Chapter 64: Lava Release
By the river, Genichi's group and the Root ninja sat around their respective campfires, eating grilled fish.
Genichi ate in silence. Even though the grilled fish wasn't particularly tasty, he devoured it frantically. He needed to replenish his chakra. The battle today had consumed a great deal of his energy, and he could foresee more high-intensity battles to come. He needed to ensure his chakra was full.
After downing more than twenty fish in one go, Genichi finally slowed down and started to drink his fish soup. Throughout this process, he was constantly molding chakra and feeding it into his Yin Seal (In'fūin).
The first time one practices the Yin Seal (In'fūin), it requires an extremely long time to accumulate chakra bit by bit. But once it has been successfully cultivated, storing chakra becomes much easier. It's similar to storing grain for the first time; the hardest part is building the warehouse. Once the warehouse is built, storing the grain is as simple as moving it inside.
Just like Tsunade, who exhausted her chakra and fell into a coma during Pain's assault on Konoha. After she woke up, she ate and drank voraciously and quickly replenished her chakra. Genichi was doing the same thing now, just under much poorer conditions. And he hadn't even completely exhausted the chakra in his Yin Seal during the previous battle.
After dinner, Sakumo went to confer with the Root ninja. A moment later, he returned and gave an order: "En, you take the intelligence and go first. A squad from Root will escort you."
Yamanaka En nodded silently, then got up and left with three Root ninja. This left Genichi's side with only six people. However, after waiting for five minutes, the three Root ninja also set off. It was impossible for everyone to stay here. The Cloud ninja would surely split their forces as well, so it was necessary to intercept them in stages. And wherever Sakumo was, he would attract the main force of the Cloud ninja.
...
At the Cloud ninja camp, as En retreated, the Cloud ninja also immediately moved, splitting their forces in two. Three Jonin formed one team and went straight after En, while the other twenty headed directly for Genichi's group.
By the river, the campfire had already been extinguished. But the moon was bright and the stars were few, and one could make out figures from more than ten meters away.
Genichi stood on the surface of the river, the moonlight reflecting on the shimmering water. On the left bank, Namiichi stood on a rock. Further to his left was Sakumo. And behind them were three Root ninja, still wearing their masks. However, Genichi already knew they were from the Akimichi, Yamanaka, and Aburame clans respectively.
The majority of Root ninja actually came from the major ninja clans, especially the clans with secret techniques. A portion came from individuals personally selected by Danzō for training, but they would basically also specialize in a certain secret technique. For example, Sai's Super Beast Imitating Drawing (Chōjū Giga).
"They're here!" the Root ninja from the Yamanaka clan suddenly shouted in a low voice.
A moment later, Genichi also heard a faint sound of something cutting through the air. He then saw dark figures rapidly approaching from the front.
"Six in front, six on the left, four on the right, and four suspected to be circling around behind," the sensory ninja continued to report. This was the benefit of having a sensory ninja; they could provide rapid feedback on the enemy's deployment.
"Hm?" Genichi's gaze suddenly focused. He saw a somewhat familiar figure opposite him. "That guy... the Lava Release user, Dodai?"
In his memory, Dodai's left eye was problematic and covered by a plate with the character for "lightning" on it, looking a bit like Ao from the Mist Village with his Byakugan. But the Dodai before him had two perfectly fine eyes. His attire, however, had not changed, so Genichi recognized him.
"Lord White Fang!" Dodai took two steps forward and then spoke in a clear voice. "In a situation like this, there should be no need for a battle, right?"
"I can guarantee your safety until negotiations with your village's Hokage are complete."
Sakumo asked, "You are Dodai of the Lava Release from the Cloud?"
Dodai nodded. "I am."
Sakumo said, "The ninja of Konoha do not surrender. Besides..."
"The outcome of this battle is yet unknown!"
"I advise you all to leave. Otherwise, I'm afraid my blade will have to be stained with blood."
Surrender? Even if it meant death in battle, Sakumo would never make that choice.
Dodai sighed. "That is truly regrettable. Since that is the case, then we can only defeat you first!"
He seems surprisingly polite. Genichi's expression was blank, but his hands were already rapidly forming seals.
Among the Cloud ninja opposite them, someone had been watching Genichi the whole time and also immediately formed a seal.
Genjutsu: Bringer-of-Darkness Technique (Genjutsu: Kokuangyō no Jutsu)!
Lightning Release: Thunder Light Pillar (Raiton: Raikōchū)!
Genichi directly deprived everyone of their vision, including his own side and the six opponents in front. As for the Cloud ninja still hiding in the forest to the left, the ones on the other side of the river, and the ones circling behind, they were not included. This directly rendered the Cloud ninjas' Thunder Light Pillar ineffective against them, but at the same time, it would interfere with the Cloud ninja on the flanks and in the rear.
After the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, Genichi continued to form seals.
Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death (Magen: Jubaku Satsu)!
This was a B-rank genjutsu, the signature move of the future genjutsu specialist Kurenai Yuhi. She had once used it against Itachi Uchiha, but it was reflected by his Sharingan's Mirror Heaven and Earth Change (Magen: Kyōten Chiten).
But at this moment, Genichi's use of this ninjutsu was different from Kurenai's. Kurenai used the genjutsu to make her own figure disappear, then created an illusory tree to bind her opponent, from which she would emerge to finish them off. Her move was an advanced genjutsu based on the Temporary Paralysis Technique (Kanashibari no Jutsu).
Now, Genichi was using this jutsu for the first time, and he was targeting the six Cloud ninja in front of him.
The moment the seals were completed, Dodai and the other Cloud ninja, who had just broken free from the Bringer-of-Darkness, found that giant trees were sprouting from the ground, growing at a rapid pace, their branches wrapping around and binding all of them.
"Wood Style!" Dodai couldn't help but exclaim, but he immediately realized, "It's a genjutsu!"
Upon realizing he was in a genjutsu, Dodai flared his chakra and forcefully broke free from the Tree Binding Death. The branches binding him first exploded, and then the entire tree vanished.
Dodai quickly formed seals and pressed his hands to the ground. He didn't go to help the others break the genjutsu; instead, he performed an Earth Release jutsu. Because the moment Genichi had cast the Bringer-of-Darkness, even though his vision was stolen, Sakumo had already drawn his sword and charged out.
By the time the Tree Binding Death was complete, both the Bringer-of-Darkness and the Cloud ninjas' Thunder Light Pillar had been dispelled. So, Dodai didn't have time to help the others break the genjutsu, because Sakumo was already upon them. And he also sensed that the precision of this genjutsu was not high.
Faced with the high wall that blocked his path, Sakumo leaped up and directly over it.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A dense volley of shuriken was parried by Sakumo's swinging blade. At this time, four of the six Cloud ninja, including Dodai, had already broken free from the Tree Binding Death.
And the next moment, Sakumo was trapped inside a rubber ball. The shuriken were just a distraction for this.
But the next moment, the Sakumo inside the rubber ball exploded into a puff of smoke with a poof, and a Cloud ninja screamed as he was dragged into the ground by a hand.
The real Sakumo leaped out from the ground and, with a swing of his blade, slit another Cloud ninja's throat.
(End of Chapter)
❃❃❃
⤑ Show your support with Power Stones!
⤑ Unlock a Bonus Chapter every time we hit 400 Power Stones!
❃❃❃
♕ Get early access to 20+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
🔗 https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to open the link!)
💬 Enjoying the story? Drop a review!
Your support really helps the series grow—thank you!