Chapter 697: Wearing the enemy down!
[A/N: Jeez! Nearly 750 chapters and I still can't estimate how many words it'll take to reach a particular scene. I wanted to cover a particular scene (in the latest chapter on pat reon) and thought it'd take around 1.7k-2k words. So, I decided to write a long chapter because I wanted to end with that scene. However, I ended up writing nearly 3.3k words 😵💫Anyway, enjoy a double release.]
In front of Fumito was a large map of the Land of Lightning. As soon as Fujin contacted him, he could trace his location. Shikaku observed carefully as he marked the area on the map. A look of surprise appeared on Shikaku and Hiruzen's clone's faces.
Hiruzen's clone muttered, "He reached that far?"
The location Fumito marked was the 7th base that Fujin was supposed to hit! Needless to say, the one talking with Shikaku was a Shadow Clone. Fujin had created him even before intercepting Darui's army and sent him towards the 7th base along with the Chakra Transmission Communication device. This ensured that Konoha couldn't associate his movements with Akuro's.
Fujin's clone sighed and replied, "I see. Oh well, it doesn't matter much I suppose."
Shikaku asked, "What do you mean? And, how many bases did you destroy?"
Fujin's clone answered, "I destroyed the first six bases as per our plan. I just reached the seventh one a few minutes ago. However, it is empty. They have abandoned the base and the ninjas here seem to have gone into hiding. They haven't left any traces behind for me to track. I guess the situation might be similar in the remaining three bases."
Surprise flashed in Shikaku's eyes as he thought, 'He destroyed six bases so quickly? This is excellent. However, Kumogakure acted very quickly. I didn't anticipate that they'd take this step on the very first day...'
Fujin's clone continued, "I left some traps in the bases I destroyed. Some of my tags burned around an hour ago, indicating that nearly all the traps in the 6th base were triggered. Kumogakure caught on quickly. Even if the Raikage didn't return, continuing this mission would be pointless."