Kawaki Aoba's heart tightened. He spun around sharply and saw that Sarutobi Asuma's Chakra Blades had already thrust before his eyes. He instinctively raised an arm to block, but the blades carved a deep gash across it, blood instantly staining his sleeve red.
"Aoba!"
Yuhi Shinku shouted and tried to rush over to help, only to be entangled by several puppets that suddenly appeared, leaving him completely unable to break free.
Asuma looked at Kawaki Aoba's bleeding arm and sneered. "Kawaki Aoba, you're still too green."
Gritting his teeth against the searing pain in his arm, Kawaki Aoba swung a backhanded punch at Asuma's face and roared, "Sarutobi Asuma, remember this! Even if I die, I, Kawaki Aoba, will never bow my head to a traitor like you!"
Asuma sidestepped the blow, grabbed Kawaki Aoba by the wrist, and yanked him close. He placed the Chakra Blades against his throat, his tone icy. "Bow your head? Do you even have the right to bow your head now? Tell me, where did you hide Konoha's forbidden technique?"
Kawaki Aoba held his head high, his gaze unwavering. "I don't know anything about any forbidden technique. Those are all lies you made up! Asuma, if you've got the nerve, kill me. But getting anything out of me? Impossible!"
Killing intent surged in Asuma's eyes. He pressed the Chakra Blades tighter, the edge cutting Kawaki Aoba's skin and drawing a thin line of blood. "I'll ask you one last time. Where is the forbidden technique?"
"I don't know!"
Kawaki Aoba said each word deliberately, without the slightest wavering. "Even if you kill me, you won't get anything!"
Just then, a familiar voice rang out from the woods, tinged with urgency. "Asuma, stop!"
Asuma and Kawaki Aoba turned at the same time. Shikamaru Nara, Choji