47 A Cut Above

The "Ino-Shika-Cho" trio, once split apart, lacked the intimidation they possessed when united against an enemy. The Otofuku Squad's three members had varying strengths and their coordination paled in comparison to Team 10 from Leaf. Daimaru would have to be out of his mind to engage in a team battle with them; picking them off one by one was the ideal strategy.

Shadow techniques from the Nara clan could be troublesome, but with the right intel, they had weaknesses, especially since Shikamaru Nara at this point was far from the mature strategist who would later become an advisor to the Hokage.

"To win at all costs, even if it means bearing a bad name, is a chilling ninja style indeed..."

Shikamaru, barely blocking the strikes from Daimaru's puppet-sized miniature Sanshōuo fan with his kunai, was pushed back again and again.

"Size isn't everything; the puppet's force isn't to be underestimated. If this keeps up, I'm in trouble!"

Though he had never fought a puppet master before, anyone with eyes could see that tangling with a puppet was a losing battle. The key was to catch Daimaru himself.

But even with his clan's secret techniques, Shikamaru, who seldom trained physically, was no match.

His traps would be destroyed by the wide-ranging sand manipulation. His only chance was his shadow technique, but there was no opportunity to use it.

As Shikamaru sought a solution, his eyes drifted to Ino, who was holding her own against Chiyo, and to Choji, who despite his mighty presence, couldn't land a hit on the nimble Yome and was accumulating injuries.

"Hey, where are you looking?"

Daimaru's puppet and he sandwiched Shikamaru from front and back, cutting off his path to regroup with his teammates.

"Am I invisible to you? That's quite insulting. Am I not pressuring you enough?"

As he spoke, Daimaru flicked his chakra strings, and the puppet intensified its assault.

Desperate, Shikamaru yelled:

"Choji, stop messing with that runt and come here!"

"But... that little guy just called me fat..."

As Choji hesitated, Yome's kunai slashed another wound on his arm.

"Calling me a 'little guy' is rude as well, you fat pig!"

"I'm not fat, I'm just big-boned... not a pig..."

"Choji, calm down, we'll get revenge after we win..."

Shikamaru, drenched in sweat, shouted:

"Come here first, together we can win. Otherwise, we'll lose today."

"Alright!"

An enraged Choji bellowed:

"Secret Technique: Multi-Size Technique!"

His body swelled, strength surging, Choji forced Yome back and then rolled toward Shikamaru.

"Meat Tank!"

Tucking in his limbs, Choji rolled with destructive force, knocking away the shuriken Yome threw at him.

"Such impressive power!"

Although his accuracy was terrible without the coordination of shadow and mind techniques, a direct hit from Choji would be formidable, even for the well-trained Daimaru.

Forced to dodge the boulder-crushing Meat Tank, Daimaru gave Shikamaru a much-needed breather.

"Yome, go help Chiyo. Take out that kunoichi first."

"But you against two..."

"I'm confident!!"

Daimaru wasn't being arrogant; he was just sure of his position.

The Otofuku Squad had the upper hand from the start, and none of the three Leaf genin were unscathed.

Choji's clan techniques consumed a lot of chakra and stamina and were usually reserved as a finisher following shadow and mind techniques.

Despite their seemingly coordinated defense, once their chakra dwindled, they wouldn't even have the strength to resist.

So far, Daimaru had only used one wind technique and had been conserving chakra with puppetry.

Without reaching the puppet master himself, they were doomed to be toyed with unto death.

As Yome turned to assist Chiyo, leaving the battle there aside for the moment, Choji, now pausing to recover, stood in front of Shikamaru.

"Are you trying to conceal the movements of your shadow technique? Useless, I've seen through your little tricks. As long as I avoid the shadows, you're no threat! Now, let me show you that some gaps can't be bridged."

Daimaru pulled out a flash bomb from his ninja tool bag and tossed it into the sky. The bomb exploded, erasing all shadows with its intense light. Shikamaru and Choji shielded their eyes from the blinding light, while Daimaru directed his puppet to advance rapidly, its fan blades aimed at Shikamaru's throat.

"I've won, that was easy!"

Daimaru lunged toward a weakened Choji, chopping at his neck and knocking him to the ground.

As Daimaru reached for the scroll inside Choji's ninja tool bag, he suddenly stopped.

"Shadow Imitation Technique, success!"

"How could this be?"

Daimaru stared in disbelief. There were clearly no shadows connecting them, no shadows from above to exploit, and certainly no shadow tunnels underground for any trickery.

"You're too cautious, you know. If you hadn't been so eager to subdue me, I'm not sure how we could have turned the tables!"

Choji, lying on the ground, slowly stood up, transforming back into Shikamaru in front of a stunned Daimaru.

"So you're Shikamaru, and the one over there is..."

As expected, the seemingly helpless "Shikamaru" morphed back into Choji.

"When did you switch places?"

"When you used the flash bomb, and nobody could see."

"The flash bomb? Of course!"

Daimaru realized they had used the Transformation Technique during the momentary blindness, swapping places.

Under the flash bomb's effect, Daimaru hadn't been able to see clearly either. He had preemptively attacked based on memory, not anticipating that he'd be outmaneuvered and deceived.

"You've figured it out? If you hadn't shown that opening in your moment of victory, you would have been tough to beat."

Shikamaru flexed his stiff shoulder, joining Choji to check his injuries. Once he saw there was no serious harm, he finally relaxed.

"That was close, but victory yields rich rewards..."

As Shikamaru reached for the scrolls in Daimaru's tool bag, a fierce fist struck his abdomen.

"Indeed, the moment of victory is when one is most vulnerable, so one must stay vigilant. When fighting a puppet master, you should at least distinguish between the puppet and the master!"