"Shi… Shi… Shikamaru!"
Yamanaka Hi desperate and hoarse cries for help echoed below. At this time, he was completely pinned to the ground by the Flying Swallow filled with wind-attribute chakra, constantly coughing up blood from his mouth.
However, what was even more despairing was Choji. Asuma's face revealed a smile, but his eyes were filled with madness.
"Choji, your teacher knows you have the kindest heart. Help your teacher. Aren't you also doing this for your clan? Your teacher also wants to do this for the clan. Moreover, your Ino-Shika-Cho clans still have so many people left, but my clan only has Konohamaru left."
Under the cruel and insane gaze, Choji looked at his teacher in front of him with horror, as if seeing a devil in human skin.
"Teacher Asuma!"
Shikamaru yelled hoarsely, and what responded to him was Asuma's look back with a pair of eyes filled with madness and bloodshot.
"Shikamaru, your teacher knows you are the smartest. So, this time, let's play a game again with your teacher! Let's bet their lives!"
Under the bloodthirsty smile, Asuma, amidst Naruto's angry roar and Shikamaru's terrified gaze, pulled out a stack of explosive tags.
Under Asuma's cruel smile, the explosive tags slowly curled up and then were directly stuffed into Choji's mouth, while one hand was clutching his throat.
Choji struggled in pain, but the stack of rolled up explosive tags were directly swallowed, leaving him with no ability to resist.
"Choji, don't struggle. Your teacher will be very gentle."
Steel wires tied Akimichi Choji up, and Asuma casually threw four shuriken, instantly pinning Yamanaka Hi's limbs to the ground.
"Shikamaru! Now is the time for you to choose!"
Under Asuma's cruel smile, holding the Flying Swallow in one hand, the sharp wind-attribute chakra swirling around, he pointed at the people in front of him.
"Your father, or your uncle, or your companion? You can only choose one."
Under Asuma's perverted smile, Shikamaru's face turned pale, sweat continuously sliding down, while Naruto was filled with anger.
"Teacher Asuma, how can you do this to your own companions, your own students, it's too much!"
Angry Naruto's eyes gradually turned into beast-like pupils, his body slowly emitting a sinister red chakra. Seeing this, Asuma revealed an even more mocking smile.
"So it's the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, you little brat."
"Naruto!" Suddenly emitting such a terrifying aura, Shikamaru hurriedly tried to stop him, fearing that the impulsive Naruto might cause the situation to become uncontrollable.
Meanwhile, on the roof of the distant shrine building, Obito watched the scene playfully. Seeing Naruto emitting the Nine-Tails chakra, his eye revealed an 'as expected' expression.
"Heh, Orochimaru, you really are a genius, even managing to cultivate a fake Jinchuriki. But it seems you've slipped up this time."
Obito looked playfully at Naruto in the distance, with such sinister chakra and beast-like pupils, and everything he had witnessed before, he knew, Naruto was the real Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
Uzumaki Karin, just a fake, or rather, a weapon cultivated by Uchiha Yoru.
…
"Hurry, Shikamaru! You can only choose one of them."
At this moment, Asuma laughed neurotically, while Flying Swallow fluttered back and forth in front of everyone.
"Here is your father, your uncle who has watched you grow up since you were young, and your comrades. Which one will you choose to save first? Oh, and your comrade, Yamanaka Hi, can't be delayed any longer."
Under his mocking gaze, Yamanaka Hi weakly moaned, obviously losing too much blood. If this continues, he will have to pay with his life.
At this time, Shikamaru was sweating profusely, realizing for the first time that his intelligence was of no use here. If he had terrifying power, perhaps he could solve this problem.
"Make a decision quickly!"
"No! Teacher Asuma, I'll bet with you!"
In a flash of inspiration, Shikamaru, with a tense face, threw away his kunai pouch and raised his hands.
Shikamaru spoke hastily, while Asuma smiled, "Okay, the first round will be a bet on their lives!"
"But now you can stop!"
Asuma, looking crazily at Shikamaru, raised his hand to stop him, while pointing at Yamanaka Ino with a bizarre smile.
