"Enemy?!"
Sasuke felt his fingers trembling slightly. The eerie female Grass ninja before him felt like a monster in human skin. Her bloodthirsty killing intent and menacing aura were like tangible shackles, binding his body and mind.
"What... this guy..."
Shikamaru's voice also had a shaky, off-key quality. As a genin whose experience was even less than Sasuke's, he was undoubtedly experiencing such terrifying killing intent for the first time. It felt like being naked and placed in a coffin filled with shattered ice, feeling only a chill that seemed to freeze his very soul!
"...Careful... this guy..."
Shino was the only one who could barely speak, but the impact he felt was probably even more intense than Sasuke's and Shikamaru's. As a ninja who could share senses with his insects, he could even directly feel the terrifying chakra within the Grass ninja from his insects—it was definitely not something an ordinary ninja could possess!
"Oho~ You're paralyzed to this extent? What a pity, then, die here."
The eerie female Grass ninja slightly raised her head. Three cold, glinting kunai emerged from her sleeves, then were thrown with a flick of her arm. The sharp kunai seemed to carry a chilling wind of death, heading towards the throats of Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Shino!!
And on the other side of the forest!!
In front of Naruto and Kiba, another strange Grass ninja appeared.
"Apologies, passage is forbidden here."
The Grass ninja's eerie tone didn't scare Naruto or Kiba. Naruto, leading the way, immediately clenched his fist. "Hey, hey~! Old man, you've got the wrong opponents, haven't you? We're really strong, you know, but it's hunting season right now, so we're not interested in fighting for scrolls for the time being. I suggest you move aside."
"Yeah, yeah~ And we're not carrying any scrolls either, so even if you fight us, you won't get anything~!"
Kiba also spoke, hands on his hips. The confident, hot-blooded youth rubbed his nose. "So, it's better to just move aside now."
This exchange made the Grass ninja in front of them chuckle slightly. As if no longer bothering to conceal himself, the Grass ninja's body calmly dispelled his Transformation Jutsu, revealing two different figures to Naruto and Kiba.
"Honestly, that's why I hate these brats who just left the academy and think they're ninjas~ They're so lame~! What do you think ninja battles of killing for fun are, huh?!"
A tone full of mockery and cruelty, along with a bizarre two-headed appearance, belonged to Sakon, the West Gate among the Sound Four!
"Lord Orochimaru's order is to stall them, so we'll do just that."
The other person next to Sakon was tall and muscular, with a distinctive three-strand hairstyle. He was Jirōbō, the South Gate among the Sound Four.
"Tch~! So it's going to be two-on-two, huh? Since the numbers are even, it's not like we're bullying you."
Naruto decisively dropped the fish he had just caught and eagerly clenched his fists. "Alright! I'm going first!"
"Hey, Naruto, wait a..."
Seeing the blonde charge forward, Kiba was instantly startled. As if to bring a perfect end to Naruto's reckless attack, Jirōbō, with a slight smile, suddenly slammed his hand on the ground. The earth, as if alive, instantly swelled up, trapping the charging Naruto like a fish trap. The scene was perfectly seamless, like a golden-haired wild boar rushing straight into an open pigsty.
"...second. We don't know their abilities yet..."
At this point, a dumbfounded Kiba finished his warning, but it was clearly completely useless now.
"Pff hahahaha~~! What an energetic fool. You must have a hard time teaming up with such a blockhead. Well, since he's already Jirōbō's prey, you, the remaining one, can play with me properly."
Leaping forward with bloodlust, Sakon's figure instantly appeared in Kiba's vision! A heavy punch slammed into Kiba's blocking arm, and the powerful force directly pushed Kiba several meters backward.
Tch! Looks like I can't worry about that blonde idiot right now!
"Akamaru! Listen to my command, we need to finish this quickly!"
Not ignoring the details revealed in Sakon and Jirōbō's earlier words, Kiba slightly clenched his fingers. If nothing unexpected happened, the camp must have already been attacked!
He had to finish things here as soon as possible, then go support them!
---
Ninja Art: Spider Web Bloom!!
With Kidomaru's loud shout, a huge spider web spewed from his mouth. This web was clearly not an ordinary small one; with a diameter of ten meters, the giant spider web forced Hinata to reluctantly give up her pursuit and angrily focus her fire to burn away the web that might stick to her.
Genjutsu: Demonic Illusion: Sound-Binding Chains
As Hinata stopped, Tayuya's eerie flute music began to drift from nearby. Hinata clearly couldn't avoid this sound-based genjutsu, but its weakness was that it needed to be heard by the enemy for a period of time before the genjutsu took effect.
