The Sound Ninja's Transformation

"My body's weak, I'm covered in blood, and I'm about to die without even realizing it. And they still have time to argue with each other..."

Zaku, Dosu's teammate, couldn't help sneering as he looked at Naruto and Kazeka's group of six, all covered in blood.

"So Konoha's ninja really have no sense of danger? Looks like they're nothing special after all!"

"That commotion just now must have been caused by them. They were ruthless enough to attack their own comrades. Is that how Konoha does things?

You can never tell what someone's really like just by looking..."

Kotone, the only female ninja in the Sound Ninja squad, had clearly misunderstood the situation. She thought Kazeka and the others had turned on one another.

"Even if they don't look like they can put up much of a fight, we still shouldn't let our guard down.

What if they all have Scrolls of Heaven? That would be bad. We need to be ready to conserve our strength!"

"You look so confident. Do you think you've already got us beat?"

Kiba Inuzuka huffed at the Sound Ninja.

"We've got two squads here. Are you really that confident?"

"I couldn't stand you guys even back during the first exam.

You were at full strength then, and I still wasn't afraid of you. So why would I be afraid now?"

Dosu's words dripped with contempt as he charged straight at Kazeka.

"Being from a major village doesn't mean you're strong.

On the contrary, we'll use your corpses to make a name for Otogakure!"

"Even though they've completely underestimated us, there's no changing things now..."

Kazeka met Dosu, who was brimming with fighting spirit.

"Let's fight!"

Buzz!

Just as he had when fighting Kabuto Yakushi, Dosu formed a hand seal with one hand before attacking.

Then his oversized right arm, which was fitted with a special device, swung toward Kazeka's left ear.

"Ugh..."

Facing the attack, Kazeka raised his left arm in time to block it.

But although he stopped Dosu's arm, the device attached to it suddenly emitted a wave of sound.

Kazeka felt as if his brain had taken a heavy punch. His footing faltered, and he dropped to one knee. A trickle of blood involuntarily ran from his left ear!

"So this is a Konoha ninja? Their reputation really is all hype. You're a weakling who went down in a single hit..."

Dosu clenched his right fist and brought it crashing down toward Kazeka's head.

"You'd better just die already!"

"Is that really all you understand about fighting?"

Kazeka's voice rang out. To Dosu's astonishment, Kazeka, who should have been unable to move, once again blocked his attack with his left arm.

The next moment, something even more shocking happened.

Kazeka reached into his clothes with his right hand, pulled out a syringe with a ten-centimeter needle, and plunged it straight into his own temple!

Despite doing something that could have killed him, Kazeka showed no sign of discomfort. On the contrary, his eyes instantly cleared.

After pulling out the syringe, he slammed a punch into Dosu's chest!

Thud!

Crack!

With the sound of branches snapping, Dosu shoved away the broken tree trunk that had landed on him.

He stared at Kazeka in disbelief. The pain in his chest was secondary. What truly baffled him was that he had no idea what Kazeka had done!

"You seem surprised."

Kazeka jumped down from the branches and advanced on Dosu step by step, raising his left arm as he went.

"After some simple nerve modification, my arm can counterattack on its own, even when it's no longer receiving commands from my brain.

"And that syringe just now, dangerous as it looked, can restore my brain to full clarity in an instant.

"After all, your sound-wave attack seems specifically designed to target the brain!"

"You came prepared..."

While Kazeka explained, Dosu finally recovered and settled back into a fighting stance, keeping his eyes fixed on him.

"In that case..."

"Were you going to ask why, if I came prepared, I didn't avoid getting hit by your attack in the first place? That would've been easier, wouldn't it?"

Kazeka cut Dosu off and smiled at him.

"Because I'm very interested in the effects of your attack!"

"So you're a masochist..."

Dosu's formerly relaxed expression finally grew more serious.

Seeing his reaction, Kazeka shook his head in disapproval, then revealed the manic grin of a deranged scientist.

"You clearly don't understand. When it comes to experiments that interest them, excellent researchers experience the process and the results firsthand.

"Whether it's dissection, modification, or even experiments on the soul, they welcome everything without hesitation, even with delight.

"Whether the sensations are wonderful, terrible, or utterly heartbreaking, they're all irresistible.

"Only with a heart that yearns like that can an excellent researcher keep moving forward!"

"I see..."

Looking at Kazeka's abnormal expression, even Dosu, cold-blooded and hard-hearted as he was, couldn't help frowning.

"Looks like I've run into a lunatic with a rotten personality!"

"I told you, I'm an excellent researcher..."

Kazeka didn't mind Dosu's mockery in the slightest. Instead, he spoke with complete seriousness and pointed toward Zaku, who was fighting nearby.

"Look. Thanks to my experimental modifications, your teammate's already started to change!"

"You think your nonsense can throw me off?"

Dosu snorted, clearly not believing Kazeka.

But despite his fearsome appearance, he was actually very concerned about his teammates.

He couldn't help glancing toward Zaku. The moment he did, he let out a startled cry.

"What happened to Zaku?!"

Back at Zaku's battlefield.

In Dosu's mind, Zaku had always been a tough guy, the sort of ruthless fighter who would risk his life for a battle, full of machismo.

And the fight before them certainly seemed to suit his nature.

He was facing Naruto, Sasuke, and Kiba Inuzuka at once. Though they had suppressed him at first, he had just barely managed to hold his own.

And with his all-or-nothing fighting style, he had even made the three of them hesitate.

Though they had fought Orochimaru, the three of them still had plenty of strength left. They only looked battered and miserable.

If nothing unexpected happened, the scales of victory would soon tip in Naruto and the others' favor.

But, as it happened, something unexpected did occur.

For some unknown reason, as time passed, Zaku's combat strength suddenly surged.

At first, the fight had been even. Gradually, he began to suppress all three of them!

"Damn it! I've only ever seen someone grow stronger under pressure in novels..."

As he dodged Zaku's attacks, Naruto complained in frustration.

"How can someone actually do that in real life?!"

"You've got some nerve talking about other people..."

Kiba Inuzuka glanced at Naruto and muttered to himself, then spoke up again.

"But have you guys noticed? His fighting strength has increased, but I feel like his personality's gotten kinda girly!"