Chapter 301: A Chaotic Battle!

Hoshino Ryoichi looked at the ninjas approaching them and commanded, "Stay together and guard Noriyuki. I'll cut down their numbers one by one!"

His words calmed them down. They immediately prepared for the battle thinking, 'As long as we have Ryoichi, we can get our revenge.'

Ryoichi weaved a hand sign. Lightning could be seen on his palms. He placed his palms in the river and said with utter confidence, "Face the consequences of your actions."

'Lightning Release: Lightning Eels jutsu'

The lightning on his palms transformed into small lightning eels and moved towards the rogue nins. However, one of the ninjas weaved hand signs in response.

'Wind Release: Great Breakthrough jutsu'

He exhaled a strong wind current into the river. The attack hit the Lightning eels head-on and dispersed them. Though the river absorbed the Wind current, the winds caused a wave of water to form and move at the Kusa ninjas.

The rogue ninjas used the cover provided by the wave to quickly close in the distance.

Ryoichi was surprised. He thought, 'He countered me so easily. This isn't a random attack. Someone wants us all dead!'

He wanted to use another jutsu, but the ninja who used the Great Breakthrough jutsu suddenly appeared in front of him and attacked with his kunai. Ryoichi raised his kunai and blocked the attack.

The rogue ninja smiled and said, "Sorry. I can't let you run amok, Ryoichi."

At the same time, the other rogue ninjas attacked the ninjas protecting Kagawa Noriyuki with Earth jutsus. Ryoichi realized it and asked, "So the Ide family has allied with Iwagakure?"

The Iwa ninja smiled but didn't say anything and continued attacking. He was evenly matched with Ryoichi. Ryoichi's expression became grim. He didn't have the same confidence as before. He shouted, "We may be weak, but do you think that you can walk over Kusagakure without any consequences?"

The Iwa Jounin just smirked. However, he suddenly became very serious and dived into the river. Fractions of a second later, an air bullet passed from where he was standing. He quickly looked at where the attack had come from and his eyes widened.

Fujin observed the fight for a minute and jumped in at the right opportunity. He flickered next to an Iwa ninja and shot a couple of dozen air bullets at the rogue ninjas. 4 Iwa ninjas that were closest to him died while a few others were injured.

Just like the Iwa ninjas, the Kusa ninjas were also surprised. Only Noriyuki was expecting such assistance. He shouted, "They are our allies. Cooperate with them and eliminate these rogue ninjas!"

The Kusa ninjas were relieved. In just a minute of fighting, they realized that they were completely outmatched. With Ryoichi being held back, their hopes were dying very quickly.

Fujin observed the situation. On one side of the river were ninjas of the Ide family. On the other side were 21 Iwa ninjas. While on the river, there were 15 ninjas from the Kagawa family and Fujin's team. Fujin observed the ninja who launched the Earth Spears and thought, 'An Elite Jounin. I have been running into way too many of them in recent times. Oh well, now that everyone is out of hiding, I can kill them in one single fight!'

If Fujin wanted to, he could have killed another 3-4 Iwa ninjas. But he refrained from doing so as he wanted to use them to draw them out. Due to this, any traps that they might have set up would be useless.

The ninja, at whom Fujin was staring, looked at the Iwa ninjas who retreated and asked, "Chiharu, are you fine?"

Chiharu nodded and said, "Yes but 7 of our ninjas died. The Kusa ninjas have Ryoichi among their ranks. But Gin, be careful of that Konoha Anbu with the sword. For some reason, he is giving me a very bad feeling."

Gin looked at Fujin and said, "It doesn't matter, they will all die today."

There wasn't a single shred of doubt in his voice.

While Gin was checking on the Iwa ninjas, Noriyuki analyzed, 'Even though Tomoki wants us out of the way, he can't attack us openly. So we have two options. We can withdraw into Mizukoshi and force them to fight with us. Then these ninjas will withdraw. But this option is very risky. The second option is to fight the Iwa ninjas and break through into the interior parts of the country. They won't chase me too deep into the Land of the Grass.'

While he was debating internally, Fujin flickered next to Ryoichi and Noriyuki and said, "Ryoichi, your Lightning nature will give you an advantage against that guy. Hold him back. I'll eliminate the others."

Ryoichi frowned and said, "That is very risky. With his ability, sneak attacking Noriyuki will be very easy."

The scale of Earth spears that was launched was just too big. Despite being far from the land, they were still threatened by that attack.

However, Noriyuki said, "No, that is the only way. Going back to Mizukoshi will be very risky and we all may be wiped out. You hold him back. Konoha ninjas can focus on eliminating the rest. And when the fighting is intense, I'll escape with 4 ninjas protecting me so that I won't hold you back anymore."

Ryoichi asked, "What if there are more Iwagakure ninjas hiding?"

Noriyuki let out a sigh and said, "It's unlikely that Iwagakure will send so many ninjas here just for me. But if they have, then it is only a matter of time before they kill me. After all, that group is already stronger than us. Just escape and ensure that you stay alive. If possible, please see that no harm befalls my family."

Ryoichi didn't want to agree. Unfortunately, he couldn't see any other option. Meanwhile, Fujin was surprised. He looked at Noriyuki and thought, 'That's a surprise. Most of those in power, even if they are just, won't risk their own lives to help others escape. I guess this is why Hiruzen and Shikaku valued him highly.'

Fujin said, "Don't worry. I don't sense anyone else. But be careful regardless."

Noriyuki nodded. They stopped talking at the same time as Gin. Gin rapidly weaved hand signs and slammed his palms on the ground.

'Earth Release: Earth Spike Hell jutsu'