With the army also joining the fray to help disperse Ao clones, the targets were finally dwindling at a much faster rate.
Kaien wiped a splatter of sweat and grime from his face as his gaze darted around. "Five more to go," he muttered, though he was thinking something else.
"Something is wrong. Two of the chakra signatures in the vicinity felt completely different, entirely out of place amidst the familiar profiles of Ao clones." He frowned, mentally backtracking as he had been keeping a count of the Ao clones they had pulverized... 197 in total... but those two extras do not fit.
"Who are the two extras? Damn it, I should not have strained the genjutsu on the clone," he cursed under his breath, realizing it was too late that they had already walked into a mess of layered deception.
Before anyone could reposition to hunt down the remaining Ao clones, the problem presented itself in the most violent way possible. Two of the soap bubbles floating burst open with a soft wet pop, without anyone's interference. The duo inside landed with grace, their boots hitting the ground without making a sound.
"White Fang style: Howling Ghost Hound," a chill voice was heard by everyone.
Sakumo Hatake moved as he channeled a dense blinding white chakra straight through his blade, molding and shaping it in a split second into the ferocious silhouette of a multiple spectral hounds.
The technique struck the closest cluster of Kumo elite shinobi before they could even raise a guard. It wasn't just a physical slash; the ghostly hounds tore through their defenses, biting directly at their soul. In a matter of seconds, a dozen elite Kumo combatants were flat on their backs, completely drained of stamina, gasping for breath as their soul was stripped away.
The attack had come unannounced. Aya, the commander was at the forefront of the battalion and she had received no information of this. Kumo's forces immediately scrambled, reacting immediately as they encircled the duo maintaining a cautious safe distance.
Recognizing that the situation was spiraling beyond a simple cleanup operation of Ao clones, Kaien didn't hesitate as he took in the authority as he turned his head toward Jugo, who was standing beside him. "Jugo, send this information back to the commander immediately, and then rejoin us!"
Jugo didn't waste breath on words as he gave a nod before he bolted toward the front lines to relay the urgent intel. Meanwhile, Kaien, Itachi, and Guren were cutting their way through the fringes of the chaos, joining up with Yugito Nii as they forged a path straight toward the epicenter of the threat.
When they finally broke through, they found Kagami Uchiha standing amidst the turmoil, his sharingan eyes spun as he weaponized his signature genjutsu to sow discord into the ranks of the Kumo shinobi.
Itachi didn't waste a second. He flickered out of existence, reappearing beside the affected shinobi to disrupt their internal chakra flow, snapping them out of the illusions before they could tear each other apart.
As if already choreographed, the Kumo shinobi suddenly shifted tactics, moving in synchronization. At least a few hundred of them formed a massive circle, their hands weaving through identical seals in a blur of motion.
"Lightning Release: Thunderbolt!"
A combined coordinated jutsu of that magnitude was like a natural disaster. A hundred lightning-nature users pouring their chakra into a single strike was nothing to be scoffed at. Seeing the massive wave of crackling thunderbolt barreling toward them, Kaien stepped forward to add on to the jutsu, spitting out a massive volume of water to match the scale of the attack and maximize the destructive potential.
"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
Kaien inhaled deeply, his chest expanding before he unleashed a colossal torrent of water from his mouth. The volume of the surge was staggering, swallowing up the surrounding terrain and crashing forward like a tsunami. The massive wave collided with the Kagami and Sakumo who attempted to escape but they were swept off their feet and halting their momentum.
Right behind the wall of water came Kumo's massive lightning strike. Kagami attempted to salvage the situation by weaving hand seals for a Fire Release technique, hoping to dry up or counter the volume of the water, but it was far too late.
The scale of Kaien and Kumo's coordinated jutsu overwhelmed him. Both Kagami and Sakumo were caught, the power tearing their reanimated bodies apart and leaving behind nothing but blackened ash.
"Water Prison Technique!" Kaien shouted, his hands slamming onto the ground.
Before the ash could re-form, two massive spheres of dense water materialized, trapping Kagami and Sakumo suspended inside swirling liquid cages before they even reformed and effectively trapping them.
As he locked them down, Kaien made a split-second maneuver, using a subtle pull of chakra to wrench the legendary Kusanagi sword out after Sakumo turned into ash, securing the dangerous blade away.
Inside his prison, Kagami's eyes flared. Refusing to stay down, he concentrated a blistering amount of fire-nature chakra into his throat, his jaw expanding with unnatural heat.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
A serpentine dragon composed of intensely concentrated flames blasted out of Kagami's mouth. It whipped around the interior of the water prison, boiling the liquid away in a hiss of steam and shattering the technique holding him.
The explosion bought him just enough breathing room to break free, and Kagami helped Sakumo escape who immediately utilized his summoning technique, calling his blade back to his hand before Kaien could properly seal it away.
Guren tried to capitalize on the opening, thrusting her hands forward to encase the raging fire dragon in her durable pink crystal.
"Crystal Release: Jade-Crystal-", but the sheer thermal output shattered her formation and burned her. "What troublesome opponents," Yugito muttered under her breath, her claws extending as she prepared for close combat.
Deciding to change tactics, Kaien concentrated, channeling his chakra to activate his polarity seals. This time, instead of imbuing a kunai or a blade, he released the seal sending it hurtling through the air toward the duo. Without a physical medium to guide it, the seal traveled through the air quite sluggishly.
"It is still slower than when using his blade," Kaien thought to himself.
Sakumo observed and easily tracking the trajectory. Even so, the slow-moving seal served its purpose: a distraction. It forced Kagami and Sakumo to remain on the defensive, hyper-aware that a single touch from the sealing mark would seal them. Taking advantage of their hesitation, Kaien hurled his tanto blade straight at Sakumo.
With preternatural reflexes, Sakumo raised his sword and sliced the incoming blade cleanly in half. But that exact moment of contact was all Kaien needed; which transferred the polarity seal directly onto Sakumo's guard.
~~
A/N: Mei was already skeptical of using the reincarnation pills handed to her by Dan kato as she feared the Konoha reanimation would attack them if they were at low. So, she suggest Yagura to mix the duo with the 200 Ao clones.
Now even if they were sealed away it would not be before they dealt a great damage to Kumo.
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