Chapter 260: Vital Ninjutsu Material
"Is it Naruto again?"
In the shadows, Kabuto glanced at the remaining group before speeding off in the direction of Kimimaro. His exceptional experience as a spy allowed him to move in a way that Naruto didn't sense him at all. Kabuto wasn't there to intercept Naruto; he was there to safeguard Kimimaro.
It seemed Lord Orochimaru's premonition was correct—the members of this Konoha squad were all quite formidable youngsters. He pushed up his glasses.
Whoosh—!
On the forest road between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rice Fields, a green blur was sprinting at high speeds. The predatory beasts lurking in the brush felt only a gust of wind pass them by. By the time they looked, no one was there.
"Naruto, I'm coming!"
Rock Lee's legs were like spinning wheels, moving so fast they were practically a blur. His youth was boiling over.
Zip!
Neji landed on a tree trunk, spotted the secret code carved into the wood, aimed himself in that direction, and continued the pursuit. After defeating Kidomaru, his chakra reserves were significantly depleted. However, he still had the strength to fight, and Choji's food pills had helped him recover quite a bit.
Swish! Swish!
"Naruto, you must bring Sasuke back..."
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Tonbo Tobitake watched the battle of the four ninjas from the shadows. The butterfly effect had truly manifested. What was originally a series of 1v1 duels had now turned into a complex 2v2 struggle.
"However, Kiba should be more than a match for Sakon."
Kiba had been personally tutored by Tonbo for a period of time. In school, Kiba had strictly followed Tonbo's learning philosophy—not just theory, but massive amounts of practical experience. He wasn't the reckless brawler of the original story; he should have no problem handling Sakon.
The only variable was that Sakon, having not encountered Genma's squad, was in peak condition.
As for Shikamaru... with Kiba's assistance, this should be much easier than fighting alone. In the original timeline, a strategist like Shikamaru suffered without a teammate to cover his physical openings. With Shikamaru's intellect and the combat simulations they had shared, the two should be able to coordinate perfectly.
And indeed, the battlefield shifted.
"Kiba!"
After a period of intense combat, Shikamaru found a flaw in their coordination. Using a Flash Bomb to create a burst of light, he successfully connected his shadow to both enemies.
Kiba's combat experience shone through. He and Akamaru crossed paths simultaneously, tearing Sakon's body apart. He was nearly reduced to mincemeat.
On the ground where the remains lay, a series of branch-like patterns emerged. Kiba assumed it was simply a side effect of Sakon's death and turned his attention to Tayuya. But just as he moved to attack, his entire body stiffened as if something were invading him.
"Kiba, hurry! I can't hold them much longer!" Shikamaru barked, seeing Kiba daze out. Further away, Tayuya was using her raw strength to nearly break free from the Shadow Possession Jutsu.
"Heh, kid... you almost killed my brother. But you've fallen into our trap."
Suddenly, a head sprouted from Kiba's shoulder. The mangled remains in the distance began to dissolve and extend, crawling into Kiba's paralyzed body.
"It's a good thing Lord Orochimaru gave us this power, or I'd really be dead," Ukon remarked, emerging from Kiba's other shoulder.
"Damn you... what are you..." Kiba's face was filled with horror.
Woof! Woof! Akamaru barked frantically, but even as a "genius dog," he had no idea how to handle this situation. Shikamaru watched in shock, realizing the enemy could fuse their body with others.
They were in trouble. To make matters worse, Tayuya had already placed her flute to her lips.
Doot, doot, doot—!
The discordant melody rang out. The three Doki summons began to change, spitting out three phantom, ghost-like spiritual entities that flew toward the distant Shikamaru.
"What? He actually discarded my nerves..."
From the shadows, Tonbo saw Sakon being crushed, only for him to merge into Kiba's body. In his final sensory reading, Tonbo realized Sakon had broken his body down into a powder of cells and proteins to invade Kiba.
Ukon had taken the hit for Sakon. Because Sakon had reduced his body to a cellular level, he could no longer carry the nerves Tonbo had attached to him; they had been "cracked" and shed.
"Wait... isn't this the perfect material for the displacement jutsu I've been researching?"
Tonbo recalled his previous jutsu research. He wanted to achieve high-speed displacement through his network of distributed nerves. However, his experiments in turning the body into a chakra-form had many difficulties.
Sakon's technique was exactly what he needed. Turning the body into cellular or protein-level dust would definitely allow the body to be transferred through a neural network.
Tiger Seal!
Tonbo wove a sign, triggering the nerves inside Kiba's body. They began to extend toward Kiba's cells, enveloping his entire form and spreading toward Sakon and Ukon.
He wouldn't let this opportunity slip. Sakon's current state was the perfect window for observation. Once the battle was over, he would read his physical memories and collect the data. For now, Sakon was his experimental subject.
"Brother, what's wrong with your face?"
"Yours is the same."
Sakon and Ukon looked at each other's faces. The branch-like nerve patterns from Tonbo were now surfacing on them and Kiba.
"I think... I saw this stuff earlier," Sakon muttered, remembering the unknown substance that fell from his body when he used the Parasite Demon Demolition Jutsu. He had planned to investigate after the battle, but now it was everywhere. Was this some secret Inuzuka technique?
Kiba, seeing the patterns on their heads, also assumed it was their secret technique. He grew even more anxious. He forced his hand to pull a kunai from his pouch and aimed it at his own stomach.
If these patterns connected them all, then stabbing himself would surely hurt them too. He couldn't wait any longer; he had to take the risk. He could see Shikamaru was already at his limit.
"Divide."
Tonbo quickly finished gathering the data on the twins' biology. Just as Kiba was about to bring the kunai down, Tonbo triggered the nerves to release a powerful Genjutsu. He amplified the twins' fear, forcing them to eject themselves from Kiba's body.
He immediately reinjected his nerves into them. As long as he provided chakra, the nerves could extend and divide.
Kiba's plan had been sound—stabbing himself would hurt them—but the twins were two people. As long as one escaped, Kiba would be finished. Furthermore, Shikamaru was struggling against a full-strength Tayuya.
Shikamaru wasn't a genius like Neji or a "data monster" like Choji. His only finishing move, the Shadow Strangle Jutsu, was being overpowered by the raw physical strength of a Cursed Seal user.
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