Power, in the form of Konome.
Brains, in the form of Shikamaru.
Once the two of them agreed, the little squad had no more arguments.
The five of them quickly pushed south.
The southern side of Training Ground Zero was closest to Konoha's center. There had to be instructors stationed there.
They had barely taken a few steps.
Roars of beasts rolled in from all directions.
A bad feeling hit Shikamaru. He immediately veered them onto a different route.
Caw!
The giant bird cut across the sky, as if drawing a line to guide every beast in the forest.
Roar.
Growl, growl.
It was impossible to tell what all the shapes in the dark were, but the cries and bellows from every direction made it clear enough. The pack of monsters had them surrounded.
"Konome, is there any way through?" Shikamaru asked, knowing how powerful her sensory ability was.
He did not need to say it. Konome had already swept the area once with her Byakugan.
With the bird in the sky acting as a beacon and the drug powder clinging to their clothes, the beasts in the forest had gone mad and closed in on them from every side.
"There's no way out," Konome said, shaking her head with clear regret.
It felt like every wild animal in Training Ground Zero had been drawn here, and more were still coming.
If Konome wanted to escape alone, it would have been no problem. The claws and fangs of these beasts could not even pierce the bony membrane beneath her skin. A single blast of Wind Release was enough for her to carve a bloody path to safety.
But to escape while bringing Naruto and the others along… that, she probably could not do.
Ino's face had gone pale.
There were even more beasts than she had imagined. Some of the packs were already tearing into each other on the outer edges.
She had not yet learned her clan's full sensory secret techniques, but the mental training she had accumulated over the years was screaming warning at her.
Things were already very bad.
Whoosh.
A stone the size of a fist cut through the air, aimed straight at Ino's head.
"Ino, look out!" Shikamaru shouted, panicked.
"Expansion Jutsu!"
At the last second, Choji's body ballooned outward, swelling to more than two meters tall. His broad back swung around and shielded Ino.
Thud.
The stone slammed into Choji's back and bounced off, his tough muscles absorbing the blow without any real damage.
"Thank you, Choji," Ino gasped, finally snapping out of it enough to express her gratitude.
"We're surrounded," Konome said, sweeping her gaze around.
Troops of monkeys lined the trees, scratching and chattering. That stone attack from moments ago was obviously their handiwork.
Caw.
The giant bird cried out again.
Heeding the signal, the frenzied beasts finally locked onto their prey. Drool dripping from their jaws, they tightened the circle around the five children.
A massive tiger at the front flicked out its barbed tongue, licking at the patch of ground where Konome and the others had just been standing.
Drug powder from the sky still clung to that spot.
For the moment, the beasts' attention was fixed on the powder rather than attacking. But as the residue on the ground was gradually licked clean, it was obvious this stalemate would not last long.
The five of them stood back to back.
Naruto clenched his fists, completely at a loss.
Enemies above. Enemies all around. There were so many he could not even look at them all.
How were they supposed to fight this?
"Shikamaru, what do we do?" Ino's worried voice only made the sweat on Shikamaru's forehead run faster.
The difference in numbers was overwhelming. They were standing almost dead center in Training Ground Zero. They were actually closer to Konoha's inner districts than to the outer perimeter.
Reinforcements would not be coming quickly.
Their situation was causing such a huge commotion, and yet no instructors had appeared. That could only mean the Academy's forces were also tied up elsewhere, probably rescuing other students, and could not get away.
Run.
With the giant bird overhead pointing the way, they could never outrun the beasts. Konome would be the only one with a chance of escaping.
Stay.
Then they would just burn through Konome's chakra. If reinforcements never made it in time, Konome, who could have survived on her own, would end up dying here with them.
Two clear choices. Shikamaru could see them both.
He just could not choose.
He had no right to ask Konome to die here with them. But he also did not want Ino, Choji, and Naruto to die.
Where was the choice that saved everyone?
He raked his hands through his hair. His usually sharp mind seemed to grind to a halt under the weight of his teammates' lives.
"I'll stay and hold the line," Konome said, making the decision for him.
"But that's not fair to you, Konome. You're so strong. If you go alone you can definitely make it out," Shikamaru protested immediately, rejecting her plan on reflex.
Ino and Choji were trembling with fear, but their heads shook just as firmly.
"Konome, you have to run on your own."
"Don't worry about us."
Looking at these kids, shaking from terror yet still refusing to let her stay behind, Konome could not help feeling a flicker of emotion.
This was Konoha.
Even as children, when it mattered, they did not hesitate to put their lives on the line.
Sacrifice and protection.
The intangible "Will of Fire" had been carved into their bones and passed down generation after generation until it had become something real.
Still.
Konome did not plan on dying here with them.
"First we kill the enemy in the sky. Once the beasts lose their guidance, they'll start tearing into each other. When that happens, we find a way to break out," Konome said quickly, laying out her plan.
"But the enemy is flying so high. How do we even hit them?" Naruto raised his head.
The huge bird circling overhead was who knew how far above them, completely out of reach.
"I have a long-range ninjutsu," Konome said.
"Something that can hit a thousand meters up?" Shikamaru asked, hope flashing across his face.
"No."
Konome shook her head, crushing that hope in one word. If she had something like that, she would have already acted. She would not have waited this long.
"Look," she said instead, pointing at the ground.
The others followed her hand.
In the light of the setting sun, the giant bird circling in the sky cast a clear shadow on the forest floor.
"It's the Shadow Imitation Technique," the Ino–Shika–Cho trio said together, the first to understand what Konome had in mind.
"That's right. Shikamaru will use Shadow Imitation to lock down the bird's movement. Once it drops to a good height, I'll finish it off in one blow."
She laid the plan out in full, then turned to Shikamaru.
"I don't think that will work," Shikamaru said, staring at the enormous silhouette on the ground, his expression turning grim. "The body is too big. With my chakra, the technique will collapse in three seconds at most. That's not enough. This plan won't hold."
"It will," Ino cut in.
Her confident voice drew all their eyes.
"I still have my Mind Body Switch Technique. As long as you can hold it for a single second and give me a clean shot, I will guarantee my jutsu hits."
"The enemy is a thousand meters up. Your Mind Body Switch has that kind of range?" Konome asked, genuinely shaken.
Ino's pale blue eyes shone with quiet confidence.
"There is no distance between hearts."
Konome blinked.
She was trying to talk physics, and Ino had decided to talk philosophy.
Forget it.
If the plan failed, she was not the one who would die from a botched Mind Body Switch.
"How long can you hold them?" Konome asked.
"At this distance, ten seconds at most," Ino replied after a brief pause, giving the most precise estimate she could.
"If it falls in a straight line, ten seconds should bring it down to about five hundred meters," Shikamaru said, running the numbers in his head. He looked back at Konome.
"More than enough," Konome said, nodding under the weight of their hopeful stares.
"Yes!" Naruto punched the air.
The trio all let out a long breath at once.
"Then let's begin," Shikamaru and Ino said together.
Both of them formed hand seals, faster than they ever had in practice. The life-or-death crisis had dragged every ounce of potential out of them.
"There's one more thing," Konome said, raising a hand to stop them.
"What now?" Shikamaru's brows drew together. He immediately sensed something was off.
"That long-range ninjutsu I mentioned," Konome said calmly. "I haven't actually learned it yet. I'll have to pick it up right now."
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