Chapter 303 - Fierce Battle in the Forest (Final)

A short while ago.

In the thick forest, a short distance away from Guren and Daichi two other fights were taking place. Guren's subordinates were trying to buy time while the two Leaf Jonins were trying to subdue them. They had separated from Daichi and wanted to find out more about Orochimaru's plans.

Anko looked at the brown haired man with the loose fitting vest. She was on guard as she studied her opponent. 'This guy. Even in such a situation he still has a laid back attitude… I get it. He's one of those scheming, intellect types. We'll then, let's see what you can do.'

Anko rushed towards him at quick speed and raised her left arm.

'Striking Shadow snakes!'

Multiple snakes swiftly emerged out of Anko's sleeve and immediately went towards Rinji. Within moments the snakes bit into his flesh and held him in place.

At that moment several shuriken came from the bushes nearby and flew towards Anko. The Leaf Jonin canceled her jutsu and jumped out of the way.

"You didn't think it would be that easy would you? I've seen that trick plenty of times from Lord Orochimaru." Rinji said as he walked out from behind the small vegetation with a smile on his face.

The one Anko caught turned into smoke and in its place was a log. The Leaf Jonin turned her attention to Rinji and gave a flirty smile. "Can't blame a girl for trying."

At that moment from behind Rinji a small snake was making its way towards him. Just as it was near his leg Rinji raised his left leg and stomped on its head killing it. "It's a childish trick. Trying to distract me and attacking from behind. It won't work."

Anko merely smiled and shrugged but she was cautious. 'That snake didn't make any sound and its presence was very little. He shouldn't have known about it. So how did he do it?'

"You can't beat me. You should stop wasting your energy." Rinji said with a sigh as if he was giving Anko a way out.

"Never gonna happen."

"Our leader Guren is on a completely different level than me. She'll subdue that kid in no time. He's no match for her."

"What exactly does Orochimaru want with Daichi and Lady Tsunade?" Anko asked the man.

"I don't know what his plans are for Lady Tsunade but for Daichi…" The smile on Rinji's face grew bigger. "Well, if it's for what I think it is, then all I can say is that, that kid will be fulfilling a great purpose."

Anko thought back to the memories of her time with Orochimaru and of his betrayal and it made her angry. "I'm not gonna let that happen."

Gripping a kunai she rushed towards the enemy in front of her. The two quickly began their Taijutsu fight.

A few hundred meters away Genma was fighting against Gozu. The leaf Jonin was taking careful notes of the enemy's strengths as he dodged another wave of attacks. 'Daichi was right. This guy has earth chakra nature and powerful Earth jutsus.'

Genma was jumping around and avoiding the volley of mud bullets coming at him. He took out a shuriken and tied a paperbomb to it and sent it flying the next second.

Gozu placed his hand on the ground and suddenly a large wall sprung up in front of him protecting him from the weapon. The second the shuriken was embedded into the wall, it exploded.

Gozu was safe from the blast thanks to his earth shield but suddenly he sensed a presence behind him.

Genma appeared and was about to plunge his kunai into Gozu's back but suddenly the enemy's speed increased and he escaped Genma's surprise attack. Gozu jumped and twisted his body the second he sensed Genma's presence behind him. He stood on the earth wall he created and jumped towards Genma.

Genma, preparing for the hand to hand combat, was suddenly taken off guard when Gozu's arm increased in size. Guren's subordinate punched the Leaf Jonin with increased strength and sent him flying backwards.

At the last moment before the first struck him, Genma was able to raise his arms and put up a defense. But he was still sent flying. He had wide eyes as he looked at the man. 'That technique. It's like the expansion jutsu of the Akimichi clan.'

The Leaf Jonin back flipped and landed on the ground. 'Looks like this is going to take a bit longer than I thought.'

Gozu didn't waste any time and rushed towards Genma. With his right fist cocked back he was looking forward to finishing the fight as quickly as possible.

'Fast.' This thought ran through Genma's mind as he tilted his body and narrowly dodged the man's straight forward attack.

