Naruto: The Wind Calamity-Chapter 697 - 691 : Wearing the enemy down!

[A/N: Jeez! Nearly 750 chapters and I still can't estimate how many words it'll take to reach a particular scene. I wanted to cover a particular scene (in the latest chapter on pat reon) and thought it'd take around 1.7k-2k words. So, I decided to write a long chapter because I wanted to end with that scene. However, I ended up writing nearly 3.3k words ?????Anyway, enjoy a double release.]

In front of Fumito was a large map of the Land of Lightning. As soon as Fujin contacted him, he could trace his location. Shikaku observed carefully as he marked the area on the map. A look of surprise appeared on Shikaku and Hiruzen's clone's faces.

Hiruzen's clone muttered, "He reached that far?"

The location Fumito marked was the 7th base that Fujin was supposed to hit! Needless to say, the one talking with Shikaku was a Shadow Clone. Fujin had created him even before intercepting Darui's army and sent him towards the 7th base along with the Chakra Transmission Communication device. This ensured that Konoha couldn't associate his movements with Akuro's.

Fujin's clone sighed and replied, "I see. Oh well, it doesn't matter much I suppose."

Shikaku asked, "What do you mean? And, how many bases did you destroy?"

Fujin's clone answered, "I destroyed the first six bases as per our plan. I just reached the seventh one a few minutes ago. However, it is empty. They have abandoned the base and the ninjas here seem to have gone into hiding. They haven't left any traces behind for me to track. I guess the situation might be similar in the remaining three bases."

Surprise flashed in Shikaku's eyes as he thought, 'He destroyed six bases so quickly? This is excellent. However, Kumogakure acted very quickly. I didn't anticipate that they'd take this step on the very first day...'

Fujin's clone continued, "I left some traps in the bases I destroyed. Some of my tags burned around an hour ago, indicating that nearly all the traps in the 6th base were triggered. Kumogakure caught on quickly. Even if the Raikage didn't return, continuing this mission would be pointless."

Shikaku replied, "That does seem to be the case. Regardless, you've done an excellent job. Return back to the village but be careful. I'd recommend going around the Land of Lightning and flying over the seas. If you accidentally fly above the two of them and they notice you, they'll attack. In addition, dispose of all the bodies. If they have any means to track them, the bodies could lure Kumogakure to us."

Fujin's clone replied, "Alright, I'll take care of it."

Shikaku replied, "Good. Meet us as soon as you return."

Fujin's clone replied in affirmative before terminating the connection and putting the device back in the scroll. He thought, 'I'll wait here until my main body is done. If Shikaku tries to contact me again for some reason, I'll just teleport some distance away to show that I'm on the move...'

Fujin's clone created a Shadow Clone and dispersed it to send the message back to Fujin. In Konoha, Hiruzen's clone asked, "How many did he get?"

Shikaku answered, "Six. The seventh base disbanded."

Hiruzen's clone replied with a smile, "Good. This is more than what I hoped for. This will cripple Kumogakure for quite some time and buy us a sufficient amount of time."

Shikaku nodded and added, "Fujin also left traps in the bases. So, their losses might increase. Even if they don't, he has done an excellent job."

Hiruzen's clone and Shikaku were relieved. The threat of Sunagakure and Orochimaru had given the two of them several headaches and a few sleepless nights. While both were confident in coming out on top, what worried them was what would follow. If Konoha took heavy losses, both knew that Kumogakure would jump in and start a new war.

If a wounded Konoha got occupied with Kumogakure, it would give Iwagakure an opening which would force Konoha into a two-front war. Neither wanted to see Konoha falling in such a situation as Konoha's losses would be catastrophic. Even if they survived, Konoha would become more vulnerable than they were after Minato's death. Thankfully, Fujin had implemented Hiruzen's idea and Shikaku's plan excellently. It bought them the time they needed to recover from any losses Konoha might suffer.

While the two of them rejoiced, Fumito was shocked to his core. He had heard their exchange and glanced at the map. He realized, 'So Captain's real mission was to wipe those bases of Kumogakure out? The reason for luring the Raikage and the perfect Jinchuriki to the Land of Hot Water was to ensure that Kumogakure didn't have any ninja strong enough to stop Captain. Still...'

