Chapter 343: An Intense Clash!

Fujin's clones approached the Iwa ninjas from opposite directions. Wind chakra flowed through both their swords and at the same time, they puffed up their cheeks, preparing the Vacuum Bullets. The two Elite Jounins immediately faced each clone.

Though this was the first time Fujin and Kurogane were fighting together, both had practiced several times. He knew what the clones were about to do. He quickly closed in on the Iwa ninjas from the top while gathering wind energy in his mouth.

At the same time, Fujin created another Shadow Clone. The clone looked towards the village with the missing people.

'Wind Release: Instantaneous Body jutsu'

He disappeared from Kurogane's back and appeared right on top of the Iwa ninjas who were travelling towards the village through the underground.

At the same moment, the two Shadow Clones swung their swords, releasing two long wind slashes along with accompanying winds, sandwiching the Iwa ninjas between them. The Elite Jounins slammed their hands on the ground and shouted, "Their cheeks are puffed. Keep an eye out for the Vacuum Bullets!"

The wind slashes hit the walls, leaving a large scar at their centers, but the wall withstood the attacks. A second later, dozens of Vacuum Bullets pierced through the walls.

At the same time, Kurogane opened his mouth wide. Kitsuchi's eyes widened as he noticed 8 spheres of wind in Kurogane's large mouth. Kitsuchi shouted, "Keep an eye on the sky as well!"

In an instant, he fired them at the Iwa ninjas who were dodging the Vacuum Bullet. Kitsuchi had a very ugly expression. Though Fujin was frustrated by the Iwa ninjas' consistency in dodging his deadly attacks, Kitsuchi was equally frustrated with Fujin's tactics, if not more.

He rapidly weaved hand signs as he thought, 'First those deadly vacuum jutsus. And now a three-directional attack! My ninjas are barely even able to dodge the Vacuum Bullets by paying full attention to him. But now, not only do they have to dodge attacks from the front, but they also have to keep an eye on their back while also keeping an eye on the skies!

Not to mention, just like his Vacuum jutsus, the perverse attack of his summon also cuts through Iron Skin jutsu!'

The attack from multiple directions finally made the Iwa ninjas struggle. They dodged the Vacuum Bullets coming from the front and quickly twisted their necks to look at the attacks coming from behind. Fortunately, they could sense Fujin's Vacuum Bullets and Kurogane's Air Bullets moving rapidly through their chakra fields. Unfortunately, they had very little time and space to maneuver their bodies.

They moved their bodies in a manner that allowed them to save their vitals and avoid any lethal injuries. A few Vacuum Bullets grazed past the hardened arms and legs of the Iwa ninjas, leaving a few deep scars. However, to make matters worse, the large Air Bullets fired by Kurogane maneuvered as well and targeted 8 Iwa ninjas.

In the nick of time, 8 inclined walls appeared from the ground, providing a cover for those ninjas. Unfortunately, Kitsuchi couldn't accurately calculate the directions in which they would dodge nor was he aware that the Air Bullets could maneuver in the air. He ended up miscalculating for two ninjas, both of whom were engulfed by the Air Bullets. The ninjas could only hope that their Iron Skin jutsus protected them.

Though the Winged Sabertooths called the attack as Air Bullets, that was only due to their large size. In terms of size, they were thrice as large as Fujin's Vacuum Cannon.

Despite their comrades being hit, the Iwa ninjas, who weren't under attack, ignored it and counterattacked. Six ninjas each, led by an Elite Jounin, rushed to intercept the two Shadow Clones. The remaining shot Stone Pellet jutsu at Kurogane who had come much closer to the ground. Only Kitsuchi kept an eye on the two ninjas that were hit, as his eyes turned red.

On Kurogane's back, Yugao and Bunjiro immediately used defensive jutsus while Kurogane flew out of the way. The Iwa ninjas continued their attack but were met by Fumito and Fujin's counterattack.

Fujin shot Vacuum Bullets at the Iwa ninjas through the incoming stone pellets while Fumito weaved hand signs.

'Lightning Release: False Darkness jutsu'

He launched multiple spears of Lightning, forcing some of the Iwa ninjas to dodge. However, he controlled the jutsu and chased after the Iwa ninjas, forcing them to use a few defensive jutsus while evading.

