Chapter 144: Crafting a Grand Scapegoat

Chapter 144: Crafting a Grand Scapegoat

"Wind Release: Vacuum Bullet!"

A female ninja's head burst from the muddy ground, launching several wind-based chakra orbs at Ino.

Huh? She can use Wind Release too? Was she hiding underground with Earth Release earlier?

Ino swiftly formed hand seals and unleashed Wind Release: Pressure Damage once more.

Despite her opponent initiating the attack first, her hand seals were noticeably slower. The two wind-based jutsu collided midair.

Jutsu of the same nature could cancel each other out. For example, Kakashi's Lightning Cutter had once neutralized Kakuzu's Lightning Release: False Darkness, but only when the techniques were of similar rank and the users' skill levels were comparable.

Ino's Pressure Damage was a B-rank Wind Release, whereas Fūka's Vacuum Bullet was only C-rank. The former tore through the latter effortlessly, then sliced down into the muddy terrain where Fūka was concealed. The wind blades tore through the area for over ten seconds, leaving chaotic gashes before Ino twisted her remaining chakra into a whirlwind, grinding the earth in two more clockwise rotations.

Dirt and debris erupted into the air, along with sprays of blood and chunks of flesh.

Ino extended her senses, only to be shocked the woman was still alive.

What the hell?! Is this some kind of cross-dressing Hidan?!

This no-name kunoichi was full of surprises.

Lacking intel, Ino immediately retreated. She cast Hidden Mist Jutsu to obscure vision, then lurked in the shadows, intermittently probing Fūka with C-rank techniques and shuriken to gather information.

What followed was bizarre. After Vacuum Bullet, Fūka cycled through Water Release: Evil Mouth, Earth Release: Rock Pillar Spears, Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire, and Lightning Release: Earth Flow.

While her execution wasn't particularly fast each elemental shift required a noticeable transition time Fūka had undeniably used all five chakra natures.

Ino herself wielded three water, earth, and wind and was already considered a genius among Konoha's younger generation. Due to the principles of elemental opposition, developing fire and lightning natures was exceptionally difficult for her, as it was for most shinobi.

Even many Kage-level fighters only mastered four elements. Those like the Third Hokage, Orochimaru, and Kakashi, who possessed all five, were exceedingly rare.

Was this woman some kind of five-nature prodigy?

As the battle dragged on, Ino gradually pieced together the truth.

Fūka wasn't a genius she had simply stored pre-prepared chakra of each nature inside her body. Every time she switched elements, she had to reconfigure herself.

Her body was malleable, like clay, but she still had a core.

"Water Release: Severing Wave!"

Ino's silver stream of water sliced through Fūka's long hair, revealing what lay beneath a writhing mass of blood vessels, enough to trigger trypophobia. This was her true form.

Fūka's body rapidly aged into decay before dissolving into sludge, leaving only her hair and those grotesque veins desperately retracting, struggling to preserve her fading life.

Sasori's "Master Sasori" turned himself into a human puppet, retaining only a heart for chakra. This one's no different some kind of forbidden technique turned her into a… hair monster.

Ino discarded her earlier "cross-dressing Hidan" theory. This thing was more like a watered-down fusion of Kakuzu and Hidan, stuffed into a woman's body.

"How pitiful."

Lacking Fire Release, Ino spat oil onto the creature and ignited it, reducing the hair abomination to ashes.

The commotion from Wind, Water, and the mist had alerted Danwa's distant negotiation party.

The magistrate showed no intention of sending aid. Instead, he ordered his sole remaining shinobi to carry him and flee.

They didn't get far before a kunai pierced the ninja's calf. Stumbling under Danwa's weight, they tumbled down the mountainside like a pair of rolling gourds.

Dazed and bloodied, Danwa finally regained his senses to a hoarse voice:

"Magistrate Danwa… it's been a while."

Forcing his eyes open, he took in the figures before him especially the elderly man at the forefront and paled.

"Danzou?! Have you lost your mind?! This is treason!"

The man wearing Danzou's face remained impassive. "Treason? You betrayed Konoha first."

Something about the tone felt off, but in his panic, Danwa dismissed it. He was a hardliner of the Daimyō's faction; this "Danzou" was the shinobi world's equivalent. Their factions' radicals had never seen eye to eye.

"Are you trying to start a full-scale war between shinobi and the Daimyō?!" Danwa spat, as if certain his opponent wouldn't dare harm him.

The impostor chuckled darkly. "Shinobi? There are no shinobi here. You were ambushed by bandits. A tragedy the honorable magistrate slain by mountain scum. Rest assured, Konoha will avenge you."

Realizing his fate, Danwa's defiance surged.

"Konoha?! You still remember you're a village?! The land beneath your feet belongs to the Land of Fire! It was the Daimyō who took in you stray dogs, you freaks! The Daimyō is your master you're nothing but lowborn slaves"

Ino sifted through his mind, extracting virulent hatred and multiple schemes to overthrow Konoha none enacted only because the Daimyō's forces were outmatched.

This man despised shinobi. Keeping him alive would only invite endless strife.

Ino had no intention of kneeling to lick the Daimyō's boots, nor betraying her own kind. If the conflict was irreconcilable, she'd simply remove the conflict.

The false Danzou stepped forward. Instead of a kunai, he used a bandit's method a long blade across the magistrate's throat.

Clutching his neck, Danwa glared with venomous eyes, as if branding his killer's face into his soul.

Only after the magistrate's last breath did "Danwa" and his entourage depart.

The kunai-wounded shinobi had only been knocked unconscious. When he awoke and stumbled upon Danwa's corpse, terror seized him.

Returning with the body meant severe punishment for failing his duty. But fleeing would make him the scapegoat. After agonizing deliberation, he resolved to carry Danwa's corpse back to the Land of Fire.

He'd never heard of "Danzou," but the magistrate had named him. The culprit had to be this "Danzou."

Meanwhile, Ino meticulously erased all traces. The hair-creature was ash, the mind-controlled shinobi's brain pulped beyond even the Yamanaka Clan's scrutiny.

Still, she churned the earth with Earth Release the ultimate tool for covering one's tracks.

Let them bring Conan, Heiji, and Akai Shuichi. Even combined, they'd find nothing.

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