Root's Ambush

"Haha, the food aboveground smells amazing! Kid, hurry up and roast some meat for me. Look how much I caught!" Laxus was delighted. There was so much delicious meat aboveground that this place was practically paradise. It was wonderful compared to the underground abyss. My life as a dragon is perfect! Those guys will be green with envy when I get back, especially that damned violent maniac, the black dragon.

"Ah, you didn't kill every cow nearby, did you?" Issui stared wide-eyed at Laxus, who held a cow in each of his four claws and had two more wrapped in his tail. Six bison in all, and he wanted Issui to roast them too. So I cultivated Chakra just to roast meat?

"No, no, there are lots of these things. I only grabbed a few at random. I'd better roast them myself. One breath of flame and they'll all be cooked." Laxus piled the bison together, then blasted flames from his mouth. Before long, the aroma of roasted meat rose from every one of them.

"My heavens, isn't this a bit extravagant? Who could afford to feed a glutton like you? No wonder you've always lived in the underground abyss. If all of you came up to the surface, wouldn't you eat everything you saw?" Issui said in surprise.

"Mm, wow, mm, delicious! This meal is incredible. How about I stay a few more days? You're my boss from today on." Laxus patted his belly with a claw. Life was too good here; he didn't want to go back.

"All right, but you can only stay one more day at most. Flying around everywhere like that, you'd scare everyone to death. Oh, can you carry people?" Issui asked. If he can carry me while flying, I won't have to walk back to Konoha. I can take my "transport" straight there.

"I can, but only you, boss. I don't care about anyone else. I, Laxus, have my dignity too. I absolutely won't let anyone else ride me, except you, boss. But if there's delicious food involved, we can negotiate," Laxus said shamelessly.

"All right, I'll show you the way. Let's go." Issui jumped onto Laxus's head and pointed him toward Konoha.

"Hold on tight, boss. We're taking off," Laxus said. He soared into the sky and plunged straight into the clouds, flying forward at tremendous speed.

At first, Issui nearly fell headfirst off Laxus's head, but he quickly concentrated Chakra in his feet and clung to Laxus's skin. Surprisingly, Laxus didn't rely primarily on his dragon wings to fly. Their main purpose was to keep him balanced.

Laxus was fast, practically a fighter jet among flying beasts. Whenever the bastard spotted a large bird in flight, he would roast it with a breath of flame and eat it on the spot. He was doing two things at once and paying far too little attention, leaving Issui constantly on the verge of falling off. Whenever Issui scolded him, he claimed he was helping Issui train his Chakra control. The bastard was a complete jerk. In the end, Issui threatened to send him back, and only then did he fly properly.

Laxus was very clever. He knew Issui would send him back once they reached Konoha, so he kept making detours or slowing down. Every day, he ate more than a ton of meat. He was a glutton of the highest order.

Even though Laxus deliberately slowed his flight, they finally reached the vicinity of Konoha on the third day.

"Laxus, head back. If I need you in a fight, I'll summon you for sure," Issui said to him.

"Ah!? That sounds like the end of the world! Boss, can't you let me stay one more day? Just one day, please!!" Laxus shouted, extremely reluctant to leave. His life these past few days had been like paradise. The meat aboveground tasted far better than those crawlers in the underground abyss. It was delicious.

"No. You're too big, and you'll frighten people. You'd better go back," Issui said helplessly.

"What? It's over, it's over! If only I'd learned the Transformation Technique. It's all because I was too lazy. Fine, I'll go back and learn some secret techniques. Next time, boss, you won't have to send me back. I can just make myself smaller." Laxus was full of regret. Those old men in the clan always told me to learn some secret techniques, but I kept slacking off. I don't even know the simplest Transformation Technique. Apart from my innate flame breath, I can't do anything else. The reason boss could summon me is that I'm actually the weakest of the young dragons. When I go back this time, I have to study secret techniques properly.

"What? You can get smaller too? Hurry back, then. That's what you get for not studying properly. You know better now, don't you? But next time it'll depend on your luck. If I happen to summon a different flying dragon, you can stay down there," Issui said, dealing him another blow.

"Tch, you're lucky it was me. If you'd summoned another flying dragon, you'd have been finished long ago. I'll tell you the truth: among dragons my age, I'm the weakest. If my innate breath weren't powerful enough, another dragon would have eaten me long ago. So you'd better hope I'm the one who comes out," Laxus retorted. Then he vanished in a puff of white smoke.

I was wondering why he surrendered so quickly. Turns out he's a glutton who looks impressive but isn't much use. Tch, but he's right. If it had been another dragon, I'd have been flattened beyond recognition long ago.

Issui shook his head and walked toward Konoha. His strength was still too weak. Although he had already unlocked the second stage, it had only given him another option. Moreover, the three secret skills in the third secret technique of the second stage were impossible to use on a battlefield. Though he had gained powerful means, his Chakra energy was simply not enough. Setting aside his Kekkei Genkai, his overall strength was little different from an ordinary Chunin's. It was nice to look at but useless to him.

