122. Rasengan Doing No Damage

(75 Powerstones as the goal for this week)

The quartet arrived at an unknown location.

"This feels spooky. Whoever designed this has a unique taste, huh," Sora said while he looked around the dimly lit hallway.

The cat jumped onto his shoulders.

After all, the cat considered herself royalty among the commoners who were accompanying her. 

"Woah, look at these guys," Sora said.

"AHH!" Ino's face paled. 

Choji choked on his chips. 

Shikamaru just blinked at the absurdity of what he was seeing.

Sora was holding a skull, most likely a human skull.

They didn't really want to know whether it was for decoration purposes or an actual human skull.

If it was the latter, then this scene was really disgusting.

"Maybe they were the previous people that came here—our predecessors," Sora said in a deep voice, unusually serious.

"Their spirits might be trapped here, each from a different time altogether... all for eternity. They might haunt us." His words made Ino and Choji even more scared.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at the irony. 

Just a few days ago, Sora was the one acting scared because of Ino and Choji, and now the opposite was happening.

"Now, now, it might just be for decoration purposes. Let's explore this area," Sora pouted.

He formed five Earth Clones that began exploring the area, which resembled a dungeon maze. 

Since each path branched off in multiple directions, the Earth Clones' memories couldn't return to Sora, but they used a communication seal via fuinjutsu to report whether a path was a dead end, how many paths it had, and so on.

They even encountered golems in some paths, guarding the way. 

Yup, actual golems powered by Natural Chakra, with an algorithm that taught the golem how to move and fight.

Sora's Earth Clone had to use a Rasengan to destroy the golems entirely. 

Sora and Shikamaru studied the seals on the golems and concluded that they were created by a Grandmaster or higher-level Seal Master. It would take them a long time to even understand how it worked, let alone replicate it. 

"Damn, another dead end. I've got almost 40 Earth Clones working, and yet we still can't find the right path," Sora grumbled. 

"It's fine. We're gathering a lot of data that's helping us make a map, and it's not like we're running out of time," Shikamaru said. They had restocked at Ino-Shika-Cho and had a year's worth of food, just in case they were stranded in an unknown dimension or time. 

After three days, one of Sora's Earth Clones encountered an advanced golem. This one wasn't going down with a simple Rasengan. 

Its reaction speed and strength were easily at Jounin level, and its defence couldn't be penetrated by anything below an S-rank jutsu.

"How are we going to defeat this guy?" Choji asked the others.

"Well, Sora, keep sending in Earth Clones. It seems to have a fixed learning pattern, so if we figure out how it learns, we should be able to predict its next move," Shikamaru said.

"Is that even possible?" Sora asked. Predicting someone's—or something's—moves by observing how they learn seemed plausible in theory, but he couldn't think of a way to make it happen.

"Yup, I think I can do it," Shikamaru replied briefly.

Sora complied, sending various types of clones—Earth Jutsu, Shadow Clones, and Water Clones. It was quite the variety.

Sora's clones ganged up on the advanced golem, trying to last longer each time.

This went on for 12 straight hours.

Sora was finally drained of his stamina. 

Even after 12 hours and thousands of attempts, the advanced golem didn't have a single scratch on its surface.

"So, did you figure something out?" Sora asked, exhausted despite the main body not doing much.

"Yeah, I think I've figured out its learning model. I'm 90% sure it'll help us dodge its attacks. You rest for now, and we'll continue this tomorrow." Sora's eyes widened in horror. 

Does he have to create more clones to get beaten again tomorrow? 

Mind you, he still experiences everything his Shadow Clones do when they're defeated. 

He had been doing that for 12 hours straight.

The next morning, Sora created another Shadow Clone, and Ino linked the minds of Shikamaru and the clone. 

Sora tried to understand Shikamaru's explanation for predicting the golem, but it went over his head.

Now, he just had to follow Shikamaru's commands. 

The first Shadow Clone was defeated after two hours!

That was a record, considering the day before, it had taken five clones to bear the brunt of the golem's attacks.

The next clone lasted for 10 hours before being destroyed, and Shikamaru had completed his deductions. 

Now, they could use the strategy with their real bodies.

"Does it really matter if we dodge its attacks? It doesn't seem like it can damage us, and we haven't been able to damage it either," Ino remarked.

"Yeah, I've thought about that too. We just need to create a seal that disrupts its energy source. I've been working on that with Sora since yesterday. Hopefully, it'll be done soon."

After a few more days of experimenting with clones, Sora's clone wasn't getting hit by the golem at all. 

Finally, the seal was ready. 

Sora's Shadow Clone placed it on the golem, and the golem fell apart like a broken doll. 

Just like that, the golem was defeated without a scratch on either side.

They finally reached the end of the maze.

Or so it seemed.

Only opening the big, scary door would tell.

So they did.

"HOHOHO, so you have finally arrived, young people," a large shadow on the wall said.

It wasn't clear where the real body of this person was, but it seemed they were nearby.

"Aren't you too perfect for an 'evil spirit' act? With these dungeons and everything, it seems like you put in a lot of effort," Sora started the conversation.

"Hehe, I did put in a lot of effort creating this maze and the golems, with decorations of my choice. Glad it served its purpose," the shadow confessed.

That startled the group, but Sora quickly regained his composure.

"So, are you from our time? The guy who was the petty thief at the Jade Dragoon Inn?" Sora didn't even know if he got the name of the inn right or not. 

Not that it mattered, since the others understood what inn he was talking about. 

"I am not a petty thief. I was just amusing myself. Anyway, to answer your question, I was the one doing that. I sent a clone there because I'm trapped here." 

"Ohh... now what?" Sora asked the group. What were they supposed to do after finding out about the thief?

"Maybe we should free him?" Choji asked, unsure.

"I don't know. He's supposed to be an evil spirit," Ino commented.

"Hey, big guy, give us a reason to free you," Sora asked Zashiki Warashi himself.

If the guy said something like he had been wronged or anything along those lines, then clearly, they shouldn't free him. 

That's what Sora thought.

"Hmph, aren't you presumptuous? Can you even break the seal keeping me trapped?"

"Hmph, I can break any seal if I have time," Sora replied, matching the shadow's tone. 

Just like a Uchiha clan's young master.

The shadow led them to a door. 

The previous door they had seen was spooky but still theatrical.

This door was... disgusting, to say the least. 

It looked like a human's head was part of the door, disfigured and fused with it. 

Nobody questioned why it was there.

"Actually, I don't even want my clone near it. We're leaving," Sora said from 20 feet away from the door.

"Hmph, you really are children. Look to your right. That's part of the seal on the door. If you can decipher it, I might believe you can break it."

"Challenge accepted," Sora said.

100 hours, 20 Shadow Clones working simultaneously, one Nara brain going into overdrive... later.

"What the hell is this seal? I can't even understand any part of it. It's like... it's like it randomly alters every second. Not only that, but I can't figure out a pattern, and each pattern in the last 100 hours has been unique," Sora ruffled his hair in frustration. 

Shikamaru had already given up after the first hour. 

He had predicted that there wouldn't be a simple solution.

If there was, then the guy currently sealed—who supposedly created the golems—would have broken it already.

"Hmph, you don't have the skills to back up your words. It seems you were all talk. Anyway, I didn't have much hope for you in the first place. You can leave with the neko," Zashiki announced.

"Well, I tried," Sora shrugged and started changing his jacket.

"Wait!" the shadow yelled.

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