The movements of Kinkaku and Ginkaku had been under secret surveillance by the Konoha Ninja. Upon noticing them heading toward Fūmori Masaki, someone immediately relayed the information. Through various intelligence channels and the mental Secret Technique of the Yamanaka clan, the report was quickly delivered to Fūmori Masaki's squad.
After receiving the intelligence, Yamanaka Takuma immediately said, "Captain Fūmori, Kinkaku and Ginkaku have arrived."
"Good, keep monitoring them. If there's any new information, report it immediately," Fūmori Masaki said calmly. "Kei, I'm counting on you."
"No problem," Hyūga Kei replied. Once Kinkaku and Ginkaku passed the other squads, there would be no one left to relay information in time, and that was when his Byakugan would be needed to track their whereabouts.
While monitoring the distance with his Byakugan, Hyūga Kei said, "Captain, we're just going to engage Kinkaku and Ginkaku briefly before retreating to the ambush point, right?"
"Yes, you and Takuma need to coordinate well when that time comes," Fūmori Masaki said, glancing at the others. "The same goes for all of you."
Everyone was already well aware of the upcoming battle plan. As long as they coordinated tacitly, they should be able to temporarily shake off Kinkaku and Ginkaku while drawing them toward the ambush site.
According to the intelligence constantly relayed by Yamanaka Takuma, Kinkaku and Ginkaku were accompanied by fourteen Kumogakure Ninja. Those capable of staying by their side were surely elites of Kumogakure. Facing such a team, even if only for containment, was still quite stressful.
Fūmori Masaki touched the ninja sword bound by cloth strips on his back and slowly adjusted his breathing. The others would deal with Ginkaku and his guards, while he would take on the strongest, Kinkaku. To end the fight quickly, he intended to repel Kinkaku within a single move, hoping nothing would go wrong.
At this moment, Kinkaku and Ginkaku were slowly approaching their target. The Kinkaku and Ginkakus Squad was exceptionally skilled at pursuit, and as the leaders of the squad, the two were naturally the best among them. The clues gathered on the battlefield quickly allowed them to grasp the exact location of Fūmori Masaki's squad.
Shortly after being spotted by Hyūga Kei's Byakugan, Kinkaku and Ginkaku also detected their enemies. At this distance, Kumogakure's sensory techniques could also function. The two brothers exchanged a glance and sneered as they charged toward the location. They knew Konohagakure's reconnaissance methods were superior to Kumogakure's and that the enemy must have already discovered them, but so what? Would they worry about falling into a trap? In the face of absolute power, any trap was meaningless.
As the saying goes, when enemies meet, they recognize each other instantly. Upon seeing Fūmori Masaki, Ginkaku's anger became uncontrollable. Having lost an arm, he could not even form seals. Although there were methods for one-handed seals, they required talent and time—Ginkaku believed his talent was not an issue; he only lacked time. However, even if one-handed seals could be mastered, Ginkaku was still furious. Losing an arm was a huge loss, and in his heart, reducing Fūmori Masaki to dust would not be enough.
This was Kinkaku's first time seeing Fūmori Masaki. Seeing his brother staring angrily at the young man, he knew who his target was. He immediately drew his sword and gave Ginkaku a signal.
Ginkaku understood immediately. He poured Chakra into the basho fan and swung it forward rapidly. A massive amount of water materialized out of thin air, crashing toward Fūmori Masaki's squad with great momentum. The surrounding Kumogakure Ninja followed by forming seals, unleashing Lightning Release Ninjutsu into the water ahead.
The principle of combined Ninjutsu was not complex, and Kumogakure had long since learned how to use it. It was just that they did not have as many Chakra natures as Konohagakure. Everyone's primary nature was Lightning. Although some had developed a secondary nature, they could not compare to Konohagakure in scale, and the secondary nature was not necessarily suitable for combined Ninjutsu.
However, Ginkaku could now use the basho fan to directly unleash transformations of all five Chakra natures, so there was no need to worry about this issue. The massive amount of water crashed down like a waterfall, carrying terrifying Lightning Release within it. Sarutobi Kōnosuke did not dare to underestimate it and immediately used Earth Release, slamming both hands heavily onto the ground.
