Chapter 740 : A Peculiar Expression...

"What in the world is that?"

"Is this what the hell looks like?"

"That fire is nowhere near us and yet it feels so hot! It's almost like my skin is burning!"

"Fire? That's no fire! That's Scorch Release!"

"No doubt! The rumors were true! Fujin defeated Orochimaru with Scorch Release in the Forest of Death!"

The Konoha ninjas discussed among themselves. Fujin had merged his flames perfectly with Ryu's winds and created Scorch jutsu once again. Due to the scale of Ryu's jutsu, the attack covered the entire sky, making it seem like it was raining fire! Even for the experienced ninjas, it was a hellish sight!

Orochimaru and Hiruzen looked at it in surprise as well. Orochimaru thought, 'This is even stronger than what he did earlier. The addition of nature chakra takes it to an entirely new level!'

At the same time, Hiruzen wondered, 'Has he really not mastered Scorch Release yet?'

Enma said, "So this is the boy you told me about? His summon is strong. That Winged Sabertooth has very good control over nature chakra."

Fujin's attack forced the Konoha ninjas to stop. They didn't want to be caught in its range. A few veteran Jounins shouted, "Retreat! Take cove… Huh?"

Instead of continuing to spread, the attack suddenly converged towards the barrier. Once again, the Konoha ninjas marvelled at Fujin's control over the winds. Rasa and the Third Kazekage immediately unleashed all the Gold and Iron Orochimaru had arranged for them. It began floating on top of the barrier, forming a dome around it to protect it from the attack.

However, several Konoha ninjas immediately noticed something. They observed, 'Fujin's attack is only concentrated at top. Even though it is extremely strong, defeating the two Kazekage will be difficult. So this is why he…'

Immediately several Konoha ninjas shouted loudly, "Attack the barrier from the sides! The iron-gold dome is very weak in that direction. Destroy the barrier! But be careful with your jutsus. Don't destroy the stadium!"

Immediately, a few dozen Konoha ninjas moved forward while weaving hand seals. While Fujin attacked from the top, they attacked with Fire jutsus supported by a few Wind jutsus from all sides of the barrier.

The two Kazekage noticed it and quickly reinforced the sides as well, weakening the top part a bit. At the same time, the Sound Four prepared themselves to put their entire chakra into the barrier. They weren't sure how long they could last under such an assault but decided to buy every second they could buy for Orochimaru.

A massive explosion took place once Fujin's and Ryu's combination attack landed on the iron-gold. It was so intense that the entire dome shook and its top layer began melting! The explosion also sent a few shockwaves at Ryu and Fujin, but they were a sufficient distance away to be threatened by it.

Moments after their attack landed, the combination attack of Konoha ninjas landed on the dome. A string of explosions occurred again on the dome. The Konoha ninjas stayed back to see the effect of their attack. They were very high in morale and had hope in their eyes. They wanted to see the barrier destroyed so that they could reinforce their Kage.

As the smoke and dust cleared, a look of disbelief appeared on their faces. They muttered, "Impossible! How is it still standing?"

To the surprise of the Konoha ninjas, the dome still stood! Of course, it was in terrible shape. A good portion at the top was missing. Signs of the metals melting and solidifying again could be seen all across the dome. Several large cracks and a few holes were visible in it. However, the dome had endured the deadly attacks! The barrier behind it was still intact!

The Sound Four sighed in relief, 'As expected of the Kazekages. Even under such an intense assault, they can still stop it.'

In the sky, Fujin glanced at the dome while thinking, 'As expected of the Kazekages. Even under such an intense assault, they can still protect the barrier. Oh well, I wonder how many rounds they can last.'

Unlike the remaining Konoha ninjas, Fujin knew that the two Kazekage wouldn't fall so easily. At the end of the day, they were still rank S ninjas. In addition, their abilities were very good for defending and stalling. Of course, considering how outnumbered they were, it was just a matter of time before they fell. Since Hiruzen was holding his own, the Konoha ninjas had no reason to panic.

