Nayou didn't need a warning from Shen. With her Byakugan, she instantly spotted the incoming kusarigama swinging toward her.
She had no time to react to the enemy's speed—clearly another leap faster than before—and could only sharply lean back to evade the strike.
"Swish!"
The blade sliced through the air just above Nayou's delicate face.
A single strand of black hair floating midair proved she hadn't escaped completely unharmed.
"You bastard!" Shen roared, electricity flashing in his left hand as he shot forward at full speed toward the dark-clad ninja.
"What incredible speed!" was the only thought that crossed the dark ninja's mind.
He began circulating chakra within his body, attempting to use the Body Flicker Technique again to escape.
"Puff!"
But just as he was about to vanish, several long snakes suddenly erupted from the ground.
His right leg was quickly ensnared by the serpents. This time, escape seemed impossible.
Yet facing Shen's charging Chidori, the ninja raised his kusarigama and placed it in front to block.
"Ziiiii!"
The Chidori, with its piercing attribute, easily sliced through the weapon.
However, the dark ninja used the slight recoil from the impact to twist his body away.
"Hiss!"
Shen quickly clenched his left hand, ending the Chidori. The lightning surged stronger as he thrust directly toward the opponent's side.
Unfortunately, even after transforming the Chidori into Pseudo Lightning Cutter and using the Sharingan's dynamic vision, he only managed to graze the enemy's chest.
"Who else is there?" The ninja dodged, then exerted strength on his right leg.
Breaking free from the binding, he became more alert to his surroundings.
[Nawaki's Meteor Shower!]
The loud shout from the sky barely caught the dark ninja's attention before he vanished, reappearing dozens of meters away.
At this moment, he was still being closely pursued by Shen and Nayou.
"Nawaki, are you out of your mind? Yelling that loud scared off everyone!" Shen shouted while channeling all his lightning chakra, chasing the dark ninja at full speed.
"If you've got the nerve, come at me one-on-one—" Nawaki never finished his sentence before plummeting to the ground from above.
The dark ninja glanced toward the rising cloud of dust and smoke, expressionless beneath his cloak.
In his mind, handling three kids from Team One wasn't much of a threat. But he couldn't shake a lingering unease about the person who had just wrapped his leg in those giant snakes.
Not far away, Orochimaru quietly observed Team One cooperating together.
Judging from the tightly furrowed brows on his face, he wasn't particularly satisfied.
"Shen and Nayou's coordination is relatively decent. However, Nawaki clearly doesn't understand how to work with them," Orochimaru commented.
He had no intention of interfering. Earlier, he had taken the chance to use Hidden Shadow Snake Hands to bind the dark ninja, aiming to truly test the team's teamwork.
Although he originally planned to step down as their instructor after completing his duties, a deep sense of responsibility began making him worry about Team One's current condition.
Thus, he decided to take this opportunity to give these three kids a proper lesson.
"You planning to teach them a lesson too? Isn't the intelligence report saying these four are still in Sunagakure?" The black-clothed ninja thought about retreating already.
Realizing who they were, he worried that taking them out could seriously affect Uzumaki village's plans.
"Uchiha, Hyuga, and Senju—you're off the hook this time," the black-clothed ninja said while taking out several smoke bombs and throwing them onto the ground immediately.
"Nayou, where is he now?" Shen rushed into the smoke from the smoke bombs and urgently asked for the enemy's position.
"Ten o'clock direction! He's already outside the smoke!" Nayou quickly shouted information.
After receiving the enemy's location, Shen immediately created a clone and dove underground. Then he activated his entire body's Lightning Nature Chakra, appearing like a white lightning bolt.
In an instant, he arrived behind the black-clothed ninja.
[Chidori Current!]
As Shen transformed Chidori, countless tiny bolts of lightning spread densely within a five-meter radius. The enemy was struck by several electric shocks unexpectedly.
The black-clothed ninja panicked as he felt his whole body go numb: "This Uchiha kid already mastered Shape Transformation? A kid his age shouldn't have so much chakra. Seems like I need to bring out some real skills."
He barely dodged the hidden blade attack and finally decided to stop holding back. Gathering chakra into his throat, he formed a single hand seal and unleashed a wind blade from his mouth.
As his right arm shot forward, Shen seemed momentarily off balance.
However, his brain quickly activated his leg muscles, reacting with lightning-fast coordination to evade the attack.
Just then, the enemy fired another wind blade immediately.
"This guy only starts going all out now?" Dodging again, Shen started thinking about countermeasures in his mind. He knew Orochimaru wanted to train Team One's teamwork abilities.
Seeing Shen dodge two consecutive wind blades, the black-clothed ninja stopped attacking momentarily.
Although he analyzed that under current circumstances, hitting the target would be difficult, he definitely wasn't giving up any opportunity to attack.
"In that case, let's play properly!" He roared loudly, quickly pulling out a scroll and opening it. Grasping the brand-new kusarigama firmly, he vanished and swung it around.
A chill crept down Shen's spine as he instantly disappeared from his original spot.
At the same time, he analyzed the opponent's strength internally: "His Body Flicker Technique can actually match my fully-activated Lightning Nature Chakra Mode, plus those attacks that catch one completely off guard."
[Nawaki's Mightiest Punch!] Just after creating a big crater on the ground, Nawaki finally caught up at this moment.
Shen really wanted to cover his face and pretend he didn't know that goofy guy—Nawaki. But still, he used this opportunity to have the shadow clone underground launch an attack.
Back when Orochimaru initially showed the team coordination technique, he had also wanted to try it out himself once.
The black-clothed ninja had already raised his alert level to its maximum. He wouldn't let such a jutsu name distract him.
Nawaki had just smashed a crater into the ground, keeping a close watch on the three combatants' movements. Besides, they had even announced their technique's name.
Uchiha Taijutsu Style Burial in the Ground!
A tiny hand suddenly shot out from the ground, startling the black-clothed ninja for only an instant. A seasoned ninja like him wouldn't fall for the same move twice.
"You fell for it!"
Shen's true body smiled as he saw his opponent leap upward to dodge attacks coming from both underground and aboveground.
He and his Shadow Clone formed hand seals in unison before unleashing a blazing inferno from their mouths.
Facing the roaring flames rushing toward him head-on, the black-cloaked ninja didn't panic at all. He slashed with his kusarigama, releasing several Wind Blades.
However, the sudden ninjutsu emerging from below shocked him instantly.
[Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!] The earth dragon summoned by Shen's clone fired a mud projectile at the airborne figure.
Twisting his body midair, the black-cloaked ninja spun to evade multiple incoming attacks. Now he finally realized their intention—he wasn't meant to be restrained at all.
"Nawaki, you big goof! What are you waiting for? Charge him already!"
At this reminder, Nawaki stomped hard and sprang upward, not forgetting to raise his right arm.
The next moment, his right hand, wrapped in dark markings, slammed straight into the enemy's chest.
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