightning jutsu without hand seals and had a masterful control over them. Any lightning jutsu he used was far more powerful than that of an ordinary ninja, and he could modify and reshape them at will.
When he had been in the Land of Rain, he had mostly used taijutsu to avoid revealing too much about his identity and abilities. But today, he had no such reservations. This affinity for lightning was far beyond any simple nature or shape transformation.
He was the master of lightning, its monarch.
The "Overclocked Thunder Severing Wave" was a jutsu he had developed, inspired by the Water Severing Wave. The word "Overclocked" signified that its power was far greater than that of a normal jutsu of its type.
A combination of a monstrous physique, incredible speed and reflexes, a mental pulse-like perception, and an unparalleled mastery of Lightning Release.
This bloodline ability had been given a name by the Yotsuki clan.
Its name was Takemikazuchi.