The gale howled. Hair whipped in the wind.
Sawada Fuka lay flat against the Elephant Bird's back, both hands clutching its gray feathers as she squinted through a monocular scope.
The eastern side had been quiet for a long time. The battle there was probably over.
But something had suddenly changed on the battlefield where Haori and the others were surrounded.
Below, where the beasts were still besieging their little group,
a mountain of animal corpses had piled up, leaving a shocking streak of red in the sea of green.
The three kids who had just been letting Naruto's clones take the brunt of everything all stood up at the same time.
The magnification on her scope was not high enough. She could not make out exactly what they were doing, but the green light building in the palm of the strongest one, Haori, set off alarm bells in her head.
That monster is not about to throw a jutsu that can reach me, right?
A terrifying possibility sprang up in Sawada Fuka's mind.
No way.
She forced the thought out.
Being able to hit something at three to five hundred meters already put a technique among the very best long-range ninjutsu. To avoid being targeted, she had specifically ordered the Elephant Bird to climb to nearly a thousand meters.
There were very few people in the shinobi world who could fly.
Which meant jutsu designed specifically to combat flying enemies were just as rare.
Ninety-nine percent of shinobi, to put it bluntly, had no anti-air capability at all. She was pretty sure even the Fourth Raikage, standing right underneath her, could only glare up helplessly at this kind of altitude.
And she just happened to run into the one percent exception?
Not likely.
And if Haori really did have some jutsu that could reach a thousand meters straight up, she would have used it long ago. Why sit there waiting?
It was not like she would just invent a brand new long-range technique on the spot in the last few minutes.
Sawada Fuka pressed her lips together.
Konoha's reinforcements had not arrived yet and the eastern battle seemed to be over. Her mood lightened noticeably.
She already had both the Nine-Tails and the Byakugan tied down, and Kumogakure's elite jonin were about to arrive.
Most of the plan was already complete. This was no time for anything to go wrong.
Play it safe.
"Go higher."
The Elephant Bird obeyed the order.
Its wings beat furiously as it climbed toward even thinner skies.
In the air, her little adjustment did not go unnoticed.
"The bird has gone higher," Haori said.
"It will not help," Ino replied calmly.
She held up her hands, thumbs and index fingers forming a rectangular frame that neatly boxed in the distant silhouette of the giant bird.
Shikamaru stared at the shadow on the ground and waited in silence.
The mental techniques of the Yamanaka and Nara clans were all mechanism-based jutsu. As long as the activation conditions were met, the jutsu would work. Distance did not matter.
The only uncertainty was Haori's newly acquired "secret technique." They had no way of knowing whether it would still retain lethal power after traveling several hundred meters up to swat that bird out of the sky.
Whoosh, whoosh.
The giant bird kept climbing. It shrank in their vision, soon no bigger than a sparrow.
The faint shadow they had been waiting on for so long finally brushed across the crosshatched net of darkness spread on the ground.
Shikamaru's eyes lit up.
"Ino!"
"Right!"
Ino drew a steadying breath. Her hand seals were already locked onto the enemy body. The moment Shikamaru's jutsu took hold, she would launch all of her mental power in a single blow and seize control.
The net of shadows caught the bird's shadow. The two silhouettes merged completely.
Shikamaru pressed his hands together.
"Shadow Imitation Jutsu, success."
The Elephant Bird felt nothing. It simply followed its rider's orders, beating its wings to continue climbing.
Then,
the wings that had always been so flexible suddenly met a strange resistance. A moment later they folded forward of their own accord in front of its body.
Kraa!
The Elephant Bird's startled cry almost made Sawada Fuka jump out of her skin. Before she could react, the safety rope tied around her waist went taut and dragged her along as the bird fell.
Watching the giant bird fold its wings and tumble downward,
Ino tracked it with her joined hands, moving her fingers in a smooth downward glide.
"I cannot hold it much longer," Shikamaru said through gritted teeth.
His whole body was shaking. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. The intense chakra drain made even the inky black of his shadow start to thin out.
Ino gave no reply.
The light in her blue-green eyes had already dimmed.
Without realizing it, she had already cast her Mind Body Switch Technique.
Thump.
Choji, standing behind her, hurriedly caught her as she went limp.
He dragged her with a lurching limp and laid her down beside Naruto.
To buy them the time they needed to cast their jutsu, Naruto had used Shadow Clone Jutsu for the sixth time, throwing his clones out front to hold off the beasts.
The price was that his real body could now only lie flat on the ground, unable to move even a finger.
"Nngh…"
Shikamaru finally broke. His hands fell apart and he sagged to one knee, eyes lifting to follow the giant bird that was still plummeting from the sky.
Whoosh.
The wind roared into her nose and mouth, stealing her breath and sending a primal terror through her chest.
Sawada Fuka grabbed a fistful of skin on the Elephant Bird's neck as they free fell together.
