Shikaku thought, 'He said Kageoni when he stabbed that Iwa shinobi after appearing from his shadow.' His sharp mind immediately began analyzing the ability.
'If I am not wrong, Kageoni, also known as "Shadow Demon" or "Shadow Tag," is a game where players avoid having their shadows stepped on by the "Oni" who is the tagger. So his ability must give him and also all the other players the ability to use shadows.'
He continued thinking deeply. 'Shunsui extended his shadow without hand signs and he could do it without much chakra expenditure, so it must be likely. But how can another player make use of that ability? Does just trying to do something with shadows work?' Shikaku decided to test it right then.
He focused on the shadow created by an Iwa shinobi and tried to step into it with the intention of teleporting. To his surprise, it worked. He slid smoothly through the shadow and appeared behind another Iwa shinobi, stabbing a kunai to the man's neck before teleporting back to his original position in an instant.
He decided to push further and tried using his signature Shadow Possession Jutsu. To his astonishment, he could do it without hand signs and with minimal chakra expenditure. He managed to get all nine of the remaining Iwa shinobi in a shadow at once.
'I have not even expended 10 percent of the chakra that would normally be needed to hold these many with Shadow Possession,' Shikaku thought, genuinely impressed. The rules of the game seemed to apply to everyone present. It allowed him to access shadow techniques far more efficiently than usual.
He saw Shunsui looking at him in surprise. Shikaku gave the boy a small nod of acknowledgment. 'I could end this all now, but the point of the mission is to understand more about Shunsui's ability,' he decided. He let go of his jutsu and chose to observe instead, letting the genin take the spotlight.
As he waited for Shunsui to show more, Shikaku could tell that Choza's other genin were no slouches either. Guy was beating two Iwa shinobi to a pulp with pure taijutsu. Shikaku could tell that he was pretty talented in Taijutsu.
Genma was using Choza and Guy as moving shields, throwing poisoned senbon with deadly accuracy whenever an opening appeared. 'Those senbon are laced with poisons,' Shikaku thought. 'Not noticeable ones, but I can tell they are slowing the enemies down.'
He then noticed Shunsui say something quietly to Inoichi. A moment later, Inoichi's voice rang in his mind. 'The kid asked me to communicate something to you all.' The message reached everyone, including the genin. 'Keep on the trees or rocks. Whatever happens, do not step into the ground.' With that ominous warning, Inoichi's presence disappeared from Shikaku's mind.
Guy, Genma, and Choza jumped onto the trees without a second thought. Shikaku and Inoichi exchanged a quick glance and did the same.
Shunsui himself stepped onto a thick branch. The Iwa shinobi were confused by the sudden movement. Some of them felt their instincts scream to them and jumped to trees as well.
But two were too slow. They started screaming as the ground beneath their feet turned into molten lava.
"Ahhhhhhhhh"
The earth bubbled and glowed with intense heat. The two men sank rapidly into it, their legs burning away in seconds. Their screams echoed through the forest as the lava swallowed them whole, leaving only ashes floating on the surface.
Choza's voice came through Inoichi's mental link. 'The game is Floor is Lava. Shunsui had not used it previously but had told us about this game of his. In this game, "The Floor Is Lava," pretend the ground is lethal. Players must race, leap, or step from object to object to avoid touching the floor. Anyone who touches the floor is "out."'
Shikaku replied mentally, 'So you are saying that he has turned the ground within his ability range into lava. And if anyone steps on the ground, it would reveal itself to be lava.'
'Yes, and if we fall, we would also be affected by this ability unless Shunsui is quick enough to end the game or change it,' Choza confirmed.
Genma demonstrated this perfectly. He sent a paralysis-laced senbon into the leg of an Iwa shinobi who lost his balance afterwards.
The man fell onto the ground, which instantly turned into bubbling lava and gobbled him up. When the lava receded, only ashes remained.
Shikaku had seen enough. He gave the signal to Choza. The large jonin activated his expansion jutsu once more. His giant fist swept across the battlefield like a wrecking ball, pushing every remaining Iwa shinobi off balance and straight into the lava below.
The enemies screamed as they fell. Some tried to jump to safety but were caught mid-air by the massive hand. One by one, they disappeared into the molten ground with horrifying finality.
The forest floor glowed orange for a few seconds whereever the Iwa shinobi landed on it before returning to normal dirt, leaving only burnt patches and the smell of smoke.
After that, Shunsui landed safely on the ground. Only then did the rest of the team follow. The battle was over in a matter of seconds.
The Iwa scout squad had been completely wiped out without any serious injuries to Team Choza or the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
Shikaku stared at the battlefield with a mix of awe and a lot of calculations. He thought,'After seeing the ability in action, I am sure of one thing: the boy has the power to cross shinobi ranks and hit above his weight class with that ability. Even a Kage who does not know about the game that is being played would be at a big disadvantage and might lose the game and thus lose his life against him.'
'Now the question is how much do I report to Hokage-sama,' he continued thinking as he looked at Choza happily patting his students on the back. 'I cannot let Choza's student be used as a tool for Danzo.'
Shikaku might be loyal to Konoha and the Hokage to a fault but his loyalty to Ino-Shika-Cho and their clans surpassed even that. And he was in know about the darkness hiding within Konoha.
------Author Notes---------
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