"Shikamaru, aren't you the best at using shadow techniques? Now, please use your techniques to control Yamanaka Hi to save your comrades, father, and uncle."
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. If you cut any of these wires wrong." Asuma said, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
"With a 'boom', I think you understand the power of an exploding tag."
As Asuma smiled, he slowly kicked away the dust under his feet, revealing the exploding tags that had been buried underground, also connected by thin steel wires.
Nara Shikaku and Akimichi Choji, the older generation of the Ino–Shika–Chō trio, were bound with fine steel wires.
"Shikamaru, save my father quickly."
Choji, who had been kicked down, got up in a hurry and spoke to Shikamaru, clueless about how to deal with the densely arranged traps of steel wires.
Asuma, with a maniacal look in his eyes, slowly drew a cigarette and lit it while staring at Naruto.
"My good student Shikamaru, you have the time it takes to smoke one cigarette, or else!"
"Shikamaru!" Naruto called out anxiously, while Shikamaru was also sweating profusely, knowing this was the only way.
Shadow Imitation Technique
Instantly, the shadow connected with Yamanaka Hi, and at this moment, Shikamaru, maintaining a strange posture, thought at the fastest speed he had ever experienced in his life.
"Teacher Asuma, we are a team, can you let Choji help me?"
Shikamaru kept calling him 'teacher', trying to awaken the conscience in Asuma's heart, but it was too late. Under the pressure, Asuma's mental state had already collapsed, and under the influence of Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan, he was just venting his mental illness.
Asuma lifted his feet, and seeing this, Shikamaru secretly sighed in relief, unaware of the mockery and cruelty hidden deep in Asuma's eyes.
"Shikamaru!"
In a fluster, Choji rolled and crawled hurriedly, shouting loudly, while at this moment, Shikamaru calmly began to issue commands.
"Choji, immediately stop Yamanaka Hi's bleeding, and also pull out the kunai."
After a series of actions, Yamanaka Hi was now close to unconscious, while Shikamaru was calmly controlling his body to bring him in front of their fathers.
"Choji, I need you to tell me the direction of these steel wires."
"Shikamaru, the steel wires on my father's body... Uncle Nara..."
As time passed by the second, he had almost completely understood the complex trap of steel wires attached to the exploding tags. Shikamaru calmly instructed, "Choji, this is a triple trap. I need you to cut two of the wires, and I'll handle one. Can you do it?"
"Shikamaru!" Choji trembled as he spoke, and finally nodded, "I can do it."
"Good, I'll count to three, and we'll cut together!"
As time went on, Shikamaru's chakra was draining rapidly, his face pale and breaking into a cold sweat, while Choji nodded firmly, albeit apprehensively.
Because just now he saw a familiar hand gesture from Shikamaru, a signal only the two of them knew from their childhood games.
"1...2!"
At the moment of shouting "two", Shikamaru and Choji suddenly cut the wires, and at the same time, Naruto, standing beside Shikamaru, turned into a puff of white smoke with a bang.
Shadow Clone Jutsu!
"Rasengan!"
Instantly, hundreds of Narutos emerged from the nearby woods, each with an angry expression and holding a powerful Rasengan in their hands.
"Teacher Asuma!"
Suddenly, Asuma quickly retreated and hurriedly used a ninjutsu.
Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning
Suddenly a cloud of ash burst out, but because of the hundreds of Narutos and the intense spinning of the Rasengan, the ash was swept up in the whirlwind.
As Asuma launched his Fire Release, only the first dozen Narutos turned into white smoke, while the rest of them continued to attack wildly, shouting loudly.
From a distance, Obito, wearing a mask, watched this scene and showed a look of realization, "So that's it, but will this Nara kid notice what's next?"
"Shikamaru!"
Multi-Size Technique
Choji shouted, his hands enlarging instantly, ready to grab his father and Nara Shikaku and run, while Yamanaka Hi, controlled by the shadow, carried his father.
But at that moment! The crisp sound of the steel wire snapping echoed, and Shikamaru's face was filled with horror.
Boom!