Walls of earth rose from the ground. Subsequently, Sarutobi Kōnosuke's Fire Release shattered the earth walls, and flaming rock bullets shot out. Colliding together, they blasted the waterfall apart. At the same time, Satomi used Water Release, focusing on a single point to blast a large hole in the waterfall. Amidst such a massive impact, two figures rushed out: Kinkaku and Fūmori Masaki.
This was the tactic Kinkaku and Ginkaku had been using these days: have Ginkaku use the basho fan for a wide-range attack, and have Kinkaku approach during the chaos. This, however, played right into Fūmori Masaki's hands, who reached out to grip the hilt of the sword on his back.
Kinkaku's eyes narrowed slightly. He knew Fūmori Masaki possessed a Ninjutsu where "the sword releases a gust of wind upon clashing." It seemed he intended to repeat the same trick. However, since Kinkaku had long known about this Ninjutsu, how could he not be prepared?
As long as he watched the blade, he could avoid being blown away by the hurricane. People in the past had fallen for it because, in a blade-to-blade clash, they couldn't easily change their body position and were caught off guard by the suddenly exploding hurricane. But Kinkaku was determined to observe Fūmori Masaki's blade closely. Even if it suddenly exploded, it wouldn't affect him, and he would use his speed, enhanced by Lightning Release, to drive his blade into Fūmori Masaki's body.
"Come on."
Kinkaku thought confidently. However, when he saw the scene after the cloth strips loosened, his expression couldn't help but freeze, because there was nothing behind the cloth.
Only confused for a moment, Kinkaku immediately realized something was wrong. Fūmori Masaki couldn't have come without a sword. In other words, he had used some method to hide the blade.
Now, Kinkaku had no way to observe the trajectory of Fūmori Masaki's blade and could only stare at Fūmori Masaki's wrist, judging the direction of the attack from its movement. But Kinkaku, after all, did not have the Sharingan to clearly see every muscle movement on Fūmori Masaki's wrist in such a short time. Although he could judge the general direction, he could not guarantee its accuracy.
Kinkaku had no other choice but to try to dodge. The result proved that his judgment was incorrect. A violent gust of wind instantly erupted, blowing Kinkaku away. Within the wildly swirling wind, Fūmori Masaki's ninja sword slowly became visible.
The inspiration for this Ninjutsu came from a Noble Phantasm in an anime from another world. The name was the same as the Six Paths Sage's treasured tool, but it was not the same thing. That Noble Phantasm, called Invisible Air, wrapped wind around the sword, hiding the blade by changing the refractive index of light. Fūmori Masaki had always felt this was a move suitable for him. After arduous practice, he figured out what kind of Wind Release Chakra was needed to manipulate the surrounding air to achieve this effect. Only after the battle with Ginkaku, when his mastery of Natural Energy advanced, was he able to use it.
Even so, truly hiding the blade required an immense amount of Chakra and high control, and preparation had to start beforehand. More importantly, it didn't truly hide the blade; the wrapped blade would still faintly reveal its outline. If Kinkaku had looked carefully, he would have realized it wasn't truly invisible. However, Fūmori Masaki used the white cloth strips to divert Kinkaku's attention, causing him to fail to notice it in time, and as a result, he was struck by Fūmori Masaki's Wind Reversal.
In terms of practical application, Fūmori Masaki could not use the invisible blade to fight like the Knight King; it required too much Chakra. But it could perfect the suddenness of Wind Reversal. Even Kinkaku, who had been mentally prepared, was deceived by this move.
This time, the Wind Reversal was even more powerful than before. The explosive force not only pushed Kinkaku away but also completely overwhelmed the waterfall, and Ginkaku and the others were suppressed by the violent wind.
"Now!"
Without needing a reminder from Fūmori Masaki, Hyūga Kei and Yamanaka Takuma exchanged glances. Then, Hyūga Kei threw a spherical object. After the spherical mist exploded, it produced black smoke, which was swept by the violent wind toward Ginkaku and his group, obscuring their vision. At this moment, Hyūga Kei used his Byakugan to spot Ginkaku's location and signaled a direction to Yamanaka Takuma, who immediately began forming seals.
