The Ino-Shika-Cho Heirs-Is That All You've Got?

"Heh, heh, heh... You Konoha brats hid yourselves pretty well."

Shikamaru's pupils shrank to pinpoints.

Three figures emerged from deep in the forest.

The leader was a tall, thin man whose face was wrapped in bandages, leaving only one murky yellow eye exposed.

He wore Amegakure armor, with two scrolls hanging at his waist, one Kurenai and one blue.

The two behind him were dressed as Rain Ninja too.

The one on the left was bald, over six feet tall and knotted with muscle. He carried a huge Executioner's Blade on his shoulder.

The one on the right was short and hunched, his hands dangling below his knees. His nails were black, as though coated in some deadly poison.

"Three brats. Hand over your scroll." The bald giant lowered the Executioner's Blade from his shoulder. Its tip struck the ground, kicking up dirt. "I'll make your deaths quick."

Ino's lips went pale, but she did not back down.

She drew a kunai from behind her waist, the fingers of her right hand already forming hand seals.

Choji stepped in front of Shikamaru, crouched slightly, and clenched his fists, taking the opening stance of the Human Bullet Tank.

"Shikamaru, Ino, when I make my move, fall back." Choji's voice was quiet but firm. "These three are strong. I'll hold them off. Find a chance to run."

"Shut up," Shikamaru said with a frown. "You think we'll let you die alone? Dream on."

His mind raced.

"Choji!"

A shrill howl of wind tore Shikamaru's shout apart.

The tall, thin man merely raised a hand. The Kurenai scroll at his shoulder unfurled without a sound, and black jutsu markings crawled like living things across the arm beneath his bandages.

Almost at the same instant, a visible blast of chakra erupted from the scroll and became three curved Wind Blades, skimming the ground straight toward them.

With a roar, Choji charged into the Wind Blades. His body swelled rapidly, his limbs drawing into his clothes until he became a massive ball of flesh.

"Human Bullet Tank!"

BOOM!!!

He collided with the first Wind Blade, and a bloody gash instantly tore through the chakra shield around him.

Choji grunted. The blow sent him spinning into a huge tree behind him. The trunk splintered, spraying wood chips everywhere.

He spat a mouthful of blood and slid down from the shattered tree. His clothes had been sliced open at his right shoulder and waist, exposing torn flesh beneath.

The second Wind Blade was already upon Shikamaru.

His pupils contracted. He threw himself forward on instinct, and the Wind Blade skimmed past the back of his head, severing three strands of hair and the tree behind him, a trunk wide enough for two people to embrace.

How are we supposed to fight this? The gap is too big... Shikamaru gritted his teeth and dragged his fingers across the ground. His shadow stretched wildly among the trees. "Shadow Possession Jutsu!"

The black shadow slithered along the ground like a snake, shooting toward the bald giant's feet.

The giant grinned viciously, planted the Executioner's Blade in the ground, and used it to leap. Despite his bulk, he moved like a leopard, evading the shadow's first attempt to bind him.

But Shikamaru had already calculated where he would land.

The shadow split into three and closed in from three directions at once.

The giant's expression changed. Suspended in midair with nothing to push against, he could only watch as the shadows closed on his ankles.

Just then, the short, hunched figure appeared behind Shikamaru.

A chill touched the back of Shikamaru's neck, followed by a piercing pain.

He barely managed to twist aside before those black nails sliced open the skin of his back.

A searing numbness spread from the wound in an instant, as if countless Kurenai-hot needles were driving through his veins toward his heart.

"Argh!"

Shikamaru dropped to one knee. His vision warped, the forest before him twisting into a tangled mess.

He lost control of his Shadow Possession Jutsu, and the shadow snapped back beneath his feet.

"Shikamaru!" Ino cried from his right, her voice close to breaking but fierce with desperation.

She rapidly formed hand seals, her blond ponytail whipping in the wind, her blue-green eyes locked on the short Rain Ninja.

"Mind Body Switch Technique!"

Her mental chakra left her body like a transparent arrow and pierced toward the short ninja's consciousness.

For an instant, his body froze, as if something had struck him from within.

Now!

Ino gritted her teeth and tried to force her way into his body.

But just as her mind was about to enter, a colder, murkier mental force surged from the depths of his consciousness, brimming with murderous intent and madness.

Ino felt as though something had slammed into her chest. She flew backward, the back of her head striking the ground hard.

Blood poured from her nose and ears, staining everything she saw Kurenai.

"Stupid brat. You're out of your depth." The short ninja licked his black nails, his voice thin as a snake's hiss. "I'll take your body."

He flickered and appeared before Ino, five black nails clawing at her face like iron hooks.

Choji staggered up from the crater by the tree, his face covered in blood and his left arm hanging limp. But the fury in his eyes burned brighter than ever.

He hurled himself toward Ino with all his strength and took the strike across his back.

SLASH!!!

Five black wounds ran from Choji's left shoulder to his right hip, deep enough to expose bone.

The pain nearly knocked him unconscious, but he stayed on his feet. With the last of his strength, he slammed a fist into the short ninja's shoulder, driving him back several steps.

"Don't... don't touch Ino..." Choji's voice trembled. Blood kept spilling from the corner of his mouth, dripping onto the dirt at his feet.

The short ninja shook out his hand and smiled coldly. "What a fine meat shield. I'll carve up all that fat first."

Before he finished speaking, he vanished again.

Shikamaru knelt on one knee, his vision blurred. The poison in his back was rapidly eating away at his consciousness.

He fought to stand, but he could not even lift a leg.

All he could do was watch as the short ninja clawed at Choji, kicked him through the air, and slammed him down like a punching bag.

Choji's blood spattered through the forest. The ground beneath the broken tree was flecked with dark Kurenai.

Ino's voice was too hoarse to form words. Only blood-choked sobs escaped her lips.

She struggled desperately to rise, but every time she got halfway up, she collapsed again.

Despair gripped Team 10 by the throat like an invisible hand.

Shikamaru's vision blurred further, and his consciousness slowly sank into darkness.

With his last strength, he raised a trembling hand, still trying to use Shadow Possession one more time.

But the tall, thin man had already reached him. He looked down, mockery filling his murky eye.

"The heirs of Konoha's Ino-Shika-Cho—is this all you've got?" He slowly drew out the blue scroll, and its jutsu markings lit up. "It's over."

Shikamaru clenched his teeth. For the first time, genuine frustration and despair surfaced in his eyes.

I can't... let it end like this...

Just as the blue scroll was about to unleash a killing blow, the tall man's hand stopped moving.

He whipped his head around toward the depths of the forest behind him.

Leaves stirred there without wind, falling one by one in silence.

A figure stood on the highest branch. No one had seen when he arrived.

Tousled black hair hid half his face. His Three Tomoe Sharingan were frighteningly calm.