342. Curse Seal Surge Part-3
Yakumo's purple nether flames engulf the entire inn. Soon, the entire inn turns to ashes along with the Sound shinobis trapped inside.
"That is impressive! I never knew you Genjutsu could manipulate reality to such an extent. Looks like you have improved a lot since your previous record." Izumi praises Yakumo.
Yakumo smiles at Izumi's praise but doesn't reveal anything further.
"A shinobi ought to keep some trump cards."
Tch…
Izumi clicks her tongue and turns towards a house a few meters from the inn.
"These Sound shinobis are after us. They didn't even hesitate to hold these innocent villagers a hostage. If we leave now, then these villagers will certainly meet their end."
'How did they manage to track me? I was sure I didn't leave any clue behind.'
"What's with these ants? They are everywhere." Yakumo slaps a nearby ant to death.
"Ants?" Izumi narrows her eyes and picks up a nearby ant. Her eyes turn to Sharingan.
"Genjutsu: Sharingan"
Hmm…
Izumi notices the peculiarity of the ants and puts them in a genjutsu to access its network.
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Back in the house near the inn,
A queen ant flies near buck-teeth's ear. The buck-teeth shinobi stare in the direction of Team Three.
"Guren, I lost connection with my ants at that place. They must be there!"
He points in the direction of Team Three.
Swoosh…
The woman jumps out of the house and makes hand signs while in mid-air.
"Crystal Release: Jade Crystal Needle Barrage"
Her right-hand turns into a crystal shard. She waves the crystal shard towards the position of Team Three.
Fwoosh… Fwoosh…
Multiple pink crystal shards bombard Team Three.
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"They found us!"
Izumi's expression turns somber.
"Quick… retreat!"
Izumi throws multiple shurikens towards the incoming crystal needle.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique"
The shurikens multiply further and counteract the crystal needle barrage.
Shiing…
Izumi's eyes turn to Sharingan as she observes Guren.
"Crystal Release… Kekkei Genkai User! Girls retreat quickly. I will hold her back."
Izumi makes a single-hand sign.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique,"
Izumi spews out a giant fire dragon. The fire dragon engulfs the remaining barrage of crystal and rapidly approaches Guren.
Swoosh…
Guren clutches her right wrist and aims her palm towards the approaching fire dragon.
Snap… snap…
The giant fire dragon slowly crystallizes, turning into a giant crystal dragon. Guren waves her hand and directs the crystal dragon around her.
"Crystal Release: Tearing Crystal Falling Dragon"
Clattering noises ring across the dragon. It roars and charges toward Izumi.
Huh…
Izumi is surprised to see her jutsu turned against her. She quickly regains her composure and wields the katana from her back.
"Kenjutsu: Sakura Blossom sword art,"
Illusionary Sakura petals surround Izumi. They form a whirlwind and gather around Izumi's katana. She wields the katana horizontally in a waki-gamae stance. Izumi takes a deep breath and murmurs.
"First Sword: Hundredfold Slash"
Swish… swish…
Multiple sword shadows appear around Izumi in the shape of a hemisphere.
Clang… clang…
Clanging noises rings in the bystander's ears as Izumi sheathes her katana.
Crack… crack… clatter…
With a loud clattering noise, the crystal dragon shatters into countless dust fragments.
"Amazing!"
Hanabi and Yakumo are shocked to see the sword art of Izumi.
"I never knew Izumi Sensei was so amazing."
"Izumi Sensei trained with Izuna Nii-san for a while." Ayaka proudly raises her head.
"No wonder! It makes sense now." The girls nod in understanding.
"These ants are so gross!" Yakumo steps on a swarm of red ants.
Hmm…
Ayaka grabs Hanabi and Yakumo and jumps away.
BANG…
A jet of water bombards their previous location, raising dust and debris.
Haha…
"We meet again!" Kajika jumps out of the crater. He crosses his arms around his chest and smirks.
"You were lucky enough to escape last time. But this time I won't give you any opportunity."
Swoosh… swoosh…
Iwana and Yamame also join him.
"I will handle him. Yakumo, take care of those two. Hanabi, locate the insect user and, if possible, deal with him." Ayaka's expression turns serious.
"Alright!" Hanabi activates her Byakugan and investigates.
Ayaka takes out a kunai from her holster and glares at Kajika.
Swoosh…
In the next second, she disappears from her place and reappears behind Kajika, striking preemptively.
Swish…
She aims her kunai for Kajika's throat.