"Damn it!"
Reaching into her ninja tool pouch for a kunai with an explosive tag, Hinata casually threw it, targeting Tayuya, who was hiding behind a tree. Tayuya, noticing the attack, also had to stop playing and escape the explosion's range.
"Damn it! Kidomaru! If you don't capture her! My genjutsu won't work at all!"
Tayuya, who had been interrupted multiple times by Hinata's kunai, angrily complained to Kidomaru. Kidomaru, who was upside down on a large tree, sneered and slightly shook his head: "No can do, spiders don't like prey that plays with fire~ So, as long as the mission is completed, that's enough, right?"
This tedious battle had been going on for about several minutes. Both Kidomaru and Tayuya recognized that Hinata's taijutsu attacks were quite powerful, so they decisively abandoned the idea of close-quarters combat. Instead, Kidomaru continuously released highly viscous spider webs from a distance to restrain her, while Tayuya seized opportunities to cast genjutsu.
Hinata clearly lacked effective countermeasures against the enemy's kite-like fighting style.
The attack range of the Eight Trigrams Palms itself was indeed limited. At close range, its lethality naturally surpassed the Lightning Funeral Fist and Wind Death Fist. If Hinata managed to get a hold of them, both Kidomaru and Tayuya would probably be finished with a single Eight Trigrams Palms.
However, the prerequisite was to be able to drag the enemy into her close-range attack. The current Hinata was like someone with immense offensive power but extremely limited range. Facing Kidomaru and Tayuya, two enemies with ample range and strong control abilities, she indeed felt a sense of powerlessness.
It was almost like when Kabuto Yakushi, with slightly higher agility, managed to stall Lady Tsunade, who was far superior in strength, during the Sannin Battle.
"Damn pests! Am I chasing cockroaches with slippers?!"
Hinata frowned and stopped. Clearly, continuing to fight like this was useless. Kidomaru and Tayuya in their Cursed Seal Level 1 state were not much worse than her in agility. Coupled with the complex terrain and both having control skills, it was impossible to catch the perfectly synchronized duo with her current body alone.
"Hey, hey~ Your words are getting out of hand~ I'm a spider, not a cockroach."
Kidomaru seemed completely unfazed by Hinata's verbal insults, but Tayuya lacked that patience. The red-haired Sound ninja gritted her teeth fiercely: "Damn Byakugan monster! If it weren't for Lord Orochimaru's orders! Hmph! Even so, I'll make you pay!"
"Hey, hey, Tayuya, you can't kill her~"
Understanding Tayuya's temper well, Kidomaru merely chuckled. The red-haired female Sound ninja grinned viciously, bit her left thumb, and declared: "Relax! Breaking her limbs is the most I'll do, right?
Summoning Jutsu!"
Accompanying Tayuya's delicate cry, three huge figures appeared behind her with a puff of summoning smoke. Their deformed and twisted bodies were precisely the Three Doki, her summoned beings from the original story!
"You brute of a woman! If you want to compare strength! Go compare it with these three guys!"
Grinning, Tayuya held her short flute horizontally. Her lips slightly parted, and an eerie melody began to emanate. The three ghostly figures standing behind her swayed slightly before suddenly leaping up, rushing towards Hinata's direction!!
Tch! So it's come to this... a situation the Eight Trigrams Palms can't handle.
Frowning, Hinata dodged an attacks. She had clearly confirmed it: if only her Hyuga princess body was considered, her chances of winning this battle were absolutely zero. There was indeed a reason why pure taijutsu ninjas were not highly regarded.
So, according to what others would do. If it were a Hyuga ninja fully proficient in Gentle Fist, like Hiashi Hyuga, at this moment he would use a Rotation to repel the Three Doki, then an Eight Trigrams Air Palm to stun Tayuya and Kidomaru, then rush over with an Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms to KO them.
If it were a taijutsu ninja who could use the Eight Gates, like Might Guy or Rock Lee, at this moment they would continuously open several gates, rapidly approaching Tayuya and Kidomaru with a speed several times higher, then use a Morning Peacock with several times their strength to relentlessly pulverize them.
But the current Hinata knew neither Gentle Fist nor the Eight Gates. So, she could only...
"No choice, it seems being prepared is always right."
Deftly pulling out a kunai and making a small cut on her upper left arm, Hinata dabbed her finger with her blood, then quickly formed the boar, dog, rooster, monkey, and ram hand seals. With the release of chakra, a puff of white summoning smoke suddenly burst forth from Hinata's right palm!
"Summoning Jutsu!! Suigintou!"
From within the smoke, a pair of ice-forged wings burst forth!
---