Chapter 120: End of Kaima Mission
Silently reuniting with the group, Shino observed the unfolding drama between Naruto and Isaribi. Amongst them, only Anko's keen eyes acknowledged his presence, her gaze briefly lingering on him, recognizing his return.
However, Anko's senses soon prickled with danger, prompting her instinct to protect Ino. But before she could react, Shino was already in motion.
"Be careful!" Anko and Shino's voice sliced through the chaos in unison as Shino enveloped Ino in a protective embrace, leaving her shocked and unable to resist his hold.
BOOM! A thunderous explosion shattered the rocky walls and ceiling, hurling colossal chunks of debris towards the group. Shino shielded Ino with his body, absorbing the brunt of the blast, his transformation wavering on the edge of dissolution.
Thankfully, he had prepared a legion of bugs to mitigate the damage, sacrificing them to ensure his physical integrity remained intact.
"Shino?!" Ino's concerned voice resonated from beneath him, her eyes brimming with worry.
"Ino, are you alright-" Puff. Blood spewed from Shino's mouth, staining the ground before Ino, her eyes widening in disbelief. "Shino! Seriously, don't scare me!"
Struggling to rise, Shino asserted, "I'm alright."
"You don't look alright, no matter how I look at it!" Ino growled angrily, supporting Shino. "Idiot! Why would you do that?"
Shino remained silent, his gaze boring into Ino until her eyes shifted away uneasily before shifting his gaze towards the unconscious form of Anko, who had shielded Naruto from harm but had collapsed atop him, preventing his pursuit of the enemy.
Seriously? Even with his intervention, Anko still laid flat. And now, Amachi and Isaribi left on schedule, heading off to set the stage for the next part of the play.
"Damn it!" Naruto growled, his battered body struggling to dislodge the weight of Anko and her assets.
"That Yoroi, always so unreliable, managing to escape so swiftly," Misuri, the knock-off Mr. Fantastic, proclaimed with confidence, his gaze sweeping over the trio as he cracked his knuckles. "But I'm different. And I will take care of this right away."
Fwip! Misuri's arm elongated, hurtling towards Ino, who was supporting Shino. In an instant, Shino pushed Ino out of harm's way, allowing Misuri's arms to ensnare him instead.
"Shino!" Ino's voice echoed with shock and worry, simultaneously overlapping Naruto's voice.
This deviation was unexpected. Shino didn't expect Misuri to change his target. It seemed he had avoided targeting Naruto due to the limitations imposed by Anko's weighty presence. But, this didn't affect his plans much.
As the constricting force tightened around him, Shino maintained his composure. He possessed the means to let his bugs disperse, allowing Misuri's arms to pass through his incorporeal form, enabling his escape. Yet, he refrained from doing so because he knew...
"Mind Destruction Technique!" Ino's voice reverberated within the confines of the chamber.
Soon, the sinuous arms entangling Shino loosened their grip, allowing him to crumple to the ground, one knee bearing his weight. Looking up, Misuri's limbs had lost control, stretching out and tying themselves to the pillars conveniently located nearby. His own stretchy appendages now bound him, rendering him helpless, a courtesy of Ino's ninjutsu.
Witnessing this turn of events, Shino couldn't help but wonder. Well, why didn't anyone try this method on Luffy in One Piece?
Oops. Wrong topic. There isn't time for his thoughts to stray at the moment.
Ignoring Misuri's feeble third-rate-villain final words, Ino hurried over to Shino, offering her support while a mixture of guilt and concern permeated her voice. "Shino, are you okay?"
"No problem," Shino assured her, standing on his own to demonstrate his well-being.
"Oi! Shino may be fine, but I could use some help here!" Naruto's voice interjected, persistently struggling to extricate himself from underneath Anko's weight. "Sensei is, like, really heavy-"
A swift smack landed on Naruto's head, a kunai placed menacingly close to his face as Anko weakly lifted her head. Her tongue darted across her lips as she uttered, "What did you say?"
"Ah, sorry." Naruto's apology hung in the air as he lay sprawled on the ground, his gaze vacant and fixed ahead, a clear manifestation of fear.
The building trembled suddenly, accompanied by cascades of rocks and debris descending from above.
"The base is collapsing! We need to get out of here!" Ino declared, rushing to assist Anko.
The quartet swiftly dashed towards the exit, leaving Misuri behind, his frantic screams for help gradually transforming into horrified shrieks that reverberated through the crumbling corridors.
Though the group cast a fleeting glance back, they did not turn back to witness the fate befalling their vanquished adversary. Only Shino comprehended the true misery Misuri had met.
Guided by Shino's bugs, the group successfully navigated their escape from the collapsing base, arriving at the exit, where Anko's snake summoning technique carried them out.
With a note of concern in his voice, Naruto hurried towards the conveniently floating boat near the exit, eager to catch up with the transport ships. Ino followed suit, offering her assistance. Shino was about to join them when a sudden arm wrapped around his shoulder, halting his steps.
