Clang!
The Naruto shadow clone thrust out his long sword, cutting down a Sound ninja in a single blow.
"This is endless…" Naruto's expression darkened slightly as he watched several more Sound ninjas surround them. He had no idea what was going to happen next, but he couldn't afford to have these grunts deplete all his chakra. Although his original body had allocated nearly half of its chakra to this clone, it couldn't withstand this kind of consumption.
"Can you still hold out?" Naruto asked in a low voice. Even he was finding it somewhat difficult to cope with this terrifying rate of chakra drain, let alone someone with Shikamaru's smaller reserves.
Shikamaru let out a light breath. "This time, I really have to hold on, even if I can't."
"How many can you control?" Naruto asked, knocking away all the incoming kunai.
"…Two." Shikamaru grimaced, sensing the chakra remaining within him.
"…" Naruto glanced around. The area was filled with small skirmishes; the attacking Sound and Sand ninjas showed no signs of stopping.
"Attack!"
Weng!
Instantly, a large amount of Wind-natured chakra enveloped Kusabimaru. He had to disengage quickly; if he dallied and this shadow clone's chakra ran out, Shikamaru would definitely be in trouble.
Sheathing his long sword, only for a an instant, Kusabimaru was then drawn from its scabbard at an ultra-high speed. The long sword moved like light, like a shadow, its afterimages moving far faster than human dynamic vision could track, even leaving a cross-shaped blur in everyone's eyes.
"Secret Technique: Ashina Cross!"
Sensing the meager chakra left within him, Naruto grabbed Shikamaru and swiftly retreated.
Outside the Chunin Exam arena, in a secluded corner.
Yakushi Kabuto's body trembled slightly. His heart, which should have stopped beating, pulsed once more. He struggled to open his eyes, gazing up at the blue sky and white clouds through blood-rimmed sockets. At this moment, he had only one feeling—
It's great to be alive!
Only after having lost something does one truly know how to cherish it…
"I must leave quickly!" Kabuto shakily pushed himself up. In his current state, forget about encountering a ninja; even if he ran into a moderately strong man, he'd be done for.
"Looks like I need to hurry up with the next phase of body modification. If it were Lord Orochimaru, he surely wouldn't be in such a sorry state as I am."
Hokage Tower.
Naruto, disguised in an ANBU uniform, carefully concealed himself in the shadows of a corner. With Sunagakure and Otogakure launching their invasion, most of Konoha's ninjas were out repelling the enemy, leaving only a handful to guard the tower.
[Looks like the temporary command center isn't set up in the Hokage Tower.] Naruto sensed the presences within the building and thought to himself. It made sense; facing such an invasion, setting up the command center in the Hokage Tower would be like placing your high ground right in front of the attackers.
Seizing a gap, Naruto's figure flickered, instantly appearing inside the Hokage Tower.
First basement level.
Two ninjas stared at the tightly shut door, their expressions somewhat tense. The orders they had received were: if compromised, immediately destroy all intelligence here. Under normal circumstances, a place like theirs, which stored ordinary-level intelligence, wouldn't be targeted. But life was unpredictable; who could guarantee that what hadn't happened before wouldn't happen this time?
Click…
A faint sound came from above their heads. Just as the two were about to look up and investigate, they slumped into unconsciousness.
"My skills haven't gotten rusty." Naruto retrieved the senbon from their necks. In his past life, he hadn't possessed his current terrifying physical attributes, so he had inevitably spent more effort on such small tricks. Poison—the supreme method for defeating enemies. Low investment, yet it often yielded immense returns.
Yakushi Kabuto hadn't deceived him; those hand seals were indeed for the barrier's release. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to enter so smoothly from above.
He briefly examined the general arrangement of the scrolls: they were organized chronologically. Naruto quickly located the intelligence scrolls for Konoha Year 48.
Ten minutes later.
Naruto looked up, exasperated. Just as he'd thought, an intelligence room whose location was known to the enemy wouldn't store any truly top-secret information. While the intelligence stored here wasn't something an average genin or chunin could access, it definitely couldn't be classified as top secret. Most of the content was rather middling.
For example: Konoha Year 48, September 12th: The Daimyo of the Land of Fields, after a secret meeting with a mysterious ninja, began to raise funds to prepare for the construction of a ninja village. September 15th: The Daimyo of the Land of Birds engaged in a third round of correspondence with the Daimyo of the Land of Rivers; the content of the letters was unknown.November 5th: The Kekkei Genkai merchant, Oyashiro En, pre-ordered a Transparent Release Kekkei Genkai.
"…" Naruto sighed softly. This information wasn't entirely useless, but it was better than nothing. He reckoned the commotion outside would continue for quite a while; he might as well use the intelligence here to broaden his horizons.
"Naruto, Shikamaru! Quick, come help!" Ino's shout came from above. The two exchanged a glance. With Kurenai and Sarutobi Asuma present, their assistance shouldn't be needed… But since they had been called, it felt somewhat inappropriate not to go. The two of them leaped up.
"???" Looking at the four jonin also nearby, the two fell silent.
"Go! Let's go up and help!" Ino said enthusiastically.
"They probably don't need our help, right?" Shikamaru sighed in resignation. Even after taking a military rations pill, his chakra was still somewhat lacking.
"Of course they don't need our help with Kakashi-sensei and the others there," Ino said matter-of-factly. "But if we don't go up, all the battle merits will be gone."
"…I think I'll pass on the battle merits for now. My chakra is about to give out," the Naruto shadow clone sighed in resignation. When had he ever lived so frugally?
In the time it took the three of them to talk, Kakashi and the others had already dealt with all the surrounding enemies.
"Shikamaru, Naruto, I have an A-rank mission for you," Kakashi said, walking over to them. "Catch up to Sasuke and help him deal with that Sand ninja, Gaara!" As he spoke, he formed hand seals and summoned a cute ninken.
"My name is Pakkun!" the small dog said, raising a fleshy paw.
"Pakkun will lead you to Sasuke," Kakashi finished. After exchanging a glance with Guy and the others, he headed towards the location of the Third Hokage's battle.
"Is there anything else to do?" Pakkun asked.
Naruto looked at Shikamaru; he was better suited for command.
"First, let's find a few people," Shikamaru said after a moment's thought, turning his head to look towards another skirmish involving several of the younger genin.
[Sasuke-kun…] Sakura, most of her body wrapped in bandages, gazed worriedly in the direction Uchiha Sasuke had departed.
After the jonin had cleared the area earlier, only some insignificant small fry remained near the arena, easily dealt with even by the younger genin.
"Lee, Neji, Kiba, Shino, plus Naruto and myself…" Shikamaru explained the mission Kakashi had just assigned. During wartime, jonin had the authority to issue temporary missions, so the others understood and accepted the arrangements.
"I'm going too!" Sakura stepped forward.
Ino quickly stepped forward to hold her back. This wasn't the time to be willful, not when she was covered in bandages.
"You can't go," Shikamaru rebuked her.
"Why?" Sakura pulled her hand free from Ino's grasp and asked in disbelief. "Sasuke-kun and I are teammates, why can't I go?"
"You're too weak, and you're injured. If you go, you'll just be a burden!" During wartime, everything had to be handled with urgency; Shikamaru had no intention of explaining things gently.
"Pakkun, let's go!"