Seeing the black smoke, Ginkaku immediately knew it was a poison gas bomb and hurriedly covered his nose and mouth. In that very instant, he felt his body suddenly lose control. Gripping the basho fan, he swung it toward the people around him. As a burst of scorching flame erupted, it quickly expanded with the help of the violent wind.
This was the Mind Body Switch Technique used by Yamanaka Takuma, sending his spirit into the opponent's body to control it. Although the gap in Chakra between him and Ginkaku was huge, preventing complete control—he could only control him for a few short seconds. Under normal circumstances, these few seconds of control would be meaningless, and he didn't know how to use Lightning Release Ninjutsu. But, who told Ginkaku to have the basho fan in his hand?
As long as one held the basho fan, there was no need to form seals, nor did one need to know how to use any specific nature transformation; simply pouring Chakra into it was enough. The basho fan, brought out to compensate for Ginkaku's inability to form seals, had now become a weapon for Yamanaka Takuma to utilize.
He indeed did not know how to use Fire Release nature transformation, and in such a short time, he might not have been able to form a Fire Release Ninjutsu. But waving the fan and pouring in some Chakra was not a problem. Moreover, it used the powerful Chakra within Ginkaku, making the unleashed Fire Release exceptionally powerful.
Aided by the violent wind of the Wind Reversal, the raging flames completely engulfed the Kumogakure Ninja present. In shock and rage, Ginkaku ejected Yamanaka Takuma's spirit from his body.
Yamanaka Takuma immediately spat out a mouthful of blood; this was the danger of the Mind Body Switch Technique. As his body collapsed to the side, Inuzuka Shigeru quickly had his beloved dog catch him. He waved his hand at the others and shouted, "Run!"
The others ran immediately, while Fūmori Masaki used the reactive force of the violent wind to return to the ground. Without looking back, he caught up with the group, and they hurried toward the ambush site together.
Ginkaku and his group were indeed caught off guard, swept up by the terrifying Fire and Wind Ninjutsu. But immediately, powerful Chakra exploded, and the resulting violent wind forced the flames back.
Kinkaku and Ginkaku stood there, their bodies wrapped in a layer of red Chakra. Unlike the Tailed Beast Cloak, it was semi-transparent. This was the first form of Tailed Beast transformation, and it was also the method Kinkaku and Ginkaku used to access Nine-Tails Chakra without needing extreme rage.
"Damn brat." Although Kinkaku did not feel the same anger as when he had lost his brother, he was furious. The powerful wind pressure had caused him serious internal injuries, but under the influence of the Nine-Tails Chakra, he was recovering at a very fast speed.
Ginkaku, standing to the side, was also very angry. He had actually been mentally invaded by someone, and by such a weak little guy at that. Almost being burned to death was simply intolerable.
"Hey, you're not dead, are you! Get up quickly! You're not going to be incapacitated by an attack like this, are you?" Ginkaku shouted at the Kumogakure Ninja beside him.
These Kumogakure Ninja were all elites. Although they had been hit by a sudden attack, they reacted extremely quickly by using Lightning Release Ninjutsu to defend. Furthermore, Kinkaku and Ginkaku had timely unleashed their Nine-Tails Chakra to force back the flames, so no one had died, though they were suffering from various injuries.
"No problem!" everyone answered immediately, indicating they could continue to fight.
"Good, go chase those guys!" Seeing that his subordinates were fine, Kinkaku ordered. He didn't give them time to rest; he just wanted to vent his anger quickly. He immediately started sprinting. After using the Nine-Tails Chakra, both his speed and strength had risen to a new level.
Although Fūmori Masaki and his group had gained some distance, Kinkaku, Ginkaku, and the others were hot on their heels. If they hadn't wanted to avoid leaving their subordinates behind, they would have been even faster.
"They're running really fast." Feeling Kinkaku and Ginkaku rapidly approaching, Fūmori Masaki sighed at the power of the Nine-Tails Chakra and told the others to run faster. They were about to enter the ambush site, and at that point, the real battle with Kinkaku and Ginkaku would begin.