Obito's expression turned ugly.
He hadn't expected to be held up for so long by a few ants like this. How was that any different from getting slapped in the face?
He had Mangekyō Sharingan and the Rinnegan, and he was commanding four Edo Tensei jinchūriki. His power level was absurd, so how had he allowed a few ants to stall him?
If Madara and Kabuto found out, wouldn't they just mock him again?
Obito's anger spiked. His Rinnegan flared, unleashing Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push). The blast radius was huge. Shikamaru was blown away on the spot, and the Shishienjin (Four Violet Flames Formation) shattered instantly.
The four shinobi maintaining the barrier formation were caught in the shockwave and slammed to the ground in an instant.
"Hmph! You've wasted enough of my time. You can all die now." Obito's eyes were filled with killing intent as he controlled the four jinchūriki to move in for the kill.
Yet in the very next second, Shikamaru suddenly dropped into a full dogeza, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Don't kill us! I'll tell you where the jinchūriki are!"
Obito froze for a moment, then looked silently at Shikamaru.
The others also stared at Shikamaru in disbelief. But they knew he wasn't the type to sell out a comrade just to save his own life. Shikamaru was a smart man; if he was doing this, he definitely had a plan. So they all fixed their eyes on him and kept their mouths shut.
Since that was the case, they might as well listen. They could always kill them afterwards.
If he was in a good mood, he might even spare a few ants.
"Talk," Obito ordered.
Shikamaru said instead, "You have to promise to spare us first. If you agree, I'll talk."
Obito was impatient, but he still nodded. "Fine. I promise not to kill you. Now hurry up and speak. Don't waste my time."
Shikamaru let out a huge sigh of relief and quickly said, "I know Naruto is at Mount Myoboku…"
"Exactly, Shikamaru! You're close friends with Naruto. How can you sell out a comrade like that? Even if you survive, no one will acknowledge you!" Asuma roared.
"But…"
Ino spoke up weakly, "But I think Shikamaru should say it. Our lives matter too. Why do we have to die just to protect a jinchūriki's secret? We never liked jinchūriki that much anyway, right? I'm still young and pretty, and I haven't even been in love yet. I don't want to die, sob…"
Shikamaru almost couldn't hold back his laughter and silently gave everyone a thumbs-up in his heart.
He hadn't expected them all to act this well. No need for direction; everyone slipped right into their roles. Ino's performance in particular made the scene that much more convincing.
This way, not only could they buy their lives for the moment, they could also drag things out.
Shikamaru knew Natsuki was on his way.
He snapped at Asuma, "Asuma, can't you see? Ino is so young and pretty. You really want to just let her die like this? As long as we keep quiet ourselves, nobody will ever know we leaked the jinchūriki's location, so what's the problem? You can think whatever you want; I'm going to live. Anyone who tries to stop me, I'll fight them too!"
Now Asuma, Darui, and Choji all fell silent, only glowering at Shikamaru.
Which was fine.
As for Ino, all she had to do was bury her head and sob. That was enough to keep them from seeing through the act.
Shikamaru hurriedly smiled at Obito. "As far as I know, Naruto was taken to Mount Myoboku by Jiraiya. The Seven-Tails jinchūriki went with them. That information is solid."
Obito frowned. "How do you get to Mount Myoboku?"
Shikamaru shook his head. "I don't know that part. But Jiraiya definitely does. With your abilities, catching Jiraiya should be nothing. After all, you have the Rinnegan, right?"
Obito didn't comment on that, but pressed on. "What about the other jinchūriki?"
Shikamaru answered honestly, "Gaara, the One-Tails jinchūriki, is at headquarters serving as overall commander. Honestly, the Hokage was crazy to agree to let a jinchūriki serve as commander. It's completely—"
"That's enough. I don't need your pointless opinions. Keep talking about the other jinchūriki…"
"Oh, there's also Sasuke and the Eight-Tails jinchūriki…"
A piercing eagle cry split the sky. Shikamaru smiled. "Kakashi-sensei already took them into the Kamui space. Didn't you see it?"
Obito froze, finally catching on. "You're playing me? You want to die that badly?"
Choji opened a new bag of snacks and crunched loudly. "So what if we are? We know you used to be the dead-last. No wonder your head doesn't work right. We put on a little show and you fell for it. Truly brainless."
Asuma and Darui both shrugged, as if their anger from just moments ago had never existed.
Ino even took out a little mirror, checking her face and carefully wiping away the tear marks at the corners of her eyes. In truth, there hadn't been any real tears to begin with.
Now Obito could no longer keep it together. Just a moment ago he'd thought Shikamaru was scared to death and tattling on his own. He'd been feeling smug about it, only to find out they'd all been acting together to play him.
"You were stalling for time?"
You guessed right, but there's no prize.
The answer came in Neji's voice. He, Shino, and Yamato dropped from the sky, landing right in front of Obito. Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji hurriedly ducked behind Neji, worried Obito would go berserk and lash out.
Ino still had the leisure to wave up at the sky. "Badora! Thanks! When we get back to the village, I'll make Shikamaru buy you a whole deer to eat!"
Shikamaru sighed helplessly. "Hey, hey, venison is expensive! …Forget it. We owe Badora big time this round. If he'd been any slower, I really couldn't have kept the act going."
"Ri-iight," Badora answered with a ringing eagle cry, soaring freely across the sky.
"Is everyone alright?" Shino asked, concerned.
"Not really. We almost got blown to bits by a Bijuu Dama (Tailed Beast Bomb). Good thing you showed up when you did." Ino let out a very real sigh of relief.
A lot of what she'd said earlier had been pure acting, but that didn't mean she actually wanted to die.
She was young, pretty, and still single. Of course she didn't want to die.
Neji fixed his gaze on Obito, his voice cold. "So, you were planning to pass through here. Where were you heading? Actually, you don't need to answer. Today, you'll die here."
As he spoke, he raised his hand and unleashed a powerful gravitational pull, dragging at the tailed beast sealed inside Obito's body.
Seeing this, Obito immediately forced Yugito into a tailed-beast transformation. A massive blue flaming cat burst from the earth and roared furiously at the group.
But being bigger didn't mean it was useful.
Neji released a violent repulsive force, blasting the giant blue cat away.
(End of Chapter)
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