Fūmori Masaki was also surprised by Chiyo's strength. Although he hadn't used all his techniques, his attitude was undoubtedly serious, yet he still let Chiyo escape unscathed.
She was truly worthy of being a Female Ninja who had lived to the ripe old age of seventy; three Ninja World Wars had not been able to bring her down, and both her strength and luck had been proven.
Especially her intuition and reaction in avoiding that blow of his. The Kunai she quickly threw carried an exploding tag; if Fūmori Masaki hadn't been prepared to follow up with an Eight-Part Wind Wheel, he estimated he would have been injured by the explosion and possibly hit by the hidden weapons shot by the puppet.
Fūmori Masaki swung his wind cutter with one hand, the Wind Release Chakra on its surface vibrating the air to deflect the hidden weapons. With his other hand, he rotated the Eight-Part Wind Wheel he was preparing to throw, aiming its disc-like side at the bursting flames. The shape of the Eight-Part Wind Wheel also underwent a slight change, drawing in and compressing a large amount of local air to form an isolation layer, withstanding the force of the exploding tag.
This was the defensive Eight-Part Wind Wheel that Fūmori Masaki had figured out. It could not only be used for defense but could also quickly revert to its original form after the defense ended, ready to be thrown again.
However, the flames from the exploding tag took the opportunity to cling to the Wind Wheel. Although it further increased its power, it also made Fūmori Masaki feel a wave of intense heat. Fortunately, it was bearable for such a short time. Thus, taking advantage of the fact that the firelight had not yet faded, he quickly threw the Eight-Part Wind Wheel in Chiyo's direction—in front of him, with his sensory vision, the firelight of the exploding tag had no obstructive effect.
Although Chiyo could not see what was behind the firelight, she noticed that the firelight was slightly distorted. Her intuition told her that this was not a normal phenomenon. A premonition of danger made her manipulate a puppet to block in front of her, and at the same time, she sent the other puppets rushing towards the firelight.
This action saved Chiyo's life once again. The suddenly flying Eight-Part Wind Wheel, carrying circles of fire arcs, swept the puppets into it like a vortex. Because Chiyo had instinctively stepped back, she was not drawn into it, but those two puppets were completely blown apart and were clearly unusable.
Fūmori Masaki parried the attacks of the other puppets while leaping out using the momentum. Seeing that Chiyo had not been killed by the Eight-Part Wind Wheel in one hit, he felt a bit of regret. This was the first time the Eight-Part Wind Wheel had failed to cause a fatal impact on an enemy; although it had taken out two puppets, it could not make Chiyo lose her combat ability.
Upon landing, Fūmori Masaki saw Hyūga Kei, who had found a spare moment, give him a signal, indicating that other Sunagakure Ninja would arrive soon.
Perhaps if the battle continued, Chiyo would inevitably die; Fūmori Masaki had that confidence. But whether he could kill her before the other Sunagakure Ninja arrived was a doubtful matter.
Although Chiyo was a character who had once moved Fūmori Masaki to some extent, at this moment both sides were enemies, and Fūmori Masaki could not speak of showing mercy. He had hoped to use this opportunity to kill this important figure of the Sunagakure Ninja Village to deprive the Sunagakure Ninja Village of a combat force, but now it seemed that was wishful thinking.
As a legendary figure of the Sunagakure Ninja Village, she relied on her strength, and it was not so easy for her to die prematurely. Fūmori Masaki temporarily gave up the thought of killing Chiyo. Then, he gently bit his finger, stained it with blood, formed the seals for the Summoning Technique, and injected his Senjutsu Chakra into it.
Poof—
Chiyo felt a gust of wind rise and raised her hand to slightly shield herself from the blowing sand and gravel. Immediately, she discovered a huge shadow looming over her. Looking up, she saw a huge, pure white, blue-striped Slug. The opponent had actually summoned a Summoned Beast, and one of such immense size.
Seeing the appearance of the Slug, Danzo Shimura flashed out and no longer entangled with Ebizo. Ebizo was about to chase after him when he noticed the Slug take a deep breath and then spit out a yellowish liquid. Fūmori Masaki, standing on top of the Slug, used a Wind Release Ninjutsu, and Danzo Shimura, who had rushed over, also used a Wind Release Ninjutsu to swirl the liquid spat out by the Slug and disperse it over a wide area.
"Quick, use Wind Release together!" Seeing this, Chiyo hurriedly shouted to the other Sunagakure Ninja.
The Sunagakure Ninja's reaction was not slow. They also realized that the liquid spat out by the Slug must be very dangerous, so they used their respective proficient Wind Release Ninjutsu, turning everything upside down. Because everyone was not in the same place and all wanted to rush to other places, the result was that the liquid was scattered everywhere like rain.
Chiyo cursed inwardly, manipulating a puppet to set up a shield to block the liquid falling from the sky, while also paying attention to whether Fūmori Masaki would sneak attack from elsewhere.