"Well, well, not bad, brat. You played your part quite well," Anko remarked, her gaze fixed on Ino, her tongue flicking across her lips. "But did you really have to play so big? You shouldn't have needlessly injured yourself on a mission. That is not what a responsible ninja should do."
Adjusting his glasses, Shino met Anko's gaze with a calm demeanor. "Tomato juice."
Anko's eyes narrowed as she stared at Shino, rolling her eyes before releasing her hold on him, allowing him to proceed. Observing Shino as he joined Naruto and Ino, a sly smile played upon Anko's lips. Retrieving a handkerchief from her pocket, she unfurled it, revealing a faint stain of red.
Bringing it to her nose, Anko inhaled the scent, a dark smile forming on her face. "Brat, do you really think I can't tell the difference between tomato juice and the smell of blood? Ah... such a good boy. It's such a pity, someone is willing to pay handsomely to get his hands on your blood. Don't blame me, sensei has been a bit strapped for cash lately."
Effortlessly concealing the handkerchief within a scroll, Anko resumed her usual expression, rejoining the group, ready to embark on the escort mission for their client.
Of course, Shino hadn't missed Anko's covert actions. His bugs had detected her discreetly collecting the blood he had spat out. However, Shino harbored no concerns.
After all, he wasn't foolish enough to carry his own blood on his clone. Such an act would defeat the purpose of employing clones in the first place, introducing unnecessary risks, particularly if he were to encounter adversaries like Hidan. He would never jeopardize his main body's safety for the sake of leaving behind a trail of blood.
Nevertheless, just because he couldn't carry his own blood didn't mean he couldn't carry the blood of others.
A mischievous thought crossed Shino's mind, a subtle smile playing upon his lips. "Heh, I wonder who will end up being pitted by 'my blood'," he mused, a sense of satisfaction enveloping him as he the boat rowed off towards the nearby Mother island.
As the group reached the port, a disheartening sight awaited them - the transport ships were nowhere to be seen. It was expected that someone entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing such crucial government funds transportation, like Hitode, would possess at least a modicum of intelligence. Yet, he had succumbed to a simple ruse, believing a report from the Konoha ninjas that lacked any form of legitimate signatures.
The consequence of his gullibility soon unfolded before their eyes - the ships were left capsized in the mire, victims of the assault orchestrated by Isaribi and the impostor 'Yoroi,' who had acquired new techniques from the real Yoroi and was putting them to the test, beginning with the insidious Demonic Illusion: Descending Hell Technique.
An illusionary inferno engulfed the vessels, coercing their occupants to leap into the tumultuous waters, only to be met by an even graver peril - an overwhelming whirlpool conjured by the formidable Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!
With impeccable timing, Anko's team arrived on the scene, ready to take action. Shino, driven by a relentless determination, honed in on his designated adversary, the counterfeit 'Yoroi'. It was a destined battle between his worse enemy, himself… ahem.
Inside Shino's secluded base, Kurenai relinquished her control over the 'Yoroi' clone, granting control to Karina.
A subtle blush graced Kurenai's features as she stole glances at the enchanting figure of Karina, whose body swayed and danced with an alluring grace.
"You two can continue with the charade. I shall retreat to the laboratory to develop my genjutsu," Kurenai spoke, her voice carrying a hint of shyness.
As Kurenai swiftly departed the room, Shino remained behind, his gaze fixed on the provocative display Karina had orchestrated, driven by her irrational jealousy over his manly treatment towards Ino.
It was merely a performance, a play they had both agreed upon, yet Karina's inner imagination had run rampant, igniting feelings of envy within her, resulting in her active methods to regain his attention.
However, Shino found this cute, a captivating aspect of their shared existence that injected vivacity into their lives.
Though tempted by Karina's seductively twisting lithe form, her touches, and teasing licks that persistently tested his resolve, Shino resisted, maintaining his unwavering focus. After all, he knew that this was a catalyst for her persistence, a means to encourage her to work harder.
On the other end's battlefield, a whirlwind of clashes and confrontations unfolded.
Shino's clone engaged in a mesmerizing display of chakra absorption with the 'Yoroi' clone, their energies intertwining and circulating like a mystical dance of taichi, each draining the other's chakra in a 'flashy' spectacle... barely noticed in the background in the original anime.
Simultaneously, Ino sprang into action, swiftly rescuing the imperiled sailors, while Naruto confronted Isaribi, ready to confront her with his persuasive Talk no Jutsu.
Anko, driven by her unwavering confidence, pursued Amachi, boldly labeling him a pervert, but alas, her resilience was short-lived.
In a disheartening recurrence, she succumbed to unconsciousness yet again, courtesy of a single jar of powder that released a potent sleeping smoke. How many times had Anko passed out during critical moments on this mission?
Nevertheless, her delay allowed Naruto to unleash the power of his Talk no Jutsu upon Isaribi.
Playing his role as the supporting villain, Amachi willingly added fuel to Naruto's persuasive flames, blatantly exposing his own sinister plans and revealing the harsh truth to Isaribi, as if his intellect had been degenerated to a staggering degree. His actions unwittingly drove his valuable combat unit into the hands of the enemy, as if guided by an external force.
