Kano wasn't worried about those two 'cheaters' at all; there were very few people in the entire Ninja World who could kill them.
Kano, meanwhile, was frantically harvesting heads to reclaim shadows. Whenever she encountered a powerful shadow, she would immediately extract it and send it back out. There was no time to level up now, so she had to rely on numbers to deal with this crisis.
Kano also discovered one of her shortcomings: she didn't have any super-sized summons. When facing a complete Tailed Beast or a giant Summoning Beast, she simply didn't have enough power.
She had to find a way to get one!
But for now, she needed to focus on saving people and killing enemies!
"Kakashi, do you think those pitch-black Ninjas are allies or enemies?"
Guy kicked an Otogakure Ninja to death and happened to arrive by Kakashi's side.
"They seem to be allies; they only attack Otogakure and Suna Ninjas."
These things must be Shadow Ninjas, right? There are quite a lot of them. Kano's Ninjutsu is getting ridiculous.
At this time, Kano wasn't just limited to the arena; she was also trying to search for Kankuro and Temari. It didn't matter if Kankuro lived, but Temari was her future sister-in-law.
If she accidentally killed Temari and caused her stinky older brother to be single in the future, her sin would be great indeed.
Kano planned to leave the spotlight to Naruto this time. As for herself, she would just do basic rescue and combat like everyone else. It was just that Kano couldn't handle everything alone; it would be great if she had a helper.
Unfortunately, Naruto had been sent to deal with Gaara, and Sasuke had gone looking for Naruto. Kakashi... she couldn't boss him around... after all, he was a teacher.
Right, there was one more person she could use.
Arriving at the spectator stands, there were still many people caught in Genjutsu. Kano found the person she needed among them.
"Get up, I know you're faking it!"
She kicked Shikamaru's butt without mercy, and he stood up while rubbing it.
"Are you crazy? It's so dangerous around here. Isn't it better to just lie on the ground and play dead?"
"Help me command the Shadow Ninjas. I'll give you ten with good combat power. No special requirements, just use them however you want."
She trusted Shikamaru's judgment; saying too much would only interfere with his thinking.
"What a drag. Couldn't you find someone else? Hey, wait, leave the one with the giant sword for me."
Shikamaru knew that the strongest of Kano's shadows was the one with the giant sword; it was incredibly powerful. He shamelessly asked to borrow Shadow Zabuza.
Having learned the current Shadow Deer Technique—which was a degraded version of the Shadow Monarch's Ninjutsu—Kano could temporarily hand over Shadow Ninjas to Shikamaru for his use.
Shikamaru could control them directly with his consciousness or let Shadow Zabuza return to the shadows on standby, and it would still consume Kano's Chakra. However, he couldn't resurrect Shadow Zabuza, nor could he use Shadow Exchange. Furthermore, Kano could take them back whenever she wanted.
After taking Shadow Zabuza, Shikamaru began to have a blast, completely disregarding the Chakra consumption Shadow Zabuza imposed on Kano (though there wasn't much consumption anyway).
"Kano, lend me one to play with too!"
Ino had overheard their conversation. She had originally come to meet up with Shikamaru, but she happened to run into the siblings making a shady deal.
"You don't know my family's secret techniques, so you can't control Shadow Ninjas."
Despite saying that, Kano still gave an order to Shadow Deer Tube, telling him to protect Ino and follow her commands.
"Wow, this one looks strong. Thanks, I love you the most!"
Kano's 'no' followed by her honest actions made her look adorable to Ino. Ino hugged Kano and gave her a kiss, then thanked her before taking Shadow Deer Tube to support the battle.
This made Kano feel a bit embarrassed. Getting a kiss from Ino was a good trade.
Kano immediately went to support other battlefields. She had actually arranged for faster Shadow Ninjas to head to other combat zones ahead of time.
Kano randomly selected a spot and used Shadow Exchange!
This was near the edge of Konoha Village, where the walls had been smashed.
"Kano, why did you show up here?"
The person asking was Jiraiya, who was standing on a Giant Toad. He was dealing with Three Giant Snakes summoned by the enemy.
She was just thinking about getting some large-sized shadows, and here they were!
"I came here to support. Pervy Sage, can you kill these Three Giant Snakes? The kind where you don't leave them alive."
"Don't follow that brat Naruto's lead and call me Pervy Sage, call me the Toad Sage!"
"Don't worry about the details. How about I cover for you next time you peek at the women's bath?"
"I am an upright person, how could I do something like peeking at the women's bath? It's just that I was going to kill these three snakes anyway, it's not for you. Next time I find a good bath to wash in, I'll give you a call."
Having received an affirmative answer, Kano joined the battlefield, using Shadow Ninjas to restrain the giant snakes. She wanted to give Jiraiya a chance for a one-hit kill.
Suddenly, a loud noise came from not far away.
Everyone looked toward the sound, where Shukaku and Gamabunta were standing!
"Is that Naruto kid fighting the Ichibi?!"
"Yes, he'll be fine."
Jiraiya was quite relaxed and didn't go to check on Naruto. How could the Nine-Tailed lose to the Ichibi?
Soon, Jiraiya killed the Three Giant Snakes. Kano extracted the shadows of the snakes, the Suna Ninjas, and the shadows of the Konoha Ninjas who had unfortunately died in battle.
"The problem here is solved. I'm going to support other places. Kano, do you want to come along?"
"No thanks, I plan to go support elsewhere."
Just as Kano turned to leave, Jiraiya called out to her again.
"Kano, how is it going at the arena?"
He knew Kano was a candidate this year and she should have come from the exam venue, so she should know some information.
"Suna and Otogakure are jointly attacking Konoha. Naruto took the Ichibi to a deserted place far away to fight. Sandaime and Orochimaru are in a duel within the Four Violet Flames Formation. Do you want to go take a look?"
"No, I trust the old man's judgment."
Jiraiya was just like Hiruzen Sarutobi; both were indecisive. Facing Orochimaru, they both held onto past feelings and were unwilling to deal a killing blow. Even if he arrived, he wouldn't have the heart to kill Orochimaru. It was better to leave it to the old man; surely the old man couldn't lose to Orochimaru?
After Jiraiya left, Kano left as well. Before long, she returned to the arena because the battle here was almost over. But before that, Kano put on a Virtual Idol Skin.
Then, Shadow Exchange!
Kano's figure suddenly appeared in the air inside the Four Violet Flames Formation. She had already arranged for a shadow bug to stay in the air here, thinking of extracting Sandaime's shadow at the first opportunity, and she had another goal as well.
"Who is it!"
"Another helper?!"
Orochimaru and Hiruzen Sarutobi exclaimed at the same time. They didn't expect someone to be able to break through the Four Violet Flames Formation. The formation was unbreakable unless one used Space-Time Ninjutsu; otherwise, no one could enter.
"I'm a bit late. It seems the Edo Tensei are all gone. I originally wanted to try extracting them."
Kano muttered to herself; anyway, no one could recognize her.
The current scene was that Hiruzen Sarutobi had already used the Reaper Death Seal and was in the final struggle. Orochimaru was also restrained and about to be cut by the Shinigami.
"I am a neutral party. As long as you offer terms that satisfy me, I will help you. If the reward is generous enough, I can even do special things, like killing Orochimaru, or killing Hiruzen Sarutobi."
In an instant, thirty Shadow Ninjas appeared, surrounding the two inside as well as Enma.
Both Orochimaru and Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned deeply. It was over; someone had come to take advantage of the situation.
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