A black shadow darted swiftly in the direction of the Hidden Cloud Village. Every time it encountered a patch of shadow, it would instantly appear at the other end before continuing on its way…
The alert Cloud shinobi on guard had no clue Shikamaru had already infiltrated the village without a sound.
"Hey, Kuwata, did you hear? The last surviving member of the Yagami Clan tried to escape last night. I heard Yugito-sama already dealt with it."
"'Dealt with it' is putting it lightly. I'm telling you, the Yagami Clan is officially erased from the shinobi world as of today…"
"No way! Where'd you hear that from, Kuwata?"…
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The rumors about Yagami Yoru had spread like wildfire throughout the Hidden Cloud overnight. Everyone assumed Yugito had personally killed her, and they were shaken. After all, she was the last member of what used to be the village's most powerful clan…
Shikamaru ignored the gossip. Cloaked in shadow, he flitted through the village, gathering intel, most importantly, Yugito's current whereabouts.
Inside her room, Yugito was quietly reading. Her eyes suddenly sharpened, and she turned to her right.
"Who's there?" she snapped coldly, hurling a kunai with lightning speed in that direction!
Whoosh!
A figure burst out of hiding and immediately fled!
"Hmph." Yugito snorted and gave chase in a blur of motion.
"Who goes there!?" Two Chunin standing guard at the village gate saw Shikamaru's unfamiliar figure dashing out of the village and shouted, blocking his path.
"Hmph… courting death," Shikamaru muttered.
Still in disguise, he didn't use his shadow techniques, just swiftly hurled two kunai!
The two Chunin saw a flash of steel closing in on their throats. One reacted quickly and dodged, but the other was a second too slow, his eyes widened in horror as the kunai pierced his neck.
Thud! Thud!
One kunai grazed a shoulder; the other embedded deep in the throat of the slower Chunin.
Shikamaru zipped past the wounded one and raced out of the village in a blur.
As he dashed through the terrain, he kept sensing Yugito's presence through his spiritual perception. He smirked. From the original story, he knew how deeply Yugito cared about the Hidden Cloud. Now that he'd killed a Cloud ninja, she'd have no choice but to pursue him.
"Damn it… that bastard…!" Yugito shouted, leaping over her fallen comrades and accelerating. Black flames began to leak from her body, whoever could kill one Chunin and wound another so easily was no ordinary enemy.
Shikamaru led her away from the village at a calculated pace, just fast enough to keep her chasing, not fast enough to lose her. Once they were about seven or eight li from the village, he stopped and turned to face her with a smile.
"Heh, Yugito! I've been waiting for you," he said with a chuckle.
"Who are you? Why lure me out here?" Yugito asked coldly, her sharp gaze locking onto him in a partial tailed-beast form.
"Tch, what, don't recognize me after just one night? Guess it was too dark," Shikamaru replied with a relaxed grin.
"Shadow Lord…?" Yugito's eyes widened. She recognized the voice. Her heart tensed. Why had he lured her out?
Poof!
With a puff of smoke, Shikamaru reverted to his original form, smirking. "That's right… it's me. You ran last night and came back with backup. Now I'm here to settle the score."
The real reason, of course, was the alluring presence of the Two-Tails, Matatabi, sealed within her.
"Hmph. You got any proof? You just killed a Cloud shinobi. Are you trying to start a war between our villages?" Yugito shot back, refusing to admit anything.
"Heh… if you never make it back, who's going to know?" Shikamaru's Mangekyo Shadow Eye flared as he gave a devilish smile.
"Hmph! Don't bite your tongue when the wind turns!" Yugito barked, then stopped talking. Her figure blurred as she lunged, cloaked in black light!
Perfect. Shikamaru grinned inwardly. He was only worried she'd try to run, then things would've gotten complicated.
Yugito let out a feline cry. Black flames gathered into twin flaming cat claws at her hands. With a crushing swing, she tried to flatten Shikamaru with them.
Tch. Why are they all so predictable? Shikamaru thought. Before the claws could converge, he finished a hand seal.
"Shadow Style – Shadow Morph!"
Boom! The black-flame claws slammed together, sending sparks in every direction. But Shikamaru had already melted into shadow and reappeared behind her through the flames' shadow.
"Shadow Style – Monster Strength Fist!"
"Damn! A body flicker technique?" Yugito's expression shifted as she sensed the punch coming from behind, faster even than Beyanhu's swift-release jutsu from the night before. She assumed it was some high-level body flicker technique.
With seamless grace, she twisted, kicked off the ground, and leapt into the air. Her flaming braid clashed with Shikamaru's fist, flames flying.
