Forest of Death.
Shikage stared down at the hulking, muscle-swollen man pinned beneath his foot, brows slightly furrowed.
This was the first time anyone had managed to flood his shadow control with chakra over and over while still trapped by the secret technique.
From the feel of it, this guy's chakra reserves were easily on par with a regular jonin—at least 10 cards worth.
Good thing he'd arrived in time. Even one second later and the Konoha shinobi nearby would've been casualties.
While he kept pouring chakra into suppressing the Taki ninja, a second Shikage (shadow clone) stepped in front of the three Konoha shinobi.
He looked at Hana Inuzuka, voice a touch gentler.
"I'll handle him."
"You three get out of here. Now."
The tone wasn't harsh, but there was zero room for debate.
One of the Konoha shinobi immediately bristled.
"No way!"
"Nara Shikage, I know you've got strength and backing, but so what?"
"This is the Chunin Exam, not the Nara clan!"
"Why should we leave just because you say so?!"
"Besides, if we leave, are you giving us points?"
The other Konoha shinobi jumped in right after, clearly not planning to back down either.
Shikage's eyes turned ice-cold. These guys had weak skills but mouths like lions.
If he hadn't shown up in time, these two might not even be breathing right now.
He couldn't be bothered arguing anymore. His gaze shifted to Hana, meaning crystal clear.
Hana hesitated.
Her hesitation wasn't the same as the other two's. She was thinking—if she teamed up with Shikage, she might snag Shibuki's plate.
Before she could speak, the hot-headed Konoha shinobi cut in again. He'd spotted the stack of plates hanging at Shikage's waist.
"Nara Shikage, no chance we're leaving!"
"They're my targets!"
"Unless you hand over some plates, otherwise…"
The greedy words had barely left his mouth when the wet rip of tearing flesh rang out.
A blade forged from pure shadow shot up from the ground, stabbing straight through the man's chin and out the top of his skull.
"Hana, understand one thing."
Shikage stood up, coldly looking down at her and the last Konoha shinobi.
"This isn't a discussion. It's a notification."
He was on decent terms with Hana and liked her bold, no-filter personality that came with plenty of "benefits," but business was business.
Blood splattered across the two of them. The remaining Konoha shinobi screamed in terror and scrambled away on all fours.
Hana stared up at the ice-cold Shikage, stunned. For the first time she realized…
—The sunny, handsome Shikage could make that kind of face too…
She bit her lower lip, nodded silently.
"I understand."
Then she turned and left without another word.
The moment her back was turned, three number plates dropped onto her.
"Take them."
Hana looked at the plates on the ground, pursed her lips, and picked them up.
Honestly, Shikage's expression just now had scared her a little.
It gave her a strange, uncomfortable feeling for half a second.
But right after, an emotion she couldn't quite name started bubbling deep in her chest.
Itchy… warm… hot… wet…
Staring at her reflection in the plates, Hana vaguely saw a shy girl she'd never met before.
The Gray Fang triplets followed behind her, heads tilted in confusion.
They smelled the unmistakable scent of a female in heat.
Shikage had neither time nor interest in noticing Hana's change.
After driving away everyone who could interfere with his mission, he finally turned back to the three Taki ninjas.
With Shisui's shadow under his command, he had full confidence. He wasn't worried about revealing his trump card, so this time he planned to show off a bit of his real power.
"Take care of them."
Shikage looked at the burly man standing beside Shibuki and said coldly,
"Before they can use the Hero's Water."
He wasn't sure if they even had it, but better safe than sorry.
Receiving their lord's order, nine shadow soldiers silently crawled out from the darkness.
Shikage had mobilized half his entire Shadow Legion.
He wanted zero chance of mission failure.
Three jonin-level and six chunin-level shadow soldiers flashed forward like ghosts.
In a single breath they pinned Shibuki and A-Er down hard—forget drinking Hero's Water, they couldn't even form seals.
At the same time, the shadow clone Shikage dispelled once its job was done.
Half his chakra surged back into his body, boosting his control even further.
Just as he prepared to finish the man under his foot with Shadow Strangle, a violent chakra erupted like a volcano once more.
The shockwave shattered his binding.
With a thunderous boom the ground cracked open.
Using Body Flicker to flash ten meters in a blink, Shikage looked at A-Da—muscles bulging grotesquely, breathing like a broken bellows, eyes wild.
The Hero's Water effect was even stronger than he'd imagined.
But this guy probably wouldn't last the fight.
Life force loss was too severe. Lasting another thirty seconds would already be a miracle.
Shikage was confident he could kill A-Da in this state on the spot, but why bother?
He had no need to fight head-on. All he needed was to make sure this guy didn't disrupt the exam.
All he had to do was keep the three of them pinned here.
As his thoughts turned, a water blade sliced through the air.
A-Da's face twisted savagely, skin red and cracking open.
"Takigakure Style: Water Flow Blade!"
The spinning water blade curved through the air and slashed back toward Shikage.
Shikage tilted his body. The blade grazed his hair tips—perfect control by a hair's breadth.
A-Da caught the returning blade, gripped it tight, leaped up and hacked down repeatedly.
"Takigakure Style: Blade Manipulation Technique!"
Facing the burly man whose every step shook the ground, Shikage stood his ground without fear, clearly intending close-quarters combat.
A heavy downward slash came. Shikage advanced instead of retreating. Just as the blade was about to split his scalp, the water flow suddenly froze mid-air.
As if he'd predicted it, a black-green kunai appeared in Shikage's hand.
The blade flashed. A moment later—flesh split open.
Blood gushed out.
A-Da staggered back several steps, hand clutching the wound on his neck. Instead of fear, pure excitement burned hotter.
The terrifying chakra around him surged even fiercer.
Seeing this, Shikage smiled faintly and flicked his fingers.
Several shadow blades shot up from the ground.
Even though A-Da dodged the fatal strike with quick movement, his body suffered serious wounds everywhere.
He roared with his mouth wide open, blood and broken teeth flying.
Thick fingers clawed frantically at his neck, tearing the flesh to shreds.
But the shadow hand crawling on his body never faded—instead, it dug deeper into bone as the wounds widened.
"ROOOAAAAAHHH!"