Bzz... bzz... bzz...
A buzzing sound gradually filled Akira's ears.
The sealing jutsu in his hands was just completed. He subconsciously infused it with chakra.
An invisible ripple spread outward from the focal point.
Countless small dots, each representing a chakra signature, appeared in Akira's mind.
Buzz! A loud noise, accompanied by a sharp screech, echoed as a swarm of kikaichu insects descended from the sky.
Akira stumbled and fell, rolling twice. The ground where he had been standing exploded, leaving a crater. He had narrowly avoided it.
He scrambled to his feet and shouted, "Who's there! How dare you cause trouble in Uchiha territory!"
He immediately activated his Sharingan.
Akira didn't have a signal flare, so he could only shout to raise the alarm.
He never expected to be ambushed on the outskirts of the Uchiha grounds.
Ryoma Aburame stepped out from the shadows. "It's your bad luck to run into me. A pity it's only a two-tomoe, but it'll have to do."
Akira tensed as if facing a formidable enemy. The man before him possessed immense chakra and a powerful physique, but more importantly, Akira recognized him.
"You're Ryoma Aburame!"
Akira's mind raced, recalling various pieces of information he had gathered over time.
This Ryoma Aburame... wasn't he supposed to be locked in a prison cell?
Ryoma Aburame was a genius of the Aburame clan. A former elite of Root, his infiltration skills were said to be among the best in the history of the Anbu. It was rumored that his power once rivaled Orochimaru's.
He had grand ambitions to strengthen the Aburame clan. He scoured the lands for insects and eventually discovered a new species. The kikaichu he cultivated were nano-sized poison insects, much like those of Shikuro Aburame. They could be released into the air without direct contact.
However, while developing a new secret jutsu, he encountered a problem with his own body. He began assassinating his teammates, using their blood to nourish his poison insects. It wasn't long before he was discovered and imprisoned.
To think it was him... Akira's guard shot up instantly.
He hastily formed hand seals, his chest puffing out.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
His target was the ground beneath his own feet!
Bang! A torrent of scorching flames erupted, rebounding off the ground.
Akira leaped out of the inferno, his body covered in burns.
"Hmph!"
Ryoma Aburame snorted coldly. This Uchiha was decisive. The massive number of poison insects he had just released were instantly incinerated. Knowing the insects were nearly invisible to the naked eye, the boy had set himself on fire.
Though he suffered multiple burns, he had at least avoided Ryoma's nano-sized kikaichu attack. If the insects had touched him, Akira would have lost control of his mind within seconds, dying an obscure death.
"Are you coming with me willingly, or should I take your corpse?"
Ryoma's nano-sized poison insects were depleted, and he needed blood to incubate a new batch. He had to resort to using his regular kikaichu. He waved his hand, and a large swarm of insects surged forward.
Akira's movements were hampered by his burns. He leaped back as best he could; unarmed, his only recourse was Fire Style.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu."
Akira spat a continuous stream of fireballs from his mouth. They struck the insect swarm head-on. A portion of the kikaichu immediately fell, while the remaining fireballs hit the ground, igniting a raging inferno.
Seeing the commotion, Ryoma quickly flickered through the flames, lunging at Akira.
Akira clumsily dodged a punch and rolled away, but Ryoma closed in again, kicking him squarely.
However, Ryoma felt his foot connect with something weightless.
Poof!
Akira vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Huh?! A Shadow Clone? When did he cast it?"
When the shadow clone dispersed, the memory of the injury was instantly transmitted back to the real Akira.
He had known from the start that a direct confrontation was impossible. So, as he spat out the great fireball, he had transferred nearly all of his remaining chakra to another shadow clone.
This was an extremely risky move. If a shadow clone with so little chakra took a heavy hit, it would disappear. When the memories of the damage returned to the original, the caster could easily pass out from the shock.
Akira stumbled, nearly falling, but he had to hold on. His clan had finally found some peace after so much conflict. If anything happened to him, who knew what turmoil would follow.
Hngh! Akira stifled a grunt as blood trickled from his nose.
He could hear the approaching footsteps. Ryoma was about to catch up.
"Secret Jutsu: Kikaichu Jutsu!"
Amidst the buzzing, a massive swarm of insects was closing in.
Akira's eyes widened. He felt his body become light, suddenly filled with power, and he lunged forward, dodging the attack.
Pant... pant...
Akira gasped for breath. The Sharingan in his eyes had evolved from two tomoe to three.
"Not bad. To think you could fool me like that."
Realizing he had been delayed for so long, Ryoma felt a mix of annoyance and anger.
But when he saw Akira's eyes had become a three-tomoe Sharingan, he was secretly pleased. "Heh, what a stroke of luck."
The swarm of kikaichu around him surged up, sweeping towards Akira.
"Is this the end?" Akira's eyes shot open. His chakra-depleted body could no longer move to evade.
Bang!
A huge cloud of dust rose from the ground as a skeletal giant materialized, instantly enveloping Akira.
"Yo. Glad I made it in time." Kawasaki gave Akira a thumbs-up.
"Captain..." A wave of relief washed over Akira, and his vision went black as he collapsed.
"So this is the Susanoo?!"
Feeling the overwhelming chakra from his opponent, even the skeletal form of the Susanoo emitted a pressure so intense that Ryoma's kikaichu cried out in distress. Ryoma immediately turned to flee.
Kawasaki's eyes narrowed. The Susanoo swung an arm, creating a gale-force wind!
Bzzz...!
Ryoma instantly dissolved into an Insect Clone, scattering in all directions. He reformed a short distance away. But the number of his kikaichu had been reduced by more than half. This substitution technique had clearly consumed most of his chakra.
Kawasaki dispelled the Susanoo and quickly moved forward.
He formed the Horse Seal with both hands.
"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"
Fwoosh! Boom!
A torrent of flames erupted, instantly turning the ground into a sea of fire.
Ryoma, attempting to transform into insects again, was engulfed by the flames along with all his kikaichu. The intense flames and heat completely cleansed the surrounding area. The moment his kikaichu were incinerated, his true body was revealed, only to be swallowed by the inferno.
The extreme heat charred him instantly, giving him no time to even scream in pain.
A blackened, human-shaped mass fell to the ground.
Rustle, rustle, rustle. The sound of movement echoed through the forest as numerous Uchiha clansmen finally arrived. But by the time they got there, the scene was one of utter devastation, with many trees engulfed in raging flames.
Whoops, looks like I overdid it, Kawasaki thought, scratching his head.
Fire Style was the most effective counter against an insect user. To ensure every last kikaichu was destroyed, Kawasaki had used his full power. As a result, his Great Fire Annihilation had burned a clearing half the size of a basketball court.
"Put out the fire! Quickly!"
"Water Style: Water Stream Jutsu!"
"Water Style..."
Although the Uchiha specialized in Fire Style, it didn't mean they couldn't use Water Style. After all, they had the Sharingan to copy jutsu.
Kawasaki helped Akira up. He had been channeling chakra to test the protective detection barrier at the time. Thus, he knew the very instant Ryoma had intruded. And he had arrived on the scene quickly, but chose not to intervene.
Akira's performance had been a pleasant surprise.
First, the self-immolation tactic, then transferring all his chakra to a shadow clone within the flames. Then using the fire as cover to hide and escape. He had made Ryoma suffer a silent defeat, but it was incredibly risky.
The danger of using a shadow clone, especially with low chakra, is that when it's dispelled, the feedback of its memories can cause the original to collapse from the strain.
The Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu was a forbidden technique for a reason.
Besides Naruto, the Asura Reincarnate, no one else dared to recklessly create multiple shadow clones for a head-on fight.