Fumito swallowed his saliva as he wondered, 'Did Captain wipe out 6 entire bases in a single day? That's more than 600 elite ninjas! This is crazy! In addition, he sounded completely fine! Despite such odds, this is just like the old times!'

Despite having seen the exploits of the Spectral Swordsman first-hand, Fumito still had a hard time digesting what he had heard. Hiruzen's clone and Shikaku noticed his expression. Even though several ninjas were involved in this plan, Fumito was only the fifth person to know what their real plan was.

He snapped out of his thoughts when Hiruzen's clone called him, "Fumito."

He looked at the clone and immediately said, "I understand, Lord Hokage."

Hiruzen's clone nodded. The fact that he was the only one other than Inoichi to be given such an important task showed Hiruzen's trust in him. He would never speak a word about this to anyone.

In Kumogakure, Mabui and the rest were fully concentrated. Just when the timer reached 20 minutes, the barrier disappeared. Once again, there were no signs of the clones or any combat. Even so, the morale of the Kumo ninjas increased.

Nanako analyzed, "It took four times as long. Even though everything is the same, this shows that there's an issue. He can't continue this way. This might be the best time to strike!"

Everyone looked at Inazuma. Inazuma thought for a while before saying, "We still need more information. Send another 8 clones through one pathway."

His orders were immediately followed. This time, the barrier took 4 minutes to disappear. The Kumo ninjas frowned. Nanako said, "I had analyzed that it would either take the usual two and a half minutes or ten minutes since he slowed down. What does this mean?"

One of the council members confidently replied, "He is panicking. He failed to eliminate the clones and fix the seals within 2 minutes and 30 seconds but still hurried to show us that he isn't exhausted yet. Unfortunately for him, this just shows that he is getting desperate.

It's time to go all out. Inazuma-san, we need to push into the building and eliminate him! Let us send 8 squads through each pathway to get the job done."

Unlike others, Inazuma was still deep in thought. He shook his head and said, "Don't get overconfident. Our enemy is someone who could go up against an entire army led by Darui and Yugito. He isn't someone we can afford to underestimate. Not to mention, sending a large number of ninjas into the building will be too big of a loss..."

His words confused others. Nanako's eyes widened and she muttered, "The explosive seals..."

Inazuma nodded and said, "That's right. Even if he loses, he might be able to blow up the building. Even if we kill him, the ninjas we send inside will be gravely injured, if not dead."

Everyone agreed. Sending ninjas into a building that could blow up was suicidal. However, not sending any was also not a good solution. The Council Member frowned and said, "But clones might not work, especially if he has the means to dispel our clones."

Inazuma nodded and replied, "Of course. I have considered it. Send 2 Jounins through every pathway. At least one of them in every pair has to be an expert at the Water Prison jutsu. If the building blows up, they'll try their best to survive.

As for the main attack, it'll be carried out by clones. Order everyone who can to make elemental clones! Only the Anbu and Elite Jounins won't do so. We'll attack ceaselessly until the enemy is dead!

Nanako, create eight Lightning clones and send one to every pathway along with them. It'll be your task to analyze the seals.

Mabui, he could use reverse summoning to escape once he is about to lose. Order the sensors to be on a high alert. As soon as we sense his movements, the Anbu will hone in on his new location. Kill whoever is summoning him before attacking Akuro. If he doesn't have a way to reverse summon himself outside our village, then we'll kill him here too! We'll show what happens to the fools who dare to attack Kumogakure!"

His speech immediately raised the morale of the Kumogakure ninjas. They couldn't wait to see the death of the one who dared to humiliate their great village! The Kumogakure ninjas began preparing with full force. Within a few minutes, everyone was prepared. The barrier around the building opened up as 16 Jounins and thousands of elemental clones entered! They divided into eight groups and dived towards the Raikage Building!

Even though the Raikage Building was quite huge, it wasn't large enough to house thousands of elemental clones. To complicate matters further, the pathways inside the Devil's Playground were quite narrow since Fujin wanted to limit the movements of his enemies. As such, there was no way they could handle such huge numbers. Thousands of clones gathered at the entrance to the pathways while around a dozen entered the building every second!

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