A Sudden Ambush

Danzo was instantly surrounded by a hollow hemispherical sphere of earth with a five-meter radius. Layer upon layer of chakra enveloped the earthen sphere, supplying energy to the ninjutsu. If the person inside wanted to get out, he either had to break through the ninjutsu in one strike with overwhelming power or wait for Jin to exhaust his chakra. Jin's chakra reserves were absurdly vast, and this ninjutsu could also drain the chakra of the ninja trapped inside the hemisphere. Therefore, if Danzo wanted to escape, he could only use extraordinary power to break through it in one go. Otherwise, only destruction awaited him.

Time passed, second by second. Jin's heart was filled with unease. Though this ninjutsu was powerful, even the strongest ninjutsu was useless against a ninja powerful beyond reason. Conversely, even a small ninjutsu like the Great Fireball Technique would become several times more powerful in the hands of an expert. If several ninjutsu were coordinated properly, ordinary fodder could be instantly killed in a single combo.

Danzo was a Kage-level powerhouse, while Jin was, at most, an abnormal jonin with an excessive amount of chakra, countless ninjutsu, and countless secret techniques. He could barely handle one Kage-level powerhouse, but if he had to fight two of them, he would be in serious danger—unless, of course, Jin used the secret technique Multiple Entity Shadow Clone.

The chakra flowing across the hemisphere was very calm. Precisely because it was so calm, Jin grew increasingly uneasy. If there had been even the slightest fluctuation, Jin could have been certain that Danzo was attacking the earthen wall. Perhaps this was the calm before the storm. Jin increased his chakra output.

Boom! A tremendous blast rang out. Jin's ninjutsu was broken. Countless clouds of dust filled the sky. Jin swiftly used his Mangekyō Sharingan to search for his target. Danzo's chakra signature was faintly moving away into the distance.

Jin flew into a rage and immediately used the Gale Technique to hide himself as he chased after Danzo. Jin was fast, but for some reason, Danzo was not slow either. Jin closely followed Danzo's chakra signature. Closer, even closer. Jin saw a massive mountain in the distance and thought, Let's see you escape this time! But Jin quickly discovered that Danzo had actually leaped straight over it!

How is that possible? Did Danzo grow wings? Jin was puzzled, but he continued running forward. It was a mountain with no path through its middle, and its slopes were steep and overgrown with weeds, making it difficult to climb. Even with chakra, it would not be easy.

Jin looked to both sides and discovered in disappointment that the mountain had completely blocked his path. This only confirmed his suspicion that Danzo had flown over it.

"Danzo, do you think you can stump me? Summoning! Come out, my Firebird!" Jin shouted.

"Why did you only call me out now? I was ready to cross over ages ago. You made me wait forever!" a girl's voice rang out.

Jin stared blankly at the summoned beast before him. More precisely, it was a bird—a bird covered in flames. But that was not the main reason Jin was stunned. Looking at the Firebird that had flown onto his shoulder, Jin felt the urge to ram his head into the mountain.

Firebird was about the size of a sparrow, red flames constantly rising from her body. They even seemed to be extremely hot. Standing on Jin's shoulder, she chirped away about something, while Jin had gone so blank that he stopped thinking altogether.

Seeing that Jin was not listening to her complaints at all, Firebird angrily tightened her grip on his shoulder.

Only when the pain hit did Jin snap out of it. He asked directly, "Can you carry me while I chase an enemy?"

Firebird replied in human speech, "Of course I can, but you'll have to wait until I reach my transformation stage."

Jin muttered in disappointment, "So after all that, you still can't!"

Firebird shot back, "And you're blaming me? Isn't it because you refused to summon me earlier so I could level up? You don't seem to have anything to do right now. I'm not bothering with you anymore. I'm going to find a nest. I'll come find you if something happens. Bye!"

"What? Are you kidding me? I summoned you! Damn, she ran fast! I was planning to use a big move. Damn it, if I could teleport to an enemy's chakra signature, why would I have summoned you? Did Danzo get away again? This is infuriating!" Jin said furiously.

"To hell with it! I'll burn a huge amount of chakra and keep using Blink Technique all the way to chase him." Jin made up his mind.

"Blink, blink, blink blink blink... Damn it, how did Danzo run so fast? He's already out of my two-thousand-meter detection range. How can Danzo be this lucky?" Jin thought resentfully.

"Eh? What's that in the sky? It looks like a huge bird. Why is there someone standing on it? Could it be..." Jin looked at the giant bird flying toward him in the distance.

"Old man, I finally found you!" a voice came from atop the giant bird.

Why is my luck so terrible? My chakra has just run out, and another powerful enemy shows up. It's even Deidara, Akatsuki's bomb-crazed maniac! Jin silently lamented his terrible fate.

"I don't have time today. I'm in a hurry to catch someone. I'll play with you another day," Jin said, trying to bluff him.

"Are you looking for a guy with a Sharingan in his right eye? Then stop looking. I gave him to someone to turn into a puppet. If we have a proper fight, I'll let that guy go. But if you lose, you'll become a puppet too." Deidara stood on the giant bird and said with a smile.

"And what if I defeat you?" Jin asked.

"Don't worry. A little jonin like you can't kill me. I just want to play with you and let you see the power of my art." Deidara laughed.

"See you!" Jin shouted, then used his unique secret technique, the Gale Technique!

"I'll go to Konoha to find you! If you still don't show yourself then, heh heh heh, you'll know the consequences!" Deidara laughed smugly at the spot where Jin had just been standing.

Boom! An explosion rang out, and a large swath of trees collapsed.

Jin cursed the freak, then ran toward Konoha, pondering how he could defeat Deidara in the air. Suddenly, inspiration flashed through his mind like lightning. His eyes lit up, and he changed direction, happily running onward.

When Deidara in the sky saw that Jin had not appeared for so long, he cursed, "Coward! I secretly came out today to have a fight and test my explosive art, but who knew I'd run into that freak—a rogue and cowardly old man who messed with me. Next time I see you, I won't say a word. I'll blow you up right away and enjoy myself first. This is really pissing me off." Deidara muttered to himself in the sky.