Not only that, oddly enough, Amachi made a critical error in judgment. Despite defeating Naruto, he opted to summon a colossal waterborne sea monster to drown the young protagonist, seemingly disregarding the numerous alternative methods at his disposal.
He could have incapacitated Naruto with another jar of chemicals, killed him with a swift kunai strike, or simply forced him to drown in the vast ocean that surrounded them. The sheer number of viable options available were uncountable, yet he didn't use any of them.
Honestly, Amachi's actions was simply another source of evidence that an unseen puppeteer manipulated the villains in this realm like mere pawns.
After all, Amachi, though a third-rate villain, possessed the cunning of an exemplary evil scientist. He had successfully reverse-engineered one of Orochimaru's failed experiments, a feat that showcased his intelligence.
His original intelligence wasn't low at all, yet, in this pivotal moment, he made an inexplicably foolish choice.
Either he was a secretly a good guy playing the villain, wanting to save Isaribi because he watched her grow up and treated her as his daughter… Or, his IQ got a debuff, a result of encountering and standing on the opposite side of the protagonist.
The former seemed far less plausible than the latter in Shino's discerning eyes.
The battlefield erupted with a climactic turn of events as Naruto unleashed his formidable Nine-Tails Mode, a power that manifested as a devastating area-of-effect attack. Unfortunately, this attack inflicted more damage upon his own team than their intended enemies.
In the face of this peril, fortune smiled upon them.
Ino swiftly came to the rescue, saving the Shino from 'Yoroi', while Shino, in turn, safeguarded Ino. It was a synchronized display of heroism, carefully choreographed by Shino to raise his affection with Ino and provide the perfect excuse for his 'Yoroi' clone to vanish from the battlefield.
"You saved me…" Breathing a sigh of relief, Ino's light blue eyes fixated on Shino as she murmured her gratitude, her voice laced with a mixture of unknown emotion and relief.
As the final battle commenced, Naruto summoned the colossal toad, Gamabunta, whose colossal leaps and splashes drenched the surrounding area, including their own team.
"Wait, wait! Don't come over here, Naruto!" Ino frantically warned Naruto to steer clear, but her words fell on deaf ears.
Shino, completing his role, stepped forward, shielding Ino from most of the water with his body, creating an impromptu umbrella with the aid of his water-repellent bugs to shield her from the rest. Ino's gaze lingered on the soaked Shino, a faint blush arising upon her face.
But soon, embarrassment gripped Ino as she noticed the curious gazes of the soaked individuals surrounding them. Her initial blush fading, replaced by a simmering anger directed towards the oblivious Naruto.
Her anger reached its boiling point, her clenched fists swinging through the air as she vowed, "Damn Naruto! I'm going to rip you apart when the mission is over! Remember that!" Her words resonated with determination, leaving no doubt about her intent, diverting everyone's attention from her true thoughts.
The ensuing fight lacked any real suspense, merely serving as filler to prolong the narrative. The only truly suspenseful aspect was the covert capture of the sea monster's spiritual core before its eventual unsummoning.
Shino, aided by Karina's discreet assistance, flawlessly executed this pivotal task, evading detection from their oblivious companions.
With the mission successfully completed, the group took a well-deserved rest before embarking on their journey back to the mainland. A sense of accomplishment and contentment pervaded the air, promising a harmonious conclusion to their endeavor.
A happy ending seemed within grasp for all... but as always, coincidences loomed on the horizon, ready to disrupt the peace for the unfortunate.
In the subterranean layer of the Land of Fire, a peculiar sight unfolded.
A humanoid figure, ghostly white in complexion, swam effortlessly beneath the earth's surface, stealthily navigating its way in search of valuable intelligence. This mysterious entity, a sentinel of secrecy, possessed a grotesque countenance that sent shivers down the spines of those who beheld it.
Unexpectedly, during its journey, the creature suddenly encountered an obstacle, colliding against a surface it couldn't burrow through with its Mayfly technique.
Its yellow eye narrowed, fixating on the barrier before it, plain dirt akin to the ground around him, but the exemplary spy could notice something was amiss.
A wicked grin slowly crept across its distorted visage as certain parts of its form transformed into wood, seamlessly melding with the hidden structure before it. Like a drill, the creature burrowed into the solid edifice, defying the limitations of conventional intrusion.
Sensing the foreign presence, the insects that encased the structure and the very walls themselves surged with apprehension, detecting the invasive entity's presence. However, their efforts proved futile, for the seasoned infiltrator had already gained entry.
With its all-seeing eye surveying the concealed base, a malevolent grin etched itself upon the creature's face. It disregarded the agony inflicted upon its own form, as if unaffected by the flesh-rending appendages and the ravenous swarm of insects consuming its being.
With a hiss that sent shivers down the spine, the creature addressed the man, clad in the distinctive attire of the Aburame clan, who appeared before it, its words laced with an eerie blend of triumph and menace. "Found you."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone