61 Metamorphose

"Ninpou: Kage Shokushu" [1]

Amidst the dense bamboo forest, Shikamaru moves swiftly like a blurry phantom. One of his hands was clutching a thin long sword made of chakra steel, while he used the other to make a single-hand horse seal in front of his chest while he dodged the flurry of attacks launched against him. Immediately after, shadows congregated behind his back forming a set of tentacles that moved fast in helping him to defend himself from the attacks.

"You're already this good, huh? You're really frightening if you seriously put your mind into something..."

In front of Shikamaru was a masked figure with one of his eyes covered by his tilted headband, Kakashi. He swung his tanto like a predator hunting its prey -swift and deadly-, yet each of his swings was exuding a charm unique to his own. "But, you're still thinking too much in a battle..."

*Swish*

With precise timing, Kakashi changed the course of his tanto's swing to hit Shikamaru's weapon right on the base of his blade. Though Shikamaru managed to block his attack, Kakashi swiftly twisted his hips inward and with the same hand that he used his tanto, he elbowed Shikamaru's jaw followed by a leg sweep and a solid blow to his solar plexus. "...And you're still not ruthless enough."

*Poof*

"I've improved, Kakashi-san." Shikamaru's figure vanished into a poof of smoke, and another Shikamaru appeared on top of Kakashi, already in motion to swing his sword downward. Shikamaru smirked, he was glad that he was finally able to get a score against Kakashi.

"Oh, Are you?" Kakashi's figure blurred then Shikamaru suddenly felt as if another weight added to him. Out of nowhere, Kakashi appeared on top of Shikamaru with his proud "sacred book" in one hand and tanto in the other. "Ack!"

'Got you...' Instead of being worried, Shikamaru internally rejoiced that his prediction was spot on.

"Saku!" [2] Shikamaru exclaimed and soon after, tens of tentacles made out shadows ripped out at almost the same time, heading straight for Kakashi. As the countless tentacles went after him, Kakashi immediately whipped out his tanto. He then stomped one tentacle hard and retreated.

Due to the special chakra that Kakashi imbued to the tanto, despite the tentacles possessing extraordinary flexibility and structure, it was not hard for Kakashi to cleanly cut the shadow tentacles in a short period of time.

Shikamaru was hunched on the ground and struggled to control tens of tentacles to attack Kakashi. The tentacles which were initially about two meters long, suddenly extended to dozens of meters and continued growing.

"How long can the tentacles actually extend to?" Kakashi thought to himself in bewilderment as he continued to dodge and slash the tentacles near him. Intrigued, Kakashi slowly increased their distance to measure Shikamaru's control. Finally, the tentacles stopped growing at 48 meters.

Feeling that he'd seen enough of Shikamaru's ability, Kakashi nodded. "This technique really surprised me a bit. If you're able to control them more, it could be a good addition to your arsenal."

Kakashi reached his headband and slightly lifted it, revealing his Sharingan for the world to see. "Now, it's time to get serious."

---

Inside a serene bamboo forest, there was a shallow pit that formed recently. Inside the said pit, Shikamaru could be seen buried up to his waist. While his lower body part was buried, his upper body was slightly burnt, and there were slash marks in many places.

"You're indeed already improved by leaps and bounds..."

Beside the pit, Kakashi was seated under the tree. His back leaned on the tree bark, and his clothes were drenched with sweat. "You almost got me with that last move..."

"But I still lost!" Shikamaru said in frustration, "Now I'm stuck, can't you free me first? I need rest and some healing."

"Wait, let me recover some chakra first." Kakashi smiled wryly under his mask. In the last few years since he picked his late father's teaching once again, he felt that he finally regained his worth to be called a genius Shinobi. His overall ability simply cannot be compared to the previous him, though a flaw remains unable to be fixed in the meantime.

Kakashi insisted on retaining Obito's Sharingan even though it more acts as a burden than a boon. As he's not a Uchiha, the Sharingan continuously saps a sizeable amount of his Chakra.

*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*

"Whoa, You're so amazing Kakashi-sensei!"

A sudden series of claps and shout stole their attention and made them alert. Between bamboo trees, two figures emerged. One of them was waving his hand, stars of admiration could be seen in his eyes. He had spiky blonde hair and three pairs of whiskers on his cheek. "You're awesome too, Shikamaru! You can make Kakashi-sensei exhausted like that."

The blonde one gave a thumb up to Shikamaru. In response, Shikamaru gave an annoyed glare. "Shut up, Naruto. Next time, he's the one that going to lose!"

'Though it's troublesome to try...' Shikamaru sighed.

"Yo, Kakashi! It seems that you got your ass handed to you, eh?" A spiky white-haired man chuckled as he walked toward Kakashi.

"Jiraiya-sama, please don't mock me..."

"How long has it been since you got spent in a spar like this?" Jiraiya's eyebrows wriggled, and a teasing smile emerged on his face.