Gozu followed up with another strike but that was also dodged by the enemy. 'I need to finish him quickly in case Guren needs me.'

The hand to hand combat continued with one party attacking with force and the other parrying or outright avoiding the lethal blows. As the fight continued with Gozu failing to land another successful hit he was getting more tense.

'Why can't I hit him?' This question appeared in his mind.

Genma inwardly smiled as he saw the change in the enemy's expression. 'You may have speed and power but you lack technique, form and combat skills.'

"If you're wondering how I can dodge your attacks even at that speed, I suppose I could tell you… But then again I don't need to…" The Leaf Jonin taunted the enemy.

"Your mind games are of no use." Gozu gave a short reply and rushed forward. As Genma got ready to defend, Gozu suddenly changed his fighting style and made a few seals.

"Earth Style - Raging mud current."

The ground for over a hundred meters instantly cracked and crumbled forming a small cloud of dust which quickly dissipated in a second due to the strong winds. Around the two ninjas, the earth suddenly turned into a raging vortex of mud.

As the caster of the jutsu Gozu was able to steady himself above the earth but Genma was seemingly caught in the current and he panicked. In just a few seconds he was pulled into the fast swirling mid currents and his figure disappeared underground.

Guren's subordinate quickly placed his hands on the ground and immediately the earth solidified. Seeing no sign of the enemy, Gozu let out a breath of relief.

"It's over." He said to himself. Just as he took a step forward in Guren's direction, he felt extremely tired and sleepy. Before he could even understand what's going on he fell unconscious.

Moments later footsteps could be heard coming closer.

Genma stood over the body of the unconscious Gozu with an expressionless face and spoke in a low tone. "I'm not some average run of the mill Jonin. I was once part of the guard platoon that protected the fastest shinobi in the world. That meant learning how to keep up and counter enemies with speed and power. You're strong but you lack skill and battle wisdom. A simple shadow clone substitution and Genjutsu is enough to take you out of the fight."

Genma sighed and made sure to secure his prisoner. Once that task was completed he immediately made his way to Anko.

'If Anko's enemy is anywhere near as strong as this guy, she'll be in trouble. It's better to take him out and then head over to Daichi. Based on Kakashi's words, that kid's strong enough to hold his own for a while.'

With Anko.

"Sonic swarm."

Rinji used his bat controlling method to summon a large swarm of bats and directed them at Anko. The avian creatures quickly reached their target and attacked. Biting into the flesh, scratching with their small claws their overwhelming number caused dozens of small wounds.

The Anko that was being attacked suddenly turned into several dozen snakes and collapsed. The snakes spread across the area to avoid the bats and began to head straight for Rinji.

The man jumped back several feet but the next second jumped high to a nearby tree branch to avoid a kunai strike.

Anko rose from the ground and nodded to herself. "So that's it. You have some kind of sonar type power that helps you detect sound from a large radius. That's how you've been able to avoid attacks coming from your blind spots."

Rinji smirked with confidence even though his trick was exposed. "Not bad. You've figured me out. But that won't help you."

'Pulse Wave.' Rinji immediately made a seal and began his next jutsu.

The bats all around him flew around Anko and made ultrasonic waves. The concentrated sonic waves disoriented her and disturbed her equilibrium. With each second the bats amplified the attack by increasing the strength of their sonar waves creating a disorienting cacophony.

"Aaarrrggg!" Anko held her ears in pain and fell to the ground.

Rinji had a cruel smile as he looked at the scene. But that smile was quickly erased when two kunai were stabbed into his feet from the ground.

"Aaarg!" Rinji fell to the ground in pain and let go of the bat controlling technique, stopping the sound wave attacks on Anko.

A shadow clone quickly emerged from the ground a few feet away and immediately went through several seals.

"Fire style - Fireball jutsu."

With that last tiger seal completed, Anko let out a fireball that flew towards the fallen Rinji. He immediately made a seal and used the ultrasounds to give the bats a new command.

Getting new orders from their master, the avian creatures quickly formed a defensive shield around Rinji, protecting him from most of the damage from the fire jutsu. But he was still injured.

