The next moment, Jugo split into dozens of shadow clones.
They ran everywhere, fleeing swiftly, each with the speed of an Elite Jonin.
Kakashi and Guy's eyes narrowed as they chased the clones, both faster than them, but Jugo and his clones continued to create more clones. He even released the curse directly, his chakra surged fiercely as thousands of clones raced everywhere. Guy released his sixth gate and Kakashi had his Sharingan open, but some were still lost. Jugo, who activated his werewolf form to become faster, vanished among them.
-Damn it.- Kakashi sighed.
-He must have gone after Sasuke, let's give chase.- Guy narrowed his eyes, he was still furious with Jugo. Lee had barely recovered from that beating, his body was fine, but his spirit was devastated.
-I'm afraid it won't be possible, the disadvantage is already on our side now that we've left.- Kakashi looked at the casualties and saw that more and more Konoha ninjas were dying from the surprise attack.
Guy's hands trembled, he said nothing, his green figure advancing against the Sound and Sand ninjas.
Jugo, on the other hand, had found Getsu, Yoru and Yami waiting for him in the forest, the four of them had already transformed into werewolves, chasing quickly after Gaara.
He soon found Shino fighting Kankuro and ignored them. The pair saw Jugo pass by and Kankuro was happy, thinking Jugo was going after Sasuke.
He soon found Sasuke as well, fighting against Temari, but when Temari seemed happy, Jugo ignored her and went after Gaara.
-That's not good!- Temari seemed to realize something. -Gaara!
Temari ran after Jugo, as did Sasuke, who, although confused, still wanted to defeat Gaara.
Jugo reached Gaara first, who was already going berserk and destroying everything around him. Jugo smiled, he decided to help a little.
He learned genjutsu from Kin during that period, realizing that his genjutsu has a very... maddening effect, perhaps due to the Tenebrous World, but the moment he sent his chakra to Gaara, placing him in a genjutsu of madness, Gaara screamed.
Sand flew everywhere as the giant figure slowly took shape.
Jugo had already entered the second stage of the curse and transformed into his werewolf form.
The dogs around him also transformed into their werewolf forms, though smaller than him, they still appeared extremely ferocious.
A howl sounded as Shukaku let out a laugh of freedom, he looked down, annoyed, only for a giant Rasengan to appear in Jugo's hand, as big as Shukaku's head, when he noticed the Rasengan, Jugo had already struck his swollen belly.
Shukaku screamed in pain as the sand was thrown away. The dogs didn't stay away either, biting Shukaku, even though to Shukaku they were nothing more than insects. Their bites were venomous and froze where they bit, an improvement after enough training.
-Damn it! You damned worms! I'll kill you!- Shukaku yelled angrily, leaping into battle.
Jugo shrouded his claws in darkness and slashed Shukaku's left eye. The scream of pain was heard from afar. The raccoon clutched the eye, falling backward with a thunderous thud. The werewolves continued to scratch and bite as much as they pleased.
-Gaara! - Temari's voice called from afar, Jugo ignored it.
His strength was at its peak, he quickly sealed and compressed a large amount of chakra. The next moment, he spat out a giant ball of air, filled with blades of air that cut through everything in their path, striking the Raccoon head-on.
He yelled again, but now he was furious. He jumped and ran towards Jugo, spitting out several air bullets. -Die, ant!
Jugo spat out his own air bullets to defend himself as he attacked again with the werewolves.
The battle was only the beginning. Jugo was in no hurry, even though his mind was a little confused with all the natural chakra and the active werewolf form. He could feel the progress of his potion advancing at high speed.
They continued attacking from all angles, biting, scratching, again and again, driving Shukaku completely insane.
So crazy that he opened his mouth and Yin and Yang chakra began to merge above his mouth, Jugo's eyes widened, it seems he really angered the Raccoon!
The next moment, Jugo raised his arm, a rasengan quickly formed, but this one was different, a shrill buzzing sound began to form.
He worked so hard on nature and form transformation, he wouldn't leave out such a powerful Jutsu. As for the damage from its use? Excuse me, do you know how strong his regeneration is now? Even if he rips off his own arm, it will grow back, so what?
The Rasenshuriken formed quickly, before Shukaku could complete his Bijuu Dama, Jugo launched it toward the forming bomb.
Shukaku didn't realize it until it was too late.
