It wasn't just Sakon and Ukon—seeing the dire situation, the other two also immediately entered their Juin Nii Sutēto (Curse Mark Level Two State).
Tayuya's skin darkened, her red hair grew longer, and horns even sprouted from her head. Kidōmaru underwent a similar transformation—his skin turned a deep red-black, horns grew on his many arms, his hair extended, and a vertical eye appeared on his forehead.
Their chakra also turned cold and ominous, sending chills down one's spine.
"This doesn't even seem human anymore," muttered Sasuke with a rare moment of sarcasm.
"This chakra feels so vile. As expected of Orochimaru—he's truly evil to implant such a curse seal in people," Kakashi said grimly.
With all three transformed, they naturally unleashed their ultimate moves.
Tayuya's flute echoed with even more eerie power under the amplification of her massive chakra. The three Doki—the angry ogres—opened their mouths and spat out their spirits. More specifically, they externalized their spiritual matter, forming three massive spectral snakes of energy, which slithered under her musical control straight toward Sasuke.
"Ninpō: Makyō no Ran!" (Ninja Art: Chaos of the Demon Realm!)
Startled, Sasuke reflexively dodged while swinging his short sword at one of the spectral serpents.
However, his blade cut through it like slicing air—completely ineffective. There was no tangible serpent there at all.
Realization dawned instantly. "I see. These snakes are spiritual projections created from the energy of those three monsters via her flute. Physical attacks don't work. And worse—these spirit entities will desperately seek physical hosts and consume them whole!"
Knowing this, Sasuke dared not slack off. He continuously evaded their strikes.
He didn't underestimate this girl called Tayuya—especially in her Juin Nii Sutēto. She was dangerous enough that even a jōnin might lose to her.
But Sasuke believed in his own speed. If he could just get close enough to land a blow on Tayuya, the fight would be over.
Unfortunately, not only were the three serpents fast, but they also maneuvered cleverly to block his path toward Tayuya, making a direct attack nearly impossible.
Meanwhile, Kidōmaru launched his own ultimate move.
He quickly pulled threads from his mouth and, using his special chakra-infused mucus, formed a bow. The thread acted as the bowstring, and he created a golden arrow from the same sticky material. With his many hands, he fully drew the bow and aimed directly at Kakashi.
"Kumo Senkyū: Suzaku!" (Spider War Bow: Terrible Split)
He let out a crazed laugh and went full villain monologue:
"HAHAHA! Prepare to die, Copy Ninja Kakashi! With my eight arms, I've drawn this bow to its absolute limit! My third eye has you perfectly locked on—you can't escape this arrow! You will die here! And I will go down in history as the one who killed Kakashi of the Sharingan! Now perish!!"
Whoosh!
The golden arrow tore through the air with terrifying speed, heading straight for Kakashi.
But Kakashi, a seasoned veteran, had already read the arrow's path with his Sharingan. Not only that—he noticed a thread trailing from the arrow's tail, revealing that Kidōmaru planned to adjust its trajectory mid-flight for guaranteed accuracy.
What seemed unavoidable wasn't actually that hard to dodge.
The trick was to charge into it!
Kakashi quickly formed hand seals. His right hand crackled as Chidori (One Thousand Birds) began to chirp like a storm of lightning.
The golden arrow was just inches from his face—yet Kakashi charged straight ahead, so fast that Kidōmaru couldn't react in time. Despite trying to adjust the arrow's trajectory, the speed differential was too great. No amount of mid-air steering could pull off a 180-degree turn at that angle.
This was Kakashi's opening!
He appeared right in front of Kidōmaru, lightning blade in hand, who was caught completely defenseless.
"Raiton: Chidori!" (Lightning Style: One Thousand Birds!)
Shunk!
Kakashi's arm pierced straight through Kidōmaru's chest.
Kidōmaru's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Im…impossible… You dodged my arrow… and broke through my golden armor… It can't be… it can't…"
"I thought something felt off."
Kakashi looked at the now-cracking golden armor on Kidōmaru's body. "So, you didn't dodge because you were confident in this armor—formed from your special mucus. But you underestimated the piercing power of Chidori."
Blood spilled from Kidōmaru's mouth as he gasped.
Finally, he croaked: "Wasn't… about not dodging… I just couldn't…"
And with a tilt of his head, his life faded away.
"So that's what it was," Kakashi murmured as he withdrew his hand.
He'd thought Kidōmaru had been overly confident in his defense, but it turned out the real reason was simpler—he was simply too slow to react to Chidori's speed.
Either way, the result was the same.
Kakashi exhaled in relief. This opponent had been surprisingly tough, but at least he hadn't needed to tap into the chakra battery Natsuki had made for him.
He turned to check on the others and saw that they didn't need help. So, he simply watched.
On Shino's side, Sakon and Ukon had become much stronger and faster in their Juin Nii Sutēto, effortlessly dodging the insect swarms while launching frenzied attacks.
Seeing that his bugs weren't effective, Shino switched to using the Rokushiki (Six Powers) techniques he had learned.
He silently thanked Natsuki for teaching him those moves. Now that his insects weren't enough, at least his taijutsu still had value.
Still, defeating this foe wouldn't be easy.
Their speed and power were simply overwhelming, and one misstep could mean serious injury.
And then there was their terrifying head parasitism technique. If one of those parasite heads managed to attach to his body, the consequences would be catastrophic—
Wait.
Shino's glasses glinted slightly as he seemed to understand something.
As Sakon and Ukon's flurry of punches came in fast and furious, Shino blocked a few using Tekkai Kenpō (Iron Body Fist Style), then deliberately exposed a weak point.
Sure enough, Ukon's head launched like a bullet and latched onto Shino's shoulder.
"Hahaha! You're done for now! Ukon will merge with your body!"
Sakon laughed wildly, even stopping his attacks. After all, in a villain's mind, once the enemy is doomed, there's no need to keep hitting them.
But Shino's expression remained as stoic as ever.
Moments later, screams rang out.
Ukon's head was now crawling with Shino's kikaichū (destruction bugs), which were devouring him alive.
The Aburame body was no ordinary host—it was a nest.
An invader here would only be digging their own grave.
Ukon screamed in agony.
Sakon panicked and rushed in to save his brother, only for Shino to slam a palm into his gut.
Ten seconds later, Sakon was writhing on the ground, clutching his stomach in agony. His Juin Nii Sutēto deactivated immediately.
Soon, a group of massive beetles burst from his stomach—Shino's kidaichū (parasitic giant bugs). They were feasting not only on Sakon's chakra but on his flesh and blood as well.
Forget keeping up the curse mark—he might not even survive at all.
(End of Chapter)
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