Shikamaru: We Surrender

The battle ended far faster than anyone had expected.

In just a single exchange, before even Shikamaru's carefully planned teamwork could fully unfold, the strongest shield and spear of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation, Choji Akimichi, was smashed head-on by Kaguya Kimimaro's Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Larch, which was like a human meat grinder.

And Ino, who was in charge of mental control, suffered an eerie, unfathomable backlash. Clutching her head, she collapsed to the ground, her spirit drained, clearly unable to fight again for the time being.

The Ino-Shika-Cho team, once renowned among Konoha's Genin, seamless in both offense and defense and flawless in coordination, was reduced in an instant to Shikamaru alone, standing isolated on the ruined rooftop, facing that cold-faced gray-haired boy.

Shikamaru's heart pounded wildly, cold sweat soaking his back.

He forced himself to calm down, his mind racing at high speed.

He had to create an opening!

While Kimimaro's attention was still on Choji, who lay on the ground groaning, Shikamaru silently slipped beneath a nearby eave that had not yet completely collapsed.

Shikamaru formed hand seals with both hands. The shadow beneath his feet, concealed by rubble and broken wooden beams, moved like living black liquid, silently hugging the ground as it slowly spread toward the spot where Kimimaro stood.

He intended to use the architectural wreckage left by the battle to hide the path of his shadow and launch a fatal strike!

However, just as he thought he was hidden, and his shadow was about to touch the rubble beneath Kimimaro's feet—

Kimimaro, standing on the rooftop, seemed to glance downward with those white eyes as if in casual indifference.

"A petty trick."

Kimimaro coldly spat out those words. His hands, hanging at his sides, suddenly rose, all ten fingers spreading and aiming at the