He turned his attention to the woman who was slowly getting back up and gritted his teeth in anger. He was too late to see through her plan. "Y-you… You used yourself as bait and waited… When I lowered my guard you attacked my feet to… Take my mobility and then used the Fire jutsu to kill the bats."

"Yeah.." Anko slowly stood and held her head. "Ooohhh I'm gonna feel that tomorrow."

At that moment Genma entered the scene. He looked at his fellow Leaf ninja and nodded. "You alright."

"I've been through worse. I'll be fine. Just a small headache."

"Ok then we-"

BOOM!

A powerful explosion was heard and soon a strong blast of wind blew through the forest. Everyone braced for themselves and soon the environment quickly calmed down.

"What the hell was that?" Anko asked incredulously.

"That must be Daichi and that woman. What is going on over there?" Genma was also confused.

Meanwhile Rinji who was blown several feet backwards made a seal and had a bat fly to the area where Guren and Daichi were fighting. When the creature reached the area it saw Guren on the ground unconscious with Daichi standing atop her.

The creature let out a sonic noise and alerted Rinji and the man was shocked. 'Guren lost? To that kid? No way.'

He looked at the leaf ninjas with renewed fear and made a choice. 'Looks like I have no choice but to use that.'

Immediately while the Leaf ninjas were distracted, Rinji made several seals. Once the final hand seal was completed, a cruel smile formed on his face.

Somewhere in the distance 6 people suddenly groaned in pain as several purple marks spread across their bodies. Their eyes snapped open and no sign of intelligence could be seen. They broke through their restraint and rushed towards the one who activated their seal.

Rinji hid his smile and kept an eye on the two Leaf ninjas. 'I'm glad I talked Guren into giving me access to the activation seals. Once the seal activates they will die in the end but not before fulfilling my orders. I want to live. I can escape using them.'

At that moment Daichi appeared near the group. Genma and Anko were glad to see the Genin arrive unharmed.

"Are you alright?" Genma asked the kid.

"Yeah. She knocked out and I've made sure to restrain her."

"Good." The man nodded.

"That explosion just now. Was that you?" Anko asked the boy.

The gamer ninja nodded his head. "There are several incoming." He suddenly spoke.

Daichi sensed the arrival of the bat and he heard the sonic sound waves it made. The Genin made the correct assumption that it was communicating with Rinji and quickly came here.

A few seconds after Daichi spoke, six people appeared near Rinji. They were all the opponents Daichi and his two Jonin superiors fought a short while ago.

"Their curse seals are active but they look abnormal." Genma quickly noticed the weirdness and spoke.

At that time Rinji gave an order. "Kill them."

Anko, Genma were tense but ready for a fight. Daichi was about to make his move but suddenly he sensed something and his lips slightly curled upwards.

As soon as Rinji gave the order, the transformed four armed Tanjero was the first to make a move. He targeted Daichi and sped towards him. The others also followed suit and began to attack the two Jonins.

Daichi stood still and looked at the man coming towards him with a calm demeanor. Just as Tanjero neared the Genin, another shout could be heard coming from the forest.

"Leaf Hurricane!"

A green spandex leg suddenly filled Tanjero's vision before he was kicked in the face and was sent flying. The force of the kick sent him crashing into several trees before he came to a stop.

"Fear not Daichi! The mighty Green beast is here." Guy appeared near Daichi with a big smile.

A second later Kakashi, Asuma and the other Jonins with them also appeared one after another.

"You're a magnet for trouble aren't you Daichi?" Kakashi asked with a jovial tone.

The Genin sweatdropped hearing that. 'I'm a magnet for trouble? Just wait until you get Naruto and Sasuke.'

"Need backup?" Kakashi turned his head to Genma and Anko.

"Appreciate it."

Seeing the killing intent of the newcomers, Daichi quickly spoke. "We need to catch them alive. They have the intel we need."

The Jonins took Daichi's words seriously and turned their attention to their foes.

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Author's Note:

Next chapter: This battle will quickly end and the group returns. Then things will pick up speed.

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