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Shino's POV (Eastern Forest of Irminsul - Terra)
Shino felt a smidgeon of rage as he bodily rolled through the forest, roughly smashing into a tree and coughing up blood roughly. However, even as he retched for air, he pulled kunai and released them in the same instant. Each is tagged with explosive tags and spread out to increase the odds of catching his foes. As Shino landed heavily on his knees. He watched as the blonde man managed to escape the tags with a burst of speed, however his larger brother seemed slower and unable. Covering the man and the area around him in smoke, flames, and powerful bursts of chakra. Content with his elimination of the first. Shino watched the other with expectant eyes. The man flew through the air with impressive speed, before he appeared behind Shino. The Aburame heard the telling whistle of wind in the air and swayed to his left, narrowly dodging a thrust from what seemed to be a large mandible that had replaced the blonde man's arm. As he swayed, Shino let loose a simple one-two jab combo, the blonde stumbling back. Before Shino could capitalize, however, the cloud of smoke bulged as the larger brother plowed through it. Shino's eyes widened as he noticed the black plates now exposed from the man's top having been burnt off. His body, covered in sheen-covered plates, seemed unharmed as the man went for a straight kick for Shino's face.
The Aburame felt grim satisfaction as his last-minute substitution with an insect clone left the man covered in his allies. The more giant man, however, seemed keen on this. For he merely chuckled at it. Soon, the younger blonde joined in as well. Their voices' utter confidence and energy made Shino's blood cold.
So far, The short fight has been going as well as a two-on-one could. Shino had been fine on the backfoot; it was often a position his clan excelled at. However, the method behind such a strategy was the one that filled Shino with dread. His allies throughout this fight had been consistently spread out and even landed on his enemies. The bout of combat had been short, but…
Why did they seem so unaffected? Why did they seem so ignorant of his strategies if they were rivals of his clan? Simple… They must've had some sort of counter.
The plated man stopped chuckling, however, as he suddenly grabbed a nearby branch and ripped it free from the tree. With a mighty grunt and hurl, he chucked it directly toward Shino, who had taken refuge in a nearby thickly covered branch on a different tree. Shino easily dodged the attack and landed above the two glaring siblings, looking calm. However he could admit to being somewhat troubled. The two seemed to be decent shinobi…
"So it seems you have some sort of counter to my allies. I didn't notice it before, but I have lost connection with nearly everyone I've sent out. Furthermore, neither of you seems to be suffering the appropriate effects their feeding should have after so long. Especially in combat." Shino stated plainly, stalling as his mind whirled.
"Of course." The older man snidely responded. "Your accursed clan has spilled much blood of my family. We had no choice but to adapt to your ways. A rookie Aburame like yourself stands no chance against the two of us. My armor, similar to the armor that protects the great species of wasp, does not allow your foolish insects to feed on me." Kurobachi lectured.
"And while they've been trying their best with me, my own wasps are more than effective at stopping and devouring them! They can barely leave your body before my wasps snipe them from the air! Your little draining trick won't work here! I wonder how tough you are without your gimmick…" Jibachi said gleefully.
"That is merely one trick of many," Shino assured. 'The older man seems to be the powerhouse type. Relying on his decent speed, absurd durability, and shocking strength to overwhelm his opponents. The other is much quicker and uses quick and lethal strikes, as well as his insects zipping through the air. Surely, killing more allies with each passing zip. The two worked well together and may just be enough to overwhelm him… 'I can't afford to hold back here; this isn't the exams. This is the time to show what I can truly do.' Shino thought to himself.
However, his timeout was shattered when Jibachi called out. "Wasp Style: Whizzing Stingers!" A burst of stingers flew from his finger, tearing the branch from under Shino. However, the Aburame did not flinch and calmly fell towards the waiting two. Subtly hiding his hands in his sleeve, weaving two separate groupings of single-handed hand signs.
The more giant man aimed a fist at the falling Aburame; however, just as Shino drew close, he called out calmly. "Earth Style: Collapsing Floor."
