The Aburame Clan

"Shing!"

The next second, Aburame Keiichi spun around and drew the kunai at his waist, blocking the boy's lightning-fast slash.

"Not bad speed." Aburame Keiichi's lips curled slightly as he spoke in a calm voice.

But the next second, he could no longer smile.

"What?!"

The kunai in his hand held firm for a moment before the short blade in the boy's hand cleaved it in two.

"That thing's really sharp."

Aburame Keiichi looked a little surprised, but that was all.

As the short blade came at him again, its force undiminished, Aburame Keiichi remained calm. He twisted his body and narrowly evaded the slash with an uncanny contortion.

The next instant, he lifted his leg and kicked. Uchiha Kai held his short sword across his body to block the blow, staggering two steps backward.

Their exchange had lasted only a few seconds, but it gave the girl nearby time to catch her breath.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Several shuriken flew from the girl's hand, forming a net that covered every angle in front of Aburame Keiichi.

The man's lips curled as he prepared to dodge, but then he suddenly sensed a wave of heat behind him.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

The boy shouted, and chakra gathered into a terrifying fireball that bore down on him.

"Heh. Not bad."

With a net of shuriken before him and Uchiha Kai's full-power Great Fireball behind him, Aburame Keiichi gave a soft snort, apparently with nowhere to escape.

The next second, a black tide surged from within him, forming a flowing barrier that shielded Aburame Keiichi completely.

"Sizzle!"

The Great Fireball slammed into it, crackling and popping. Countless charred insects curled up and fell, their sheer number a horrifying sight.

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

When their attack failed, the two instantly fell back, vanishing among the forest leaves.

"Aburame Clan Kikaichū, huh? This is going to be tricky..." Uchiha Kai muttered from a nearby tree branch, recalling the Aburame Clan's showings in the original story.

"Later on, when combat power gets completely out of hand and the numbers skyrocket, the Aburame Clan doesn't get much attention. But in an era where battles still depend on shinobi tactics and planning..."

"The Aburame Clan's insect-control secret techniques are downright underhanded... I hope Kei can pull his weight."

As he weighed things over, Uchiha Kai kept his eyes fixed on Aburame Keiichi, who stood calmly in the middle of the clearing.

The ground beneath him seemed to shift ever so slightly, twisting as if it had softened.

Uchiha Kai's eyes lit up. He instantly understood what was happening and opened his Sharingan without hesitation. Black tomoe began to spin against the crimson.

Genjutsu: Sharingan.

Based on the Uchiha Clan's Kekkei Genkai, it used the wielder's ocular power to forcibly cast a genjutsu that disrupted the target's chakra flow, interfering with or even shutting down their control of their five senses.

With the technique at full power, the boy's sinister chakra entered Aburame Keiichi's body without resistance. The whole process was so easy it felt as if his opponent were nothing but a mindless beast.

He hadn't felt even the slightest resistance.

"What's going on? Why was it so easy?" The feedback from the chakra left the boy inexplicably panicked.

"But I really did take control of him, didn't I? Why does it feel so absurd?"

Uchiha Kai stared intently at Aburame Keiichi, who stood motionless in the clearing, trying to spot a flaw and figure out the source of that strange feeling.

The next instant, as the boy manipulated his chakra to confuse Aburame Keiichi's senses, he saw something horrifying.

In his perception, Aburame Keiichi had been completely brought under his control, yet he still stood steadily in place. Facing the strangely surging earth beneath him, the man gazed down with his left eye, utterly unconcerned.

His other eye rolled around inside its socket in a completely illogical way, a chilling sight.

It was as if... as if something else were controlling him.

In that instant, Uchiha Kai understood the source of the strange feeling.

"Don't touch him, Kei!" the boy shouted.

At the same time, Aburame Keiichi's lips curled. His unaffected "left eye" turned toward the boy's hiding place.

"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"

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

"Got him!" Morino Kei exclaimed excitedly.

"But... I thought I heard Kai shouting something just now? Never mind, I'll take the first point! Heh heh heh, I'm ahead of you this time, Kai!"

He tightened his grip and pulled Aburame Keiichi's feet into the softened earth without the slightest resistance.

But that was all he managed to pull in: just the man's feet...

"Let go! Don't touch him!"

Uchiha Kai's urgent shout came from the distant treetops.

"What?!" Morino Kei was stunned. Seeing Aburame Keiichi hanging in the air above him, his feet gone, his heart gave a jolt.

He hurriedly tried to release the "feet" he was gripping, but it was already too late.

The things in his hands suddenly twisted and writhed, transforming into a swarm of insects that clung tightly to both his arms.

"Damn it..." the tall boy groaned.

A numb sensation traveled up from his arms to his head. An invisible force began draining his body's energy, and weakness overtook his limbs.

"My stamina... it's almost all gone..."

"You caught me, but you only won a consolation prize." Aburame Keiichi spoke in a deep voice, his tone mocking.

The next second, the Kikaichū swarmed over Morino Kei and pulled him up by the roots, tossing him aside.

Secret Technique: Insect Clone.

Unlike the ordinary Shadow Clone Jutsu, this was a special clone that only members of the Aburame Clan could learn and master, since they alone formed blood pacts with insect swarms and nurtured them with their own chakra.

He had thoroughly fooled the others, knocking the sturdily built Morino Kei—the toughest of the three—out of the fight.

"What should I do next?" Aburame Keiichi grinned, his mouth stretched all the way to his ears. His voice came out hoarse and low.

Using the information sent by the Destroying Insects, he glanced at the two boys' hiding places and leisurely began to move.

Seeing this, Uchiha Kai's hands flew through the seals.

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

Shadow Clone Jutsu!

Two figures identical to the boy appeared behind him. They exchanged a quick glance, then leapt down from the tree and charged at Aburame Keiichi's Insect Clone.

"Clang! Clang-clang!"

The two Shadow Clones fought Aburame Keiichi. Their kunai clashed, sending out dazzling sparks and the ring of metal.

Aburame Keiichi moved with leisurely ease, wielding a kunai in each hand to effortlessly suppress Uchiha Kai's Shadow Clones, as if he were just playing around.

"Don't underestimate my Taijutsu just because I'm from the Aburame Clan... You'll pay for misjudging me." The man grinned, Kikaichū continuously flying out of his seven orifices.

The boy didn't reply. He simply shouted,

"Rei! Find his real body!"

Hearing him, the anxious girl nearby sprang into action. Veins bulged at her temples, and her pale eyes opened.

The next second, the world before the girl's eyes changed completely.

All color vanished from the world. Clean lines sketched everything in pure black and white, revealing the most fundamental form of all things to her.

Her Byakugan swept over the area. Nothing within her sight could hide.

The "Aburame Keiichi" in the clearing seemed like a puppet made of chakra. The countless spots covering him made the girl feel dizzy.

Ignoring the Insect Clone, the girl rapidly surveyed her surroundings, searching the woods and the soil for Aburame Keiichi's hiding place.

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

As the girl turned to Uchiha Kai in confusion, her gaze suddenly trembled.

"Look out! He's behind you!!"