Naruto: Kage of Kages

“After her!” Zee barked her order, charging in pursuit of the running Inori herself.

But a sudden hand signal from Dodai had her deliberately slowing down to match his pace with Toroi joining up soon after.

The Lave Release user then explained that he had managed to temporarily disperse Inori’s image with a Genjutsu: Release.

“If under attack later, try using this method to create an opening and escape. Even if we cannot figure out how to harm her yet, we can use this to lower our own casualties.” Dodai spoke.

The other two nodded.

Zee then explained how she saw the illusory body normally dispersing with the wind and that the dirt and scratches on it were not caused by it directly.

The trio could not yet draw any conclusions from her info but all of them could tell that it likely hid the key to attacking the “real Inori”.

They then broke away from each other, Zee charging ahead to catch up with the fleeing Inori, Toroi leading the rest of the squad from the front and Dodai disseminating the data they gathered to the others, increasing their chances of survival significantly if his defense method proved effective.

*

Back on Shiki’s side, once Typhon Release: Consecutive Bursting Strong Winds hit, the was already running for his life, Phantom Flickering at top speed towards the planned ambush site.

The enemies were both slower than him but Typhoon’s kekkei genkai jutsu expanded over large areas with such quickness that the boy could be genuinely caught off guard if he dared to ease up on his speed.

‘Good. They’re following pretty accurately. The Dark Release user is considerably behind but still following, both him and Typhoon seem to have their own sensory abilities.’ Shiki analyzed.

It was not a problem though, the ambushes were hidden by barriers made with his fuinjutsu, enough to trick the large majority of sensors.

Of course, it relied on the ambush groups correctly placing the Sealing Tags the boy had made for them but he was fairly certain that a shinobi of Fugaku’s caliber wouldn’t mess up such a simple thing.

Mei, who was his teammate, was even less likely to falter since barriers were things he always used for traps during team missions that required it.

While Shiki escaped and Typhoon along with Dark pursued, back in the left behind field of the first strike, a stealthy shadow clone emerged from the ground and began dutifully collecting the corpses, especially, Boil and Steel’s after he dealt the finishing blow to the defenseless pair.

The boy truly could not bear to waste such a juicy opportunity.

In the pursuit however, Shiki was forced to constantly dive underground as Typhoon unleashed massive jutsu after massive jutsu, considerably delaying the boy’s progress towards the ambush area.

Not to mention that if the timing was wrong, the large scale of Typhoon’s attacks could easily ruin the ambush as collateral damage.

As such, Shiki determined that it was best if the man was led around for a bit, wasting his chakra until he wisened up and stopped unleashing his kekkei genkai without regard.

*

Inori on the other hand, was far more lucky.

Still wary of her Twin Illusion: Meikyo Shisui, Kyoka Suigetsu, which they had yet to figure out, they steadily followed from a safe distance, only launching the occasional probing attack.

This made leading him towards the planned ambush spot exceedingly simple.

Noticing her sensei was likely to lead the enemy into ambush considerably ahead of Shiki, Shinka moved to assist that side’s ambush.

With luck, they could sort things out on their end fast enough for all of them to go and help the other side, crushing the enemy kekkei genkai users with numbers.

The pursuing Kumo shinobi were not complete fools however and thus had their own considerations.

Due to the high probability of being led into an ambush, they split their forces.

The tough Zee who could tank a lot of punishment with her Lightning Armor kept up the pursuit.

Toroi, the second strongest in the group, followed from a standard anti-ambush distance, far enough not to be caught along with Zee but close enough to intervene.

Meanwhile, Dodai took one of the regular Kumo Jonin to flank from the left while the remaining three formed a squad to flank from the right.

These movements however, could not escape from the watchful Dojutsu of Benihime and Hyuga Makoto.

The former immediately moved to intercept Dodai while the latter, who was weaker in raw combat power, picked up Shinka for backup before heading to intercept the three man squad.

Kumo’s regular Jonin trio moved with caution and stealth, expertly using the terrain to mask their passage while moving to cut Inori’s predicted escape route.

Unfortunately for them, their meager methods were meaningless before the Byakugan and so, Hyuga Makoto tracked them with ease and directed Shinka to a prime ambush spot.

It was interesting, the original series was filled with hotblooded frontal battles but in the real world, almost every fight started with an ambush.

In fact, they oftentimes ended in that very same ambush as well.

Only when unforeseen circumstances arose or the ambushers were facing a superior force, did the battle move forward unto a frontal engagement.

That is to say, with Makoto and Shinka, two Special Jonin level shinobi with enough combat ability to kill most regular Jonin, got the drop of a three man squad, the end result was a total slaughter.

Shinka’s nano-scale Rinkaichu could not survive long outside the body so their ranged use was very limited compared to regular Kikaichu and they were usually delivered through direct skin to skin contact with the enemy..

However, the girl possessed both types of insects. To survive in her Rinkaichu filled body, Shinka’s Kikaichu had to develop the same immunity to Rinkaichu poison that she herself possessed through her antibodies.

That meant that the Rinkaichu could be made to parasitize the Kikaichu as they were far, far smaller which would tremendously increase the lethality of Shinka’s mid range attacks.

This ability to use Kikaichu as a vehicle for the delivery of Rinkaichu to the enemy was one of the reasons the Aburame girl was greatly sought by Root for recruitment.

Deep purple clouds of parasitized Kikaichu, hidden in the environment beforehand, suddenly emerged to surround the Kumo squad.

Confident in their anti insect protection, rather than try to break through, they ground to a halt instead, seeking to locate and eliminate their attacker.

There was nothing wrong with their decision.

The electromagnetic charge infused into their bodies by Toroi was indeed activated to fry any Kikaichu that entered their vicinity, however . . .

They should have realized that the enemy Aburame was already aware of their protections and had chosen to do this anyway.

Rinkaichu could not survive long without a host. Keyword “long”. Meaning, they did not die immediately without one.

The countless Kikaichu, incinerated by the sparks emitted from the bodies of the Kumo shinobi, released imperceptible clouds of Rinkaichu that tracelessly infected the enemy.

Two of the enemy shinobi went purple almost immediately and crumpled to the ground in unimaginable pain.

But the third one, being in the core of the formation, was spared from the initial attack and thus used a more effective method to defend himself.

‘Fire Release: Flame Cloak’

Burning flame immediately covered the Komo shinobi like a mantle, completely incinerating even the Rinkaichu before they could infect him.

He was precisely the kind of opponent that Shinka would normally struggle with . . . but she was not alone.

Hyuga Makoto blitzed into the scene with a masterful use of Body Flicker.

Veins bulged around his Byakugan as the teenager used it to see through the weaknesses in the chakra flow of the enemy’s fire jutsu, an ability not demonstrated outside the Naruto light novels but one the Hyuga were famous for in the real world.

With a precise Gentle Fist strike, Makoto parted the flames and struck the enemy dead before he could even properly defend himself.

In the end, he had not expected his defensive jutsu to be bypassed through taijutsu and that proved to be his undoing . . .

+++++

Hey, Author here!

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