Shikamaru's victory though, was short lived. A thunderous roar shook the forests, before a furry claw shot out from the summoning circle. The head followed, and the bear stared around with its beady eyes. Soon after, the body and feet of the bear was fully visible.
Shikamaru suppressed a groan. The bear was at least twenty- feet tall! He jumped back as the bear waved its claw in a mad frenzy. The wind caused by the bear's swiped cut through the clearing, buffeting Shikamaru. Most of the ritual ninjas lay on the ground writhing, their body mangled when they were caught in the bear's initial rampage. Around them, the other ninjas were fleeing, eager to get as far away from this monstrosity now that their job was done. Still unaware of their presence, the bear roared again, the shockwave rattling the trees and even toppling several of the closer ones.
"Shadow Imitation Technique," Shikamaru murmured. The shadow originally hovering over the ritual circle reshaped it self around the bear's feet. Shikamaru lowered his arms as the technique took control of the bear's movements. As though mimicking his movements, the bear lowered its arms too. If the bear could move, I'm sure it'll be looking around to see what hit it, Shikarmaru thought.
"Hinata," he said, "Bring the bear down quick."
Nodding slightly, Hinata activated her Byakugan. Immediately, the chakra flow of the bear showed up in her vision, and she reeled. The amount of chakra which raged internally was tremendous! Gritting her teeth, Hinata let her chakra seep out from her palm. She charged forward, leapt six feet high and buried her palm into the side of the bear, just under its abdomen, where chakra flow was the weakest. She gathered her chakra, and shoved it into the bear's internal system, but it had little effect. Even though the bear had little chakra circulating at that point, the amount of chakra was sill overwhelming. The bear's chakra absorbed most of Hinata's own, softening the damage tenfold.
Landing lightly on her feet, Hinata yelled, "My attacks have little effect! It's going to take a while!" Shikamaru groaned inwardly. The shadow imitation technique was a particularly effective technique, but it costs him a chunk of chakra to maintain. And his chakra supply was not exactly capacious.
"You have two minutes!"
Hinata did not respond. Instead, she directed her attacks to the heart of the bear. Although the chakra supply there was the strongest, if a single speck of Hinata's own chakra seeped through, it would have devastating effects on the bear. Just a little chakra which attacks the bear's heart would be enough to kill it. Like a chisel chiseling away on a boulder, Hinata delivered one palm thrust after another.
As he watched Hinata's barrage of fist hit the bear, Shikamaru began to realize that they would not make it. He simply did not have enough chakra to hold the bear long enough for Hinata to fell it. We're going to have to retreat, he thought. We'll regroup and attack the bear again when I have enough people to hold it down. As his shadow wavered and threatened to withdraw, Shikamaru prepared to sound their retreat. Three more seconds, he thought.
Shikamaru heard a shout behind him. "Wind Element: Triple Wind Dragon Bullet!" Immediately after, three balls of compressed air shot past him, striking the bear squarely on the head.
Hinata leapt back, propelling herself off the bear. She barely evaded the shockwave, thanks to her 360 degrees vision. What was that that hit the bear?! From her Byakugan vision, Hinata not only saw the compressed air bullets, but the dense chakra which formed them. Each air bullet was molded by a high concentration of chakra, rivaling that of the bear's.
The first air bullet slammed against the bear's temple, swaying the bear slightly as Shikamaru withdrew his shadow technique. The second air bullet followed a split second after, driving a hole in the bear's skull before the third one drilled its way right through the brain. Blood and brain matter splattered onto the ground, dyeing it a deep blood red; the bear, its head half- blown off, teetered for a second before collapsing onto the forest floor with a resounding crash.
Hinata spun around wildly. Who was it who could amass such an amount of chakra? When she found the technique's caster, Hinata gasped. Behind her, Hinata heard a barely perceptible gasp from Shikamaru.
He had grown older, his face more angular, with a more rugged look. His hair was now shoulder length, and had little of the spikiness it possessed from before. He was different, but the similarities in his features were still present. The azure blue eyes still shone with determination, pretentious demeanor was still there, albeit to a lesser degree, but most importantly, the half- idiotic smile never left his face.
"Na… Na… Naruto," was all Hinata could manage.
