Chapter 245: I don't wanna be a bait anymore!

The two groups of bounty hunters stared at each other. Suddenly, Kido Shiro, one of the Kiri rogues sighed in relief and said loudly, "Thankfully we found them. I was worried that these morons might ambush him closer to Konoha and steal our jackpot!"

His statement irked the bounty hunters in the other group. One of them sneered and said, "Aren't you being too cocky? We outnumber you by more than two to one. Do you think you have a chance to compete against us?"This chapter made its debut appearance via N0v3lB1n.

The leader of the Kiri rogues grinned. His name was Higashi Renzo. He was a large muscular guy with hideous scars all over his body. He was being trained to be the next generation of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Unfortunately, before he could complete his training, everything went crazy in that country.

Renzo said in a hoarse voice, "You may outnumber us, but do you weaklings think you have any chance against us."

A wave of killing intent washed over the other group of bounty hunters. Their expressions became very grim. Though they haven't ever experienced it, Kiri's cruel methods and the craziness of their ninjas were well known throughout the world.

Ogawa Shingo, the leader of this group exerted his chakra to snap his comrades out of the killing intent unleashed by his opponent. The Kiri ninjas were about to attack but he raised his hand and said, "Stop! If we fight here, we will alert the Konoha ninjas and will be hunted until we are all dead. Even if you are strong, against Konoha, you are nothing but bugs. Not only will you not get the bounty, but you will be hunted.

So why not team up? We will ambush the kid together and split the reward on his head. We will each get 10 million Ryo and won't have to fight each other to death."

Shiro immediately said, "Why would we split the rewards with you? As for Konoha ninjas, we will have long killed you all and that brat and left even before those tree huggers sense something is wro..."

He was interrupted by a Jounin who said, "Shut up! Renzo, let's cooperate. The Konoha ninjas are already hunting for us. A huge battle could invite all sorts of trouble."

Renzo wanted to fight. However, he couldn't disregard the concerns of the Jounin who just spoke. After all, he was the only SealMaster in their group and was his second-in-command. Without his help, bounty hunting would become much more risky.

Renzo looked at Shingo and said, "Alright, let's team up."

The two groups teamed up and set up an ambush for Fujin.

Fujin had a frown on his face. Even after travelling for six hours, no one intercepted or attacked him. He thought, 'Did they sense the trap that Shikaku laid for them? Or were their accomplices on a break when I left the village?'

He continued moving through the vast forests of the Land of Fire while occasionally activating and spreading his chakra field. Finally, after half an hour, he sensed something off.

His speed slowed down as he maintained his chakra field and analyzed, 'I can't sense 4 locations... These guys have a SealMaster within their ranks. That's annoying. I can't check how strong they are. But, this might not be entirely bad. Since they are separated, I will hunt them one by one.'

Pakkun replied, "Yes. Fujin is running back in our direction but enemies are faster than him. They will reach him before us."

Kakashi said, "Everyone, we will move at our fastest speed!"

Guy grinned and said loudly, "Thirty-Five bounty hunters on your first mission as an Elite Jounin! I'd expect nothing less from my eternal rival!"

Despite talking, he was the only one in the squad who was able to keep up with Kakashi's speed.

Kakashi didn't pay attention to Guy's words as he was confused, 'Didn't Shikaku say that Fujin was incredibly fast on his feet? How are they faster than him?'

Among the bounty hunters, one of the sensors informed, "His chakra has split into four! According to the intel, he knows the Shadow Clone jutsu. I can't identify who is the real one!"

Renzo commanded, "Keep track of all four of them. If they split, we will also split and chase one each!"

Fujin's clones didn't split up. The bounty hunters moved incredibly fast and quickly caught up with Fujin. They still maintained the four groups. Two were trying to chase Fujin from the right and left while the remaining two were on his rear. The ones in the rear were led by Renzo and Shingo respectively.

Fujin looked back at them and thought, 'Alright, they are close enough.'

Fujin and his clones split into pairs of two and dispersed in opposite directions. This forced the two groups in his rear to split up and move towards the groups on their respective sides. The situation suddenly changed as now the groups on Fujin's two sides became the closest to him while the groups at his rear lagged behind.

Fujin kept observing their positions. Soon, all four groups of bounty hunters and the two pairs of Fujin's clones were in a straight line, Fujin and his clones stopped and turned around.

'Fire Release: Searing Migraine jutsu'

'Wind Release: Infinite Breakthrough jutsu'

One clone released the Searing Migraine jutsu while the one next to released the Infinite Breakthrough jutsu. The same was replicated by the other pair. The jutsus combined together perfectly and fused into one deadly attack.

The bounty hunters who were chasing at their full speed were suddenly stunned to see a massive firestorm head towards them! The attack came without any warning and they had very little time to react.