Chapter 33: The Price of Underestimation
The jonin's desperate shout was useless. His own Lightning Release ninjutsu, meant for the enemy, had struck his village's genin. In an instant, several were blasted away, their bodies slamming into the trees, their fates unknown.
"Retreat! Why are you all just standing there?!" the jonin roared, feeling like he was about to cough up blood in his fury. This was a battle between jonin; instead of running for their lives, these lower-ranked shinobi were standing around in a daze. They were just asking to die.
His words jolted them into action, and they scrambled backward. But in that moment of chaos, Akatsurugi glanced over his shoulder. The Sharingan in his eyes spun wildly, and a genjutsu was cast.
One of the chunin froze for a second, then his eyes glazed over, turning a bloody red. He mechanically drew a kunai and stabbed the comrade beside him.
The other ninja never expected an attack from his own teammate. Taken completely by surprise, the kunai plunged deep into his heart.
By the time the others realized what had happened, they backed away from the controlled chunin in horror.
"His eyes!" someone yelled. The chunin's eyes now clearly displayed a three-tomoe pattern—the reflection of the Sharingan's hypnosis.
"Don't hurt him! He's being controlled by the Sharingan!" another shouted.
"Subdue him, quickly!" the remaining chunin ordered, their hands already flying through seals to launch a restraining ninjutsu.
Akatsurugi had already closed the distance with Kujōgawa, the Storm Release user. His blade, wreathed in fire, swung down.
"Ha!" Kujōgawa bellowed, the lightning around his body intensifying into a crackling shroud. While he didn't know the full Lightning Release Chakra Mode, his Storm Release Kekkei Genkai provided a powerful defensive field—the same Thunder Cloud Cavity Wave he'd used before.
The technique was versatile; it could wrap around his body like the Chidori to prevent close-quarters attacks, or it could be focused into a piercing lance of light. As Akatsurugi's flaming blade came down, the electrical field blocked it. Simultaneously, a spear of condensed lightning formed in Kujōgawa's hand and thrust straight for Akatsurugi's head.
Akatsurugi tilted his head, the lightning spear grazing past his ear. He poured more chakra into his sword, the black-red flames flaring brighter as they pressed against the enemy's electrical defense.
"Lightning Release: Multiple Shadow Lightning Arrows!" The other jonin, Ito, finished his seals. A dense volley of lightning arrows materialized around him and shot toward Akatsurugi from all sides.
Akatsurugi didn't even bother to look at the attack. His body burst into fiery red flames. The lightning arrows passed through his elementalized form one after another, causing him no harm.
"He's immune to normal ninjutsu, Kujō!" Ito yelled, quickly analyzing the situation. "Only your Storm Release can hurt him! It's a battle of intel now!"
Ninja battles were wars of information. Knowing the enemy's abilities was half the victory.
"Understood!" Kujōgawa shouted back. "Ito, I'll hold him here! You break away, rally the chunin and genin! Have anyone who knows Water Release use it on him!"
Kujōgawa's mind raced. He targeted our Water user first... that means Water Style is a threat to him. We need to exploit that!
It was a logical deduction, but a naive one. Water could control fire, but only when the water was overwhelming. A few weak Water Release techniques from low-ranking ninja would be like spitting on a bonfire.
The jonin named Ito disengaged, quickly knocking out the genjutsu-controlled chunin before turning to the others. "All Water Release users, on my mark! Drench him!"
A wave of water techniques—weak jets and small waterfalls—surged toward Akatsurugi. He simply leaped upward, easily avoiding the main force of the water. As he descended, he landed lightly on the water's surface.
But then, a powerful electric current surged through the water. Akatsurugi grimaced, looking toward the source. Ito had his hands submerged in the water, channeling chakra. "Now, Kujō! He's stuck!"
The current had a magnetic, pulling quality, locking Akatsurugi's feet to the electrified surface.
The Storm Release user, Kujōgawa, finished his hand seals. "Storm Release: Luminous Slash!" A wide, scything beam of light shot from his mouth, cutting horizontally toward the immobilized Akatsurugi.
"What a pain," Akatsurugi cursed internally. His body burst into flames again, but as he tried to phase, more jets of water shot up from the surface, aimed directly at him. A loud hissing filled the air as fire met water, producing thick plumes of white steam that obscured him.
The laser-like slash hit him in that moment of distraction.
A searing pain shot through Akatsurugi's chest. Even as he finished his elementalization, the tearing sensation remained. Where the water had struck, his flesh was exposed, and the laser had grazed it. If those Water Release techniques had been stronger, he would have been in serious trouble.
A cold sweat broke out on his brow. The ninja world was truly dangerous. The moment your abilities were figured out, your life was on the line. I haven't even unlocked Ryūjin Jakka yet. Dying here would be the most pathetic ending.
"It's a shame Shota is dead," Kujōgawa lamented, seeing the Konoha ninja still standing. "With a proper Water Style user, we would have had him!"
"Enough!" Akatsurugi roared, shooting into the sky. Flames erupted from his feet, holding him aloft. His hands formed a single seal and he took a deep, cavernous breath.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
He exhaled a colossal fireball of black and red. The moment it touched the water below, it didn't sizzle out—it exploded, transforming the entire area into a churning sea of black-red flame. This was the same technique that had consumed Yoshino Kaze.
Akatsurugi was done playing around. He had learned his lesson: a lion must use all its strength even when hunting a rabbit. His earlier arrogance had nearly cost him everything.
The sea of fire spread with terrifying speed, vaporizing the water instantly and filling the air with a thick, blinding steam. Kujōgawa felt the horrifying heat and leaped backward with all his speed. Even with his lightning-armor-like defense, the edges of the flames licked at him, scorching his clothes and skin. He barely escaped the technique's full radius.
The chunin and genin still on the water, however, along with Jonin Ito, had no such chance. They were instantly engulfed. Their screams were short, choked off as the inferno reduced them to ash. Ito, protected by his Lightning Flash technique, managed to stumble out of the fire's edge, his body horribly burned and smoking, collapsing onto the safe ground.