บท 97: Chapter 97 : Anbu vs Tazun
"Report - High-chakra reaction ahead!"
Hyuga Kazuki's voice boomed suddenly, his eyes narrowing as he sensed the ominous presence of Tazun.
"A Cloud Shinobi wielding a fearsome lightning prowess. His speed is exceptional... There's a growing number of Cloud Shinobi appearing behind him... They're closing in!"
Hyuga Kazuki exclaimed with a sense of urgency, "Our position is compromised!"
They were still three kilometers away from the Battle Peak Cliff, which Kumogakure occupied as their stronghold. The enemy's sudden full-frontal assault surprised Hyuga, who believed their team's location was concealed.
Still, they were too inexperienced.
"We must contain him. He must be our target. I will take him down!"
Yaksha sneered, already instructing her subordinates to remove their masks while retaining their face coverings.
Within the enigmatic eyes of the ANBU, she melded into the shadows, her presence even fainter but Orochimaru's awareness detected her lurking in the nearby shrubbery.
As Yaksha vanished, the commanders of the dark army were momentarily disoriented, left to confront the situation on their own.
Though they numbered only about thirty, the ANBU, lacking collective combat experience, were ill-prepared for the intensity of this battle.
Why was a minimum of two years' training required to officially become an ANBU? It wasn't solely about age indicating strength, but the time necessary to cultivate experience and the right mindset to handle diverse situations.
"The physically resilient among us shall stand at the forefront. The rest engage in ninjutsu combat. Initiate with a solo assault, ensuring the instructor is engaged. The rest shall follow and strike!"
Orochimaru had no choice but to take the lead. Whatever Yaksha's intentions, they needed to endure and buy time. They couldn't rely on reinforcements. Their only recourse was to coordinate with Yaksha to eliminate Tazun!
"Are these really the only forces available? Regardless of your misguided bravery... Allow me to introduce myself!"
Tazun's wicked smile bore bloodlust. His Lightning Style coat blazed, rapidly shortening the distance between both sides. To ordinary onlookers, his electrifying aura was terrifying.
"Lightning Release : Lightning Iron Heavy Cannon!"
Tazun's Lightning ous bellow channelled his formidable lightning chakra into his hands, forming a colossal orb of light that slammed into the ground. The earth quaked and an ear-splitting roar resonated as the explosive sphere, brimming with volatile electrical chakra, tore through the terrain, generating a colossal shockwave alongside debris that hurtled towards Orochimaru's team.
"Formidable! We're outmatched! Scatter!"
The ANBU members' courage waned. Facing an adversary of Tazun's caliber for the first time, fear tingled through their legs.
"Maintain formation! Charge at him, ready to combat!"
Orochimaru's clenched teeth and vigorous chakra output were channelled through his finger seals, erecting two colossal Rashomon gates from the earth's depths.
The formation must hold firm. Without it, Tazun's lightning speed would make mincemeat of his comrades!
As for Yaksha's support? Hah!
"Clang!"
The immense lightning shockwave collided with the Rashomon gates nearly a hundred meters away, the resonance echoing like a heavy hammer striking an iron sheet. The Rashomon gates burst and the Lightning dissolved.
"It was blocked?!"
Several ANBU, bracing for impact, blinked in disbelief, hastening to ready their ninjutsu once more.
Transferred out beforehand, Hyuga Kazuki, Orochimaru's trusted companion, left Orochimaru as the backbone amidst the chaos.
"Press forward!"
Orochimaru bellowed, Tazun emerging from the smoke, his fierce countenance encased in blazing light.
"Not bad at all, hiding behind smoke and walls."
Tazun dispensed with pleasantries, throwing a punch at Orochimaru. With his Lightning-infused strength, each blow was devastating.
"You dare challenge Kumogakure?!"
Tiger bellowed furiously, retaliating with an equally potent punch. His arm, enshrouded in chakra cyclones, executed a powerful, rigid punch, a technique emblematic of brute force.
Swiftly drawing his blade, a single slash released a swift, deadly arc. Three other taijutsu-inclined ANBU members also joined the fray. Together, the quintet constructed a defensive barrier against Tazun's advance.
Hyuga Kazuki, refraining from intervening due to concerns over exposing his Gentle Fist prowess, watched intently.
Orochimaru, acknowledging the risks, assumed his combat stance, determined to resist against Tazun.
Meanwhile, Tazun remained unrelenting. With a mad grin, he merged his chakra with the Lightning coat and executed a fearsome Lightning Release: Lightning Iron Heavy Cannon technique, obliterating the barriers formed by the ANBU with Chunin-level abilities.
"Your audacity is commendable, but insufficient to face me!"
Tazun's laughter echoed as his chakra surged, scattering the ANBU. The powerful shockwave proved overwhelming, propelling the ANBU backward.
Tiger's visage reddened, his stance unchanging despite sliding upon the earth's surface, leaving furrows behind. Coughing blood, he sagged, his vitality waning.
Falcon's chakra-infused slash was less disastrous, while the other three sustained minor injuries. Tazun's Lightning Release proved exceedingly potent. It was either the raw power of Tazun or the overwhelming might of his Lightning that predominated.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
"Water Style: Water Bullet Cannon!"
"Earth Style: Rock Protrusion Technique!"
Several ANBU members unleashed their ninjutsu onslaught, but Tazun scoffed. Amidst Lightning brilliance, he deflected their combined efforts with phenomenal speed. The explosion resonated, heralding the failure of their techniques.
