"Finally caught you!"
A grin spread across Shikamaru's face.
But almost immediately, he felt his Shadow Bind growing unstable.
He probably couldn't hold it for even half a minute.
"This is bad! Neji!"
"Understood!"
Neji seized the opening. His palm winds rained down like a hailstorm, striking Kimimaro's joints directly.
Neji's Gentle Fist didn't generate much blunt impact—which made it a perfect match for Shikamaru's Shadow Bind.
And with Kimimaro's body locked in place, he shouldn't be able to block Neji's strikes perfectly.
Yet the corner of Kimimaro's mouth curled into a cold smirk.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Larch!"
Countless bones erupted from Kimimaro's body, blocking Neji's attack entirely.
And just then, Shikamaru's Shadow Bind finally gave out, forced to release.
"Fall back!"
Shikamaru quickly retreated with the others to regroup.
"This guy's a walking armory! Every bone in his body is a weapon!" Shikamaru said through gritted teeth. "I didn't even know a kekkei genkai like this existed. What a pain—the intel gap is way too big."
All four of them were going in blind against Kimimaro, while Kimimaro had intel on all of them.
If the intelligence had been equal, Shikamaru thought, they wouldn't have been nearly this passive.
"We can't give up. We have to find his weakness!" Neji's Byakugan locked onto Kimimaro, searching for an opening. "This guy has covered everything under his skin—outside the organs—with a layer of bone membrane. Ordinary taijutsu probably won't work."
"Then let me take a crack at it." Sasuke stepped forward.
"Your power can only reach its full potential in Orochimaru-sama's hands," Kimimaro said. "Only Orochimaru-sama can truly understand you."
"Hmph. Another one of Orochimaru's brainwashed lackeys."
The first thing that flashed through Sasuke's mind was the way Hanabi had mocked Orochimaru.
—The only reason that guy wants me is because he couldn't beat the Sharingan himself!
"It isn't brainwashing. Orochimaru-sama is the one who truly understands me! You simply haven't come to know Orochimaru-sama yet."
"Talk is cheap. Let me show you the real power of the Sharingan." A cold gleam flashed through Sasuke's eyes—every inch the quintessential chūnibyō.
"Chidori!"
The piercing cry of a thousand birds filled the air. Blinding lightning condensed in Sasuke's hand as he charged straight at Kimimaro.
Kimimaro's bone sword met the strike head-on. Lightning clashed against bone, detonating in a blinding flash.
"Now, Lee!" Shikamaru shouted.
"Understood! First Gate—Gate of Opening, open!"
Rock Lee activated the Eight Inner Gates in an instant, his speed surging upward.
"Front Lotus!"
His figure shot toward Kimimaro like a bolt of lightning, forming a pincer attack with Sasuke's Chidori.
But bone armor sprouted across Kimimaro's body once more. While blocking Sasuke with his bone sword, he simultaneously tanked Lee's kick with the armor—Lee couldn't even launch him off the ground.
"Got you again!"
Kimimaro hadn't been kicked airborne, but he couldn't move either—and that gave Shikamaru his second chance.
"It's over!" Neji charged in.
"Your Gentle Fist is the most useless of all!" Kimimaro didn't flinch, didn't dodge.
"This time it's different! Eight Trigrams Mountain Crusher!"
If striking chakra points didn't work, then hit harder!
This time, Neji's technique finally landed true. The Mountain Crusher's heavy blow slammed into Kimimaro's chest.
Kimimaro's body shuddered. A thin line of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
"You… do have some skill," Kimimaro said quietly. "But it's not enough! Uchiha Sasuke—if this is all you can muster, Orochimaru-sama is going to be very disappointed!!"
His body erupted with a massive surge of Chakra. Bone spikes shot outward like rain in every direction.
All four were forced to fall back.
"Hey, hey, hey—what now?!"
Shikamaru could feel the situation spiraling.
Kimimaro's body began to change. Black patterns crawled across his skin like serpents.
This was the power of the Cursed Seal.
This "low-budget Sage Mode" radiated a warped, alien Chakra. Even without ever having seen a Cursed Seal before, Shikamaru and the others could feel the sheer menace of it.
"Sasuke, do you see? This is the power Orochimaru-sama intends to bestow upon you," Kimimaro's voice carried across the gap. "This is the power known as the Cursed Seal."
"The Cursed Seal… So when Orochimaru came for me before, this is what he wanted to give me? Well, thanks for that."
If Hanabi hadn't stopped it, this repulsive thing would've been carved into his body.
Just thinking about it made Sasuke feel sick.
The Cursed Seal's power sent Kimimaro's Chakra skyrocketing. His entire body turned pitch-black. A tail even sprouted from his back. His entire being radiated a suffocating pressure.
"And this is the state of Cursed Seal Stage Two."
[It's over, it's over—he got ugly]
[Getting ugly is the first step toward losing your cool factor]
[Kimimaro's pressure is insane. Four-on-one and they're still struggling this hard]
[And there's even a damn second stage on top of that]
"Cursed Seal Stage Two… This guy's Chakra has completely changed!" Neji's Byakugan locked onto Kimimaro. Through the Byakugan, the man's Chakra seemed to have transformed entirely. "What even is this Chakra?!"
—That's Sage Chakra.
"Hmph. Nothing but heretical tricks."
Sasuke's Sharingan spun slowly. Three tomoe blazed within those crimson pupils, eerily uncanny—a silent declaration of confidence.
"Sasuke, be careful. Something feels very wrong." Shikamaru's voice dropped low, kunai gripped tight.
"His strength and speed have both gone up," Neji confirmed.
"…Chidori can pierce his defense," Shikamaru analyzed. "Otherwise, he wouldn't have blocked Sasuke's attack while ignoring Lee's."
"Then just hit harder!" Lee wasn't having it. "If I use Reverse Lotus… maybe I can do it!"
"He's actually just standing there letting us discuss tactics?"
Kimimaro, on his side of the field, hadn't attacked. He was simply waiting.
"Ah, because only by letting Sasuke witness this perfect power can I persuade him." Kimimaro had no intention whatsoever of pressing his advantage.
"Well, if you're going to be that generous, we won't hold back." Since the enemy was giving them an opening, Shikamaru began laying out the plan.
After a moment, all four rose to their feet.
Finally, Shikamaru gave the order: "All right—move out!"
Three of them split apart instantly, leaving only Lee standing in place. Lee immediately charged toward Kimimaro.
"Third Gate—Gate of Life, open!" Lee's skin flushed red. Chakra blazed around him like fire, and his speed surged yet again—his figure nearly dissolving into a blur.
Lee's kick slammed into Kimimaro, but it still couldn't budge the Cursed Seal Stage Two warrior.
"In that case—Fourth Gate, Gate of Pain, open! Fifth Gate, Gate of Limit, open!"
If he couldn't kick him into the air, it meant he wasn't hitting hard enough.
Then crank up the power!