Chapter 341: The End of the Monkey Clan
In the middle of the night just one day prior, Ishiro had snuck into the Monkey Clan's settlement alone.
There was none of the usual villainous boasting; Ishiro got straight to the point.
He began with a wave of combination ninjutsu. Without any warning, Ishiro unleashed a B-rank Sage Art: Fire Release, a B-rank Sage Art: Wind Release, and a B-rank Sage Art: Earth Release upon the completely unprepared Monkey Clan.
The three techniques combined, and a sky-blotting sea of fire suddenly descended upon the Monkey Clan's heads. Mixed within the inferno were massive boulders, roasted red by the intense heat.
This was another wide-area attack that surpassed the power of a conventional S-rank ninjutsu. In terms of range alone, this combination jutsu was significantly smaller than the Porcelain Release Ishiro had used against Dotō Kazahana, but its offensive power was far greater.
In a single exchange, the populous Monkey Clan was nearly wiped out.
Although the strongest of their clan, Monkey King Enma, possessed Kage-level strength, he was a taijutsu-type monkey. Faced with such a powerful and widespread ninjutsu, all he could do was use every ounce of his strength to protect a dozen or so young monkeys, sending them into the clan's underground shelter.
This shelter had never been used since its construction. To think its first use would be on the day of their clan's annihilation.
After the devastating round of attacks, apart from Enma, the only survivors from the entire Monkey Clan were some powerful individuals whose strength was no less than that of an elite jonin, some even surpassing them in combat prowess. They were lucky enough not to have been hit head-on by the massive, scorching boulders.
But while they weren't dead, and though they had dodged the physical impact of the rocks, they couldn't escape the burning assault of the Fire Release. Boosted by Sage Art and further amplified by the Sage Art: Wind Release, these monkeys, though alive, had very few members left with any fighting capacity.
"Hmm?" Ishiro was surprised when he sensed the situation below with his Mind's Eye. He hadn't expected the Monkey Clan to have so many powerful members.
This number of elite ninja isn't much less than the Hyuga Clan, the self-proclaimed strongest clan of Konoha (at least, after Akasuna no Sasori had his way with them), he thought. It seemed Hiruzen Sarutobi had been holding back.
However, it all ended here.
Ishiro didn't pause for long before launching his next attack. A volley of Sage Art: Water Pressure Lines shot out, striking the heavily injured monkeys and killing them one by one.
After some time, only Enma and five other monkeys who still had the strength to fight managed to regroup.
"Heh," Ishiro let out a soft chuckle, his villainous aura on full display. "It's better that you're all together."
"Sage Art: Wind Release: Nine Dragon Tornado Formation! Sage Art: Earth Release: Earth Flow of Crushing Stones!" Another combination ninjutsu, this time Wind and Earth.
The Wind Release was a technique he had learned from Ogura Saki, and his ability to use it in actual combat was the result of his recent special training. This was a good chance to test it. The Earth Release was learned from one of Ikura's disciples; it was a jutsu well-suited for pairing with Water or Wind Release.
Nine towering tornadoes, their formation maintained, rushed toward the six remaining monkeys, with massive rocks flickering in and out of view within them. These rocks spun at high speed along with the tornadoes, adding immense force to them.
"Damn it, fall back!" Seeing the colossal tornadoes, Enma's first reaction was to retreat.
But they hadn't run far before despair set in. While the Monkey Clan was agile in short-range evasion, they were not skilled at long-distance running. The tornadoes were much faster than them.
"Stick together! We'll smash these hurricanes!" Enma roared, transforming into the Adamantine Staff and slamming it directly into the centermost tornado.
It had to be said, the power of that strike was truly immense. Even without Hiruzen Sarutobi wielding it, it brought the tornado to a dead stop. After the single blow, the tornado's internal structure became unstable.
Then, another monkey took the Adamantine Staff and struck the same tornado again.
Bang! The tornado could no longer hold its form and exploded, sending countless giant rocks flying in all directions.
But not a single monkey showed any sign of joy, because the remaining tornadoes were already closing in.
Next, the six monkeys attacked together, striking the tornadoes with all their might. They managed to destroy two more just before the converging tornadoes engulfed them. The six monkeys were then swallowed by the remaining whirlwinds.
Inside the tornadoes, boulder after boulder crashed into them. At first, they could use their taijutsu to knock the rocks away, but soon, under the influence of the violent winds, their attack rhythm fell into chaos.
First their formation was broken, then they were struck one by one until they were dizzy and dazed, losing their ability to resist. But Ishiro showed no mercy, continuing to manipulate the giant rocks to smash into them.
He only stopped the assault when every monkey, aside from Enma, had been crushed to death.
Enma, bursting out of the tornadoes alone, beat his chest with both fists and let out a tremendous roar, a sound filled with hatred for his own powerlessness.
What made Enma even more furious was that Ishiro wasn't finished. He began to unleash a relentless barrage of ninjutsu, intending to blast open the sealed entrance to the underground shelter.
Enma transformed back into the Adamantine Staff. The staff extended to a great length and swung violently at the airborne Ishiro.
But it was useless. Against Ishiro, who had practiced the Light-Weight/Heavy-Weight Rock Technique to the point of near instinct, Enma's attacks failed to even serve as a distraction. Ishiro dodged with ease while continuing to bombard the ground.
