Aburame Clan

"Ting!"

The next second, Aburame Keiichi spun around and drew a Kunai from his waist, blocking the young man's swift sword strike.

"Nice speed." A faint voice came out, and Aburame Keiichi's lips curved slightly.

But in the next second, he couldn't laugh anymore.

"What?!"

Just then, the Kunai in his hand, after a moment of stalemate, was split in two by the Short Blade in the young man's hand.

"So sharp."

Aburame Keiichi's expression was slightly surprised, but that was all.

Watching the Short Blade, its residual power undiminished, strike again, Aburame Keiichi calmly twisted his body into a bizarre posture, narrowly dodging the slash.

In the next instant, he kicked out. Uchiha Kai blocked this attack with his Short Blade as well, retreating two steps.

The exchange between the two lasted only a few seconds, but it gave the girl beside them a moment to catch her breath.

"Swish swish!"

Several Shuriken were thrown by the girl, covering all directions in front of Aburame Keiichi.

Seeing this, the man's lips curved as he was about to dodge, but he suddenly felt a scorching heat from behind.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

The young man roared, Chakra coalescing into a terrifying fireball that crushed down.

"Heh heh, not bad."

In front of him were Shuriken that had turned into an iron net, and behind him was Uchiha Kai's full-power Great Fireball. Aburame Keiichi, seemingly with no escape, let out a light snort.

The next second, a black tide surged out from his body, forming a flowing barrier that firmly protected Aburame Keiichi.

"Sizzle~"

The Great Fireball struck it, making crackling explosions. Countless scorched insect corpses curled and fell, a dense mass that looked terrifying.

It was the Aburame Clan's secret technique: Insect Wall.

Seeing that their attack had failed, the two instantly retreated, their figures disappearing into the forest canopy.

"The Aburame Clan's Kikaichū, huh? Troublesome..." Uchiha Kai muttered, squatting on a nearby tree branch, recalling the performance of the Aburame Clan in the original work.

"In the late game, where combat power collapses and stats skyrocket, the Aburame Clan indeed doesn't have much presence, but for this era that still relies on ninja combat and tactical deployment..."

"The Aburame Clan's insect manipulation secret techniques are incredibly insidious... I hope Kei can pull his weight."

While contemplating, Uchiha Kai's gaze was firmly fixed on Aburame Keiichi, who stood calmly in the center as if unaffected.

The next moment, the ground beneath his feet seemed to change subtly, as if softening and twisting.

Seeing this, Uchiha Kai's eyes lit up. Instantly understanding what was happening, he unhesitatingly activated his Sharingan, the black tomoe beginning to spin in conjunction with the crimson.

Genjutsu: Sharingan.

Based on the Uchiha Clan's Kekkei Genkai, it uses one's own pupil power to forcibly cast a genjutsu that disrupts the opponent's Chakra flow, interfering with or even sealing the opponent's five senses.

With full power, the young man's sinister Chakra entered Aburame Keiichi's body without any obstruction, as easy as if the opponent were just an unintelligent beast.

He didn't feel the slightest resistance.

"What's going on? Why is it so easy?" Feeling the feedback from his Chakra, the young man inexplicably felt a sense of panic.

"But I've definitely controlled 'him', right? What's with this absurd feeling?"

Uchiha Kai stared intently at the motionless Aburame Keiichi in the field, trying to find a flaw and the source of the strange feeling.

The next instant, the young man, who was manipulating Chakra to confuse Aburame Keiichi's five senses, saw a terrifying sight.

In his perception, Aburame Keiichi, whom he had completely controlled, was still standing steadily. Facing the abnormal surging land beneath his feet, the man's left eye rolled down, looking indifferently.

His other eye was inexplicably rolling within its socket, utterly horrifying.

It was as if... as if it were being controlled by something.

In that instant, Uchiha Kai understood where the strange feeling had come from.

"Don't touch him, Kei!" the young man shouted loudly.

At the same time, Aburame Keiichi in the field curved his lips. His unaffected "left eye" turned and locked onto the young man's hiding spot.

"Earth Style: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!"

Morino Kei, who had been hiding in the ground waiting for a long time, suddenly appeared and grabbed the panicked Aburame Keiichi's ankles with both hands.

"Got him!" Morino Kei exclaimed joyfully.

"But... did I just hear Kai shouting something? Oh well, I'll get one point first! Hehehe, I'm ahead this time, Kai!"

So, he tightened his grip and pulled Aburame Keiichi's feet into the activated earth without any resistance.

But it was only his feet...

"Let go! Don't touch me!"

Uchiha Kai's anxious shout echoed from the distant treetops.

"What!?" Morino Kei's face paled in shock. Looking at Aburame Keiichi, who was dangling in the air without feet, his heart trembled.

He scrambled to release the "feet" he was tightly gripping, but it was a little too late.

The object in his hand suddenly twisted and spun, transforming into a dense swarm of insects that clung tightly to Morino Kei's arms.

"Damn it..." the tall, sturdy young man groaned.

A numb sensation spread from his arms to his mind, and an invisible suction began to drain his body's energy, leaving him weak.

"My stamina... it's being drained..."

"Got me, huh? Just a consolation prize, though." Aburame Keiichi said in a deep, mocking tone.

The next second, Morino Kei was uprooted by the Kikaichū swarm and tossed aside.

Secret Technique: Insect Clone.

Unlike ordinary Shadow Clone Jutsu, this was a special clone that only the Aburame Clan, who had signed a blood pact with the insects and nurtured their growth with their own Chakra, could learn and master.

He had severely tricked the few people present, directly kicking Morino Kei, the most robust of the three, out of the battle.

"What should I do next?" Aburame Keiichi's mouth split into a ragged grin, and a hoarse, low voice emerged.

Through the information transmitted by the Kikaichū, he glanced at the hiding spots of the other two and slowly moved his feet.

Seeing this, Uchiha Kai's hands moved rapidly, forming hand seals.

Ox-Dog-Dragon-Rat-Dog-Boar-Snake-Tiger.

Shadow Clone Jutsu!

Two figures identical to the young man appeared behind him. They exchanged a brief glance before leaping off the branch and charging toward Aburame Keiichi's Insect Clone.

"Clink! Clink-clink!"

The two shadow clones engaged Aburame Keiichi, their kunai clashing, sending off dazzling sparks and the sound of metal on metal.

Aburame Keiichi moved with leisurely grace, wielding two kunai, one in each hand, and effortlessly suppressed Uchiha Kai's shadow clones as if playing a game.

"Don't underestimate my taijutsu just because I'm from the Aburame Clan... Miscalculations have consequences." The man's lips curled into a grin, and Kikaichū flew out from his seven facial orifices.

The young man didn't reply, only shouting loudly.

"Rei! Find his real body!"

Hearing this, the anxious girl beside him sprang into action. Veins bulged on her temples, and her pure white eyes snapped open.

The next second, the world in the girl's eyes abruptly changed.

The colors of the world were stripped away, leaving only simple lines to outline pure black and white. Everything revealed its most primitive form to the girl.

Her Byakugan scanned, and nothing could hide from her gaze.

The "Aburame Keiichi" in the field looked like a puppet made of Chakra, and the dense specks made the girl feel dizzy.

Skipping the insect clone, the girl quickly surveyed her surroundings, searching rapidly in the dense forest and under the soil for Aburame Keiichi's hiding place.

Nothing, nothing, still nothing. Aburame Keiichi seemed to have vanished into thin air.

As the girl looked at Uchiha Kai in confusion, her gaze suddenly trembled.

"Careful! He's behind you!!"