Starting with rogue ninjas, building the insect kingdom.

Chapter 576 The Dead Shadow

Inside the earthen wall that serves as a partition.

Nara Shikamaru leaned against the corner of the wall, his hands in his pockets, looking up at the earthen wall, his face expressionless.

"Are you just going to stand there and not move?" Tayuya's voice came from the other side of the earthen wall, with a lazy tone.

She sat cross-legged on the ground, a short flute that had appeared in her hand at some point, which she twirled absently between her fingers.

"I don't care."

The longer it drags on, the better for him. He's supposed to be a support player, but he's unexpectedly facing such a troublesome situation. Hopefully, Kakashi-sensei and Choji can hurry things up.

Tayuya raised an eyebrow. "You expect a Jonin with space-time ninjutsu to save you? Kabuto Yakushi said that although the Insect Domain Barrier is only an incomplete version, it can trap Kakashi for several tens of minutes without any problem."

She tilted her head and said mockingly, "Or are you waiting for those two useless teammates to come and help? Did you hear that sound just now? They're probably dead by now."

Shikamaru's expression finally changed slightly. If it was true, then the voice just now belonged to Choji.

"Speaking of which, you're quite good-looking. How about becoming my slave?" Tayuu also crossed her legs together, completely behaving like a master.

"Although you are very pretty, I don't like promiscuous girls." Nara Shikamaru teased her on the surface, but his shadow suddenly lengthened and he silently darted along the ground towards Tayuya.

"The shadow imitation technique—successful."

The shadow's tentacles precisely connected to Tayuya's shadow, and Shikamaru breathed a slight sigh of relief, making a binding motion with his hands.

However, the next second, Tayuya's body slowly stood up under Shikamaru's control, her movements like those of a person who had been restrained.

"You couldn't control me." Tayuya's voice became low and hoarse. "Or rather, what you controlled was only my shadow."

Shikamaru suddenly looked down and found that his shadow had somehow split into two.

One path connects to Tayuya, and the other connects to three monsters that appeared behind him at some unknown time.

Three adorable-looking evil spirits, each two meters tall, with bluish-gray skin, three blindfolded heads, and thick saliva dripping from their mouths.

"I forgot to introduce myself." Tayuya held her piccolo to her lips. "My flute music can summon and control demons from the underworld. Also, your chakra expression is too weak."

Three blindfolded demons suddenly sprang up and pounced on Shikamaru.

Shikamaru flipped over to dodge, narrowly avoiding the attack of the first demon.

His shadow split into countless tiny threads in an instant, wrapping around the ankle of the second demon and tripping it to the ground.

The claws of the third demon tore open his back, and blood splattered everywhere.

Shikamaru groaned and staggered forward two steps, the sharp pain in his back briefly blurring his vision.

He gritted his teeth and steadied himself, then swung three shuriken with his backhand, accurately piercing the face of the third demon.

The demon let out a mournful roar, but instead of collapsing, it became even more frenzied.

"it's useless."

Tayuya's flute playing became more urgent, like a death march. "These guys are spirits. They have no pain, no fear. You can't kill them no matter how many shuriken you throw."

Shikamaru ignored him, quickly calculating in his mind.

The enemy has three summoned creatures plus its main body.

Summoned creatures are agile, strong, and insensitive to pain, but their speed and attack patterns are predictable and predictable.

The main body holds a short flute, and while controlling the summoned creatures, it cannot perform other attacks, but the sound of the flute itself is a form of interference.

At this moment, his thoughts stalled.

No, I feel so irritable, and I can't see anything.

The sound illusion is the sound of a flute!

Tayuya's flute music is not only used to control demons; the sound itself contains a special kind of sonic ninjutsu, which is gradually eroding his nerves and weakening his control over the shadows.

"You found out?" Tayuya's smile widened. "Too late."

The flute melody suddenly rose in pitch, becoming sharp and piercing.

Shikamaru felt as if a needle had been pierced into his brain, and the intense headache caused him to involuntarily kneel on one knee.

The shadow completely lost control and shrank back to its feet.

Three blindfolded demons pounced at the same time.

Shikamaru made a decision at the last moment. The three demons attacked from different directions at the same time, and in his current state, he had no way to dodge them.

"Shadow Stitching Technique: Black Curtain"

His shadow exploded around his body, transforming into countless fine black lines, like a giant net instantly enveloping all the space within a five-meter radius of him.

He's already pulled out his trump card: the explosive tag.

Three blindfolded demons were bound by black threads, their bodies frozen in mid-air.

The threads embedded themselves directly into the demons' bodies, temporarily trapping them, before dozens of tightly bound explosive talismans contracted towards the center.

Tayuya smiled slightly. She hadn't expected that Shikamaru, even when corrupted by sonic ninjutsu, could still unleash such a sophisticated shadow ninjutsu.

"You're really tenacious. Interesting." Tayuya licked her lips, excitement flashing in her eyes. "My previous suggestion still holds true. As long as you become my slave, I'll let you go."

"Stop dreaming, explode!"

A violent roar erupted, sending up a large cloud of smoke. Nara Shikamaru, unsure whether he had succeeded or not, flipped over and jumped onto the high wall, preparing to escape.

But then they saw Choji Akimichi's corpse hanging on a rock pillar, equally pitiful, his bones all broken, leaving only a large mass of flesh.

"Ugh~" Nara Shikamaru suppressed his nausea and struggled to escape after the death of his comrade.

Tayuu also switched the piccolo to his left hand, and with his right hand he formed a mudra and pressed it to the ground.

"Spiritual Communication Technique: Gate of Evil Spirits"

Suddenly, a dark crack appeared in the ground in front of him, and countless rotting hands reached out from the crack, tearing it wider and wider.

A large door made of piled bones slowly rose from the ground, with dark red light shining through the cracks, mixed with the wails of countless evil spirits.

A constant stream of evil spirits swarmed out of the door.

"Really..." Shikamaru closed his eyes, a bitter smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, "Finally, I can be free."

The demon's claws pierced through from the front and emerged from the back.

Shikamaru looked down at the hand that had pierced through his body, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were strangely calm.

"So... this is what it feels like."

"Any last words?" Tayuya leaned closer to his face, her dark eyes devoid of any pity.

Did he? Perhaps he should have advised his father and clansmen to surrender long ago, and acted as a wise man who knew when to yield.

"No, we deserve all of this." After saying this, Nara Shikamaru closed his eyes forever.

Tayuya scoffed, "That's true. Goodnight, my little male slave."