"What… is happening…?"
The rushing air tore her frightened voice into thin, warped threads.
Ino ignored the enemy clinging to the bird's back.
After a brief feel of the Elephant Bird's body, she snapped its wings open again and forced it back into flight.
Only this time they were not climbing.
They were diving.
The storm-wind drowned out the enemy's curses.
Wings cut through the sky at terrifying speed.
Ino, riding on the bird's back, turned them into a living projectile aimed at the ground.
With her Byakugan flaring, Haori tracked the falling target and counted off its altitude while gathering nearly a third of her total chakra into her palm.
Vmmm, vmmmm.
The Wind Release chakra in her hand had been compressed to its absolute limit. It rumbled like a hurricane trapped in a sphere.
She gritted her teeth and locked it in place with her ocular power. If she slipped for even a second and let this bomb detonate prematurely, the wounded kids around her would be erased in an instant.
Shikamaru and the others stared nervously up at the sky, mouths dry.
The form of the giant bird drew closer and closer to the ground, but in the deepening darkness it grew harder and harder to see.
Time crawled on.
The last sliver of light on the horizon finally went out.
The sky turned fully dark. Only a single falling black shape could be seen streaking toward them.
Ino stared at the growing green glow below and forced her fading chakra to keep smothering the bird's consciousness, steering the falling mass toward the only bright point on the ground.
Kraa!
Under Ino's control, the Elephant Bird let out a ragged screech.
Sawada Fuka, clinging to its back, yanked the twin blades from her boots and drove them deep into the bird's flesh.
The pain shocked its mind into a new clarity. Instinct flared. It began fighting Ino for its body.
Two consciousnesses clashed.
The falling body lost all stability. What should have been a straight dive twisted into an erratic, staggering trajectory.
Sweat beaded on Haori's forehead as she held the roaring chakra steady, calculating the enemy's height.
"Seven hundred… five hundred…"
Right then, Ino's chakra finally gave out. She lost control of the Mind Body Switch Technique and was ejected from the Elephant Bird's body.
The bird, suddenly back in its own skin, did not care about anything else. Terrified, it flailed its wings, craning its neck hard as it tried to claw its way back up into the safety of the sky.
But it was already too late.
"Mind Body Switch has ended," Shikamaru called, seeing Ino frown and stir on the ground as her consciousness returned.
Haori did not hesitate anymore.
She pressed her wrists together, fingers tightening into a claw. The Wind Release boiling in her palm tilted, locking onto the target in the sky.
Vmmm.
Blinding green light burst outward, lighting up the heart of the forest.
The vacuum cannon she had been charging finally unleashed its full fury.
The air itself was torn apart by the force of the Wind Release, leaving a piercing green trail straight up into the sky.
"Climb, climb!"
Staring at the brilliant light erupting below, Sawada Fuka screamed. Panic twisted her words.
The Elephant Bird tried to escape, but no matter how fast it flapped, it was still slower than wind.
VMMMM.
The green light swelled, turning into a laser-like beam.
The fleeing silhouette of the giant bird was swallowed whole.
There was no scream, no struggle.
The compressed vacuum cannon slammed into mortal flesh without the slightest resistance.
A giant bird with a wingspan close to twenty meters, along with its rider, was smashed into chunks in an instant.
The green beam pierced straight through them, then continued on through the dark sky for a very long distance before finally fading.
The low rumble of the cannon drifted away bit by bit as the chakra driving it ran out, until the last of the green light vanished.
Haori let out a breath she had not realized she was holding.
Blasting out a full third of her chakra in one shot left even her winded. She drew a few deep breaths before the exhaustion ebbed.
Watching the feathers and pieces of flesh rain down from the sky, Haori allowed herself a satisfied smile.
Enemy and mount, one shot.
Perfect.
"That was insane!" Naruto yelled, somehow finding the strength to jump to his feet. His eyes sparkled as he mimicked the sweeping motion Haori had just used to fire the air cannon.
He was clearly dazzled by the display.
Shikamaru and Choji were no less stunned.
That beam had looked like it could punch a hole straight through the moon. Their entire understanding of Haori had once again been overturned.
Was this really the kind of jutsu someone could pick up in a few minutes?
Could that be right?
Shikamaru's clever mind balked.
It was like half the rules that applied to normal humans just did not apply to the girl in front of him.
Monster.
Haori, who had just fired that earthshattering shot and was only slightly out of breath.
Naruto, who had split into hundreds of clones and had been lying on the ground like a corpse just now, suddenly recovering as if nothing had happened.
Shikamaru suddenly understood why these two could become friends.
"Mmm…"
Ino's lashes trembled as she forced herself upright. Her mind had long since returned, but the heavy chakra drain had left her unable to move until now.
She had only just clawed back a little strength.
"Ino, your back," Choji said, voice tight.
Now that Ino was awake, he could see that the back of her clothes were soaked through with red.
