"Peace?" Shikamaru scoffed with undisguised contempt. As if anyone would believe that load of crap!
"That's right! Peace!" Madara Uchiha declared righteously. "We're collecting the Tailed Beasts to harness their immense power..."
He then laid out his plan to Shikamaru: use the moon to cast an infinite Tsukuyomi across the entire world, plunging everyone into a dream state under his control. That way, there would be no more war.
"Ha ha ha ha..." Shikamaru couldn't hold back his laughter anymore. He burst into mocking laughter.
"Madara Uchiha, hah! Don't make me laugh. That 'Infinite Tsukuyomi' of yours is just a cover, you're only after the Ten-Tails!"
He shot Madara a disdainful look. "Only Pain would be foolish enough to be used by you."
Shikamaru was sure of it: Madara wasn't using Pain to collect the Tailed Beasts just to unseal the Demonic King from the underworld. His real goal was to resurrect the Ten-Tails. Shikamaru didn't care about the details. Kill Madara, and the problem would be solved.
"You..." Madara's eyes widened in shock. He couldn't believe how much Shikamaru had figured out.
"No more talk. Quietly accept your death." Shikamaru said coldly, his hands flashing through a series of seals.
"Shadow Ninja Art – Shadow Gold!"
As he shouted, countless shadow-forged shuriken materialized around him, gleaming with lethal energy.
"Shadow Ninja Art – Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
With a thunderous whoosh, the cloud of shuriken multiplied and launched toward Madara in a storm-like barrage, blanketing the sky.
"Hmph." Madara let out a cold snort. He had already anticipated that persuasion would fail. He only needed to keep Shikamaru occupied for three days to ensure the safe retrieval of Shukaku, the One-Tail. Though, if he could get rid of Shikamaru in the process, even better.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The swarm of shadow shuriken pierced through Madara's body, yet he remained completely unharmed. It was as if his body hadn't even existed.
"Heh. Your techniques can't touch me," Madara chuckled. His face turned serious as his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan flared open.
"Don't be so sure," Shikamaru retorted coolly, activating his Five-Element Shadow Eye. "Let's see whether your Sharingan is stronger, or my Shadow Eye."
"Shadow Ninja Art – Shadow Gold!"
Another shadow-forged kunai formed in Shikamaru's hand, this one different from before, radiating a strange, razor-sharp aura.
"Shadow Ninja Art – Kunai Penetration!"
He whispered, and the kunai instantly vanished from his hand, reappearing right in front of Madara!
Pfft! A small burst of blood splattered. Madara stared in disbelief at the wound on his shoulder.
"You... You can use space-time ninjutsu?" he asked, stunned.
He had just phased his body into a different space dimension, yet the kunai still grazed him. What was more shocking was that he hadn't sensed any spatial fluctuations from Shikamaru's actions. Only the moment the kunai struck did he feel a slight ripple.
But even so, it had only barely torn into the edge of his space, causing minor damage, not nearly enough to seriously injure him.
Shikamaru didn't answer.
"Shadow Ninja Art – Shadow Gold!"
Another kunai formed in his hand, the composition subtly altered. Among his techniques, Shadow Gold had the greatest piercing ability. While he hadn't yet mastered space-time ninjutsu, the sharpness of his Shadow Gold had nearly ripped through space itself.
With a flick of his wrist, he hurled the kunai at Madara again. Now aware of its threat, Madara didn't dare stay hidden in that spatial seam. He flashed behind Shikamaru.
"Amaterasu!" His Sharingan spun, unleashing black flames toward Shikamaru.
"Shadow Ninja Art – Flame Armor!"
Sensing danger, Shikamaru cloaked himself in shadow flames. The black Amaterasu clashed against his own dark fire, and canceled out.
"You... You're Nan'u the Rogue!" Madara suddenly exclaimed. He hadn't been surprised Shikamaru could resist Amaterasu, but to completely negate it with his own flames? That was something else.
Madara immediately recalled the rogue ninja wanted by all five great nations, famous for using shadow-infused techniques in all five elements, all of which manifested in black. Shikamaru had already revealed black Fire and Gold techniques.
Madara now knew for sure, Shikamaru was the infamous Nan'u the Rogue. Black-element chakra was rare enough, but Gold-type chakra? That made it unmistakable.
"Heh... Nara Shikamaru, join us. Or I'll reveal your identity to the world," Madara threatened with a sinister grin. "Once they know who you are, even Konoha won't protect you."
"You talk too damn much..." Shikamaru muttered. He didn't flinch. He'd known the risk of exposure when he started using these techniques. Let the other villages try for revenge, did they really think Konoha was afraid?
"Shadow Ninja Art – Shadow Gold!"
"Shadow Ninja Art – Multi-Kunai Penetration!"
Dozens of blackened kunai spun into existence around Shikamaru and shot toward Madara again.
Thump-thump-thump!
At such close range, Madara could only phase into a spatial seam. He couldn't fully relocate. Shikamaru's kunai struck him again and again. Though they only grazed him, it left him looking thoroughly disheveled.
