The remaining three hunter ninjas and five sensor ninjas carefully looked around to find the traces of the attacker(s).
Just a few seconds ago, they had been caught off guard, costing them dearly. Four experienced hunter-ninjas, all of whom were Elite Chunin, lost their lives.
Among the eight of them, one was still injured.
They were now fully alert. The sensor ninjas had spread their chakra field, trying to detect each anomaly and shift in chakra signature.
They just had to hold on until the five Jonin arrived.
Suddenly, a thin white mist began to spread around them. The mist was thin, almost harmless. It didn't even hinder the vision of the ninjas that much.
However, the pupils of each sensor ninja suddenly contracted. The thin, white mist that looked harmless and didn't even hinder their vision disrupted their chakra field, leaving their sensory skills almost useless.
"Be careful. My chakra field isn't working. Whatever this mist is, it's disrupting my sensory skills," shouted one of the sensory ninjas. "Damn it, the rain was already troublesome. And now this."
Hearing this, the ninjas, including the hunter ninjas, were even more alarmed. They looked around them with intense scrutinizing eyes, trying to detect even the faintest movement to find their hidden enemy as soon as possible.
Once they did, they swore that they would show him what ganging up meant.
Unfortunately for them, their enemy, Uchiha Natsu, was cunning as hell.
His main body was hiding underground. Meanwhile, his shadow clones and mud clones, hidden in the dark, smirked. Their eyes were still filled with hatred, though.
One of the shadow clones was holding an empty canister in its hand and fell into deep thought. This item, developed by the Konoha Research Department, worked exactly as they claimed it would. The thin mist, infused with foreign chakra, destabilized the chakra field of the sensor ninjas.
Fortunately, they didn't know any advanced sensory techniques like Geo-sensing, or I would have been in trouble. The shadow clone of Uchiha Natsu thought inwardly before putting the empty canister away.
The mist had served its purpose.
Now, it was time for them to act.
There were a total of three shadow clones and two mud clones on the surface.
The shadow clones looked at each other before nodding in sync.
Soon, they began forming hand seals simultaneously.
Snake → Dragon → Bird
Wind Release: Sickle Weasel Technique
Wind chakra surged in front of the three shadow clones before forming three two-meter-wide crescent wind blades.
At the next moment, the soundless wind blades charged forward toward the three targets: two hunter ninjas and one sensor ninja.
The wind blades were fast, too fast.
By the time the hunter ninjas discovered them, it was too late.
One wind blade cut through the last injured hunter ninja's clothes, skin, muscles, and bones, bisecting him at his torso.
The other hunter ninja reacted quickly and side-stepped at the last moment. But the wind blade still sliced his right hand and cut through the right side of his abdomen, destroying his liver, right kidney, and nearby internal organs.
"Ahhhhhhh…"
Overwhelmed by the pain, the hunter ninja screamed in agony while pressing his left hand to cover his injured body, trying to prevent his body from falling apart.
But his attempts were futile. Blood kept spilling from his wounded parts. His attempts to cover his body with his remaining hand only aggravated his wounds and caused him more pain.
He no longer had the strength to stand up and fell on the ground. He was in no state to fight anymore.
Without immediate treatment, he would die in a few minutes, whether it was from excessive blood loss or damaged internal organs.
Meanwhile, the sensor ninja, whom Uchiha Natsu targeted, had immediately sensed a violent bundle of wind chakra coming his way.
As a result, he immediately dodged sideways, letting the wind blade pass by him.
Seeing this, Natsu's shadow clones clicked their tongues in annoyance.
"As expected. Even with the mist and rain, hitting a sensor ninja with a long-range Ninjutsu would be nearly impossible."
"At least the mist hid our presence from their keen chakra senses. Let's go for a wide-area attack. After that, we will confront them in close combat."
"Six more to go."
With that, one of the mud clones untucked the large storage scroll it had been carrying on its back. It was something the original Natsu had given it.
The things stored in this large storage scroll could surely trigger a firework that enemies would love.
"Hehe…I hope they like the gift," muttered the mud clone with a sly expression on its face.
The mud clone quickly opened the scroll and channeled chakra into it before holding the scroll's large sealing mark high toward the group of six still clueless yet unscathed ninjas with a malicious smile.
Puff!
The seal activated with a puff of white smoke.
And then, a barrage of tens, if not hundreds, of kunai laced with explosive tags emerged from the scroll before raining down on the enemy Chunins.
At first, the group of Chunin-level ninjas didn't find anything amiss, thanks to the mist and the heavy rain.
However, as the kunai rained down and the volatile fire chakra inside the explosive tags began to boil, the sensor ninjas immediately looked up.
And what they saw made their blood run cold.
"Get cover!!!"
The sensor ninjas shouted.
The ninjas instantly sprang into action.
Dodging the volley of kunai laced with explosive tags was impossible. There was nowhere to hide.
No matter how far they go, the shockwave of the explosion would still catch up to them, blasting them apart while scorching them with the heatwave of the fire, even if they avoided the blast radius.
Their only option was to find a location with a lower concentration of falling kunai and use something to protect themselves, or they could try something to disperse the kunai.
Without wasting any time, each of them took action to protect themselves.
The last remaining hunter ninja immediately weaved hand seals to cast a protective Jutsu.
Water Release: Water Prison Technique
As he finished casting, a thin yet sturdy flowing sphere of transparent water surrounded him, protecting him from the incoming onslaught.
The surrounding rain ended up strengthening his Jutsu.
One sensor ninja, more proficient in Earth Release techniques, weaved his hand seals to cast an Earth-style jutsu.
Earth Release: Earth Dome Technique
He slammed his hand and channeled his Earth Release chakra into the ground.
As a result, the earth around him erupted and created a thick and sturdy fortified earthen dome around him, protecting him from the attacks coming from every direction, except for the ground.
Another sensor ninja decided to use Wind Release: Great Breakthrough to blow the incoming kunai laced with explosive tags away.
However, the hasty use of the technique caused the power of the wind gusts to weaken by a huge margin.
Meanwhile, another sensor ninja, who didn't know any proper defensive Ninjutsu to protect himself from the incoming attack, panicked and ran to dodge the kunai while hastily casting C-rank Fire Release Ninjutsu to intercept them.
But the rain caused the power of his Fire Release Ninjutsu to drop by at least 30%.
And at the next moment, the kunai landed on them with full force, and their attached explosive tags detonated.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
***
Hello, my dear readers,
The current fight of Uchiha Natsu mostly ends with this chapter.
The fight against the remaining enemies will only extend to the first half of the next chapter before we get to see Seimei in action again.
Stay tuned!
And stay safe!
Goodbye!😉
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A/N: If you like my story and want to read ahead, you can check out my P@treon page and read up to 17 Advanced chapters!
patreon.com/Seigan
You can also help me by sharing the story around. Thank you for reading!