The slight sensation sent a tremor down the body, causing every strand of black fur to stand on end, feeling deeply shaken.
Has Mother dearest stirred up a hornet's nest somewhere?
Where are so many enemies coming from?
Moreover, possessing the Byakugan, she shouldn't be so foolish as to be surrounded by so many foes.
Among them, there's a terrifying Chakra, similar to the Nine-tailed back in Konoha, but not as oppressive.
Tailed Beast?
It must be a Tailed Beast.
Yet facing such a multitude of ninjas, along with a roaring Tailed Beast, even with its aid, it's impossible to reverse the tide and achieve victory.
"Use the Complete Form."
Ayane's voice was calm, yet revealed a sense of caution.
Raidenmaru quickly reacted, feeling relieved, realizing the plan was to retreat.
Fortunately, it wasn't asked to fight these people; even if other siblings were summoned, it still seemed rather difficult.
"I understand. But Mother dearest must remember, even with the Complete Form, I can only maintain it for a maximum of five minutes, maybe even as short as three minutes before it ends. It's inherently an unmanageable power, and I dislike that vague, intangible form."
Raidenmaru bared its teeth, Sage Art Chakra began to circulate within.
"Hey, are you feeling something?"
"Yes, the wind seems a bit off."
The Hidden Cloud Village Ninjas surrounding the hostile reefs couldn't help but stop, with a feeling of apprehension.
They sensed an ominous signal from the air.
Yuimon, controlling the Two-tailed, also seemed to sense something, gazing at the azure sky.
With one forelimb injured, it could only limp forward, needing some time to automatically recover.
The sky darkened—without any warning.
One moment, the strait was bathed in sunlight, the next, it transformed into the setting of a deep, dark night.
Dark clouds shrouded the entire strait, turning the sea black, calm and unperturbed.
"Why has the sky darkened?"
"No, it's the thundercloud?"
"Impossible, this is land, not sky, where are the thunderclouds coming from?"
Amidst the darkened clouds, fierce lightning flashed, even the air seemed to carry faint sparks.
Over three thousand Hidden Cloud Village Ninjas scrambled like headless flies, losing their direction amid the dense thunderclouds.
Facing each other, not knowing what was happening?
"My Perception Ninjutsu has failed! The thundercloud environment here can disrupt the execution of Perception Ninjutsu! This is damnable!"
With Perception Ninjutsu lost, locating the enemy in this environment became an impossible task.
Some used Ninja Techniques to attack these thunderclouds surrounding the perimeter, but the techniques vanished into the clouds, drowned out by the sound of thunder.
Suddenly, strands of lightning spewed forth from the thunderclouds, not overwhelmingly powerful, but enough to incite chaos among the Hidden Cloud Village Ninjas, paralyzing their bodies constantly.
Yuimon guided the Two-tailed to leap toward the sky, piercing layers of thunderclouds, but reaching the top, its head remained enveloped by pitch-black clouds, unable to see the end, feeling inwardly alarmed.
What kind of jutsu is this?
As the initial chaos settled, the Cloud Ninjas began contemplating breaking out, dispersing to escape this Thundercloud Cage.
"No, isn't this east? Why do I feel it's west? Could it be south? Or perhaps north!"
"Doesn't matter, just get out quickly!"
They continued running, planning the most direct method to leave the cage created by thunderclouds.
"I don't believe this could be infinitely large."
They thought so.
But in some sense, their worries weren't unfounded.
While it wasn't truly infinite, it could be considered 'infinitely large.'
No matter how they walked, they couldn't find the so-called exit.
Amidst the densely clouded environment, constantly struck by lightning, Perception Ninjutsu failing, it was indeed a perfect cage.
—Far away from the thundercloud-covered zone, Ayane was pacing across the sea with her own feet.
She didn't know which country's coast this was, but it definitely wasn't the Land of Earth; if she had to guess, the probability was higher that it was a strait in the Land of Lightning.
But she needn't worry about this now; she only needed to escape to an uninhabited area.
Breathing heavily, her exhausted body struggling, the aftereffects of spatial transformation hadn't dissipated yet.
Encountering Hidden Cloud in the future required caution; these savages weren't fighting purely with brute force, but employed dirty, insidious tactics.
Their limbs may be developed, but their brains surely weren't built with a single track.
She glanced back at the strait surrounded by dark thunderclouds; although it was the first time witnessing it in live combat, it was worthy of the lofty expectations of the Complete Form mode.
It's really hard to imagine; in usual times, that frail body could turn into such an ineffable, boundless form after transforming into the Complete Form.
◎
The Complete Form jutsu of transforming into vast thunderclouds was undone.
Raidenmaru sighed in immense frustration; although Ayane successfully escaped, it couldn't wrap up for itself now.
A vast expanse of thunderclouds in the sky drifted in the wind, not knowing where they would float to next.
If there was a flaw in this jutsu, this point was among them.
After the jutsu ended, it couldn't revert to normalcy for a short time, only drifting as clouds in the sky, roaming globally without pattern.
This state needed to persist for about a month before returning to normal.
Until then, it couldn't fight, nor could it lift the duration of the Summoning Jutsu.
Looking down from the sky, the bodies of those Hidden Cloud Ninjas were no larger than sesame seeds.
However, Raidenmaru had no interest in the upcoming movements of Hidden Cloud.
For its mission was accomplished.