A red glow ignited within the pale violet clouds of miasma.
On the reddish-brown stone spire rooted in the swamp, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio had already been surrounded by Kirigakure and Kumogakure shinobi. With Choji, their main combat force and the one who balanced offense and defense, now injured, the situation had become the final straw that broke the camel's back.
They were almost at the end of the road.
The only reason it was almost was because Kumo and Kiri were not truly united. All three sides still had their own concerns, which was why the standoff had yet to collapse into open battle.
But Shikamaru knew very well that this deadlock could not last.
The moment one side lost patience, the summit would erupt into a chaotic battle between three squads, and with Team Ino-Shika-Cho already heavily weakened, they would most likely be the first to fall.
What do I do?
He stared fixedly at the lightning-fast Kumo shinobi, desperately searching for a way to break the situation. But his usually brilliant mind felt dry and sluggish, like a set of gears running without oil. Every turn of thought grated like metal teeth grinding against each other.
High-level strategy and careful planning were never things that appeared from thin air.
Only with intelligence on the enemy could a real battle plan be built. Without it, all schemes and calculations were nothing but guesswork and gambling. And as someone who prided himself on being smart, Shikamaru hated gambling most of all.
"Shikamaru, the two dark-skinned Kumo guys in front are both special jonin level. All three Kiri ninja have jonin-class chakra too, and their physical ability is excellent."
Ino's clear voice fell into Shikamaru and Choji's minds like rain on a desert.
The teamwork of Ino-Shika-Cho needed no explanation.
Without waiting for Shikamaru to say anything, Ino, as the team's sensor-type ninja, had already gathered rough intelligence on their enemies and used the Yamanaka clan's Mind Body Transmission Technique to establish a mental link with both of them.
The reason the Ino-Shika-Cho formation was known as Konoha's iron triangle was because their clan techniques complemented each other perfectly.
The Nara clan's strategies required intelligence to function, and the Yamanaka clan's sensory ninjutsu provided exactly that.
And once the intelligence had been analyzed, the Yamanaka mind-link allowed them to share plans mentally, preventing information leaks and eliminating the time delay of spoken language.
That was why the Yamanaka clan, the "Ino" in Ino-Shika-Cho, stood at the very front. They were the starting point of the whole tactical system.
"Well done. Five taijutsu-oriented jonin."
With Ino's support, Shikamaru let out a slight grin, though inwardly he felt nothing but resignation toward this exam, which was called a Chunin Exam but in truth had become a war of prodigies.
After living through the Kumogakure attack and its life-or-death danger, and with Konome always standing before them as an example, the three of them had improved tremendously over the last five years.
With their clan techniques combined, they could handle one normal jonin. Two would be difficult, but manageable. Against three jonin, there might still be room for clever play if they went all out.
But five jonin had already gone far beyond the upper limit of their squad.
Chakra reserves did not equal actual combat strength, but this far into the exam, there were no weaklings left.
To bet on their enemy being weaker than expected would be the same as signing their own death warrant.
At this point, there was only one way out.
They had to make Kumo and Kiri fight each other first, muddy the water, and carve out a sliver of survival for themselves.
But how could they possibly convince both sides to abandon the weakened Konoha team and start killing each other first?
Shikamaru's eyes flickered as he looked back and forth between the Kumo team and the Kiri team. In the end, his gaze locked onto Atsui, the weakest member of the Kumo squad.
"Choji, how bad are your injuries?"
"I can still fight."
Choji was covered in blood, and his body had slimmed slightly as faint steam rose from him. As masters of Yang Release techniques, the Akimichi clan excelled in both bodily durability and recovery.
"Then getting hurt one more time shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"What?"
Ino and Choji both widened their eyes in shock. With his back to them, Shikamaru wore a faint smile, but his gaze was colder and more serious than ever.
Everything was ready except the east wind.
But where the hell was that east wind?
"How long are we going to wait?"
Staring at the Konoha trio in the distance, Karui's fingers rubbed the hilt of her sword. Her patience was clearly wearing thin.
If Omoi, cautious by nature, had not been holding her back, she would already have charged in swinging.
"Don't rush."
Standing on the left flank, Omoi licked his dry lips and kept his eyes fixed on the Kirigakure side, a faint throb pulsing at the center of his brow.
