Chapter 13: Capture the King First
"Multi-Size Jutsu! Human Boulder!"
The moment Nara Shikaku's words fell, Akimichi Choza launched the first attack.
His body suddenly expanded outward, rapidly swelling in the rain. His muscles inflated like balloons while his ninja attire simultaneously enlarged with him.
In the blink of an eye, his body grew several times larger. His limbs and head retracted inward like a turtle withdrawing into its shell, transforming his entire form into a spherical shape. Then he began spinning at high speed, whipping up violent air currents that twisted the surrounding rain into a spiraling water curtain.
After reaching sufficient velocity, the massive sphere charged straight at Yasushi, plowing deep furrows in the ground wherever it passed, scattering debris and broken wood everywhere with the destructive power of a battering ram.
Yasushi's eyes immediately manifested their Mangekyo form. An energy giant rose from the ground as Susanoo's skeletal frame rapidly constructed itself through the rain curtain. Dark crimson chakra shot skyward, firmly protecting Yasushi within its body.
Unlike when facing Yamanaka Fu earlier, this time Yasushi directly activated Susanoo's second stage—the armored flesh form.
Energy muscles coiled around the skeleton like living creatures, forming smooth muscular contours. Chakra armor immediately covered the entire body, radiating suffocating pressure.
Second-stage Susanoo could now form weapons. The energy giant dual-wielded a massive staff in its hands with a medicinal herb gourd on its back.
In this state, Susanoo's offensive and defensive capabilities were greatly enhanced, though chakra consumption also increased significantly.
The Mangekyo Sharingan spun frantically as endless chakra poured from within. "Inaba's White Rabbit" granted him absurd chakra recovery speed, making Susanoo's form even more solid.
Supported by "Inaba's White Rabbit," Yasushi's endurance was tremendously enhanced. Sustaining a full battle presented no problems whatsoever.
Both sides knew the other was a formidable enemy and understood their opponent's capabilities well, so there was no probing, no transition—war instantly entered its climax phase.
"Get lost!"
Yasushi roared as Susanoo gripped the staff with both hands like swinging a golf club, striking heavily at the charging Akimichi Choza.
The staff's swing produced a piercing whistle, cutting a deadly arc through the air as if to tear space itself apart.
BOOM!
Staff and sphere collided, producing a massive explosive boom.
The impact's shockwave instantly vaporized surrounding rainwater, white mist permeating the entire battlefield.
Chakra energy violently rubbed against the high-speed rotating flesh, their intense confrontation sparking brilliant fireworks that bloomed in the rainy night.
After briefly stalling, flesh ultimately lost to energy.
Akimichi Choza was sent flying like a cannonball, spinning as he crashed into the nearby forest, carving out a wide, deep groove and breaking dozens of large trees before barely stopping.
Shattered wood and debris filled the sky, smoke and dust rising overwhelmingly.
But Yasushi had no time to pursue the kill. A shadow had already extended from beneath Nara Shikaku's feet, following close behind Akimichi Choza, silently approaching his position.
After Choza was sent flying, the shadow immediately lifted from the ground, transforming into dozens of arrow-shaped black shadows. Like tentacle monsters, they twisted and danced through the rain, sweeping toward him and sealing off all evasion angles at lightning speed.
However, Yasushi had long heard of the Ino-Shika-Cho's reputation and knew their tactics intimately.
Standard tactics basically involved Akimichi Choza enlarging to increase shadow area, letting Nara Shikaku restrain enemy movement, then having Yamanaka Inoichi perform mental control.
In jonin-level combat, controlling the enemy for even a few seconds often decided the entire battle.
Yasushi didn't know which tactics Shikaku would employ this time, but the basic framework wouldn't change.
So when Choza charged, Yasushi knew shadows must be hidden behind him.
He understood these three intimately and knew the shadow secret techniques' weaknesses very clearly.
Namely, these techniques required sufficient shadow area.
Larger shadow area naturally meant wider attack range, while conversely, smaller area meant narrower range.
This was the vulnerability!
After knocking away Choza who'd drawn his attention, Yasushi didn't even look up. He immediately formed rapid one-handed seals while Susanoo synchronized, dancing its massive palms into afterimages.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
In Yasushi's view, treating Susanoo like a mobile suit for melee combat was merely conventional tactics—far too inefficient.
Susanoo could also cast ninjutsu!
Susanoo Chidori, Susanoo Kirin, Kamui Shuriken, Kamui Lightning Blade... each more absurd than the last!
Susanoo was like Sage Mode—a jutsu amplifier. Any ninjutsu released through Susanoo had power comparable to Tailed Beast attacks.
Indeed, Susanoo's giant mouth opened as dark crimson chakra frantically gathered within. A fireball sized like a Tailed Beast Ball rapidly formed, falling headlong toward the enemy formation.
Intense light instantly illuminated the entire battlefield. Shadows had nowhere to hide under the radiance.
Under this brilliant flame's illumination, those shadow techniques vanished instantly like spring snow exposed to sunlight, achieving nothing whatsoever.
Where the fireball passed, surrounding rainwater was instantly vaporized by high temperatures, forming thick white mist that distorted visibility.
Yasushi understood clearly that while each of the three Ino-Shika-Cho members was merely an elite jonin—not weak in combat but with obvious vulnerabilities—they were easily countered and killed.
Like Yamanaka Fu earlier—Yasushi hadn't even targeted him specifically before repeated backlash killed him. His signature Mind Clone Switch Technique never even had a chance to be used.
But once the three formed a squad, vulnerabilities were covered while advantages were doubled, achieving effects surpassing Kage-level.
However, Ino-Shika-Cho tactics also had weaknesses.
This wasn't fixed, unchanging tactical routine but slow-burning tactics requiring battlefield strategist Nara Shikaku to make targeted adjustments based on enemies, environment, and combat situation. He could play tactics with endless variations.
In other words, the longer someone understood the enemy and grasped battlefield conditions, the more targeted Shikaku's tactics became, growing increasingly effective.
Conversely, the longer a battle dragged, the higher Ino-Shika-Cho's victory probability.
Their weakness also stemmed from this.
The tactical core was the trio's strategist, Nara Shikaku.
Once Shikaku was pressed hard, running for his life without time to formulate tactics, the other two would be pulled along helplessly, forced to rescue allies continuously while combat effectiveness plummeted.
If Shikaku could be defeated at maximum speed, the remaining two had equally obvious weaknesses—no harder to handle than other jonin.
Understanding this, Yasushi directed all attacks at Nara Shikaku.
Capture the king first!
He would eliminate Nara Shikaku at maximum speed first.