"One more pass should finish it off," said Shikamaru, breathing heavily. Even with Naruto and Chouji kiting the beast all over the field, himself, Sakura and Ino found themselves running just as much, every time their tags did a big shot of damage the alligator would go wild running randomly thrashing about damaging anything he could. There were some very close calls, Shikamaru even came close to getting beheaded once.
The last of the explosive tags detonated dropping the alligators hit points to just a single point. It roared in pain, spewing blood. It turned and limped away looking utterly defeated.
"Where is it going now?" asked Ino. "And why isn't he dead yet?"
"He is dead," said Shikamaru. "He knows it too."
"Do we follow?" asked Ino.
Naruto didn't answer but followed anyway. The beast was dangerous, he needed to be sure it died.
They found the alligator fallen, heaving its last few breaths.
"Chisai Ao," cried a young man, hugging the dying alligator. "Who would do this? Who would harm you so, my precious friend? My Little Blue alligator"
Naruto was shocked to see someone there. He was probably three or four years older than they were. He wore a black leather alligator skin jacket and pants. On his forehead was a Konoha forehead protector. Above his head was a name.
Wani Washi Lvl 20
"You," he hissed, seeing Naruto for the first time. "You did this? How could an ally? A Konoha Shinobi no less, do this? I am the last of the Wani clan and you have slaughtered my partner. My shinobi life is destroyed. Now I will kill you before I commit seppuku, my partner will be avenged."
"Uh, your partner just tried to eat me and my friends. What did you think would happen?"
"Little Blue was harmless, you must have provoked him, tried to hurt him first. You cannot talk your way out of this. I will kill you now. May the Shinigami torture you and your comrades for eternity."
"This is totally fucked up," groused Naruto. "Dude, we don't want to fight you."
"You don't have a choice," said the young man, vanishing only to reappear right in front of Naruto.
Naruto took a heavy blow to his stomach and the side of his face which gave Shikamaru a chance to grab Washi with his shadow.
"Will you stop this now?" Naruto asked, stepping back from Washi.
"I will never stop," he hissed, his chakra flaring suddenly, freeing himself from the bind. "Waninin no Jutsu." He nearly shouted. The man's body began to shift dramatically, first his face elongated turning into that of an alligator with pale leathery skin. He then hunched over slightly, as a ridge along his back popped out, protruding from the back of his jacket then a long thick tail suddenly burst from his lower back. His jutsu finished leaving him looking like some manner of man alligator hybrid.
Washi's transformation had the added effect of changing his level from twenty to thirty. This guy's level was way too high to be in this particular field if he was part of this pseudo dungeon. So either they stumbled into something they shouldn't have or this was a really messed up training field, more so than any of the fields he'd run thus far.
"My shadow bind can't grab him anymore," said Shikamaru, warning the team.
"I'll take first crack at him, keep him busy while you guys make a plan to deal with him," said Naruto, knowing that he had the best chance of surviving.
Wani Washi Lvl 30
HP: 2500/2500 CP: 1250/1250
Washi is the last of his clan, he holds a close bond with Chisai Ao, an alligator he has raised since it hatch. His clan is known for the bond they share with alligators, it is similar to that of an Inuzuka and ninken though much more volatile and even more dangerous. Beware their transformation, for they cannot tell friend from foe once complete.
Naruto attacked first, a flurry of kicks and punches from himself and several clones that spawned to attack and substitute if needed all at once. It wasn't doing much damage but it was keeping his attention.
Washi was quick to fight back with several snaps from his elongated jaw and razor sharp teeth followed by spinning kicks and tail lashes.
Naruto winced when took a tail lash and kick combo to his hip, stomach, and ribs but fought through the pain, being sure to switch with a clone when that particular attack combo came again.
Shikamaru was busy trying to formulate a plan while Naruto kept him busy. "So, we obviously don't want to kill him, he is a Konoha shinobi but we do need to stop him which means knocking him out."
Ino glanced at the fight between Naruto and Washi wincing as Naruto took another fairly brutal attack that probably would have killed her, yet Naruto got right back up and attacked again. "How do you suggest we do that?"
"With this," said Sakura, holding up a vial. "It's a paralytic poison, we dose him with enough of this and he'll be down held long enough for us to hopefully knock him out. We just need to figure out how to dose him with enough of it."
"Ino, do you still have those senbon?" asked Chouji.
"Yeah, why?"
"Didn't Asuma-sensei say they were a great tool for delivering poison 'cause they can penetrate better?"
"Ooh, yeah," said Ino, quickly reaching for the senbon she'd had sitting in her pouch but never bothered to use. "Will they get through that hide of his?"
"Definitely," said Shikamaru. "His skin isn't as thick as the Oversized Alligator we fought earlier, just look, Naruto's been able to cut him a little."
It was true, Naruto had manage to cut the guy a little here and there, mostly on his arms where the scales didn't extend beyond the upper arm.
Ino quickly passed the senbon to Sakura. Sakura then started dipping the needles one by one into the vial before handing them back to Ino and Shikamaru, finally keeping a dozen for herself.
"Chouji, you guard us. If this makes him angry we'll need to keep him off of us until Naruto can get his attention back." Shikamaru twirled the senbon in his hand trying to get the weight of it before tossing one.
Naruto yelped when he felt something suddenly stick him in his left ass cheek. He looked back quickly and saw Shikamaru grimacing.
"Sorry about that," said Shikamaru.
"Aim next time!" shouted Naruto before looking back at the alligator man hybrid. He ducked under Washi's snapping jaw just in time to avoid a bit that would have taken his head off. Unfortunately ducking allowed Washi's follow up tail whip that hit him in the face and send him careening across the swampy terrain.
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