Fujin glanced inside the barrier and thought, 'This war should be over. Someone like Orochimaru should understand this easily and should've retreated by now. However, why is he still fighting Hiruzen?'

While he was confident in defeating the two Kazekage, Orochimaru's illogical actions confused Fujin and made him raise his guard a bit. He glanced towards a spot in the stadium. Fujin's clone, who had been keeping an eye on Hiruzen and Orochimaru's battle, noticed his gaze and glanced at him.

The clone understood Fujin's intentions in a heartbeat. He made another Shadow Clone that had a minuscule amount of chakra to continue keeping an eye on Hiruzen and dispelled himself, returning the majority of the chakra to Fujin.

In an instant, Fujin's chakra reserves were almost completely full. The chakra from the clone made up his missing chakra as well as the chakra he consumed while summoning Ryu and using the combination jutsu.

However, this was also the last time Fujin could use this trick. He still had 3 Shadow Clones, but the ones watching Hiruzen's and Sakumo's battles barely had any chakra. The Shadow Clone following Naruto's group had a lot of chakra, but Fujin didn't want to dispel him. That clone had an important mission and was also responsible for ensuring that Naruto's group lived.

Ryu and Fujin built up their chakra once again as Fujin thought, 'Alright, let me see what your scheme is, Orochimaru.'

The Konoha ninjas on the ground sensed their chakra built up and immediately prepared for the second round of attack.

Inside the barrier, Hiruzen had the same thoughts as Fujin. He decided to probe and said, "This battle is over, Orochimaru. You've lost. Your forces have been annihilated. And very soon, you'll be as well…"

Hiruzen was interrupted as Orochimaru started laughing. To his surprise, Orochimaru replied, "I admit, I underestimated Konoha greatly. I didn't anticipate you'd counterattack so fiercely. I was wrong about you having gone completely soft and senile."

Hiruzen immediately had a bad feeling. He thought, 'This is weird. Since when did he start accepting a loss gracefully? No, he is definitely planning something.'

As Hiruzen calculated, Orochimaru began weaving hand seals while saying, "I wanted to give you a poetic ending. To die at the hands of your predecessors, how ironic would that have been…

Unfortunately, I have completely failed to do it. But, no matter. The end result will still be the same!"

Some distance away from Konoha, the Genins were in a fierce battle. Fujin's clone didn't interfere, but a peculiar look was visible on his face. Of course, no one saw it.

The reason for having such an expression was due to how the battle had played so far. Due to the presence of Shikamaru and Lee, Fujin's clone expected a lot of changes. While it seemed so initially, the situation became extremely familiar once again.

Shikamaru tried using his Shadow Possession on Gaara, but it was pretty much useless against a partially transformed Gaara, who not only had a tremendous amount of chakra but also moved quite quickly. Even Shikamaru's brain wasn't a big factor due to how absurd his opponent was and how limited his information and knowledge were about the Jinchurikis.

Sasuke was down due to the curse and could barely move while Naruto wasn't giving his all either as he wondered whether he could deal with Gaara, someone who had found a different answer to deal with loneliness and appeared to have overcome it through his own strength.

As a result, the only one who could fight was Lee. Unfortunately, he hadn't completely recovered. Even if he had, there wasn't much he could do against a normal Gaara, let alone a partially transformed one. He too took a bit of beating before Gaara trapped Sakura just like in the original story.

Wanting to save Sakura, Lee decided to open his Inner Gates. Unfortunately for the boy, it immediately opened up his previous internal injuries and the boy collapsed on the spot. His condition became worse than Sasuke's.

In the end, it all came down to Naruto, though he had Shikamaru's support. Fujin's clone couldn't help but think with a serious expression, 'This is weird… Despite my interference creating so many changes, how can this battle unfold exactly like how it did in the original story?'

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