At this moment, Choji froze in place, the red pill still hovering by his lips, his entire body paralyzed.
The turn of events had happened too quickly—so fast that he didn't even have time to swallow, and his mind went completely blank.
"Choji, are you alright?" Aoki Yoru asked, looking at the dazed Choji.
Only then did he react; the reinforcements had arrived.
He let out a long sigh of relief, his shoulders instantly slumping as his tense nerves finally relaxed.
A smile of survival appeared on his face: "Thank you, Senior Aoki. I'm not dead yet."
"That's good. Stay here for now; the follow-up rescue will arrive soon."
With that, Aoki Yoru continued forward. He sent Yatagarasu back; since he had already caught up, its usefulness was limited.
Ignoring the still-lying Choji, Aoki Yoru pressed on at full speed, worried about the safety of the others.
In the original story, without the rescue of the three Sand Siblings, Shikamaru and Kiba would likely have been in danger. He didn't know if things would play out the same way this time, so he couldn't afford to delay.
"Eh—"
Aoki Yoru paused mid-stride. He sensed Neji's presence, but he didn't go to help, instead continuing forward.
At the moment, Neji was overwhelming Kidōmaru in their fight, so there was no need to waste time assisting him.
It was then that he sensed Neji taking a familiar stance.
"Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven: Burning Heaven Blazing Vortex!"
A bright light suddenly flared up in the distant woods, and a pillar of fire over ten meters in diameter shot into the sky, instantly dyeing half the horizon red. Even from hundreds of meters away, Aoki Yoru could feel the oncoming heat.
"Not bad!" Aoki Yoru smiled and praised.
Before long, he sensed the presence of the others and quickly formed hand seals.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
He split off two Shadow Clones to help Shikamaru and Kiba.
The most troublesome part of providing support is finding the people; now that everyone was located, everything became simple.
What interested him most now was the battle between Kimimaro and Rock Lee in the distance.
He wondered what kind of sparks would fly between Rock Lee and Kimimaro at their peak.
Shortly after, Aoki Yoru reached the boundary between the grassland and the forest.
He hid behind a tall tree trunk, leaning out only halfway to quietly observe the open battlefield not far away.
"Has it started!"
"Eight Gates, Fourth Gate: Gate of Pain, Open!"
In the center of the field, Rock Lee instantly opened the Fourth Gate, and pale green Chakra suddenly erupted from his body.
Boom—
Rock Lee lunged toward Kimimaro with explosive force. His incredible speed instantly tore through the air, and the grassland beneath his feet was immediately plowed into a deep furrow by the airflow, sending pebbles and grass flying as he left a half-meter-deep trench behind him.
In the blink of an eye, Rock Lee's figure, enveloped in pale green Chakra, closed in on Kimimaro and raised a leg to kick him.
Facing Rock Lee's ultra-high-speed kick, Kimimaro's expression didn't change in the slightest. Four bone spurs protruded from his right forearm as he moved his arm to block.
Clang—
Rock Lee's side kick, bolstered by the pale green Chakra, slammed hard against the white bone arm. The immense force caused the bone spurs to vibrate slightly, yet they remained completely undamaged.
"So hard!"
Rock Lee's pupils shrank, a look of shock appearing on his face before his expression turned serious.
"In that case, I'll just have to increase my speed."
Rock Lee gave a low shout, and the pale green Chakra surged instantly, making his speed even faster than before.
Almost instantly, Rock Lee's figure vanished from Kimimaro's surroundings. He turned into a flickering green stream of light, circling Kimimaro and constantly switching positions between front, back, left, and right, trying to find a blind spot that the bone spurs couldn't cover.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Yet, faced with this torrential high-speed assault, Kimimaro seemed to have anticipated it all.
His body was like a flexible willow branch, tilting or leaning back at the critical moment every single time.
Whenever the wind from Rock Lee's kicks was about to touch him, bone spurs would abruptly pop out from Kimimaro's body—either using his forearms to block or bone blades extending from his ribs to parry.
Bang— Bang— Bang— Dense sounds of collision exploded across the grassland.
Every one of Rock Lee's kicks was heavy and powerful, even shattering the air, yet they consistently failed to break through Kimimaro's white bone defense.
"Impressive speed," Kimimaro said coldly, a bone sword slowly condensing in his palm.
"But my Bloodline Limit is bone. Speed alone is not enough."
Kimimaro slid his feet lightly, swinging the bone sword in a horizontal slash. His movements weren't hindered at all; he was like a dancer, flexible and stretched out, with every turn exuding a fatal elegance.
"Dance of the Camellia."
Amidst the sharp sound of the bone blade cutting through the air, Rock Lee could only retreat desperately within the flashes of the blade, his green afterimages constantly dodging by his side.
But Kimimaro's assault coiled around him like flowing water. The bone sword stabbed and swept, and sometimes bone spurs would pop out from his elbows or knees to seal off any escape routes.
What was clearly a violent attack was performed by him as a pressing dance of death.
Outside the field, Aoki Yoru's expression gradually became serious as he intently watched the duel between the two.
"What a pity for Kimimaro."
Aoki Yoru couldn't help but sigh. He truly was the greatest genius the Kaguya Clan had ever seen; this combat talent was top-tier even in the entire history of the Ninja World. If not for the Bloodline Disease, becoming a Kage-level powerhouse would have been a certainty.
"Orochimaru really knows how to pick them!"
Aoki Yoru marveled. Whether it was Kimimaro, Guren, or the others, the people he chose were all exceptionally talented. Most importantly, they were fiercely loyal to him; this could be considered a part of his personal charisma.
The title of the Ninja World's strongest orphanage director was indeed well-deserved.
At this moment, the situation in the field changed. Rock Lee seized an opening in Kimimaro's movements, gathered Chakra into his foot, and kicked toward his chest.
But at the very moment his toes were about to make contact, several bone spurs suddenly erupted from Kimimaro's chest.
They weren't for blocking; instead, they pierced out from all directions like a cage, precisely locking onto Rock Lee's ankle and both sides of his calf, forcibly pinning his leg in mid-air.
"Ugh!"
Rock Lee felt his ankle tighten as his peerless momentum was bitten into by the ring of bone spurs, making it impossible to even pull back.
"It's over."
Kimimaro raised his bone sword and lunged fiercely at Rock Lee.
"Fifth Gate: Gate of Closing, Open!"
In this split second, the dark green Chakra on Rock Lee's body surged violently, and he kicked against the bone spurs on Kimimaro's chest.
The bone spurs shattered on impact, and he was sent flying by the massive force, soaring backward like a broken kite and dragging a deep mark across the grass.
"It hurts..."
Rock Lee gasped for breath, gritting his teeth as he forced himself to stand firm.
The backlash of the Gate of Closing was more intense than imagined. Before Lady Tsunade arrived, she had only permitted him to open up to the Fourth Gate; once the Fifth Gate was opened, his old injuries surged back like a tide.
"Did it work?"
He looked up at Kimimaro in the distance. If it had no effect, he would be in big trouble, as he had no more trump cards left.
At that moment, Kimimaro, who had fallen in the distance, slowly stood up. His body was covered in black Cursed Marks, and there was a flicker of emotion in his eyes.
"A remarkable technique, to be able to explode with several times your strength in such a short time. If I hadn't activated the Cursed Seal and formed a membrane of bone beneath my skin in time, my chest would have been crushed."