Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor any of the characters, beside the main OC. All credit for creating this amazing series goes to Mr. Kishimoto
Author's note: Thanks to everyone for reading! Answer to the reviews are at the bottom.
I am not completely satisfied about this chapter – and especially the title – but I do hope you guys enjoy it. So, without further ado here it is:
THE FIRST ROUND OF FIGHTS ENDS: SASUKE VS SHINO
Or: "the last Uchiha fights!"
"This match will be Uchiha Sasuke against Aburame Shino." Genma's voice boomed.
The crowd cheered loudly... and then cheered some more. Everyone was excited to see the last Uchiha fight. Especially considering it was against another clan heir – of one of the four noble clans moreover!
Genma shook his head. 'Names aren't everything...' he considered. "Since you weren't there when I explained it before, I will do so now." he started, looking sharply at Sasuke. "The rules will be the same as the preliminaries: the match will go on until one of you dies or gives up. If I decide there is a clear winner I will call off the match. No protests about it."
"Hn."
"Very well." Genma evenly said. "The final match of the first round... now begins!" and he promptly jumped back to avoid being hit but... nothing happened.
Sasuke and Shino simply stared at each other. The scowl on the Uchiha's face was deep and scornful, but the boy was still, only his fists trembling in excitement. The stoic Aburame on the other hand resembled a statue and he only moved to fix his glasses on his nose.
"Why don't they start?" Naruto asked, yawning. "I'm getting bored."
"They are waiting for the other to make a move." Akimi replied. "Theoretically and possibly even practically this fight is very well balanced."
Her words held true and the two opponents knew it as well. Shino's specialty were ambushes and he could not certainly did that in an open and plain arena. If he attacked with his Kikai, the Uchiha would detect them on the spot and dodge them – or worse destroy them with his Katon techniques.
On the other hand, Sasuke knew he could not use one of his strongest assets, genjutsu, because the Aburame's insects would recognise it immediately. It would have been a simple waste of chakra. He did not want to use ninjutsu either because he had no doubts Shino would easily avoid his attacks. And Taijutsu... while he was pretty confident he was better than his foe at it, engaging in a hand to hand fight increased the risk of being hit by chakra sucking insects.
The crowd was getting annoyed by the long – and seemingly endless – stall between the two combatants. Soon, the spectators made themselves known, shouting and complaining loudly: they had waited long for this match and now it would not get started properly.
It was beyond time one of the two made a move. And then it happened, without any forewarning and unexpectedly. Shino had only the time to register the change in his opponent's eyes: from sheer black to scarlet red, before Sasuke lounge forward, charging him with an astonishing speed.
Uchiha Sasuke was very annoyed – not that one would be able to see it – because, since the happenings of the Second Exam, things had gone into a rapid downfall. He was flustered, angry and restless.
He did not really mind to be confined to his clan compound, because it gave him the chance of training as much as he wanted. And trained he did. The ANBU guards that kept tabs on him weren't a bother, had it not been for the strange silver haired jōnin.
There was something about Hatake Kakashi that just irked him – a lot. It may have been the way Kakashi patronisingly talked to him or looked down at him... or just the fact that he had ordered – and who was he to order an Uchiha around? – he was to arrive late at the preliminaries. That had just infuriated him: he had his family name and honour to carry, what kind of impression would he make arriving late? Not only late, but monstrously late. Still he had no choice: it was not like he could go against a whole squad of ANBU and a jōnin.
And if all of this had not been enough, before Sunshining away, Hatake had looked at him and told him that if he dared use the Cursed Seal during the Exam he would make him be very sorry for it. They all told him that... day after day: Kurenai-sensei, Kakashi and even the Hokage came to his home to remind him of that prohibition. Sasuke wasn't stupid and he got the message: no using the alluring but dark power Orochimaru gave him. And yet the mark on his neck still stung with a small – and yet almost pleasurable – pain... a pain that sang to him, promising power beyond his imagination and sweet, sweet revenge. The Cursed Seal called for blood and violence as well and Sasuke was very inclined to give in.
So even if he had planned from the very start of the training's month to wait until his adversary made the first move, now he could not wait. The frustration and anger were too strong and needed to be vented somehow. The last straw had been the loud and sometimes offensive complaints coming from the spectators... he would show them. He was an avenger. He was stronger than all the other idiots of the village.
