Now, Choji's injury had completely ignited Shikamaru's fighting spirit.
"Blocked again?"
Darui frowned slightly, then used Laser Circus again.
'As long as I take care of that kid, the others won't be a problem.'
Darui glanced at the extraordinary battle between Yugito Nii and Sasuke, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. "Leave that troublesome guy to her."
"Create an opening for me, Lee."
Shikamaru said intently. "Neji, protect me."
Neji also knew how troublesome the enemy was and immediately stood in front of Shikamaru, ready to block attacks at any moment.
At that moment, the beams Darui fired arrived before them.
Rotation!
Neji immediately performed the technique.
However, at that moment, the beams suddenly changed direction, going upwards past Neji and his Rotation, then came down from above towards Shikamaru's head.
Thud!
The beam pierced through a tree stump, but Shikamaru himself had disappeared.
"Body Replacement Technique?"
Darui's face tightened, and he immediately looked for Shikamaru.
But he didn't expect.
Shikamaru had used a combination of Clone Technique and Body Replacement Technique.
What stayed behind Neji was just his clone, not his real self.
He had already quietly circled around and arrived behind a tree to Darui's left rear.
He quietly formed hand seals and used Shadow Imitation Technique.
The shadow quietly extended, moving slowly from the ground towards Darui from a position he couldn't see.
'Just a little more!'
Shikamaru's eyes were fixed on the shadow, 'Just one meter left!'
But at this critical moment, Darui finally saw the shadow behind him.
Horrified, he jumped up, dodging the shadow.
But that wasn't the end.
"Lee!"
Shikamaru shouted, and Lee immediately responded, "Leave it to me!"
Lee suddenly appeared behind Darui.
But he didn't attack Darui.
"This is?"
Darui was stunned, then his expression changed drastically as he looked at the ground below.
He saw the shadow pass through Lee's shadow and continue extending, perfectly connecting with his own shadow.
He immediately felt his body stiffen.
'It's bad!'
He realized something was wrong.
But it was too late.
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
Neji had already taken his stance. The moment Shikamaru controlled Darui, he charged out.
His palms became a blur, striking various Chakra Points on Darui's body, thereby blocking the pores through which he released Chakra.
"It's over!"
Darui's heart sank.
Unable to use Chakra meant his combat power plummeted.
The enemy's strength and coordination exceeded his expectations.
"Human Bullet Tank!"
Choji, having quickly finished treatment, immediately used his secret technique. His entire body turned into a ball, rolling and charging at high speed. The immense force directly impacted Darui.
"Ah!"
Darui let out a cry and fell miserably.
Shikamaru also released his control.
"Exquisite coordination."
Takumi nodded.
With Shikamaru, a Chunin, and several Genin working together, they actually managed to defeat Darui, an Elite Jonin of Kumogakure.
Takumi couldn't help but acknowledge it.
Although if he fought, he might end it with just one move, as the gap between their strength and his was too great.
For them to achieve this was enough to surprise Takumi.
Takumi had originally thought both Darui and Yugito would need to be defeated by Sasuke using Susano'o.
"Roar!"
Matatabi let out a furious roar.
Despite its massive body, its speed was not slow.
Sharp claws slashed through, toppling trees one after another.
Meanwhile, Sasuke's Susano'o swung its fists, also easily knocking down trees.
The two fought openly and unrestrainedly, but the real victims were the surrounding trees.
Neither of them was injured yet.
Matatabi suddenly launched a massive fireball, its power extremely strong.
Sasuke's Susano'o's hand condensed a long sword made of black flames.
That was the black flame of Amaterasu!
As Itachi's younger brother, Sasuke's Sharingan also possessed Amaterasu.
But the effect of his other Mangekyo wasn't Itachi's Tsukuyomi, but Kagutsuchi, which allowed him to control the black flames.
Although he lost the control effect of Tsukuyomi, overall, it was still very good.
At that moment, Sasuke used the black flames to split the fireball spat by Matatabi.
Seeing its attack fail again, Matatabi grew increasingly angry.
It suddenly opened its mouth wide, and a spherical mass of Chakra condensed in front of it.
Bijudama.
A Biju's exclusive attack method.
It's extremely powerful, capable of easily destroying a forest.
"Danger!"
Although Sasuke didn't know what a Bijudama was, he could still sense the danger.
Whoosh!
The Bijudama was spat out by Matatabi, moving incredibly fast.
In an instant, Sasuke retracted his Susano'o, allowing the Bijudama to fly over his head, then immediately released his Susano'o again.
Matatabi seemed not to expect Sasuke had this move.
For a moment, it didn't react.