Compared to the wounded Konoha squad, whose two remaining members did not look especially dangerous, Kiri gave him a far stronger sense of threat.
Only twenty people could pass this round. Every enemy eliminated meant a higher chance for their own team to survive.
Konoha was meat on the chopping block. He had no intention of letting Kiri off either.
Originally, he had wanted Kiri and Konoha to clash first so he could evaluate both sides before entering the fight himself.
But Kiri was obviously thinking the exact same thing. That was why the field remained locked in stalemate. With intelligence incomplete, neither side dared move first.
Blub blub.
The swamp kept spitting foul miasma into the air. The three teams all held their breath slightly, waiting for the moment the balance would finally break.
The opportunity came sooner than expected.
Though the battle itself had not begun, the signal flare above had not gone out. The magnesium fire continued burning in the clouds, leaving behind a lingering crimson light.
Shriek!
A shrill cry from the sky pierced through the cloud layer. The next moment, a red supply box with a parachute attached dropped straight through the clouds toward the summit where Shikamaru and the others stood.
Now!
At the exact moment everyone's attention shifted to the sky, Suigetsu's eyes lit up. Hidden inside his sleeve, the "pistol" shape of his hand rose slightly, a droplet of water spinning at high speed at his fingertip.
"Ahhhh! Ino, what are you doing?!"
The sudden scream shocked Chojuro and Karui alike, and all eyes snapped toward the source of the sound. Even Suigetsu's finger twitched in alarm, and the water bullet he had been condensing instantly dispersed.
"Die! I'm going to kill you!"
Ino's pretty face had twisted into something manic and crazed. At some point, the kunai in her right hand had sunk deep into Choji's left side. Her mouth kept spilling out mad, incoherent words, and she looked completely insane.
Choji had been attacked by his own teammate without any warning. His round face was filled with disbelief as he gripped Ino's flailing body with both arms. Thick blood dripped down his waist and legs in steady streams.
"Ino, wake up!"
Shikamaru was stunned too. Together with Choji, he shook Ino desperately, trying to snap her out of it, only to realize it was useless. In the end, he grit his teeth and chopped down on the back of her neck.
Bang.
Ino froze instantly, her eyes rolling back before she went limp in Choji's arms.
Kumo and Kiri alike had been completely thrown off by the sudden internal attack. Even Suigetsu, who had been preparing his own sneak strike, was left speechless for a brief moment.
"Kill him!"
A familiar roar exploded near Karui's ear, and both she and Omoi jerked in shock, lightning immediately wrapping around their bodies as they leapt away.
Slash!
A blade flashed through the air, and Atsui, his face twisted in pure madness, swung his sword in a savage cut that sliced cleanly through the afterimages the two had left behind.
"Atsui!"
"Damn it, subdue him first!"
They had narrowly escaped a fatal strike. Karui's heart sank the instant she saw her teammate's deranged expression.
Without stopping to think, the two of them used the speed of Lightning Release and their superior strength to rush in and paralyze Atsui, knocking him unconscious almost at once.
At the same time, hidden in the shelter of Choji's large body, Ino's hands subtly formed a heart sign. Her body trembled once, her eyelashes fluttering.
A faint grin rose on Shikamaru's lips, then flattened at once.
He suddenly looked up in outrage, glaring at the utterly bewildered Kiri trio.
"So it was you people! What did you do to Ino?!"
Swish.
Karui and Omoi had just lowered Atsui to the ground when they both turned sharply toward the Kiri team, murderous intent flaring in their eyes.
"No…"
Suigetsu, who had only been enjoying the show moments ago, froze. Lowering his gaze, he discovered that the hidden "pistol" hand in his sleeve was now pointed straight at the Kumo trio.
"You had a trick like that too? Not bad."
Ringo's sharp teeth scraped against each other as she drew her blade, electric arcs hissing across the edge.
Chojuro shook his head with a sigh as the great twin blades Hiramekarei in his hands lit up with blue chakra.
"You've got real skill with illusion techniques. Too bad we're about to be mobbed."
"It wasn't…"
Suigetsu wanted to explain, but even he knew how flimsy his excuse would sound.
Konoha had already lost one man to injury, Kumo had one man down, and only Kiri was still untouched. On top of that, he had been clearly preparing a hidden attack. Even if he himself were not absolutely certain he had not used genjutsu, he would have suspected himself too.