Haori and the others turned toward her at once.
"The enemy on the bird's back stabbed me twice. It is nothing," Ino said, waving a hand with forced nonchalance.
The way her lips kept twitching gave away just how much it actually hurt.
Any wounds she took while riding in someone else's body during the Mind Body Switch Technique would be reflected on her real body as well.
Thank goodness she had released the jutsu earlier. If she had still been riding the enemy when Haori's cannon fired, she would have become one more piece in that raining storm of flesh.
Splat, splat.
Chunks of blood and meat fell from the sky.
The beasts that had been besieging them suddenly fell quiet, then surged forward again, chasing after the falling gore to lick at it greedily.
With her Byakugan, Haori could see clearly that what the animals were really after was not the meat, but the powder that had been shattered and scattered along with it.
"The enemy is down. The beasts are distracted. Looks like we can finally leave," Shikamaru said, joy creeping into his voice as he watched the animals surrounding them suddenly lose all interest in attacking.
Setting aside the two monsters, Naruto and Haori,
Ino and Choji were both injured.
Shikamaru had nearly emptied his chakra reserves to hold the giant bird with his shadow.
Almost half of this hastily assembled little squad had lost the ability to fight.
Now everything was finally over, and the beasts had for some reason stopped attacking.
They could at last leave this deathtrap behind.
No one argued.
Haori, the strongest among them, took point.
Naruto supported Choji.
Shikamaru helped the injured Ino.
The five of them were just about to withdraw.
Roooar…
A sudden howl rose from the east.
An instant later, a bolt of blinding lightning tore through the beast horde, as sharp as a sword, streaking straight toward Haori and the others.
The blazing blue chakra was painfully bright against the pitch-black night.
"Is that one of our teachers?"
A hint of relief crept onto Ino's pale face.
In their current condition, the help of an Academy instructor would be a godsend.
"No."
Haori's expression changed first.
The speed of that lightning was far too fast. It carved a tunnel straight through the beast tide in a blink. No ordinary chunin teacher from the Academy could use Lightning Release on that level.
She pushed her Byakugan to its limit.
The muscular frame wreathed in lightning, along with the dense, elite-jonin-level chakra, made the enemy's identity painfully clear.
"It is a Kumogakure shinobi…"
She never finished.
The towering figure crackling with lightning had already crossed a hundred meters in an eyeblink, its body like a living cannonball as it crashed down on her.
The attack was so fast that even her Byakugan began to blur.
Szzzz.
"Die!"
A roar exploded in her ears as the blinding lightning closed in. The man built like a steel tower drove his fist toward her head, as if he meant to crush her skull in one blow.
Lightning Release at that speed could not be dodged.
All she had time to do was raise her arms to protect her head before the blow landed.
Boom.
The impact was like being hit by a fully loaded truck.
The force poured through her arms into her body. Pain flared, sharp enough to make her think both arms had snapped.
The world spun away from her.
She was flung back over twenty meters in an instant, and even then the force had not fully dissipated.
Szzzz.
The lightning user had no intention of letting her go. He caught up to her in midair.
"Righteous Thunder: Sinking Rage Thunder Axe!"
His deep voice rumbled with fury and killing intent.
His right leg, wrapped in dense chakra, swung high overhead before chopping down toward the airborne Haori.
Her eyes flew wide.
She had no leverage at all in midair. Dodging this strike was impossible.
Boom.
The terrifying axe kick smashed into the earth and detonated a fountain of dust and stone.
Shikamaru and the others stared, stunned speechless.
The exchange had been too fast.
Before they had even processed what had happened, Haori, the strongest among them, already seemed to have been killed.
"Haori!"
Seeing her vanish in the cloud of debris, Naruto tore free of Choji's grip and sprinted toward the crater.
"Do not go!"
Choji and the others grabbed him and hauled him back.
"What are you doing? Haori is in danger!"
"Calm down, Naruto. A fight on that level is not something we can join. The best thing we can do right now is not drag Haori down,
and find reinforcements as fast as possible."
Shikamaru's cool analysis cut through the red haze in Naruto's eyes.
"Trust Haori. Hurry and find backup," Ino and Choji chimed in.
The dust finally settled in the distance.
At the bottom of the crater,
the giant, tower-like shinobi stood with his left foot braced on the ground. His right leg was blocked mid-air by a pair of arms wrapped in burning red chakra.
Haori's lower body was half-buried in the broken earth.
Her arms were coated in a cloak of vivid crimson.
Szzzz.
Blue lightning and red chakra clashed and crackled wildly where they met.
"She is fine," Shikamaru said.
"The enemy already opened a path for us. Go find help for Haori!"
Relief washed over the group.
Shikamaru fired a flare into the sky. Naruto, seeing that Haori was still holding on, forced himself to listen.
Supporting Choji, he followed Shikamaru and the others as they retreated at full speed to bring back reinforcements.
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