Thus, it was immediately punched in the head by Sasuke's controlled Susano'o.
"Roar!"
Matatabi roared, staggering back a few steps, shaking its head.
That punch had dazed it a bit, and it felt dizzy.
How could Sasuke let this opportunity go?
He laughed maniacally as he charged forward, controlling his Susano'o to punch Matatabi repeatedly, making it let out cries of pain.
"Is he out of control?"
Shikamaru frowned, watching the nearby battlefield.
The aftershocks of the battle were too intense… they couldn't get close.
"He's like an addict, already intoxicated with his own power."
Neji immediately pointed out Sasuke's current state of mind.
As a genius of the Hyuga Clan, when he learned the secret technique, Rotation, on his own without relying on the clan's support, he had been as excited as Sasuke.
So he could empathize with Sasuke's feelings.
But admittedly, he was also somewhat worried now.
Takumi had said to capture these two alive.
But looking at Sasuke's current state, it seemed he wouldn't stop until he killed the opponent.
"Stop, Sasuke!"
Lee shouted. "The enemy has lost the ability to fight!"
He had sharp eyes… he saw Matatabi's body gradually shrinking, as if returning to its original form.
But Sasuke paid no heed, his eyes were filled with madness.
"This is power! The invincible power belonging only to the Uchiha Clan!"
Sasuke laughed wildly while controlling his Susano'o to keep punching. "Everyone must kneel before this power!"
Sasuke still remembered Takumi's instructions.
Otherwise, he would have used the black flames long ago.
The inextinguishable black flames wouldn't disappear even on Matatabi's blue-flamed body.
"It's time to stop."
Takumi's calm voice reached Sasuke's ears.
The Susano'o's attack was also hindered.
Sasuke looked closely and found Takumi had appeared before him at some point, actually blocking the Susano'o's giant fist with his bare hands.
He hadn't even used his own Susano'o.
This strength made Sasuke stare in disbelief.
But he quickly regained his composure. "Why are you stopping me? She's the enemy."
"I said to keep them alive."
Takumi said calmly. "I have a use for her. If you want to resist, feel free to try."
Yugito, having regained consciousness, retreated in terror, scrambling backwards on her hands and feet, trying to get as far away from Takumi and Sasuke as possible.
Sasuke's strength was already shocking enough.
And now there was someone even stronger than Sasuke, who actually blocked the Susano'o's giant fist with his bare hands.
"Hmph!"
Sasuke snorted coldly, hiding his inner panic.
He had indeed gotten carried away.
Causing him to forget how he was just taught a lesson by Takumi.
Fortunately, he regained his composure in time and didn't continue to lose his honor in front of everyone, even outsiders.
"Alright, now you owe me a life."
Turning around, Takumi's face was no longer solemn but showed a satisfied smile.
'I didn't expect Sasuke and the others to actually defeat them.'
Takumi just had a sudden impulse to try.
But now it seemed the strength of the Konoha 12 was not to be underestimated.
Even Darui was defeated by the odd combination of Shikamaru, Lee, and Neji.
Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at Takumi. "How do we handle this now?"
He was referring to the handling of Darui and Yugito.
One was an Elite Jonin, the other the Nibi's jinchuriki.
Based on Takumi's initial idea, Shikamaru knew he wanted to use these two as bait.
"Let the man go."
Takumi pointed at Darui. "He's not important. Let him go back and report this to the Raikage."
"As for her, she has a monster inside her. Capturing her would be a huge blow to Kumogakure."
"And it can also serve as a deterrent to Kumogakure."
"The monster inside her?"
Shikamaru frowned deeply.
He didn't know about Biju yet.
As information, the Nara Clan must have data on Biju, but Shikamaru might not be interested or simply hadn't read it, so he didn't know much about the existence of Biju.
"You don't need to know about this for now. You'll find out soon enough."
Takumi kept it a small mystery, then had Neji seal several of Yugito's Chakra points. After that, Takumi took her back to Konoha.
As for Darui, with most of his Chakra sealed, he could only leave.
Staying served no purpose, and as long as he couldn't unblock the sealed Chakra points, he had no combat power.
He needed to go back to fix the sealed Chakra points issue and report what happened here.
"It seems I'm really going to get scolded this time."
Darui sighed. At that moment, he stood alone on the spot for a while before reluctantly turning back and heading towards Kumogakure.
As for the Konoha 12, they tied up the four Kumogakure's Shinobi separately.
And Takumi personally kept watch over Yugito.
Although Yugito couldn't escape in her current state, necessary vigilance was still required.
Moreover, having captured one of Kumogakure's two Jinchuriki alive, Konoha could speak with a straighter back and have more leverage.