With those dark thoughts swirling in his head, Sasuke activated his Sharingan, feeling empowered as usually by the sensation of sheer clarity those eyes gave him. He would show them, he would show them the power of the Uchiha. Then, without losing any second, he charged his opponent.
Shino had appraised Sasuke's speed and movements during his preliminary match. He immediately realised his foe had greatly improved during the month that passed, because he could easily rival with Naruto's speed now... perhaps even Rock Lee's with his weights. But precisely because Shino was used to his blonde teammate's hyperactive energy, he had no qualms in easily parrying the violent punch Sasuke swept at him with his hand, grasping it as well with ease. If Sasuke could compete – and maybe even surpass – Naruto in speed, he was clearly weaker than the blonde, so Shino didn't even flinch at the impact.
Sasuke snarled and immediately broke contact, lest his opponent sneaked Kikai on them... and in fact he could see the black spots on his hand. Infuriated, Sasuke waved them off, before easily ducking to avoid the vicious kick Shino launched at him.
The two genins started a furious battle of hand to hand combat, Shino trying to block each and every blows from Sasuke, trying to slip Kikai on him, but the Uchiha read with his Sharingan said attempts and thwarted them off. As a result, Sasuke was continuously attacking and changing movements midair to avoid Shino's blocking.
"Why isn't Shino-san attacking as well?" wondered Lee from his position. "He is wasting chakra!"
"Mah, Lee-kun, Shino's strength doesn't lie in his taijutsu." a laidback voice answered him.
Lee and the other rookie genins turned, startled. Kakashi waved them hello, eye smiling. They had not heard him coming.
Gai smirked at the masked jōnin. "One could think you were deliberately making Sasuke late so your student could pass to the next round."
Kakashi almost answered with his usual 'Did you say something?', but since he was particularly protective of his three genin he replied: "He doesn't need my help. Look."
The crowd was in fact starting to notice something quite... peculiar. Shino had tried to maintain the fight restrained to a small area of the arena and the ground around the two genins was now literally black. Those among the crowd who knew about the Aburame's kekkai genkai easily understood what was happening: Shino had sneaked his insects on the ground from his very feet so that they could attack Sasuke from behind. Clearly, he had engaged in the taijutsu battle only to distract the Uchiha. It was only a matter of minutes before he would launch his own offensive.
They didn't have to wait long. As Sasuke's attacks became more and more furious, Shino smirked and deliberatively let himself being hit on a shoulder by a punch. As Shino was launched back towards the arena's wall, Sasuke smirked smugly... right before a swarm of insects descended on him.
"Go like that, Shino!" Naruto exclaimed.
The Uchiha was surrounded by a black bur, some insects were already crawling on his body. He looked around briefly, as if searching for a way to escape... but there were none. He was not about to be defeated though, like hell he was! Regaining his bearings in few seconds the Uchiha quickly went through handseals.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu [Great Fireball Technique]" he shouted few seconds later.
Shino had flipped in the air and landed vertically on the wall, using chakra to propel himself, just as his Kikaichū had moved to attack Sasuke. He observed everything with keen eyes, ready to make another move. He had spent enough time with Akimi to recognise Katon when he saw it and Katon didn't bode well for his beloved insects: so he also started a sequence of seals of his own.
As the blazing and hot flames evoked by Sasuke moved forward, Shino crossed his fingers. "Mushi Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" he murmured.
Sasuke didn't have time to rejoice, because even though the annoying bugs seemed to be dispersed by his attack at first, they suddenly multiplied in front of his eyes. Keeping his cool, he simply pumped more chakra into the technique.
'Did Shino just use a modified Kage Bunshin?" the Sandaime thought in wonder. 'He cloned his Kikai. If that really works, it will be an amazing asset for the Aburame clan!'
When the great fireball was finally dispersed, there was no insect in the arena: Sasuke had killed them all. Or better, said, he almost killed them all.
Shino winced in pain as he felt his Kikai die. Truly, their life cycle wasn't very long and lasted a day at most, but feeling them die in battle was also painful, in contrast with the peaceful and numbing sensation their natural death gave him. Still, his loss was balanced by the success of his attack.
Sasuke was panting, standing in an almost crouched position. It clearly meant one thing and one thin only: he had lost a great amount of chakra. Shino had multiplied the numbers of his Kikai exponentially and that allowed some of them to reach Sasuke and suck all the chakra they could from him, until they literally died from "indigestion" (they were clones, after all, they were disposable).
