A few days later, news came from the right scroll held by Yōkō.
After obtaining crucial intelligence from Yakushi Nonō, Yōkō returned to the Konoha camp and found Hatake Sakumo.
"Sakumo-sama, I've just interrogated someone during patrol and found out the location of the Kumo-nin camp! I'm not sure if the intel is reliable; it requires your judgment and that of the Staff Ninja."
The conflict in the Land of Hot Water had been going on for nearly two months now. Hatake Sakumo had united a new group of followers around him.
Through deliberate screening, socializing, and guidance, Hatake Sakumo, Yamashiro-dera, Gekkō Sō, and others had singled out over 50 Special Jōnin, Chūnin, and Genin. The vast majority of these individuals would become Hatake Sakumo's followers.
It was time to end this. Otherwise, it would make Konoha's White Fang seem incompetent.
Hearing this, Hatake Sakumo's eyes lit up. "Good! This prolonged stalemate has caused many casualties. It's long past time to end this conflict!"
He studied the map with several Staff Ninja for a long time. The location Fox brought back did indeed resemble the Kumo-nin's recent command post.
"I'll take some people to scout it out first," Yōkō said.
"Alright, be quick," Hatake Sakumo replied.
Yōkō left the Konoha camp with the White Ram Squad under the cover of night.
The White Ram Squad members were exceptionally excited. They had mastered a new trump card and were determined to test it out on the Kumo-nin.
Entering the Land of the Moon, the surrounding terrain quickly became steep.
Skirting several tall mountains, Yōkō found a hidden valley.
Clouds and mist shrouded the top of this valley, making it impossible to see inside from above, whether by ninja eagles or high-altitude reconnaissance.
Reaching the opposite side of the valley, Yōkō signaled for the squad to stop.
They observed the valley with telescopes, waiting patiently for an hour, but saw no one entering or leaving.
According to the intelligence Yakushi Nonō gave him, the Kumo-nin camp was roughly in this direction.
Standing at the forefront of the White Ram Squad, Yōkō quietly activated his Byakugan.
To his surprise, the valley was extremely long. Even at the Byakugan's visual limit of 3 kilometers, he couldn't see the end of the valley.
No wonder no one was seen entering or leaving the valley entrance; the Kumo-nin could jump into the valley from anywhere along its length.
"Let's go! We'll climb the mountain on the west side of the valley first!" Yōkō said.
Instead of rashly entering the cloud-shrouded valley, Yōkō and the others climbed the mountain.
The mountain was covered in barren white rocks, with high and low cliffs everywhere, making the footing difficult.
They channeled chakra to their feet to walk on the stones.
The rocks were severely weathered, frequently causing their footing to become unstable as stones broke loose.
White Ram, hearing the constant clatter of falling stones, worried the noise was too loud and would be heard.
As they walked, Yōkō's Byakugan spotted a squad descending from the mountaintop.
Yōkō signaled for everyone to stop.
The mountain peak was submerged in the clouds.
White Ram and the others, like Captain Fox, stared intently at the cloud layer.
The clouds rapidly thickened from a light mist into an impenetrable, pure white mass.
White Ram glanced back to check; all squad members were slightly crouched, ready to fight or evade at any moment.
"Scatter!"
Yōkō shouted, instantly leaping into the air.
The others dodged left and right.
A brilliant laser pierced through the clouds.
That unique light was the Storm Release laser, a combination of Water Release and Lightning Release.
The members of the White Ram Squad were all quite skilled; none were killed by the single Storm Release strike.
Within the mist, Darui was somewhat surprised.
It was one thing for the famously renowned ANBU Copper Fox to dodge the Storm Release, but all four ANBU had dodged it.
Copper Fox had given a warning, and these four, upon hearing the command, had acted without the slightest hesitation or thought. Even though they saw nothing, they still firmly followed Copper Fox's order.
This was only possible with absolute obedience and absolute trust.
The Storm Release laser, having missed its initial strike, immediately curved in mid-air, tracing an arc as it continued to shoot towards Copper Fox, who was still in the air.
This laser could turn like water, retaining some of the properties of Water Release.
While in mid-air, Yōkō had several methods to evade.
One was to rely purely on taijutsu to twist his body. Another was to use Wind Release to give himself a lateral force. The third was to take the hit head-on and test the power of Storm Release.
A real man, of course, chooses the third option: take it head-on.
Yōkō instantly condensed Water Release chakra, and a spiraling, coiling snake appeared around him.
The Storm Release collided with the Semi-Absolute Defense: Coiling Snake, meeting immense resistance.
The Coiling Snake hovered outside his body, forming a Faraday cage, impervious to lightning strikes.
Water splashed in the air; who would have thought that slender coiling snake contained so much water?
The energy of the Storm Release laser was dissipated, and Yōkō landed steadily.
Darui stepped out of the mist with his subordinates.
"So, you're Konoha's Copper Fox, the one who managed to block the Third Raikage-sama's strike?"
Hatake Sakumo had long wanted to launch a surprise attack to crush the Kumo-nin command post, ideally by killing Darui directly.
He never expected Darui to appear right before him.
A fierce battle instantly erupted between the two sides.
Yōkō's pupils trembled in surprise.
So fast!
Darui used a Body Flicker to appear directly in front of Yōkō, his ninja sword slashing towards Yōkō's head.
The Semi-Absolute Defense: Coiling Snake appeared again, blocking Darui's sword at the critical moment.
Darui's ninja sword met powerful resistance.
Lightning flickered on the blade. The sword managed to cut through the peculiar water ring, but Copper Fox had already retreated into the distance.
Yōkō mentally assessed Darui's strength.
Storm Release Kekkei Genkai, extremely fast Body Flicker Technique, and a sword technique combining Lightning Release and kenjutsu, similar to the Chidori Blade from the original story.
All of these abilities were top-tier.
Yōkō raised his hand to form a seal. After a single hand sign, a Water Cutting Wave shot forth.
A high-speed water line shot straight towards Darui's chest.
However, Darui, relying on his super-fast Body Flicker, dodged the Water Cutting Wave.
Yōkō noticed electric arcs sparking around Darui's calves.
Lightning Body Flicker?
Yōkō smiled.
Darui, you're a bit too flashy. I don't even know what I want to take from you anymore.
He had already gathered sufficient intelligence.
The Kumo-nin command post was indeed in the valley, and Darui was here.
Darui's abilities included the Storm Release Kekkei Genkai, Lightning Body Flicker, Lightning Sword Technique, and others.
The offensive power of Storm Release was very strong.
The Lightning Body Flicker was also top-tier, making Darui one of the fastest shinobi Yōkō had ever seen.
Seeing Copper Fox hesitate for a few seconds, Darui used his Body Flicker again.
This time, Yōkō didn't use the Coiling Snake, but instead used Copper Light.
The lightning-charged sword struck the Copper Light, producing a crisp metallic clang.
The powerful Lightning Release caused cracks to form in the earth-natured chakra crystal.
As expected, Lightning Release countered Earth Release, damaging the internal structure of the earth-attribute crystal.
Even with the elemental disadvantage, the Absolute Defense: Copper Light could still withstand two strikes.
Yōkō had tested the limit of Copper Light.
On the third strike, Darui was shocked to see Copper Fox cleaved in two by his blade.
His sword remained held in a final, downward diagonal slash, his body stiff with disbelief.
What happened? No shadow clone? No earth clone?
He remembered the intelligence stated that Copper Fox was proficient in Earth Release and had an Earth Clone technique.
[Host death detected. Mochizuki's Arc System starting up...]
***
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(Chapter End)