'Earth Release: Earth Spike Hell jutsu'

The Kusa ninjas were surprised by the massive chakra emanating from Gin. On the river bed, thousands of small sharp spikes began forming. Fujin sensed the change and shouted, "Leave the river immediately!"

Fujin flickered right away. So did his team. The Kusa ninjas were slightly slower to react as Fujin wasn't their superior and they didn't feel the change happening under their feet. However, when Noriyuki and Ryoichi began moving, they immediately followed. In a second, the spikes were launched. They tore through the strong river current and propelled skyward.

3 Kusa chunins were a bit slow to move. The spikes pierced into their feet and drilled through their bodies, shattering their bones and puncturing their internal organs. They emerged from heads and shoulders and soared into the sky tracing a vivid arc of red blood.

The three chunins died without even understanding how they were hit from below the river. The ninjas from the Ide family saw in horror as blood spouted from their bodies as they fell into the river and dyed it red color momentarily. The scene was hellish. They thanked their lucky stars that their leader asked them to stay away!

As soon as Fujin stepped on the river bank, he felt the ground under his feet transforming into small spikes. He immediately flickered while thinking, 'This is annoying. Even my team might not stay safe for long from such a barrage.'

Fujin flickered continuously while building his chakra up. Gin tried attacking him and the places he might appear in, but Fujin was too fast and unpredictable for him and maintained a sufficient distance from the remaining Iwa ninjas.

'Wind Release: Infinite Breakthrough jutsu'

Gin was surprised. He thought, 'He is good. A sealless supercharged jutsu.'

However, he didn't react. Instead, a ninja next to him slammed his palms on the ground.

'Earth Release: Earth Wall jutsu'

A gigantic earth wall appeared instantly and protected the Iwa ninjas. At the same time, Gin changed his target from Fujin to the Kusa ninjas thinking, 'The Konoha Anbu are quite strong. It should be an Elite unit. I'll whittle down the Kusa numbers first and then use the numerical advantage to crush them.'

The Kusa ninjas had seen Fujin dodging at a fast pace. They began imitating his movements and didn't stand in the same spot for long. Gin sensed their movements and smirked while thinking, 'I couldn't hit him due to his speed. Do you think that you can replicate the same speed?'

Gin predicted where they would dodge and preemptively began creating spikes on those spots. This immediately created more pressure on the Kusa ninjas as the number of times they had to dodge increased by 2-3 times.

Meanwhile, Fujin looked at the wall and decided, 'Time to cut down their numbers.'

'Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Wave jutsu'

Fujin exhaled blades of wind at several angles. Behind the giant wall, the Iwa ninjas were feeling quite safe when the blades cut through the wall like a hot knife through butter catching them completely off guard.

Gin, who had already neutralized another Kusa ninja and injured a couple more and managed to keep the Kusa ninjas and Fujin's team at bay, was shocked. He immediately jumped up to dodge the wind blade heading towards him. Gin's eyes widened as he realized the power behind the wind blades. He wondered, 'Wind Vacuum Technique? Who is this guy? Wait, if he knows Wind Vacuum Technique, then... Shit!'

Gin immediately created an Earth clone. The experienced Iwa ninjas also reacted instinctively. However, 8 Iwa ninjas couldn't react in time. They were cut into two and died on the spot.

Gin watched as his eyes turned red. He had lost 15 ninjas on such a simple mission. The losses had now exceeded the acceptable limit!

However, before he could even think of retaliating, Fujin fired Vacuum Bullets at the ninjas who had jumped in the air to dodge. Two bullets were heading at Gin. Gin looked at the incoming attack and thought, 'As I had expected!'

The Earth clone he created seconds ago pushed him away as the vacuum bullets pierced it and dispelled it.

Gin barely managed to dodge the attack. However, not everyone could do the same. Another 2 Iwa ninjas were killed.

Fujin observed the situation and analyzed, 'These ninjas are all elites. I had targeted 6 but only 2 died. They are much stronger than the Suna bunch that tried to hunt me. Looks like Onoki greatly values this mission. Is Iwa that desperate to make inroads into Grass or Waterfall?'

Ide Tomoki saw Fujin's counterattack and gulped in fear. He was no longer confident in Iwa's victory. He decided, 'If Iwa fails to kill Noriyuki, I will distance myself from them and claim that this attack had nothing to do with me. After all, I doubt Iwa would claim these ninjas as their own and hence won't antagonize the only Noble in the Land of Grass that supports them.'

Fujin's consecutive attacks finally gave his allies time to catch their breath. He also changed the numerical advantage in their favor.

Yugao, Fumito and Bunjiro immediately went on the attack. Ryoichi remembered Fujin's words and immediately rushed towards Gin. He realized, 'Konoha Anbu Captain is right. If I don't restrict him, it's only a matter of time before the remaining Kusa ninjas are killed. Only I and the Konoha Anbu might be able to escape.'

The remaining Kusa ninjas split into two. 4 stayed next to Noriyuki while the rest followed Ryoichi.

Ryoichi weaved hand signs while running and supercharged his jutsu.

'Lightning Release: False Darkness jutsu'

He extended his arms towards Gin as bolts of lightning crackled on his arms. He discharged all the lightning bolts at Gin. Gin saw the Lightning bolts with a frown on his face as he thought, 'Lightning is the biggest weakness of Earth jutsus. Back in the 3rd Great ninja war, he gained fame against us because his unit encountered a division that was exclusively made of Earth affinity ninjas and didn't have any strong Jounin.'

Despite the frown, Gin wasn't worried about Ryoichi. Instead, his attention was on Fujin. The threat of Wind Vacuum jutsus far exceeded Lightning in his eyes. Chiharu appeared in front of Gin. After knowing that Ryoichi was with the Kagawa family entourage, Gin had specifically requested Chiharu to join this mission to counter his Lightning jutsus. Even though Gin could still deal with Ryoichi, it would be very annoying and would allow Fujin to run amok.

'Wind Release: Great Breakthrough jutsu'

Chiharu confronted Ryoichi with a supercharged jutsu as well. Both jutsu clashed. Ryoichi frowned and stopped. Despite the power of the jutsus being the same, he was at a disadvantage. The winds neutralized his lightning bolts one after another.

However, Fujin flickered next to Ryoichi.

'Fire Release: Searing Migraine jutsu'

Taking advantage of the winds, Fujin exhaled a massive fire at Chiharu. Chiharu's eyes widened as he cursed, 'Shit! He also knows Fire jutsus!'

Gin also became serious. He was waiting to find an opportunity against Fujin. Instead, it was Fujin who seized the opportunity. He gathered chakra and slammed his hands on the ground.

Another gigantic wall appeared out of the ground. It was tall and wide enough to keep the massive firestorm on the other side temporarily. However, Gin shouted, "Move away from the walls!"

Every Iwa ninja followed his instruction without any hesitation. A second later, blades of wind cut through the gigantic wall with ease. Fortunately, the Iwa ninjas were far enough to have the time to dodge them.

Gin observed the blades with an annoyed expression. He thought, 'Fortunately my sensei had informed me about Shimura Danzo's skills. Otherwise, the death toll would keep piling. Still, Wind Vacuum Technique and such ruthlessness. Is he Danzo's successor? If so, he can't be allowed to live any longer. Who knows how many of our sufferings had that bastard's hand in the shadows? If another Shinobi of Darkness appears in Konoha, then we will suffer for a few more decades.'

Kagawa Noriyuki noticed the destruction and thought, 'I owe Lord Hokage one.'

He instructed, "Let's escape."