Shino jumped down from the wall and fell into a defensive stance. The Mushi Kage Bunshin was an excellent and very powerful technique, but it did cost a lot in terms of raw chakra... and he had not very big reserves. Even though the loss had somehow been reintegrated by the energy stolen from Sasuke, Shino knew he could not use that technique again – unless it was an emergency. So he simply fixed his sunglasses and intently observed his opponent, wondering what his next move would be. 'He seems... tense. It's strange, he is always so calm and collected. I wonder...' Eventually he decided what to do.
"That was a nice display." Shino quietly said, but he knew Sasuke heard him. "But I am not impressed. Akimi can do so much better than you with that technique."
Sasuke breathed heavily. "What did you say?" he hissed.
Shino was wary of the other boy. He didn't want to make him activate his Cursed Seal, but... anger clouded judgement and therefore made Sasuke weaker. The gambit was worth it. "You heard me." he replied. "You need to do better if you want to defeat me."
"How dare you!" Sasuke shouted, his chakra flaring up. "I'll show you!" and he charged forward, enraged.
Shino smirked. 'It worked' he thought, preparing to face the wrath of the Uchiha.
"Oh, kami!" Naruto laughed. "Shino insulted him! That is so out of character."
"It's kind of smart, though." Akimi sounded amused as well. "Otherwise he would have never done it."
"You two have really corrupted him." Shikamaru said, yawning. "This is so troublesome..."
"Shika, I am offended." Naruto brought an hand to his heart. "Me? Corrupting someone? How can you think that?"
Shikamaru looked at the other boy like he had grown a second head, raising an eyebrow, while Akimi lightly swatted the blonde's head.
"'to-kun, focus on the battle."
Naruto did so just in time to see the two genin violently clash. He immediately noticed Sasuke was faster this time. Much more faster... and probably even stronger.
Shino had barely the time to shield himself with his arms crossed, before Sasuke swept a vicious punch at him. He could not even think of sneaking insects on him or counteract as the other boy disappeared from his view to kick him in the shoulders.
Shino landed several meters ahead, feeling Sasuke following him at once. He quickly jumped out of the way, but thanks to his Sharingan, the Uchiha predicted his movement and was there to meet him, with another punch at his stomach. He realised something just at the same time his teammates did.
"That's Lee-san's taijutsu style." Akimi exclaimed, recognising the same moves the bobbled haired kid had used against Gaara.
"Yes... and it's even more deadly because of his Sharingan." Naruto observed.
Shino had his bugs out, trying to deter Sasuke's attacks, but the Uchiha was too fast and he couldn't hit him with them.
"Still, he can't have reached such a speed in only a month." Akimi crossed her arms. "He is using chakra to enhance his muscles."
Naruto nodded. "Clearly. At this level he can't keep up for long."
Akimi raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps he counts on defeating Shino in very little time. Fool."
Shino got up for the umpteenth time, silently thanking Akimi for the reinforced jacket she gave him that was muffling the impact of his opponent's attack. He knew as well that Sasuke couldn't maintain that rhythm for much longer, but he didn't really fancy being hit again. He moved quickly, making five simply hand seals before Sasuke could reach him again.
"Mushi Kame no Jutsu [Wall of Insects Technique]" he firmly stated, unleashing his bugs.
The technique was based on a simply concept, but yet it was quite complex to perform. Shino had to reinforce his Kikaichū with chakra and then have them flying around him as quickly as they could. The spinning insects basically created a reinforced dome around him, similar to Kaiten, but quite weaker albeit it could last longer. Shino felt Sasuke's kick clash against the barrier.
"And so Shino buys time." Naruto smirked. "Good plan."
Akimi nodded. "Still, he can't maintain that dome for long. It's all down to what Uchiha-san will do now."
As Sasuke was charging forward once again, his Sharingan registered the hand seals Shino performed, but he didn't even think of copying them. He knew very well he could not use the secret Aburame's clan jutsu. A part of him thought it would be wise to end the attack right there and prepare to defend, but the adrenaline rushing into his body, united with the addictive pain on his neck, won the battle and he didn't stop. Luckily, his opponent was not attacking, he was defending.
Sasuke clashed against the dome of spinning insects and the impact made him almost wince. It felt almost like he clashed against solid rocks! "Damn it!" he cursed, as he recoiled back, before landing in a crouched position in front of black dome. He was panting.