"Shadow Style – Shadow Fire Dragon Bullet!"
Seeing her in mid-air with no footing, Shikamaru grinned and unleashed the jutsu. A torrent of black fire surged from his mouth toward the airborne Yugito!
"Fire Style – Fireball Jutsu!"
Not backing down, Yugito fired her own black-flame fireball, formed from Matatabi's fire.
BOOM! The flames collided midair, black fire scattering wildly. Yugito dropped to the ground.
"Shadow Style – Shadow Snare!"
Buzz! Just as her feet touched down, a ring of shadow energy surged up from the ground.
Then came Shikamaru's voice: "Shadow Imitation Technique!"
From the start of the fight, he'd been reading all her moves, timing everything perfectly. Caught completely off guard, Yugito was frozen in place.
"Damn it…" she cursed. What kind of weird jutsu was this? And how could he control the timing so precisely?
"Matatabi – Full Form Transformation!"
She couldn't let this continue. Clenching her teeth, she began to release the full power of the Two-Tails within her. Black flames exploded from her body, surging dozens of meters high and forcing Shikamaru to retreat.
"Nice reaction time," he complimented. If he'd had one more moment, he could've used his Shadow Binding Decapitation technique to completely stop her transformation. But that wasn't his goal. He wanted her to unleash Matatabi's full form.
A deafening screech erupted from the pillar of flame, and a massive feline form emerged, wreathed in black fire, twin tails lashing behind it.
"Shadow Lord, let's see how you fight someone with the legendary power of the Two-Tails," Yugito's voice echoed from within the beast. Shikamaru's expression didn't change, he expected as much. Even transformed, Yugito remained in control.
ROAR! Matatabi opened its mouth and fired a massive black fireball. Space distorted as it flew, the sheer energy akin to a high-level jutsu.
"Shadow Style – Shadow Amaterasu!"
Shikamaru's Mangekyo flared. Black Amaterasu flames devoured Matatabi's fireball instantly. With these flames, especially ones enhanced by the Nine-Tails' power, he had no reason to fear Fire Release attacks. Even Matatabi's soul-burning black fire was useless if it couldn't land a hit.
"Shadow Style – Twin Shadow Ice Dragons!"
Shikamaru swiftly formed more seals. Two ice dragons erupted from the ground and roared toward the Two-Tails. Ice Release, perfectly suited to suppress the Matatabi's fire!
"Shadow Style – Shadow Ice Dragon Feast!"
"Shadow Style – Shadow Ice!"
⚔──────────────
No need for Ice Armor. With his bottomless chakra, thanks to the Nine-Tails fusion, Shikamaru kept unleashing advanced Shadow-Ice techniques, endlessly. His chakra refilled instantly as it was spent.
An anguished howl came from Matatabi. Yugito was on the verge of despair. As a proud jinchūriki of the Two-Tails, she was now being toyed with! Shikamaru was unleashing S-rank jutsu like they were candy. Even Matatabi's chakra reserve couldn't match that bottomless pit…
Shikamaru hadn't expected it to be this easy. Aside from its chakra pool, the Matatabi wasn't putting up much resistance. He was having the time of his life, unleashing every high-level jutsu he'd ever copied: Shadow Water Release, Shadow Wind Release, Shadow Lightning Shield, Shadow Sand Shield, Shadow Earth Release… each devastating technique tore into Matatabi's form.
What Shikamaru didn't know was that Matatabi's true terror lay in its soul-burning black fire. But that didn't matter, his Amaterasu and Nine-Tails-enhanced fire abilities made him immune. And Matatabi had no time to summon spirits from the underworld. Yugito was completely outmatched.
"Shadow Style – Super Shadow Prison!"
Seeing Matatabi's flames finally die down, Shikamaru cast a massive Shadow Cage that locked the beast in place.
"Shadow Style – Binding Within the Cage!"
A mixed cry came from Matatabi and Yugito inside.
"Let me out, Shadow Lord! Do you really want to spark a war between Konoha and the Hidden Cloud!?"
"Heh… if you never go back, who'll know?" Shikamaru said lightly. "And so what if there is another war? Wouldn't that be fun?"
"Shadow Style – Shadow Barrier!"
He wasn't wasting time. Better to extract the Matatabi's shadow now. A massive barrier surrounded them, keeping out any interference.
"Yugito… once I've taken Matatabi's shadow, then I'll deal with you," Shikamaru said with a wicked grin as his Mangekyo spun.
"Shadow Style – Shadow Extraction!"
…
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The Mountain of Ice and Fire (GOT) – 56 advanced chapters!
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