I was thinking about how to handle the effect of releasing the mythical creature form after sequence 4. After all, if every ninja were affected by this, Jugo would only need to enter this form and all his enemies would die.
Judging that Jugo won't lose control permanently even if he enters this state, just go crazy for a while.
Thus, "seeing" the mythical creature form will be treated as a genjutsu, anyone who can't escape the genjutsu quickly enough will experience the same effect as LotM, similar to the Kurama Clan's Kekkei Genkai genjutsu, which can kill within it.
The higher the sequence, the stronger the effect.
Furthermore, I'll consider the 6th Path level as immune to this genjutsu itself.
What do you think?
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--x--
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Normally, Choji would jump in anger, but looking at Jugo's figure and feeling that murderous intent, he couldn't even move, let alone stay angry.
-This is bad...- Shikamaru swallowed hard as his mind raced.
Ino had stopped screaming, but she still crawled away, trembling fiercely. Choji was in direct danger.
Shikamaru was in the worst situation he'd ever been in.
He couldn't imagine how to defeat this kind of monster, not without planning, not without trickery. Jugo had all the pieces, and he'd lost his before the game even started.
But just as Shikamaru was preparing for the worst, thinking furiously, a voice rang out from above.
-Hey, you guys really did some damage to our partner. - Neji appeared in a tree, Ten Ten beside him.
-Lee! - Ten Ten shouted, seeing Lee knocked to the ground.
Neji looked directly at Jugo, who seemed indifferent, Jugo not even looking at them. Instead, his eyes were still fixed on Shikamaru, thinking that if anyone could turn the tide, it was that brat.
The clever type is precisely the type Jugo hates most at the moment.
So, ignoring Neji, Jugo moved.
Everyone's eyes widened as Jugo was lost from sight, but it was Shikamaru who felt the pressure.
A shadow enveloped him from behind. Glancing sideways, he saw Jugo's shadowed body, only his eyes shining down on him. That was all he saw before a pain in his neck.
Jugo didn't kill him, just knocked him down, but to Choji and Ino, it didn't seem that way.
-Shikamaru! - Choji exploded with power, all weakness drained from him, and only fury remained. -Bastard! Get away from Shikamaru!
He advanced with all his might toward Jugo.
Neji narrowed his eyes, sensing things were getting complicated. That speed... was clearly at the Jonin level.
Neji, who had been calm, began to take this seriously.
Jugo didn't regret getting rid of Shikamaru first. He wouldn't underestimate him due to his lack of strength and age. Instead, he merely observed Choji approaching.
Shikamaru and Lee had fainted. Ino's spirit was damaged and she wasn't strong to begin with. Sakura also didn't seem to be able to continue. Only Neji and Ten Ten could pose a threat now.
As for Choji...
Jugo just stood there as he punched him. He took the punch calmly.
This seemed to wake Choji, but it was too late. A punch to the liver made him widen his eyes and fall, pain drowning him before he passed out.
Jugo glanced at Neji and Ten Ten, who quickly got into fighting stances, but he didn't attack.
This was because an incredibly heavy and sinister chakra was released behind him.
Jugo smiled, he knew this chakra, he was the source of it.
Looking away from Neji, he casually glanced back.
Sasuke's figure was slowly rising. Karin, in the distance, was the first to notice, making her worried, but remembering the power she saw in Jugo, she calmed down. Compared to Jugo, Sasuke's sinister chakra was much less frightening.
Soon, Neji noticed Sasuke stand up as well and smiled slightly.
His Byakugan deactivated as he smiled. -Looks like I don't need to get involved.
Everyone watched Sasuke stand up, finally, after being slightly surprised by his own power, he looked directly at the group around him. -Sakura, who did this to you?
His eyes, with their sharingans active, had his two tomoe spinning as he stared at the flow of chakra in his own body in confusion, but in the end, he stopped caring, turning his gaze back to them.
Noticing Sakura's concern, he spoke. -Don't worry, I'm fine, it's just the power flowing through me... I've never felt better.
He smiled slightly as he spoke. -That guy, he gave me this power, made me understand who I really am... an Avenger.
His face returned to calm as he spoke. -To follow this path, I must obtain power at any cost, even if it means being consumed by evil.
