Shikamaru held the seal with both hands, struggling to maintain his technique. His entire body trembled, and sweat dripped down his pale face.
"His chakra is too strong… I can't hold this for much longer!"
Orochimaru's sharp gaze locked onto Shikamaru. In that instant, her killing intent exploded.
She had been careless—underestimating these kids. But part of it was the unexpected power of their clan techniques.
Shikamaru's Shadow Possession and Ino's Mind Transfer weren't just minor tricks. In the right hands, they could even control the Ten-Tails—even if only for a brief moment.
The only reason they had succeeded was that Orochimaru had been too focused on Sasuke, leaving an opening for their attack.
Now, though, they were in trouble.
Shikamaru gritted his teeth, his mind racing.
"This is bad… We tried to save them, but now we might die here too…"
"No!"
A determined glint flashed in Ino's eyes.
"When I entered her mind just now, I felt something—her spirit has already been severely damaged. And I just happen to have a technique that can take advantage of that."
Choji stepped forward, cracking his knuckles.
"My Super Expansion Jutsu should do the trick!"
"No! Don't rush in!"
Shikamaru cut him off. A direct attack could be suicidal against an enemy like this.
He turned to Ino, desperation creeping into his voice.
"Ino, do you have a plan? I can't hold on much longer!"
Ino nodded firmly.
"I'll use intermittent sensory linking so we can communicate with our clan techniques without speaking."
"Got it!"
Choji pulled a smoke bomb from his pouch and slammed it to the ground.
Bang!
Thick smoke erupted, instantly concealing their movements.
Orochimaru felt the sudden release of pressure on her body.
The next moment, her eyes narrowed like a predator.
"Clever little brats…"
She moved quickly, forming a rapid set of hand seals before pressing her palm to the ground.
A summoning circle appeared.
Hissssss!
A swarm of white snakes erupted from the earth, slithering forward at terrifying speed.
At the same time, Orochimaru herself gave chase, following the subtle disturbances left behind by Team 10.
High above, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji leaped through the trees.
Ino suddenly gasped.
"She's fast! If she keeps this up, she'll catch us in no time!"
Shikamaru's mind raced, but even he was starting to panic.
"Damn it… she's beyond anything I can strategize against!"
His hands clenched into fists.
"We need to find a way to alert the proctors—fast!"
---
Huff—
Ino's eyes widened slightly, her expression tense as she suddenly shouted,
"Incoming!"
Boom!
A tree behind them exploded into splinters as a towering giant python burst through. Standing atop its head, Orochimaru smirked wickedly, watching Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji scramble to escape.
Shikamaru's gaze locked onto the approaching snake. Without hesitation, he barked,
"S-Formation!"
Ino gave a firm nod and immediately formed a seal.
"Perception Link: Trinity!"
This technique created a mental link between the three, allowing them to share sensory information and react as a single unit, maximizing their combat effectiveness.
"Partial Expansion Jutsu!"
Choji's arm suddenly swelled to an enormous size, and he threw a devastating punch toward the giant python.
Orochimaru commanded the snake to dodge and counterattack, intending to exploit the recovery lag in Choji's move for a finishing blow.
But—
As if predicting the dodge, Choji suddenly redirected his punch mid-swing, sending it straight into the python's new path.
BANG!
The python took the full force of the punch to its head and let out a pained roar.
Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji felt a surge of excitement—they had landed a direct hit!
Especially Ino. Thanks to their shared link, they could all feel her triumph echoing through their minds.
"It worked!"
Orochimaru, however, found this strange.
"Did they just… predict my move?"
Her lips curled into a deeper smirk.
"Interesting."
To confirm her suspicion, she swiftly lashed out, her arm suddenly morphing into a writhing mass of snakes that struck toward Shikamaru like a whip.
But—
Shikamaru had already dodged before she attacked.
Her strike missed completely.
Orochimaru's sharp eyes narrowed.
"So, they really can predict my movements…? Fascinating."
Her tongue flicked out instinctively, licking her lips in excitement.
"But—"
Her voice turned almost gleeful.
"What happens if my attack is so vast that prediction won't help? What if you have nowhere left to run?"
Ino's pupils shrank, fear flashing across her face.
Orochimaru noticed immediately—and her smile widened.
"Ahh… so you even know what I'm thinking? That technique of yours…"
Her hand slammed onto the ground.
Ino's heart screamed a warning through the link.
"RUN! NOW!!"
"Ten Thousand Snakes Formation!"
A swarm of snakes erupted from the earth—countless, fast, and inescapable!
At a glance, it looked as if an endless horde of venomous snakes was slithering toward them.
Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji felt a wave of despair wash over them.
But—
They refused to give up. They kept fighting.
"Human Boulder!"
Choji expanded his body, tucked into a massive spinning ball, and began rolling at high speed.
As his huge form crushed the ground beneath him, deep cracks formed in the earth.
He circled around Shikamaru and Ino, creating a temporary barrier against the advancing snakes.
For a moment, it worked.
But—
The snakes adapted.
One of them latched onto Choji's spinning form—then another, then another—until dozens of snakes were coiling around him.
Their weight slowed him down.
Eventually—he couldn't move at all.
Shikamaru and Ino were left fending off the remaining snakes with their kunai, but their slashes barely made a difference.
The snakes kept coming.
As the writhing mass closed in, Ino clenched her fist tightly.
[I can't die here… Sakiya…]
Her desperate thoughts seemed to cross space itself—and suddenly, Sakiya felt Ino's distress!
A red glow flashed in Sakiya's right eye.
In an instant, her expression shifted—from her usual innocent demeanor to a cold, merciless stare filled with killing intent.
"Ino! Hold on!"
BOOM!
Sakiya's foot slammed into the ground, creating a massive crater.
Then—she launched herself into the sky like a rocket.
And her speed was unbelievable.
Sakuragi and Tsuchiya heard the noise and turned their heads—
But—
All they saw was a massive crater.
Sakiya was nowhere to be seen.
Meanwhile—
Ino was completely entangled by the venomous snakes, her body paralyzed.
Her consciousness was fading.
Orochimaru walked toward her, his eyes gleaming with amusement as he watched her slip into unconsciousness.
"Is this all you've got?"
Suddenly—
A strange red glow appeared in the sky.
"What is that?" Orochimaru muttered.
The red light grew larger—
And faster.
Orochimaru's eyes widened as he realized—
Something was falling straight toward them!
With a swift leap, he dodged away just in time.
BOOM!
A red meteor slammed into the ground right beside Ino.
A shockwave erupted, sending debris flying.
Orochimaru, caught off guard, took a step back. His eyes narrowed cautiously.
Then—
A powerful force blasted away the smoke—
Revealing her.
At the center of the crater stood a girl—
Holding Ino's unconscious body in her arms.
But—
Something about her was terrifying.
Her entire body radiated a red aura.
Her left eye was covered by a blindfold, but her right eye burned with an intense crimson glow.
Electric sparks—tiny streaks of red lightning—crackled around her.
Small stones and debris floated in the air around her, defying gravity.
Orochimaru felt a pressure unlike anything before.
"Is this girl… a Jinchūriki?"
For the first time—
Orochimaru felt a twinge of fear.
Sakiya's glowing red eye locked onto him.
Her voice was cold and absolute—
"You shouldn't have hurt her."
…!
___________
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