While observing, she glanced at the shield, which sent a chill down her spine. The weapon shield used for the puppet was naturally not an ordinary item; it had not shown any cracks under Fūmori Masaki's wind pressure attacks. However, just by being hit by this liquid, it dissolved in a short time.
—This was a highly acidic mucus; wherever it touched, it was probably finished.
Smelling the odor of this liquid, Chiyo judged its nature and quickly looked around. She saw that the places hit by the liquid had all been corroded into large holes. There were also the screams of Sunagakure Ninja; these were the people who hadn't managed to dodge in time and had a part of their bodies corroded, but hadn't died on the spot.
"Damn it—" Chiyo quickly turned her head, wanting to look for that hateful figure on top of the Slug, but only then did she notice that the Slug's massive body had disappeared, and Fūmori Masaki and the other Konoha Ninja had also disappeared.
"Lord Chiyo, Lord Ebizo, are you alright?" The Sunagakure Ninja who came to support appeared at this moment, calling the commanders' names while looking for the enemy and tending to the wounded.
"I'm fine." Chiyo's face was as cold as frost, one of her hands clenched tightly. Ebizo, who was beside her, did not dare to speak because he knew his sister was currently in a rage.
With so many of them, they hadn't been able to take down this Konoha team; it would be laughable if word got out. Chiyo had always been stubborn and cared about face, unable to tolerate this result. Her chest heaved, showing her fury. She took a few deep breaths before suppressing her emotions.
"Leave some people to take care of the wounded, the rest continue to pursue; they must not be allowed to leave leisurely!" Chiyo said loudly.
"Yes!" It wasn't just Chiyo; the other Sunagakure Ninja also felt very aggrieved. They were on their home turf, after all; what was going on with letting the opponent come and go as they pleased?
Just when the Sunagakure Ninja were full of rage, Fūmori Masaki and the others did not stop, changing routes several times in succession before stopping in a hidden place to recover the Chakra and stamina consumed in the battle.
Looking at the four figures who were no longer there, Fūmori Masaki sighed softly. No matter how powerful he and Danzo Shimura were, the Sunagakure Ninja still had their advantages. After the battle, four people had been lost. Although more Sunagakure Ninja had died, no amount of them could make up for these four people; they were teammates who had been with them for a period of time, different from other companions, as they had fought closely together.
Even if his heart was pained, Fūmori Masaki still had to accept this fact. It was impossible to have no deaths in war, especially when surrounded. He looked at Hyūga Kei and the others; at least these friends who had already fought together in the Third Unit were still there, which was a kind of comfort.
"Masaki." Danzo Shimura came out with a map. "Let's discuss the next evacuation route. This time we relied on your Slug for cover; it won't be that easy next time."
Although Ninjas are not Saints, in a sense, the phenomenon that "the same technique can only be used once" exists. This is also why Ninjas value intelligence so much. If you fail to defeat the opponent in a battle and instead have the secret of your Ninjutsu revealed, the chance of being counter-killed next time will be very high—unless it is the kind of Ninjutsu that lets you see through it but still find no way to deal with it.
"Hmm." Fūmori Masaki nodded gently. He was not afraid of fighting enemies, but minimizing losses was also a commander's responsibility. If there was really no other way, one should try to avoid the situation of killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of one's own.
"You didn't manage to kill that Sunagakure Female Ninja." Danzo said while looking at the map.
"She is quite formidable and not an opponent that can be easily taken down," Fūmori Masaki said.
"I thought you wanted to try taking her as a prisoner, just like that blonde girl from Kumogakure," Danzo Shimura said.
"Is that the impression I've left on you? I almost thought you were Hiruzen Sarutobi disguised with a Transformation Jutsu; only he could say something like that." Fūmori Masaki glanced behind him and, seeing that Satomi didn't seem to have heard, breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"I just find it incredible that you couldn't defeat her; there's no other meaning." Danzo Shimura certainly wouldn't be as unserious as Hiruzen Sarutobi; it sounded a bit flippant, but the meaning was actually quite serious.
"That's because she is truly formidable. I think she will be a strong enemy for the Village. It's just a pity I couldn't kill her here." Fūmori Masaki remembered that Chiyo's poison caused great trouble for Konoha Ninja, and the person who could counter it was still just a mischievous little kid now.
"Hmm, the same goes for that man. His raw strength is not as good as mine, but his strategy is very good, making it so I couldn't win for a while," Danzo Shimura said. "Normally, Female Ninjas should be weaker, so I thought you shouldn't have failed to kill her, but it looks like that woman is even more formidable than the man."
"Female Ninjas like her pop up occasionally," Fūmori Masaki said.
"That's true," Danzo Shimura said.
The two talked about the siblings Chiyo and Ebizo while formulating the next route. After the others recovered some stamina, they set off quickly. This time they were more cautious, learning from the last experience, and did not let Chiyo and the others find another opportunity, finally entering the territory of the Land of Rivers.
the new third hokage of konoha