Dosu turned to Jugo and looked at him calmly, noticing that he didn't seem surprised. Dosu knew about those marks, but didn't know what they were actually for. He only knew that Orochimaru gave them to his subordinates, greatly increasing their power, but with a high risk of death.
This made Dosu think that Orochimaru had his eye on Sasuke and sent them there to test his power.
He looked at Jugo to gauge his next actions, but seeing his inaction, he didn't move, just watching.
-Sakura, tell me, who did this to you?- he continued to ask.
Jugo smiled slightly as he said. -I did.
Kin was a little surprised, as was Sakura, who wanted to deny it. Dosu just continued to watch.
Ino also knew, but she was trying to keep a low profile to rescue Choji and Shikamaru.
Ten Ten and Neji just watched.
Sasuke glared directly at him with his Sharingan, his cold eyes filled with negative feelings.
Sasuke remembered him, the guy who made him copy a bunch of nonsense sentences in the chunin exam, the old and new grudges came together in that moment.
He could sense it from afar, this unpolished killing urge, very faint, but fueled by the curse mark's chakra, it grew much stronger.
Jugo chuckled lightly as Sasuke charged at him, his speed bordering on that of a Tokubetsu Jonin.
Unfortunately, this still couldn't reach Jugo's level, so when he tried to kick him in the chest, Jugo simply caught his foot.
Sasuke's eyes widened and Neji frowned.
Sasuke's speed now was something even he couldn't easily keep up with.
But even so, he was simply caught by Jugo.
Sasuke used his other leg to strike Jugo's face, but Jugo let his foot free and easily dodged it.
Dropping into a crouch, Sasuke quickly formed seals.
-Katon! (Fire Style!) Fireball Jutsu! - A large ball of fire was spat out by Sasuke at an extremely high temperature, but when he looked at the result, Jugo was nowhere to be seen, instead, he felt someone approaching from behind.
Jugo knew he just needed to force Sasuke to use more of his power, so he didn't actually knock him down, but just rather reduced his power to a level he could barely withstand.
Sasuke raised an arm and parried the punch, but was thrown back.
Still in the air, he somersaulted a few times to adjust himself while forming seals. -Katon! Phoenix Flower Jutsu!
Jugo calmly dodged and watched as Ino and Sakura carried Naruto and Shikamaru away.
Neji grabbed Choji and Ten Ten grabbed Lee.
He didn't care and continued to toy with Sasuke, each attack, each jutsu, dodged and countered perfectly.
Sasuke was growing increasingly frustrated because he realized Jugo was toying with him.
It wasn't a battle, it was like training with Kakashi, pushing him to his limit, but still not harming him.
But why? That didn't make sense. Come to think of it, that snake woman also acted similarly...
Sakura wanted to say that Jugo hadn't done this to her, but Kin had, but she didn't want to get in Sasuke's way now and in the end, it didn't matter, after all, they were in the same group.
Neither Dosu nor Kin attacked, but they retreated and stayed with Karin.
The goal from the beginning was to test Sasuke, that's what he was doing now.
Karin looked at the injured Kin and felt a little apprehensive, but finally made a decision.
She stretched out her arm and glared at Kin. Kin frowned in irritation and spoke. -What is it?!
Bite my arm, I can heal it. - Karin summoned some courage to explain.
Kin looked a little dazed, doubtful and confused.
Dosu stared at Karin with narrowed eyes for a moment, but still spoke. - Do it.
Kin looked at Dosu and finally nodded. She bit Karin's arm with some force. The next moment she felt the strange chakra coursing through her body, the bite mark and the kunai cut on her arms healing quickly.
Kin and Dosu's eyes widened as Karin breathed heavily. Dosu noticed this and spoke to Kin. -Enough.
Kin released her arm and looked at Karin with some doubt, but there was no longer any hostility in her gaze.
She frowned slightly, looking at the panting girl, and finally said. -Thank you.
Karin smiled slightly, making Kin click her tongue and look away, but deep down she still remembered it.
Dosu on the other hand wondered if Jugo knew about this, so he took the girl in, but decided to report this to him later, for now, he focused on the fight.
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--x--
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+10 chapters of Jugo - Father of Devils on P_treon.
+19 chapters of The Legendary Mechanic - Triple Six on P_treon.
P_treon: March_Rain