Issui had only defeated the Kage Level ninja Kakuzu thanks to his Kekkei Genkai. After using Flame Demon Purgatory Slash, Issui had lost all his strength. If Kakuzu had come back to check, he could presumably have finished him off with ease. Thinking about it now still frightened him a little. It was also fortunate that Jiraiya had saved him; otherwise, any animal that happened along could have killed him.

Swish, swish...

"Who's there?" Issui noticed a great commotion in the grass around him. Who would dare ambush a Konoha ninja near Konoha? Could someone in the village mean him harm?

"Well, good observation, kid. If you're smart, you'll come with us. Our lord holds you in very high regard." A group of men in black emerged from the grass. Their Forehead Protectors were all put away, and most of them were young. Their leader was a man in his twenties.

"Tch, you tell me to come along and I'm supposed to obey? Aren't you a little full of yourselves? Besides, this is near Konoha. If you fight me, the commotion will easily alert the village's ninja," Issui said calmly.

"Hmph, do you think you can hold out until they get here? You're a little too confident in yourself. Rather than confident, I'd call you conceited. Still, reaching the level of a Chunin or Jonin at your age is impressive. But you're alone, and there are five of us. We have two Jonin and three Chunin. Are you sure you can slip away from us?" the leader said with a sly grin.

"I'm not so sure about that. We'll have to try and see. Eye of Heaven - White - Sealing Domain!" Issui took the initiative and opened his domain.

"Oh, so this is your Kekkei Genkai? We've already gathered some information on you, but I still have to praise you. Your Kekkei Genkai is very impressive. Indeed, we aren't those useless fools from the village. We'd better end this fight quickly. Everyone, spread out and leave his domain. Number One, attack him with Taijutsu with me. The rest of you, combine your Ninjutsu attacks." The leader reacted swiftly.

Looks like they do this sort of thing often. This is getting tricky. I can't summon a ninja beast now. If one that won't listen comes out, things will be even worse.

"Hmph, what are you thinking about? Leaf Shadow Dance! Ninjutsu attack!" The leader and Number One used Konoha Taijutsu together. They were so fast that they caught Issui off guard.

"Snake, ram, monkey, boar, horse, tiger, Fire Style - Great Fireball Technique!!!"

"Snake, ram, monkey, boar, horse, tiger, Fire Style - Great Fireball Technique!!!"

"Snake, ram, monkey, boar, horse, tiger, Fire Style - Great Fireball Technique!!!"

The other three used Fire Style to attack Issui, who had fallen to the ground. The area where their attack struck suffered tremendous damage from the flames.

"Is he dead? He couldn't take much of a beating, could he? Tch, just a kid," Number One said.

"No, look. It's a Substitution Technique," the leader said.

"Where are you looking? Snake, dragon, rabbit, tiger, Fire Style - Dragon Fire Technique!!!" Issui attacked from above, catching the ninja who had launched the Ninjutsu in his attack.

"Ah~"

One ninja who reacted too slowly was burned half to death by the Fire Style and passed out. Unfortunately, the other two used the Substitution Technique to get away, even at the risk of their Chakra running rampant.

"Not bad, kid. Konoha Whirlwind!" The leader swiftly brought his subordinate in to attack with Taijutsu.

This time, Issui didn't dodge. He was knocked hard to the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood with a cry. His attacker had struck with too much force.

Looks like I'll keep getting hit if I don't use Flame Body. But Flame Body has a one-minute cooldown, and keeping Sealing Domain and Flame Body active at the same time consumes an enormous amount of Chakra. One of them is unconscious, but there are still four left. What should I do? Even if I use Flame Demon Descent, I can only kill one. No matter what I do, I can't escape. Beads of cold sweat covered Issui's forehead, not just from the pain of the attack but also from the dire situation.

I'll risk it! My only choice is to use Flame Body and seize the chance to escape. Damn it, who could command so many people to surround and kill me? Only that petty man Danzo. He's despicable!

"Eye of Heaven - Flame - tiger, dragon, tiger, rat, ox - Flame Body!" After activating Flame Body, Issui fled swiftly toward Konoha.

He had gone about fifty meters when an attack suddenly appeared.

"Tiger, ox, monkey, rabbit, rat, boar, rooster, ox, horse, dog, tiger, dog, tiger, snake, ox, monkey, rabbit, Water Release - Great Waterfall Technique! Snake, ram, horse, rabbit, ram, horse, rabbit, Water Release - Water Prison Technique! Kid, you can't escape." Another ninja appeared, wearing a dog-head mask. Another Jonin had been lying in ambush.

How many enemies are there? Ah, Danzo, I swear I won't rest until one of us is dead! Just wait. You'd better hope I don't escape, or I'll pay you back a thousand, ten thousand times over!

I have to risk it, or I won't escape. I can only use that move. I hope someone from Konoha will come out and save me. I can only gamble. If I win, I live; if I lose, I die.

"Flame Demon Descent!!!" Issui finally brought out this ultimate skill. The enormous flame giant burst the water prison open in an instant, forcing the dog-masked ninja back.