Chapter 684 : Disastrous Injuries! (Patreon)

A few hundred kilometers to the East of the Village Hidden in the Clouds, a huge forest fire was spreading in the Land of Lightning. In one part of this forest fire was a large dome-shaped barrier containing nearly 400 ninjas, who were anxiously waiting. In another part was what looked like a gigantic blue cat who seemed to have been brutally tortured. Next to it were four injured ninjas.

Yugito looked carefully at the flames burning in the skies, attempting to look for their opponent. C approached Jin and began healing him. Darui and Samui walked next to him and asked, “Where is he?”

As he healed Jin, C answered, “I'm not sure. His chakra disappeared moments after that Lightning sphere suddenly appeared on the ground.”

Darui and Samui frowned. Jin finally stopped spasming. Using all his strength, he said, “I saw him using the Reverse Summoning jutsu just when that sphere exploded. He escaped…”

The reason why Jin had been slower was because he kept an eye on Fujin. Among the five Kumo ninjas, he had been the only one to do so.

Samui, Darui and C had complicated expressions. On one hand, they were upset that the murderer of their comrades had escaped scot-free. On the other hand, they were relieved that he left. Otherwise, they could have died as well. With them out of the way, the entire army could've been annihilated.

Finally, Darui sighed and said, “Sorry, old man. You had to suffer due to my incompetence.”
Jin just chuckled and said, “Don't worry. I have to work my old bones occasionally.”
He thought, ‘Besides, I can't really blame you. After all, I should have been the one to spot that deadly trap.’

Hearing their words, Yugito finally took back Matatabi's chakra and appeared next to them. Just like the rest, her clothes were covered in blood as well. She asked, “How did that slow-moving technique suddenly appear on the ground?”

C replied, “I'm not sure. That sphere just disappeared and appeared in front of us almost instantly. I'm not sure how he did it, but the speed of that sphere was definitely greater than Raikage-sama's speed.”

Darui thoughtfully said, “He said that Lightning has to be wild and unpredictable to be most effective. That jutsu is the embodiment of his words. It first moved slowly and then surprised us with a speed that we couldn't even track. I haven't seen a more unpredictable jutsu…”

Samui replied, “Even so, there must have been some reason why his jutsu was able to move in such a manner.”

Darui nodded and replied, “Yes, but I suppose it could be explained considering that the jutsu was made of Lightning. Real Lightning moves at a speed that even Boss can't reach. I guess he somehow managed to incorporate that into his jutsu along with a way to hide its chakra signature temporarily. That is probably why we couldn't track it.”

Samui thought for a bit before sighing. She said, “His methods of manipulating Lightning were really something else. Though it doesn't make any sense, his words might have been true. An ancient expert who somehow resurfaced in the current times. We need to dig up more information on him. Did you get his name?”

Darui agreed and said, “Yes. He said he used to be called Akuro.”

Yugito frowned and asked, “Akuro? It suits him. However, considering how he put it, this might be a name others gave him.”

Darui nodded and replied, “I have the same opinion. He also gave us some more information while fighting. We'll need to depend on our historians to find out more about him.”

Yugito and Samui nodded. Suddenly, C exclaimed, “What in the hell?”
Darui and the rest immediately became alert. Darui asked, “What happened?”
C's expression was grim as he answered, “It's these wounds… I can't heal them properly.”

Everyone immediately looked at Jin's wounds. The Lightning had burned and destroyed most of the flesh on his left arm. Under normal circumstances, C should have been able to heal it properly and regrow most of the flesh within a few minutes.

As he healed Jin, C was easily able to stop the injuries from spreading and getting worse. However, when he tried to heal them, he had an extremely difficult time. Despite trying for several minutes and using up a lot of his chakra, he barely made any progress.

Jin asked seriously, "What issue are you facing?"

In a grave tone, C answered, “The wounds inflicted by that Lightning are too deep. Even though I already stopped them from getting worse, healing them is very difficult. According to my analysis, we'll first need to remove all the flesh that was exposed to Lightning and only then could we try to regrow it.

However, the Lightning has also had a devastating effect on every nerve in your arm. I'm not even sure how we can heal them. Perhaps the only way is to remove all the nerves in your arm and grow new ones. This will be a rather troublesome process and you might need to be admitted for several months or even years.

The only good thing is that the Lightning didn't damage your bones. If it did…”

C didn't complete his sentence as everyone understood what the consequences would have been. Jin had an ashen expression. He didn't think that the injuries would be so troublesome.

C turned his gaze towards the wounds on his own chest and said, “The injuries on our bodies are similar in nature. We'll need to remove all the affected flesh and nerves before treating them. Since our injuries aren't as bad as Elder Jin's, we may need to spend just a month or two in the hospital for a full recovery.”

All of them were shocked. None of them expected the injuries to be so serious. Yugito would still be fine due to the Tailed Beast within her, but the rest of them would require a long rehabilitation process.

The Four Kumo elites looked at Jin with sorrow in their faces and eyes. While they were still young enough to make a complete recovery, Jin's age was very advanced and his wounds were the worst. They weren't sure whether he'd make a full recovery. Even if he did, it was very unlikely for him to ever be able to accompany anyone on missions.

Jin noticed their expressions and chuckled. He said, “Don't be so glum. At least the attack wasn't completely aimed at us. If he had managed to get it any closer to us, I doubt any of us, except Yugito, would have survived. I guess this is a drawback of that technique. It is so unpredictable that even he can't entirely control it. Otherwise, he wouldn't have exploded it so far away from us.”

As sorrowful as he was about the state of his body, Jin couldn't let it affect the future of Kumogakure. His time had long passed and the youngsters in front of him would be the ones to carry Kumogakure on their shoulders for the decades ahead.

Jin added, “Even though he might seem very strong, he definitely has several deficiencies. This loss doesn't matter. The only important thing is that you guys take lessons from this loss and get stronger. I don't know what era he was from or how much strength he controls, however, this isn't his era. It is yours. When he visits our village, I don't want to see Raikage-sama killing him. Instead, I want to see you killing him, Darui.”

Darui and the rest nodded solemnly. C continued healing them to the best of his abilities.

A couple of kilometers from Kumogakure, Fujin stood next to a small hill while looking at a massive barrier. He thought, ‘Saisho no Hikari… It's the result of my attempts to infuse Lightning chakra into the Rasengan. Just like the Rasenshuriken, this jutsu has some devastating effects as well.

The Rasenshuriken consists of countless microscopic wind blades. They're so dense that every cell in the victim's body is pierced several times and destroys their chakra network as a result.

Though different, the devastation caused by Saisho no Hikari is just as crazy. When the jutsu explodes, it unleashes a bright light in every direction. This light is nothing but highly concentrated Lightning.

If it falls on anyone, it'll destroy the flesh and nerves at and around the area of impact, effectively handicapping them. Even though the wounds are treatable, it'll be a long process and the pain will likely stay for decades. Not to mention, if Lightning penetrates up to the bone, then that body part will forever be unusable.

Therefore, if anyone takes the entire blow of the jutsu, then surviving is pretty much impossible. I believe that even Orochimaru would fall. The only one who might have a good chance of survival is Ay.

However, even if anyone dodges the jutsu, completely avoiding it is extremely difficult as Lightning is discharged in every direction. This is an edge this jutsu has over Rasenshuriken. Kakuzu wouldn't be able to interfere with it like he did against Naruto and Pain's bodies wouldn't be able to dodge it entirely. However…’

A wry smile appeared behind Fujin's mask. The advantage itself was a lethal disadvantage. The jutsu was less of an attacking jutsu and more of a suicidal jutsu!