Chisen's shoulder went numb, and half his arm suddenly sagged.
Shikamaru's expression changed. "Chisen! Don't just take those poison needles!"
Chisen's breathing grew heavier for a moment.
"It didn't go in too deep."
"That's not for you to decide!"
Kiba's fight with Folded Wind grew fiercer. Folded Wind's metal fragments were too small, too thin. Akamaru tried to pounce several times, only to be driven back. Cuts opened on Kiba's shoulder and legs, and his temper flared.
"Shikamaru!"
"On it!"
Shikamaru tracked the returning wind blades and hurled a kunai with an Exploding Tag toward one side of the wet slope.
Folded Wind immediately twisted aside.
But the kunai wasn't aimed at him.
The explosion threw up a sheet of muddy water, instantly blocking his view of the metal fragments. Kiba charged into the spray, while Akamaru pounced from the other side. They unleashed their attack together.
"Fang Over Fang!"
Folded Wind's expression finally changed.
He recalled his wind blades, but Shikamaru's shadow tugged at him across the ground, delaying him for half a heartbeat.
Half a heartbeat was enough.
The whirlwind formed by Kiba and Akamaru slammed into Folded Wind, smashing him against the rocky slope. The crack of breaking bones rang out frighteningly clearly in the night. Folded Wind spat blood, and the dark cloth slipped from his hand.
Kiba dropped to one knee when he landed, blood streaming from his shoulder.
"Fuck-almost got sliced into ribbons."
Shikamaru panted. "Can you still move?"
Kiba turned toward him. "You should be asking yourself that."
Shikamaru's face was deathly pale, but he still hadn't withdrawn his shadow.
"I might complain, but I'm not going down that easily."
The Byakugan ninja suddenly cried out, "Two more behind us on the left! They're retreating!"
"Forget the ones retreating!" Shikamaru said at once.