Finally, the sealed entrance to the shelter was blasted open.
What followed was a deluge of mud. The slurry ignored Enma's futile attempts to block it and poured directly into the underground shelter. Then, amid Enma's despairing roars, it killed all the remaining young monkeys of their clan.
Assuming no monkey had been summoned away by a Sarutobi clan ninja at that exact moment, the only one left of the entire Monkey Clan was Enma.
Only then did Ishiro finally turn his attention to Enma.
Any being with Kage-level strength is difficult to kill. Enma lacked effective long-range attacks and had been passively enduring Ishiro's assault. But as a taijutsu-type Kage, he hadn't sustained serious injuries. Ishiro's wide-area combination jutsu had little effect on him.
"Truly worthy of being a living weapon. You're tough," Ishiro admitted, feeling a bit helpless against Enma.
His group attacks were too dispersed to harm him, and his single-target attacks couldn't reach him from such a distance. What was Ishiro to do? He couldn't possibly go down for a suicidal close-quarters fight. Even with the enhancement of Sage Art, Ishiro had no chance of winning a melee battle against a being like Enma.
He wished he had brought Han along. No matter how tough Enma was, could he withstand a Tailed Beast?
But Ishiro also knew that even if he had brought Han, he could only defeat Enma, not kill him. The moment Enma faced an irresistible attack, he could escape via Hiruzen Sarutobi's summoning jutsu.
And just as he predicted, after Ishiro unleashed a dozen different B-rank single-target Sage Art techniques, Enma felt the danger and began to consider retreating. Especially when Ishiro brought out his Kekkei Tōta, Light Release, Enma no longer dared to stay. He decisively contacted Hiruzen Sarutobi and was summoned away.
...
With Enma's escape, the only living creature left in the entire Monkey Clan settlement was Ishiro.
Looking at the monkey corpses strewn everywhere, Ishiro reflected with some emotion, "My disposition must be getting more and more like a villain's. Wantonly slaughtering the weak, and with a demeanor that swears not to rest until the last root is pulled."
With this self-deprecating thought, Ishiro entered the Monkey Clan's underground shelter. He carefully inspected the massive subterranean space.
To his surprise, the Monkey Clan did have some good things. Ishiro found quite a few scrolls and some ninja tools in the shelter. There were several pieces of chakra-conductive metal and even some valuables, though not in large quantities. He wondered if these belonged to the Sarutobi clan or the Monkey Clan.
Ishiro knew that many ninja with summoning contracts had a habit of entrusting important items to their summons for safekeeping. That way, even if they died, their belongings wouldn't be lost. If they needed them, they could retrieve them through their summons at any time. In the eyes of a ninja, summoning animals served as a kind of mobile storage space.
Ishiro wandered through the shelter, took everything he could carry, and then left the Land of Fire.
...
As the morning sun rose, Ishiro was flying back towards Iwagakure. He was in a rather good mood, thinking about subsequent matters.
This time, he could log an S-rank mission for Akino Atsumi. The other participating ninja could also be credited with B-rank or A-rank missions.
The only reason Ishiro was able to find the Sarutobi clan's settlement was entirely thanks to Akino Atsumi.
When Akira Sarutobi used the Summoning Jutsu within Iwagakure, Akino Atsumi, if prepared, could interfere with it. In other words, Ishiro could have ordered the connection between Akira Sarutobi and Konoha to be cut at any time. But doing so would be pointless and would instead expose the progress of Iwagakure's research into space-time ninjutsu.
Not only did Ishiro not stop it, he did everything he could to induce Akira Sarutobi to contact Konoha.
Every time he performed the Summoning Jutsu, his summon's arrival and departure would cause two fluctuations in Iwagakure's sensory barrier.
It was through these repeated fluctuations that Akino Atsumi continuously adjusted the barrier, organized the data, and finally calculated the location of the Monkey Clan.
To assist Akino Atsumi's calculations, Ishiro had mobilized the power of nearly half the village. Everyone was playing a part in Ishiro's act.
The bizarre incidents that Shikaizumi Nara encountered were all orchestrated by Ishiro.
Ishiro himself had used the Transformation Jutsu to impersonate Kakuzu. Fearing he would be recognized by the elite jonin Kakashi, Ishiro left as soon as Kakashi entered.
The various troubles that followed for Konoha were either instigated by Ishiro, who sent people to provoke ninja from other villages, or were carried out directly by Iwa ninja and villagers on Ishiro's orders as the Tsuchikage.
There was only one goal: to make Akira Sarutobi use the Summoning Jutsu as frequently as possible to provide Akino Atsumi with more data.
Of course, Akira Sarutobi performing the jutsu alone was not enough; there was no reference point.
Simultaneously, many others were also constantly using the Summoning Jutsu—namely, Kiyoshi Ishizawa and the other Iwa ninja who had contracts with the sharks. Ishiro used his Light-Weight/Heavy-Weight Rock Technique to transport these ninja to various locations throughout the Land of Earth to have them perform summonings. He even brought some of their summons into the village and had the ninja leave the village to conduct reverse experiments.
The village's high command had exhausted every means to provide Akino Atsumi with all sorts of data.
In the end, Akino Atsumi did not disappoint. With everyone's cooperation, she successfully deduced the approximate direction and distance of the Monkey Clan.
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