Kidomaru

Uzumaki Hane lay on the ground. His Chakra Enhanced Strength punch had failed just now, and he hadn't expected his opponent to activate Curse Mark Stage Two. Fortunately, he had turned into lava in time, so his injuries weren't serious.

Jirobo looked at Uzumaki Hane and said, "This ends here. Pressure Palm!" He slammed his palm down, shattering the ground and sending a terrifying shock wave rushing toward Uzumaki Hane.

Uzumaki Hane flashed into motion, springing up from the ground. Jirobo hadn't expected Uzumaki Hane to still be able to move. He pushed off hard, blasting a huge crater in the ground, and used the recoil to rush in front of Uzumaki Hane in an instant. "Rock Strike!" he shouted, smashing a fist toward him.

"Lava Super Heavy Fist!" Uzumaki Hane shouted. His right fist rapidly turned to lava and swelled to ten times its original size. He punched, and the two fists collided with a bang. Jirobo didn't budge, but Uzumaki Hane staggered back several steps, cracks appearing in his lava arm.

Jirobo naturally wouldn't let Uzumaki Hane off there. He crossed the distance in a few strides and shouted, "Demolishing Palm!" He struck at Uzumaki Hane's stomach. The cracks in Uzumaki Hane's right arm rapidly healed, and he raised it to block. Jirobo's palm didn't hit his body, but a shock wave still sent Uzumaki Hane stumbling backward.

Jirobo rushed in front of Uzumaki Hane again and shouted, "Rising Palm Strike!" Caught off guard, Uzumaki Hane was knocked into the sky by the punch. Jirobo then crouched slightly, and countless cracks spread across the ground. The terrifying recoil sent him hurtling above Uzumaki Hane in an instant.

Jirobo looked at Uzumaki Hane with a bloodthirsty smile and said, "This is the end. Pressure Palm!" He thrust both hands down toward Uzumaki Hane's stomach. Uzumaki Hane's eyes narrowed. He quickly crossed his arms in front of himself and shouted, "Lava Super Heavy Fist!" With a bang, Uzumaki Hane crashed hard into the ground, blasting a crater about ten meters wide and sending dust billowing everywhere.

Suddenly, a streak of red lightning shot out of the dust. Jirobo was still basking in the excitement of defeating Uzumaki Hane, at his least guarded, and the red lightning pierced his chest.

Jirobo looked at the lava javelin in his chest, disbelief spreading across his face. He fell from the sky, and the Curse Mark Stage Two on his body began to fade as he returned to his original appearance.

Uzumaki Hane walked out of the crater and spat out a mouthful of blood. He said, "I was a little careless. I didn't expect his Curse Mark Stage Two to be so powerful. If I couldn't turn into lava, that last attack probably would have killed me." Uzumaki Hane wiped the blood from his mouth and glanced at Jirobo. The lava spear had pierced his chest, and his internal organs had been burned away.

Uzumaki Hane then flashed onto a tree trunk and pursued Shikamaru and the others in the direction they had gone, soon disappearing into the woods.

Meanwhile, Naruto and the other four pursued the Sound Ninja and quickly found them thanks to Kiba and Akamaru's powerful tracking abilities. Neji used his Byakugan and found no traps along the way. Shikamaru realized they were being underestimated and decided to transform into Jirobo to launch a sneak attack, but because he didn't know what Jirobo was like, Kidomaru and the others quickly saw through him. Kidomaru even restrained all five of them with spider silk.

Tayuya and Sakon and Ukon went on ahead, leaving Kidomaru to deal with Naruto and the others.

Kidomaru looked at the six Narutos stuck fast and let out a bloodthirsty laugh. "Heh heh heh, secret technique: Spider Sticky Gold!" Six clumps of metallic-looking spider silk came out of his mouth and rapidly hardened. He continued, "I wonder which one is real. Let's play a guessing game. Heh heh heh..." But all six Narutos turned out to be clones. Naruto took the chance to attack from behind, but Kidomaru easily blocked his attack. Just then, Neji used Gentle Fist to cut through the spider silk and free the others.

Only Neji could deal with Kidomaru's spider silk, so he decided to stay behind. He said to the others, "Go, quickly. Leave this to me."

The others hesitated, but Neji said, "Hurry. Our mission is to bring Sasuke back. If we waste time here, we won't be able to complete it."

Shikamaru said, "Let's go. I believe Uzumaki Hane will catch up soon." Choji said, "Maybe I should stay too."

Neji said, "I'm the only one who can deal with this guy's spider silk, and having one more person gives you a better chance. Go, quickly. I'll catch up soon."

"Don't even think about escaping," Kidomaru said. He spat out several clumps of webbing to block Neji, then spat another toward Shikamaru and the others as they left.

"I won't let you get away with that," Neji said. He used Gentle Fist to cut through all the webbing.

Neji had stopped his attack, and Shikamaru and the others were already far away. Kidomaru could only focus on Neji. He chewed continuously, then spat web after web at him.

Neji used his Byakugan to dodge them one by one, cutting through the ones he couldn't avoid with Gentle Fist. But Kidomaru's webs were too numerous. Neji failed to dodge one in time and was pinned to a tree trunk.

Kidomaru kept chewing and shouted, "Secret technique: Spider Sticky Gold!" He spat out a fist-thick strand of metallic-looking spider silk. It hardened rapidly upon contact with the air and shot toward Neji. As the silk reached him, Neji broke free of the web and charged along the strand toward Kidomaru.

Kidomaru hadn't expected Neji to escape the web and inwardly cried out that this was bad.

Neji quickly reached Kidomaru and shouted, "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" His hands struck Kidomaru again and again, but Kidomaru used the secret technique Sticky Gold Armor to block Neji's attacks.

Kidomaru felt that fighting Neji at close range was very disadvantageous to him. He flashed away and hid, then fired Kunai made from Spider Sticky Gold at Neji. "Eight Trigrams Palms: Heavenly Spin!" Neji shouted, deflecting every Kunai.

Kidomaru immediately activated Cursed Seal Level One and appeared in front of Neji. Neji charged straight at him.

By the time Uzumaki Hane arrived at Kidomaru and Neji's battlefield, Kidomaru had already activated Curse Mark Stage Two and was holding the Spider War Bow. Because of the Byakugan's weakness, Neji's right shoulder had been pierced by a sticky gold arrow, and he was slowly collapsing.

Uzumaki Hane flashed to Neji's side and caught him. "Neji, are you all right?" Neji managed to raise his head and look at Uzumaki Hane. "You caught up. What about that Sound Ninja?" Uzumaki Hane said, "I caught up, and that Sound Ninja has already been dealt with. Leave the rest to me."

Kidomaru had been astonished that Neji had avoided a vital hit when he saw Uzumaki Hane appear and heard him say that he had dealt with Jirobo. "Impossible!" Kidomaru said in shock. "Where's that useless Jirobo?" He quickly formed a sticky gold arrow and fired it at Uzumaki Hane's back with full power.

Neji saw the arrow behind Uzumaki Hane and shouted with all his strength, "Look out!" Uzumaki Hane also sensed the sound of something cutting through the air behind him. He turned to look, only to see that the arrow had already reached him.