Meanwhile, Kitsuchi was surprised. He looked at the two ninjas who were hit by Kurogane's attack. Despite taking the full hit, only a few scars appeared on their hardened skin. He thought, 'So this attack isn't as powerful as the previous one? I was afraid that they would be shredded into pieces as well.'

He turned his attention towards Kurogane who was still being attacked and analyzed, 'So far I have seen 3 attacks from him. The first one is where he flaps his wings and generates a windstorm. Though that attack is strong, it can't break through our wall defenses. Though considering their momentum, they might still harm us despite the Iron Skin jutsu.

The second is the beam he shot earlier. It gets stopped by walls as well, but Iron Skin jutsu doesn't protect against it. And the giant balls of wind look to be his weakest attack.'

Kitsuchi looked at Fujin on Kurogane's back and thought, 'Though killing him right now is very difficult, I should collect all the information I can about him. It will be useful if we plan another trap or if he makes a move against Iwa in the future.'

Kurogane also noticed that the Iwa ninjas weren't harmed badly by the attack. He analyzed, 'These guys have a tough body. It's almost similar to those tortoises in the Northern Lakes. Unfortunately, I haven't yet completely mastered infusing Nature energy into the Air Bullets like I can with the Wind Breath. And the amount we can infuse in the Windstorm created by flapping wings is very low.

It looks like Wind Breath will be the only method I can kill them with. But, it takes a lot of chakra and nature energy. I can concentrate that much nature energy into that attack only 3 more times.'

Closer to the village, Fujin's Shadow Clone placed his palms on the ground. He converted 80% of his chakra to supercharge his jutsu.

'Wind Release: Geyser Creation jutsu'

Numerous cracks appeared around the clone, forming a web-like appearance. The cracks spread up to 50 meters under the ground. The Iwa ninjas, who were travelling underground, were surprised by the sudden change. They all instinctively used Iron Skin jutsu to protect themselves.

A second later, sharp winds ran through all the cracks, hitting the Iwa ninjas. As they endured the sharp hits, they thought, 'Thankfully we mastered this jutsu. Otherwise, all of us might have died!'

None of them had expected to be in danger despite staying so deep underground. Fujin's clone took a few heavy breaths as his chakra became very low. He thought, 'Time to end this!'

On the other side of the battlefield, Kurogane once again shot multiple Air Bullets at the Iwa ninjas. He followed it up by flapping his wings and launching a windstorm at the Iwa ninjas.

Kitsuchi ignored the bullets as they didn't pose many challenges and could be dodged. He slammed his hands on the ground. Multiple rocks of large size were launched into the air, blocking the way of the sharp wind slashes within the wind storm.

The wind slashes hit the rocks and sent them flying towards the Iwa ninjas. However, the rocks neutralized their sharpness and eliminated their threat towards the Iwa ninjas. Though the rocks were still coming at them, they were far easier to dodge than the unpredictable wind slashes in the wind storm.

However, Kurogane didn't mind this result. Seeing that all the Iwa ninjas other than Kitsuchi were focused on dodging the rocks, he immediately sped up and appeared right on top of him. He raised his massive front foot. In an instant, a massive amount of Wind chakra gathered, engulfing his leg.

Kitsuchi's eyes widened as he noticed wind chakra gathering on his paw. He immediately weaved a hand seal.

'Earth Release: Rock Fist jutsu'

His right arm was covered by rocks which kept increasing its size. He moved backwards as he punched towards the incoming paw. The paw and the rock fist clashed!

In an instant, Kitsuchi was dragged backwards due to the force of the paw. The rock first kept crumbling at the point of impact. Kitsuchi thought, 'Such physical might! Thankfully I moved backwards. Otherwise, I could have been crushed under this enormous paw!'

Kurogane's paw almost entirely crushed the rock fist. Knowing that he couldn't hold on, Kitsuchi flickered backwards. However, his eyes widened as he saw a figure flicker even faster towards him.

Noticing the opportunity, Fujin flickered towards Kitsuchi, his sword overflowing with Wind chakra!