In the moment of turning back, there was only a flash of fire. The father and son in the mountains let out a scream, completely engulfed in the sea of fire.
"No!"
"Shikamaru, hurry!" Choji was also in bad shape. Due to the close distance, his huge hand was scorched in an instant, but he still managed to throw his father/uncle to Shikamaru.
"Father!"
Shikamaru quickly stepped forward, seeing his father covered with exploding tags, and hurriedly took off his clothes. However, at this moment, Choza showed a look of pain, as his belly rapidly swelled.
"Father!"
"Choji! Don't come over!" Akimichi Choza roared, seeing his son coming to save him, and quickly pushed him away, sending Choji flying.
At this moment, the moment Nara Shikaku's restraints were released, he yelled, "Shikamaru! Run!"
However, in the next instant, Nara Shikaku's pupils turned blood red, and in Shikamaru's horrified gaze, his father's eyes resembled the Sharingan.
"No!"
But in the next moment, with a boom, Akimichi Choza's belly exploded, splattering blood and guts everywhere.
Nara Shikaku witnessed this scene, bleeding from his nose and mouth, his pupils filled with fierce blood vessels, clearly under the influence of a powerful illusion, suffering a mental blow.
"Father!"
Akimichi Choji cried out in grief, his hands bloodied and mutilated, with bones exposed in some areas.
At this moment, a mocking voice appeared, as if treating everything as a game.
"Hehe, this is a very realistic scene, and also a representation of human greed."
After Masked Obito appeared, his Mangekyo Sharingan stirred slightly, absorbing all the flames in front of him, and then revealing the charred bodies of the father and son.
Despite their charred exteriors and struggling to breathe heavily, the father and son's strong will to live as ninjas was evident.
Especially in pain, the scorched bodies bore pairs of eyes, black and white in agony, staring wide-eyed. But due to burnt airways, they could no longer speak.
"Hehe, after all, he is your father, naturally prioritized over so-called uncles and companions."
Masked Obito, looking at Nara Shikamaru, mockingly commented, then sighed at the bloody, chaotic scene.
"At that time, you had the chance to save Akimichi Choza, but you chose to abandon him for your own selfish desires, or rather, for your father, tsk tsk."
"How realistic, this is what you Konoha ninjas boast about, not abandoning any companion. Yet, when it came down to family and companions, a choice was still made."
Obito, looking at the two sets of terrified eyes, shook his head: "What a tragic stroke of luck, you shouldn't have believed in so-called companions. But now it's too late for regrets, with such injuries, being alive is already fortunate enough."
Suddenly, a figure with a dirt-stained mask reappeared behind Akimichi Choji. Looking at the blood and flesh scattered around, especially Choji's father's head still attached to his body, his eyes wide open in death.
"Tsk tsk, look at your father, Choji, look at these eyes. The comrade you trusted and entrusted your life to just a moment ago ultimately chose his own father. This is the outcome of your naive trust in so-called comrades."
The seductive voice echoed in his ears. At this moment, Choji's pupils shrank, and he broke down in desperate tears.
"Shikamaru! Shikamaru! Nara Shikamaru!"
With heart-wrenching cries, he went from calling out for his comrade to demanding the truth, and finally to questioning.
At this moment, Choji looked desperately at the distant and dispirited Shikamaru, then at his own father, and the tragic state of the Yamanaka father and son.
It seemed that only Shikamaru's father was unharmed, which seemed to confirm the mysterious man's seduction, suggesting that Shikamaru ultimately chose his own father.
Lightning Blade
Just then, a flash of lightning streaked by, accompanied by the smell of scorching air. The man with the mask watched the newcomer with a Sharingan eye, a mocking smile in his eyes.
"So it's you, Kakashi!"
Kakashi, wielding the Lightning Blade, passed through the masked man's chest. As they looked at each other, the masked man's eyes were filled with mockery, while Kakashi's were serious.
"Kakashi, be careful!"
As Kakashi passed through, and the masked man was about to strike with a mocking smile, Might Guy's loud shouts filled the air. A streak of green rushed forward, perfectly coordinating the attack.
This forced the masked man to maintain his intangible state.
~~~
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