While the Nara clan's shadow techniques were tricky, they had weaknesses once you knew what to look for. Besides, this Shikamaru was far from mature—a far cry from the man who would one day serve as the Hokage's advisor.
"You'd resort to any means to win, even if it earns you a bad name? That's a terrifying ninja philosophy..." Kunai in hand, Shikamaru barely managed to parry a strike from the miniature Three-Moon Fan wielded by Daigan's puppet, stumbling back again. *The puppet may be small, but its power is nothing to scoff at. This isn't looking good.*
Though he had never fought a Puppet Master before, it was obvious that getting entangled with the puppet would only lead to defeat. The key was to get to Daigan himself. But even in a taijutsu match, the out-of-practice Shikamaru was no match for him. Any traps he laid would just be destroyed by Daigan's wide-area Sand Manipulation Technique. His only path to victory was his shadow secret technique, but he couldn't find an opening.
Desperately searching for a strategy, Shikamaru's gaze drifted toward Ino, who was fighting on even terms with Chi, and then to Choji, who, despite his impressive power, couldn't land a blow on the nimble Yome and was accumulating wounds from her surprise attacks.
"Hey, where are you looking?" Daigan and his puppet attacked from the front and back, cutting off Shikamaru's path to his teammates. "Am I invisible? You're making me lose face. Am I not putting enough pressure on you?" As he spoke, Daigan flicked his chakra threads, and the puppet intensified its assault.
Pressed from all sides, Shikamaru grew anxious. "Choji, stop messing with that shorty! Get over here and regroup with me!"
"But... that pipsqueak just called me fat..."
As Choji hesitated, Yome's kunai sliced open another gash on his arm.
"Calling me a pipsqueak is just as rude, you fat pig!"
"I'm just well-built, not fat! And definitely not a pig!"
"Choji, calm down! We can get revenge after we win!" Shikamaru yelled, sweat pouring down his forehead. "Get over here now! We have to stick together, or we'll all lose today."
"Alright!" Choji roared, his anger flaring. "Secret Technique: Multi-Size Technique!"
His body swelled, and with his increased strength, he forced Yome back before turning toward Shikamaru. "Human Bullet Tank!"
Tucking in his limbs, Choji rolled forward with devastating force, batting away the kunai and shuriken Yome threw at him.
*That's some incredible power,* Daigan thought. Although its accuracy was poor and it was unlikely to hit anyone without the support of shadow and mind techniques, a direct hit from that could crush boulders. Even Daigan's own battle-hardened body might not withstand it.
Daigan was forced to dodge the rampaging Human Bullet Tank, giving the battered Shikamaru a chance to catch his breath.
"Yome, go help Chi. Take out the girl first."
"But, you'll be alone against two of them..."
"I've got this!"
It wasn't arrogance; Daigan had sized up the situation. Having started with a sneak attack, Team Otokaze already had the upper hand. None of their three opponents were unscathed. Akimichi Choji's clan technique consumed a massive amount of chakra and stamina; it was always meant to be a finisher used after the mind and shadow techniques had set up the target. They looked like a well-coordinated offensive and defensive unit now, but once Choji's chakra ran out, they wouldn't even have the strength to resist.
So far, Daigan had only used one wind-style jutsu and had otherwise relied on his puppet, which consumed far less chakra. Anyone who couldn't attack the Puppet Master himself would eventually be toyed with to death.
Yome turned to help Chi, and for the moment, the battle there was set aside. Choji came to a halt, positioning himself in front of Shikamaru.
"Trying to hide the fact that you're preparing a shadow technique? It's useless. I've already seen through your little tricks. As long as I avoid the shadows, there's nothing to worry about. Now, let me show you that some gaps in power simply can't be bridged."
Daigan pulled a flash bomb from his pouch, tossed it into the air, and it exploded. The intense light washed away every shadow on the ground. Shikamaru and Choji shielded their eyes from the blinding glare. Daigan, however, directed his puppet to close in swiftly. The sharp edge of its fan grazed Shikamaru's shoulder and pointed at his throat.
"I win. That was easy." Daigan rushed toward the exhausted Choji and chopped the back of his neck, knocking him to the ground.
Just as Daigan was about to cut open Choji's pouch to take the scroll, he froze.
"Shadow Imitation Technique, success!"
"How is that possible?" Daigan looked on in disbelief. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at the subdued Shikamaru. There was no shadow connecting them. There were no usable shadows from the sky, nor could there be a shadow tunnel underground.
"You're a cautious one," the downed Choji said, slowly getting to his feet. To Daigan's astonishment, he transformed back into Nara Shikamaru. "If you hadn't been in such a rush to take me down, I don't know how I would've turned this around."
"You're Shikamaru, which means the one over there is..."
As expected, the "Shikamaru" who had seemed completely helpless transformed back into Akimichi Choji.
"When did you two switch?"
"When you used the flash bomb and no one could see a thing."
"The flash bomb? I see!" Daigan realized his mistake. The two had used the moment of total blindness to use the Transformation Jutsu and swap places. The flash had blinded him too, and he had attacked based on his memory of their positions, unwittingly walking into his own trap and allowing them to pull off a tactical deception.
"Figured it out?" Shikamaru stretched his stiff shoulders and walked over to Choji, checking his injuries. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw they weren't serious. "That was close, but the reward for winning is just as great..."
As Shikamaru spoke, he reached for Daigan's scroll pouch. A powerful fist slammed into his stomach.
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