Pride

No one knew how much time had passed before the Divine Tree stopped growing. Its trunk spiraled upward like a tower reaching the heavens, linking sky and earth. Below it lay a dense mass of roots and branches, each one binding a ninja whose Chakra had been drained dry. It was a living hell on earth.

Yuexi and Neji worked together to protect Hinata and Yakumo. Once everything had settled, Yuexi dismissed the Ice Diamond Protection Formation. The moment they emerged, they heard Choji shout anxiously, "Shikamaru, hang in there! Lord Hokage will be here soon!"

"Shikamaru!" Everyone was startled and immediately rushed over. They found Shikamaru lying weakly in Choji's arms. He clearly had not managed to evade the Divine Tree's branches and had lost a tremendous amount of Chakra.

"H-Hey, what do we do now?" Kiba looked at Shikamaru, who no longer even had the strength to lift a hand, and panicked completely.

"Lady Katsuyu, begin remote treatment immediately!" Sakura said to the Slug Clone beside her.

To everyone's surprise, the Slug Clone simply shook its head and said regretfully, "I can't."

"Why?" Everyone turned to look at it in confusion.

"The clones I shrank down and attached to everyone have all been drained of Chakra and died as well," the Slug Clone explained sadly.

"This..." Sakura sighed. Under these circumstances, they truly could not force Katsuyu any further.

"That means everyone is just like my clones..." The Slug Clone looked helplessly at the many ninjas lying on the ground or wrapped around the branches.

"Ah!!! Damn it!" Xiangling rolled up her sleeves and rushed to Shikamaru's side, thrusting out her pale arm as she shouted unhappily, "Hurry up and bite me!"

"W-What?" This time, not only Choji, but even Sakura was stunned.

"Xiangling's flesh and blood can