"Probably since the first 'that' test, I've got to rest a few days because all parts of my body were sore. 'That' person then barged into the hospital to ask me which ones that beat me up, she thought that I've been bullied." Kakashi chuckled as he reminiscing his past while he took a glance at Naruto.

Jiraiya understood, what Kakashi meant was the special ANBU test for him. At that time, Kakashi was just a kid, yet his opponents were at least a full-pledged chunin. Moreover, none of his opponents underestimated him because none were dared to do so. Why? simple, because they're told so by both the Sandaime Hokage and Danzo. Though what followed was the "Red Hot Habanero" beat the ANBUS examiner black and blue while the said person was not allowed to fight back by the Hokage.

"Let me fix you up, kid!" Jiraiya approached Shikamaru then released him and healed his outer wound with a simple Iryojutsu. "There you are all good now!"

"Thank you, Jiraiya-sama." Shikamaru bowed slightly to thank him.

"No problem, no problem~" Jiraiya shrugged his shoulder to brushed Shikamaru's gratitude. "By the way... Shikamaru, is it? I have a favor to ask."

"Please do tell, Jiraiya-sama."

"Um, can I... observe that kid, Chouji, from up close?" Jiraiya hesitated slightly as he asked. "I feel like maybe I can get a breakthrough in my sage technique if I can observe him closely."

"I'm sorry, you should ask his father in that case. This whole bamboo forest is the Akimichi clan's property, and it's out of my ability to give you permission for that." Shikamaru scratched his head as he uttered his thought.

"Fair enough..." Jiraiya did not push further after that. "I'll talk to the clan's head then."

'It'll be easier to ask if I give Chouza my latest masterpiece, Yosh! It's decided!' Jiraiya smirked as the Akimichi clan's head is a fan of most of his "Masterpiece".

---

"Orochimaru-sama, I have something to report that might garner your interest."

Inside an underground lab somewhere in the land of fire, Kabuto kneeled behind Orochimaro who was still doing his thing. "And what it is?"

"Your previous target, Akimichi Chouji, had suddenly gotten himself covered by something unknown in a cocoon-like state since around three months ago and there hasn't been any change since then."

Hearing Kabuto's report, Orochimaru's eyes lit up. "Hoo~that's really intrigued me..." His long tongue licked his lips lustfully. "Curious... that makes me curious..."

Orochimaru turned his body facing Kabuto, revealing his "new" appearance that he got ever since he took Kimimaru's body. "How confident are you to bring him to me?"

"...less than 20%" Kabuto was silent for a few seconds before he continued. "Orochimaru-sama, your fellow sannin, Jiraiya-sama, is currently there too. In addition, there are several Jonin ranked ANBUs that constantly guard the periphery of the area."

"Then I'll have to do this by myself-" As if he got enlightenment, Orochimaru grinned and his eyes squinted. "Should I accept "their" offer and cooperate together?"

Orochimaru walked toward Kabuto then patted his shoulder, "Yes, I should... My current goal is that Akimichi boy, they can get achieve their goal all they want. Lucky for me, our interest this time is in line with them."

"It's decided then! We'll work with Akatsuki this one time. Tell them we agree to do "operation pain"!"

---

-Chouji's POV-

How many days have been passed?

I've stopped counting ever since I miss my tenth dinner, it's not like I was starving or something. But, my tongue misses the tender taste of Ichiraku ramen, the softness of Akimichi's beef Yakiniku, the business district's fluffy Dango...

Oh gosh, I miss everything...

I even miss Gai-san's youthful antique.

Not to mention Ino's irreplaceable hug! Coupled with her already grown juicy milky heaven... Hehe. That's on my top two list of things I miss the most!

Don't even ask what the number one is, of course, it's pizza! Why do you think I popularized it in the first place?

Yes, it's for the money. You're smart!

After all, which imbecile hates pizza? And which idiot doesn't want easy money?

Though I didn't exactly know what happened to me, I was always feel refreshed for every passing second. I didn't feel sleepy, didn't get hungry, nor did I feel anything uncomfortable from my body transforming.

I was wondering whether I would be able to get fat again after this transformation? [3] What? A man can dream all he wants!

Though the few things I can confirm were:

1. My body rapidly transforming from the inside out

2. Apparently I can feel that my affinity towards some elements boosted

3. I was, I still am, and will always be forever handsome. I knew it, my parents from both lives can confirm that. What? Jealous?

Oh? What is this? I can feel my body normally now! It seems like the transformation is already done. Let's stretch a bit, I can't wait for this thing to finish!

Not long after, the 'cocoon' was gone and absorbed into my body. I can't wait to meet everyone again!

"WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?!"

Oh, wait...

Why does everyone laid on the ground?

W-Why... Why are those buildings ruined?

I can't help to comb the place with my eyes to try to ease my foreboding feeling. Is this really Konoha? What happened? Is that... Asuma-sensei?

"Oh, you've awakened!"

That voice... it can't be...

"Hehe, long time no see~ Akimichi-boy!"

Orochimaru!

---

[1] Ninja Art: Shadow Tentacle

[2] Bloom

[3] Should I?