"Damn it!" Madara cursed. Apart from Hashirama, no one had ever hurt him like this. Yet here he was, getting battered again and again by Shikamaru.
"Amaterasu!"
"Hmph, Shadow Fire!"
⚔──────────────
Madara, increasingly frustrated, kept spamming Amaterasu, while Shikamaru countered and occasionally snuck in kunai attacks. After half an hour, Madara was covered in blood.
Meanwhile, Shikamaru was only getting more fired up. Madara couldn't touch him. Not even his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan's unlimited Amaterasu could harm Shikamaru.
Madara, on the other hand, grew increasingly alarmed, not just at the defensive power of the Shadow Fire or the piercing force of Shadow Gold, but at Shikamaru's bottomless chakra reserves. He had already used a third of his chakra, but Shikamaru seemed unfazed.
"I have no choice... I have to try Tsukuyomi!" Madara thought grimly. Shikamaru was far more dangerous than he expected. If not for his spatial ninjutsu, Madara was certain he'd have lost already.
"Tsukuyomi!"
The moment Shikamaru hurled another kunai, Madara locked eyes with him and activated Tsukuyomi.
"Heh. Finally..." Shikamaru smirked inwardly. I've been waiting for this. Time to see what happens when his Four Symbols clashed directly with Tsukuyomi.
"Four Symbols!"
BOOM!
Their mental energies collided. Both men's vision shifted, and they were transported into a strange yet familiar red-tinged space.
Shikamaru found himself bound to a cross. Clearly, he'd been caught in Tsukuyomi. Yet the air was filled with the stormy energies of his own Four Symbols, Wind, Rain, Lightning, and Thunder.
"What the hell?" Madara muttered as he materialized and noticed the abnormal elemental presence.
"What's going on?" he asked aloud.
"Heh..." Shikamaru chuckled. With a flick of his mind, a bolt of black lightning crashed toward Madara.
BOOM!
Madara dodged, but the ground exploded in a crater.
"So that's it... Our eye techniques have merged," Shikamaru realized aloud, grinning. Though he was physically restrained, the Four Symbols' elemental energies in the space still obeyed his will. Madara couldn't even get close.
BOOM! BOOM!
More lightning bolts rained down. Inside this realm, Madara couldn't use his spatial abilities. All he could do was dodge.
"Damn it..." Madara cursed. His own Tsukuyomi was supposed to give him absolute control. Yet here, he couldn't lay a finger on Shikamaru, while the latter bombarded him with shadow-infused lightning.
⚔──────────────
"Cherry Blossom Release – Silent Bloom!"
Back on the battlefield, Sakura let out a cold snort. A cascade of sakura petals rained down from the sky, then exploded violently, destroying dozens of bizarre summoned beasts.
In front of her was a pile of defeated summons. At the center stood a man in Akatsuki robes, Pain's Animal Path. (It was the male Animal Path here like the one Jiraiya fought with)
Since Itachi and Kisame projection bodies had already been defeated earlier than in the original story, Pain had no choice but to send in the Six Paths himself to intercept Sakura's team.
After the fight with the clone bodies, only six members of Sakura's squad remained in fighting condition: Sakura, Tenten, Naruto, Temari, and Lee. The rest were either injured or too drained to continue.
"That idiot Shikamaru! Where the hell did he run off to?!" Sakura cursed under her breath, worried despite herself. He'd gone off after Gaara's kidnappers and hadn't been seen for three days.
"Temari and Tenten still have their abilities. If something happened to Shikamaru, they would've told me... but where did he go?"
She had some idea of what Shikamaru's shadow abilities were capable of.
ROAR!
One of the creatures lunged at her mid-thought, but Sakura quickly dodged.
"Cherry Blossom Release – Petal Dance!"
BOOM!
The monster exploded in a shower of petals, but then split into two more creatures upon hitting the ground.
"Damn it! The more I kill, the more there are!" she growled. She didn't know it, but this was the Animal Path's unique Summoning Multiplication Technique.
Still, she'd figured it out, there was no point fighting endlessly. She had to take out the source: the Animal Path itself.
"Cherry Blossom Release – Silent Bloom!"
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
She tore through wave after wave of beasts and charged straight for the summoner.
"Cherry Blossom Release – Petal Burial!"
⚔──────────────
PFFT!
A simultaneous spurt of blood erupted as both Shikamaru and Madara were ejected from the fused Tsukuyomi-Four Symbols space.
Shikamaru looked exhausted. Madara looked absolutely wrecked. He'd been electrocuted by Shikamaru's shadow lightning countless times in that realm.
Because their eye techniques had fused, neither could control time within the illusion. Escaping it had taken all their strength. They also didn't realize that three full days had passed in the outside world.
"Shadow Ninja Art – Kunai Penetration!"
Without hesitation, Shikamaru hurled a kunai the moment they returned to reality.
SHLICK!
Madara could only block with his arm, which was promptly pierced. He no longer had the luxury of dragging this out. Activating his spatial technique, he disappeared on the spot.
"Damn it! He got away!" Shikamaru growled.
⚔────────
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The Mountain of Ice and Fire (GOT) – 56 advanced chapters!
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