Whoosh! Whoosh!
White maggots swept past Shikamaru's body, and a mass of physical energy was bitten out by them.
At the same time, a branch-like object was also sucked into his body.
Shikamaru weakened considerably.
Rumble!
On the other side, without Shikamaru's assistance, Kiba, who specialized in taijutsu, was no match for Jirobo, who had activated his Cursed Mark.
The Inuzuka style of taijutsu could only fall into a disadvantage against Jirobo's multi-hit taijutsu.
Even with Akamaru, it was not enough; Jirobo's body had become too strong under the enhancement of the Cursed Mark.
"Damn it, Akamaru."
Kiba also noticed Shikamaru's situation and knew they couldn't wait any longer.
Bang!
In just a moment, a giant two-headed wolf appeared before everyone.
Roar!
"Fang Over Fang."
"Summoning Technique: Rashomon."
Facing Kiba's super-strong Ninjutsu attack and the high-density air currents swirling around him, Jirobo immediately analyzed that the Parasitic Demonic Demolition Technique couldn't integrate into Kiba's body like before, so he immediately used the Summoning Technique.
A giant gate blocked Kiba's path.
"This is Lord Orochimaru's strongest defensive Ninjutsu…"
Jirobo just sneered, but before he could finish speaking, he saw Kiba's attack swerve.
Boom!
"Tayuya."
The sudden change made Jirobo's expression shift.
Tayuya noticed Kiba's attack, but it was already upon her.
She quickly adjusted the melody controlling the Angry Demon to a genjutsu attack on Inuzuka Kiba.
She wanted to suppress him with genjutsu.
"Too naive, I'm someone Satoru taught."
Bang!
With a cold laugh from Kiba, Tayuya's body was torn to shreds, this time completely pulverized.
Only half of her head fell to the ground.
The Cursed Mark on her body also slowly disappeared.
Then the two-headed wolf turned to look at Jirobo, its eyes filled with the wildness of a beast.
Shikamaru, panting heavily, gave Kiba a thumbs-up.
Just in time.
"Damn it." This time, it was Jirobo's turn to suffer.
Boom!
Kiba didn't give him any more time, launching another Tornado attack.
And Shikamaru, understanding Kiba's meaning, controlled his shadow to extend towards Jirobo… Facing the attacks from both of them, even with Jirobo's powerful strength, he could only be defeated.
He fell to the ground.
Like Tayuya, Kiba completely tore his body to pieces, turning him into fragments.
However, Kiba and Akamaru's stamina consumption was also very high.
After all, they had used Fang Over Fang twice.
"Kiba, well done. Next, we need to go support Naruto."
Shikamaru approached and handed him a Military Ration Pill.
Kiba nodded, and after searching for the secret signal Naruto left, he followed Shikamaru.
After they left, Satoru emerged from the shadows.
He placed his hand on Jirobo's remaining head and used the Mind Reading Technique.
After a period of time, he withdrew his hand.
He then went to Tayuya's side and did the same.
However, Tayuya's brain was too scattered, even more fragmented than Jirobo's head.
After collecting some of Jirobo's shredded flesh, he sealed it in a scroll.
This guy's ability was a Bloodline Limit type, which means an ability developed by combining two nature transformations.
Satoru needed this kind of nature transformation ability.
And Tayuya's ability, which was those several Summoning Beasts possibly cultivated by Orochimaru, he had already collected data on them.
That move earlier was a very pure spiritual energy Chakra, which is why he could extract physical energy from Shikamaru.
The Pupil Setting Hand ability was inspired by Satoru from the original Tayuya… On the other side, Neji caught up and rendezvoused with Shikamaru and Kiba.
After a brief report on the situation, the three of them tracked Sasuke's whereabouts together.
However, Choji's situation made Shikamaru a bit worried.
"Don't worry, didn't you say Choji is very strong?"
Kiba smiled at him.
Woof woof ~
Akamaru also agreed.
With his special sense of smell, Choji was indeed very strong.
Shikamaru smiled at the words: "He is!"
...Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three dark figures darted through the forest.
"Gaara, they've split up, let's move too."
"Mm."
After nodding to each other, they began to disperse.
Gaara watched his disappearing sister and brother, murmuring: "Naruto…"
...Swish! Swish!
A green figure moved at high speed.
After checking the direction of travel and the surrounding traces, he made a decision and continued forward in one direction… "Hmm?
These Konoha guys are really capable; no wonder Lord Orochimaru had a bad premonition."
Kabuto, escorting behind Kimimaro, suddenly sensed something and pushed up his glasses.
He then looked at Naruto and Kimimaro.
He stopped: "The gap between Naruto and Kimimaro is too great; there's no need to follow. I'll cover Kimimaro's rear."
He slowly turned back, then his figure gradually blurred and became transparent, disappearing…
A green lantern grass emerged from the tree trunk.
"What a thrilling chase!"
Zetsu watched Shikamaru and the others about to disappear in the distance.
"Indeed, an Uchiha member actually has so many companions chasing him.
It's quite unexpected."
Beside him, a Masked Man with a spiral mask appeared.
"He's one of the few remaining Uchiha. Is it really okay to leave him to Orochimaru?" Zetsu asked the spiral-Masked Man.
The spiral-Masked Man: "Hmm, I believe Uchiha Itachi won't let his brother die at Orochimaru's hands."
"Heh, why are you so concerned about Itachi? Is the real threat that great?" Zetsu chuckled.
"You don't understand. Compared to people like Itachi and Orochimaru, Nagato is actually the least of our worries."
"Your human emotions, I indeed find them hard to experience, except for certain people's genjutsu…"
Zetsu recalled that feeling of wanting to defecate; it was a rare experience.
"Then what exactly are we here to do?
Find Orochimaru and then kill him? It might be a bit difficult; that guy isn't easy to deal with."
Zetsu said to him.
All Akatsuki members were confident in dealing with Orochimaru.
But when it came to actually dealing with him, it was hard to say.
"No, I'm just here to see if Itachi's brother has the potential.
Currently, it seems his charisma indeed has the potential to surpass Itachi."
The spiral-Masked Man said.
Hatred drives the young man, possessing the will for revenge, the foundation of the Uchiha's strength.
Isn't that Itachi's goal?
"If Itachi knew that everything was within your calculations, he probably wouldn't feel too good." Zetsu chuckled.
"No, if he knew, then we wouldn't feel good."
The spiral-Masked Man murmured to himself.
Did Itachi think he didn't know the purpose of his joining Akatsuki?
No, Itachi knew that he knew his plan, but he still did it.
It was to keep an eye on him, the instigator of the Uchiha clan massacre.
And also the instigator of the Nine-Tailed incident.
Everyone knew each other's thoughts, understanding full well.
"Let's go, there's no more show to watch. If Itachi gets impulsive and tries to take me down with him, that wouldn't be good."
The spiral-Masked Man worried that staying away too long would make Itachi think about a mutual kill.
He believed Itachi could do it.
So he needed the power of Uchiha Sasuke.