The mushroom cloud that followed was worthy of a nuclear explosion, but Jugo and the other spectators were busy being tossed away by the resulting gale.
Jugo clung to a thick tree as the wind howled all around him. The raccoon? Gone, probably lost its form in that explosion.
He hoped Gaara was alright.
When the wind finally stopped howling, Jugo approached with the dogs, searching for Gaara. He found him, his clothes torn, unconscious, but... still alive.
Standing there, still in his werewolf form, with the dogs by his side, Jugo sensed something, he had hunted his prey, he had won.
He let out a howl into the air, followed by Getsu, Yoru and Yami. With that howl, he felt a click in his body, the potion had been digested.
An excited smile appeared on his face, but he held back from celebrating loudly, he was one step closer to freedom.
He left soon after, without looking at Gaara again, but fleeing towards the meeting point agreed upon with Kin and Dosu.
He found them, Dosu just looked at him, looking a little battered but whole, Kin too, but in better shape than Dosu.
The clones he left with them had already disappeared.
-Orochimaru-sama was taken away by the Sound Four.- Dosu said as soon as he saw him.
Jugo smiled. - Then let's go too.
Kin and Dosu waved, and the trio, followed by Getsu, Yoru and Yami, ran towards the village of sound.
Jugo looked at the dogs, they were doing very well. Jugo had taken most of the brunt of the fighting against Shukaku, they only needed to provide side support. Besides, they possessed endless chakra reserves, which is why, apart from slight fatigue, they were fine, better than Kin and Dosu.
Jugo stopped at a hidden cave a few hours later, he wanted to move on before continuing, but his excuse was to let Kin and Dosu rest.
Deep inside the cave, protected by the three dogs, Jugo sat cross-legged. He calmly accepted the advance, in the next moment, he felt his strength rapidly increasing, a multiple enhancement in his physique and spirit, and consequently, in his chakra.
At that moment, Jugo knew he had surpassed the level of a Jonin, he could now fight in the major leagues.
But that wasn't all, his body seemed to stiffen, his skin was thickening, he felt as if his soul were bathed in ice, the air around the cave was clearly turning icy and a putrid smell was spreading.
Smell of corpses.
His mind had grown colder at that moment, seemingly stemming from the icy power within him, but he knew it was an effect of Bind, an effect further strengthened in sequence 6.
With each advance, his desires became more and more restrained, perhaps it wasn't just the advance itself, but the way he advanced it. He progressed through his werewolf potion from beginning to end solely through the actions of the Bind side.
At that moment, he truly felt like a zombie, his senses seemed dulled, but he knew that compared to the previous potion, his current form had even sharper senses.
It was a strange feeling, but he was getting used to it quickly.
He moved slightly, his movements no longer seemed lively, but rather rigid and precise.
He would need to get used to it for a while to avoid looking like a doll instead of a human.
If he can even still be considered human now.
When the potion was fully digested, he felt he could hold up to 6 werewolves, but now that he had progressed, he felt he could hold up to 18, a direct 3-fold increase.
But it's not all good news, he gained the ability to create zombies as he progressed, but the number of zombies he can create now is 6 and this quota is linked to the werewolf quota, meaning each zombie he controls is worth 3 werewolves.
He can control a total of 18 werewolves or 6 zombies, this number can also vary, creating creatures that are part werewolves and part zombies.
The zombies he created are stronger than werewolves, that's a fact. They have accelerated regeneration, as well as enhanced strength, speed, and defense, everything is stronger than werewolves. Besides the new abilities he gained, his zombies would also have lesser effects from them.
The downside? Werewolves need to be dead, but their souls must still be present, so creating zombies requires fresh corpses or for the souls to still be attached to the bodies for some reason.
Furthermore, compared to werewolves who retain their sanity and intelligence, zombies are purely zombies, they can still fight and use their powers from when they were alive, but that's it, they can't be used for anything else.
In the world of LOTM, werewolves are disposable consumables, they don't last long because they can only maintain their werewolf form before dying shortly afterward. Zombies, however, can be maintained, so using Zombies is actually superior to using Werewolves. But in the Ninja world, with Chakra, Werewolves can maintain their form and revert to their original form, making them much more useful.
For Jugo, there are more advantages to keeping Werewolves, even if they aren't as strong as Zombies, but if he finds a corpse strong enough, like Hashirama, he wouldn't hesitate for a second. A Zombie of Hashirama... how strong would that be?