Clang…
Kajika barely blocks her attack with his kunai, while swinging his right leg to kick her.
Whoosh…
Ayaka prepared for the counter, twist her body in mid-air, and uses the momentum to counter-strike. She launches a roundhouse towards Kajika's head while coating her leg with the chakra.
BANG…
Kajika blocks the strike with his left hand, but the impact sends him flying.
Bang… bang… bang…
He flies across multiple houses and slams into a wall before stopping. Ayaka withdraws her leg and stares at the dust and debris.
The dust settles down to reveal a bleeding Kajika stuck on the wall. He slides down the wall and falls to the ground.
Cough… cough…
Kajika coughs out another mouthful of blood and slowly stands up. Blood drips down from his forehead and left ear. Kajika's left hand hangs limply from his shoulder.
"Cough… cough…"
He coughs again and stares at Ayaka's calm face.
"So, you were holding back previously?"
Snap… snap…
Kajika's left hand makes a snapping sound as the muscles and bones in his arm wriggle slightly. He grabs his left arm with his right hand and rotates it with a jerk.
Snap…
He realigns the elbow joint and clutches his fist.
"Since you aren't holding back, then it will be rude of me to not reciprocate."
Aargh…
Kajika screams as he activates the curse seal mark around his neck. Multiple blue-black curse lines spread across his body as he enters the first phase of curse form. The curse seals rapidly heal his injuries, restoring his body and chakra to their former condition.
Hmm…
Ayaka frowns as she stares at the curse seals.
'It's a usage of Senjutsu chakra to rapidly enhance and rejuvenate the body. So, even a non-sage can use Senjutsu chakra for a brief period. However, these cursed seals will slowly consume the will of its users; turning them into a mindless puppet into the end.'
Unbeknownst to Ayaka's thoughts, Kajika, fueled by the enhancement brought by the Curse marks, kicks the ground and dashes toward Ayaka.
"Water Release: Whirlwind Feet,"
Water jet gushes forth from his legs and increases his speed by another fold.
Swish… swish…
Ayaka throws multiple shurikens at the rapidly enclosing Kajika.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu"
The shurikens multiply and block Kajika's path.
BAM… BAM…
Kajika kicks the ground and launches himself in the mid-air.
Shoom…
Multiple chakra threads weave from Ayaka's finger and coil around the shurikens. She controls the direction of the shurikens and redirects them towards Kajika.
Haaah…
While in the air, Kajika kicks the air. He releases a water jet from the sole of his feet and changes his direction.
Swish… swish…
Ayaka controls the shurikens with one hand while with the other hand she makes some one-hand seals.
"Blaze Release: Smoldering purgatory Flames,"
Ayaka mixes darkness chakra with fire chakra and spews out black flames from her mouth. The flames form a spiral and chase Kajika.
'I must avoid those flames at all cost.'
Kajika feels a looming threat of death from the black flames. He takes a sealing talisman from his holster and throws it towards the flames.
Swoosh…
The sealing talisman floats mid-air and sucks the black flames towards itself. After sealing the flames, the talisman turns black and crumbles into ashes. This allows Kajika to close the distance between himself and Ayaka.
"I got you!" Kajika's hands turn into claws as he slashes them at Ayaka.
"DIE!"
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On the other side,
Yakumo calmly stares at the Sound duo. Dark purple chakra flows through her fingers. Yakumo unfurls a chakra paper scroll. She swiftly swipes her fingers across the chakra paper, creating a creature similar to an Abyss crawler.
The summoned creature has a wolf-like appearance, with its tail split in two. One of the tails burns with purple flames, while the other tail is covered in a layer of metallic spikes.
Awhoo…
The wolf howls and jumps at the Sound duo. The expression of Sound Duo hardens. Having learned from their previous mistake, they instantly activate their curse mark and enter into phase one; avoiding the frenzied claw attack of the wolf.
Awhoo…
The wolf howls again and spats out dark purple flames.
Swoosh… swoosh…
The Sound duo rapidly flickers through the house and avoids the flames. Iwane distracts the wolf away while Yamame uses 'Hiding with Camouflage Jutsu' to disappear from Yakumo's sight.
Awhoo…
The wolf turns around and quickly approaches Yakumo to protect her.
'Hmm… so she is a summoning type shinobi who is reliant on her summons in the battle.'
Iwane and Yamame cautiously stare at Yakumo and the crawler wolf while looking for an opening.