The ground beneath the two Kamizuru members shifted and broke apart. This shook their balance and caused Kurobachi to miss what would surely be a lethal strike. Shino, as he landed, revealed his other hand and slammed out down on the ground, as the two men regained their balance and reached for him. "Earth Style: Surface Eruption." Shino finished, not flinching as the two drew close.
Suddenly, the broken ground beneath the three shot up violently, and only Shino's spot was spared. Jibachi fearfully cursed as he flew up, being grazed on his left cheek but narrowly escaping death. Kurobachi was slower to react, the debris sending the man sprawling back with a curse.
"You cut my gorgeous face!" Jibachi screeched from above Shino. Shino pridefully noticed this was correct, as the man aimed his pointer fingers at Shino. "WASP STYLE: DOUBLE WHIZZING STINGERS!" He cried out as two lines of stingers fired off at a scrambling Shino. The Aburame was chased after by the lines of stingers, weaving through them as Jibachi swung his arms to hit him.
Shino minded little, knowing all the while the beared man would surely at least be slow to catch up. The Aburame raced up a tree in rapid pursuit. He dived from branch to branch, even pulling out a kunai to deflect stingers he could not dodge. All the while climbing toward a slowly panicking Jibachi. As Shino leaped close, Jibachi abandoned his shots. Quickly forming the wasp blade over his hand again and desperately thrusting it toward Shino, the Aburame weaved this and punched the man in the stomach stunning him. Then, grabbing an arm and powering the man around him with the aid of chakra, slammed the man into the thick tree trunk. Shino efficiently followed this up, aiming for a lethal thrust of his kunai, a stab to the man's heart. However, the tree shook before seemingly beginning to fall, breaking the two apart as they fell from the branch. Shino felt annoyed as both fell. He looked down and saw Kurobachi leaping up at him. He wouldn't have time to substitute; he had been sloppy…
Kurobachi caught Shino by the throat; the force he of which he squeezed with made Shino's vision momentarily darken. Instantly, Shino writhed in his grip, barely up to breathe or even see straight as he was strangled.
"You did better than I had expected, coward. Die knowing your clan could never match up to us." Kurobachi coldly informed the struggling Shino as a somewhat shaken Jibachi arrived at the two. Fluttering to the ground with a hateful glare. "Brother, your near death is the perfect example of why no one considers you worthy to lead the clan. To fall to a mere Chunin is shameful." Jibachi shamefully looked away at that.
"Whatever, just kill the bastard." Jibachi spat.
"My pleasure." Kurobachi then reared back his fist; with Shino in his clutches, there would be no dodging. "Die." The man said as he swung. However, a pink-haired woman suddenly flew through the air and managed to push away the punch meant to kill Shino. The man, perhaps stunned, weakened his grasp. Giving Shino just enough air to react, he swiped another kunai from his holster and, with a measured stab, wedged it between the plates of armor that coated the man's body. The blade struck true between the plates, the man's wrist spasming as blood spurted out from the stab. He cried out, releasing Shino fully as blood spurted from where the kunai still lay jammed. Sakura and Shino reacted, kicking Kurobachi with as much force as possible to knock him back. The force managed to make the man stumble over to his brother.
"I'm glad I came," Sakura said grimly as she stared at the two men. "I didn't expect them to manage to get one over on you. I'm sorry it took me so long to catch up."
"Worry not. They merely used luck and numbers to get an advantage; now that I have an ally, this is the beginning of the end for these two." Shino assured as the two glared -at the Kamizuru brothers.
"A woman is your backup? How insufferably arrogant of her to get involved. She reminds me of her…" Kurobachi growled, furious. "We kill her too."
Sakura had evened out the battle between Aburame and Kamizuru. But it was merely just the beginning…
"These two bastards…" Sakura growled angrily. "There are siblings, then? Surely they have a ton of experience fighting together. And considering we never had it might make things difficult. I'll take the big sexist bastard if you can handle the other."
"With ease." Shino nodded, glad to see Sakura had either known or unknowingly chosen the best matchup for the situation. Time to turn the tables.