"Bullshit!"
Karui was hot-blooded to begin with. Her teammate had just been attacked, and now they were being framed on top of it. Her face, already dark, had gone red with fury.
"The Kiri bastards are trying to sow discord. Pineapple-head, let's join forces and wipe them out first."
Omoi, who had already wanted to leave Kiri here in the swamp, immediately seized the chance and openly tried to draw "enraged" Shikamaru into an alliance.
Seeing this, Shikamaru could only nod grimly while slinging unconscious Ino onto his back. Bloody and battered, Choji turned as well, clutching a kunai and facing the Kiri trio.
Thus an alliance was formed between Konoha's battered remnants and Kumo's reduced two-man team, both now determined to eliminate the treacherous Kiri ninja.
Buzz.
A mass of black kikaichu beetles buzzed through the air, their tiny bodies barely noticeable in the swamp.
Wearing gas masks, Shino, Kiba, and Hinata were concealed in the marsh two hundred meters from the battlefield, quietly observing the violent fight erupting atop the spire.
"A combination of the flesh-wound stratagem and borrowed-knife murder. As expected of Shikamaru."
Shino adjusted his shades out of habit.
Those inside the trap were confused. Those outside saw clearly.
Through his kikaichu scouts, he had watched every small movement on the summit. What Shikamaru had just used was unmistakably one of the Thirty-Six Stratagems Konome had once summarized at the Academy.
When Shino first read that military text Konome had praised as a world-class classic, he had only felt that it opened his mind. He had not realized just how terrifying it truly was.
Now, seeing Shikamaru apply it in a desperate real battle, he finally understood why Shikamaru had looked so thunderstruck when reading it, and why afterward he had started following Konome around like a loyal retainer.
"What's a flesh-wound stratagem?"
Kiba and Akamaru scratched their heads in perfect sync, both looking like they were straining to grow brains.
Shino sighed. He truly had no desire to discuss military strategy with these two beasts. Perhaps this was what Konome meant when she said not to play the lute to a cow.
"The three Kiri ninja are really strong."
Hinata's eyes glowed softly behind her mask as she stared at the battle. Because she was pushing her chakra hard, the bulging veins at the corners of her eyes had spread all the way beneath her cheekbones.
On the summit, under the combined pressure of Shikamaru's crowd-control tactics and Choji's partial Human Bullet Tank, even Karui and Omoi could only barely hold the line against the Kiri three.
If Lightning Release did not naturally counter Water Release to some extent, the alliance between Kumo and Konoha might actually have been suppressed outright by the Kiri team.
Boom!
A violent explosion thundered above the three hidden watchers. A brilliant blue chakra blast burst like a star, briefly brightening even the sky.
"What the hell was that?"
Kiba gaped. With his sense of smell sealed away, he was practically blind now.
Looking up at the fading light in the clouds, Hinata's face tightened.
"It was the Kiri ninja with the glasses and the twin blades. His swords absorb the chakra in enemy attacks, then release it all at once. The more chakra he stores, the stronger the release becomes."
"Doesn't that mean he just gets stronger the more you fight him?"
Kiba looked dumbfounded. With his one main move being Fang Over Fang, he could not imagine how to deal with someone like that. It seemed the only answer would be to blow him apart in one overwhelming strike.
"If he comes here, leave him to me."
Shino said it calmly.
His insect techniques contained no chakra for Hiramekarei to absorb. On top of that, his bugs could drain the enemy's chakra directly. Against him, that "the more I fight, the stronger I get" gimmick would mean almost nothing.
The three of them carefully observed the battle on the summit, analyzing everything they could.
The alliance between Ino-Shika-Cho and Kumo had only partly been made possible by Shikamaru's scheme. The other reason was that the Kiri trio really was that dangerous. With their own strength reduced, Kumo and Konoha had no choice but to join forces.
That fragile balance had barely been achieved.
If Team Eight joined the fight now, it would not become three teams surrounding Kiri. It would only shatter the balance completely and ruin Shikamaru's whole plan.
Far better to stay hidden here as an unexpected reserve. Whichever side finally won between Kumo and Kiri, they would emerge at that moment, combine forces with Shikamaru, and leave both foreign teams in this swamp forever.
This was, in every sense, the strategy of openly repairing the roads while secretly crossing at Chencang.