"This speed is astonishing. Tazun shares similarities with the Fourth Raikage, emphasizing speed."
Orochimaru furrowed his brows. Restraining Tazun proved arduous. The fighting style of successive Raikage generations skewed excessively toward brute force, rendering them unstoppable if their attack surpassed adversaries' defenses.
Alas, Tazun's might necessitated Orochimaru and company to adopt a defensive posture. The level of Tazun's prowess relegated Orochimaru's comrades to reactive roles.
"Claim your lives!"
Scarcely had everyone attacked that Tazun were merely Chunin and posed no threat. So he employs his Lightning-infused chakra and deploys a resonating strike against Orochimaru. Tazun sought to neutralize Orochimaru's threat and expend the team's strength before Kumogakure 's reinforcement arrived.
Tazun's initial attack was designed to scatter them, and then pick them off one by one using his speed, and he's sticking to the same strategy now.
"Lord Tazun, we're here. None of these guys will escape!"
The Kumogakure troops followed suit. About a hundred strong, they might seem like a swarm of insignificant fish, but they were more than enough to easily wipe out Konoha's Anbu.
"I can handle this by myself!"
Tazun believed he had a grasp of his opponent's strength.
"Besides that strange defensive ninjutsu, do you have anything else up your sleeve?"
Tazun sneered, leaped suddenly, a flash of lightning, and his foot came crashing down at the center of the Anbu, resembling the strike of a thunderous giant axe.
"Die, Lightning Style : Furious Lightning Axe!"
The chakra on Tazun's feet glowed brighter, much thicker than the lightning release covering his body. It seemed to condense into armour made of lightning.
Facing these weaker adversaries, the combative Tazun wanted to make a decisive impact before the reinforcements arrived.
"Clear the way!"
"Boom!"
Tazun's speed was too overwhelming, akin to a missile plummeting into the ground. Debris scattered, a mushroom cloud billowed upwards, and the Anbu squad was thrown into disarray.
"Focus your attack and take him down!"
A massive crater marred the once-solid rock wall. Three Anbu members who couldn't evade were now silenced.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
The kunai hurled by Orochimaru transformed into a hailstorm, detonation tags trailing behind them. The red-eyed Anbu also unleashed a torrent of projectiles.
"How naive, you can't even scratch me!"
Tazun taunted, yet he was not invincible like Ai. Dozens of chunin-level jutsu surged toward him, causing the luster of his lightning armour to dim, prompting him to groan involuntarily.
"Come on! Slay all these fools who dare challenge the might of Kumogakure!"
Struggling to muster more chakra, Tazun ordered his subordinates. Other Kumogakure shinobi also converged, and just as he leaped upward, he was about to retreat.
Still unable to withstand the might of enemy, he found that these individuals couldn't hold them back.
"You think you can leave after causing all this?"
A chilling female voice echoed behind him. Tazun was caught off guard, and a sensation of imminent danger shot through his scalp,
Now, in his moment of vulnerability, with his chakra depleted and yet to recover, Yaksha finally made her move, claiming the lives of three ninjas in the process.
"Let the bomb explode!"
Tazun couldn't alter his trajectory mid-air. At the crucial moment, a punch struck his chest, blood spilling forth. A horrifying surge of electricity erupted, anyone daring to approach was instantly electrocuted!
However, Yaksha was like a phantom, materializing behind Tazun in front of all the supporting Kumogakure ninjas. A particularly sharp kunai, its blade emanating a blue glow, lunged at his back!
Lightning protective armour appeared to offer no resistance. The electric current that Tazun had unleashed enveloped Yaksha, causing her to stiffen involuntarily. Ultimately, the lethal kunai lodged itself in Tazun's body, severing his left arm!
"Ah ah ah ah ah!"
Blood splattered, an electrified arm was flung aside. Yaksha too felt the discomfort. With a cold snort, seeing the opportunity lost, she kicked Tazun, sending his robust frame hurtling through the air. Yaksha's lithe form fled into the distance.
"Maintain position, engage Kumogakure , await reinforcements, then we can retrieve the scroll!"
Yaksha cast a disinterested gaze at the Anbu, refraining from entering the battlefield.
"Damn it, kill her for me!"
Tazun used a lightning release to stem the bleeding from his wound. Despite leaving a sizable pool of sweat, he pressed on without pause.
"No way! Regardless of who sent you, you won't escape death!"
Even minus an arm, the enraged Tazun bulldozed forward like a force of nature, his sheer might translating into alarming speed.
"Protect Lord Tazun!"
A few guards rallied to his side, and the remaining nearly hundred ninjas, their gaze fixed on the severed arm, circled around Orochimaru and his comrades with burning resentment.
"Hehe, we're surrounded."
Orochimaru's gaze was frosty as he examined the encircling Kumogakure ninja. Using his mental detection to its fullest, he sensed a horde of ninjas closing in from a distance, Anbu operatives lurking in the shadows.
"Then let them come! For Konoha!"
Orochimaru's voice dropped low, and he took the lead in deploying ninjutsu. Yet, his eyes exuded a chilling intensity as he rallied his team behind him.
"Attack! Stand against them!"
Anbu surged toward their outnumbering foes. Nightingale, Falcon, and Hyuga Kazuki exchanged glances and swiftly formed a tight defensive formation around Orochimaru.
Watching the battle awash in blood, Orochimaru's excitement mounted, and his blood-red snake pupils gleamed alluringly.
"It appears that fighting to the death is the quickest path to my growth!"
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