What was he to do now? Sasuke wondered. He could feel his reserves lowering... perhaps the Kikaichū that had assaulted him earlier had drained more chakra than he thought. He pondered whether to attack the dome again with taijutsu or not... 'I may be able to bring it down if I attack relentlessly, but I doubt I could much afterwards. No, I need something... drastic.'
With a sigh, Sasuke fumbled with his jacket until he found a chakra pill, a gift from Kiba. He had almost laughed in the face of his teammate when the Inuzuka gave it to him, but now he was kind of glad he hadn't. Not that he would ever, ever say it aloud. He popped the pill in his mouth.
From inside the dome, Shino saw this through the eyes of a couple of insects he had left out to monitor the situation. 'Worrisome.' he thought. 'But it could also be my chance to finish this.'
Sasuke poured all his frustration in the technique he was about to perform. The dark feeling fuelled his power, yes, but also nurtured the Cursed Seal on his neck, colliding against the protection of the Fūja Hōin [Evil Sealing Method].
"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu [Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique]" he bellowed, breathing out a large cloud of fire. The technique was clearly more powerful than Goukakyuu, but less devastating than Karyū Endan (Fire Dragon Flame Bullet).
The burst of flames clashed violently against the dome of insects, successfully destroying it, but what a smirking Sasuke failed to notice was that Shino had ordered to most of his Kikai to disperse before being reached by the technique.
Sasuke did not have much time to exult, because he clearly felt a hissing sound coming from behind him. He thanked his reflexes for being able to duck and avoid being hit by...
'A bō staff!' the Sandaime opened in a small smile. It had been a while since he saw a genin taking an interest in his own weapon of choice. 'I wonder how well Kakashi taught Shino to use it. It's not a very common weapon in this village. Then again, Kakashi is good friend with Gai, so...'
In fact, Shino did seem to know what he was doing with his long, black staff. It was a beautiful weapon, Sarutobi thought, bigger in the middle and with tapered ends, reinforced with metal. He would also bet his pipe the weapon was enhanced with seals, since he knew how close Team 7 was.
Shino started to attack Sasuke with his weapon, using at his advantage its length to keep Sasuke at bay. His katas were impressive, but a little flawed, which made the Hokage think that the boy had not been training with the staff for long. However, he knew that Shino had gained the approval of several jōnin specialised in hand to hand combat.
Just after thinking that, Sarutobi leaned forward from his throne noticing another difference in Shino's appearance. He was not the only one.
"Is that a gourd on Shino's shoulders?" Kiba asked, with a puzzled face.
It was true, the boy was now carrying a small gourd, dark brown on colour, with several lighter markings all around its surface. The object did not seem to hinder Shino's movements, which were fluid and precise.
"I think it is." Sakura replied. "I heard it's a way to carry around more insects."
"If that were the case, Shino-san would have had it since the start of the fight." Gai intervened. "What is that thing really, rival Kakashi?"
The masked jōnin was smirking widely. "It's their secret project." he replied. "Naruto and Akimi helped him develop it. I don't want to spoil it for you."
On the combatants booth, Naruto and Akimi looked excited as hell that Shino had finally decided to bring out 'the big guns', while Shikamaru thought that is was all very troublesome.
On the battlefield, Sasuke did notice the small thing on Shino's back but did not really think much of it. He was too busy in the furious and persisting exchange of blows with his opponent. He knew the rush of power the pill had given him would soon finish.
Eventually, Shino pulled back, jumping several meters away from Sasuke. The Uchiha started to pursue him at once, but was blocked by a swarm of black insects just as he was about to reach him. He cursed, pondering whether to use or not another Katon jutsu – he wasn't sure he could sustain it – when Shino placed his mysterious gourd on the ground.
"I will end this now." the Aburame muttered, moving his hands fairly quickly.
Sasuke started a sequence of his own immediately, as he did not want to discover what trick his opponent was up to.
He was too late.
"Gahoukagure no jutsu! [Hidden in Spores Technique]" Shino exclaimed, as the gourd opened in front of him.
And then a strange, dark and dense cloud surrounded them for several meters. Sasuke was horrified, comprehending that he could not see anymore, that he stopped doing handseals altogether. 'What the hell is this?'
The audience was having similar reaction. They could not understand what it was, but they did realise what its function was: thwart the power of the Sharingan. The more experienced Shinobi immediately linked the technique to Kirikagure (Hidden in Mist) no jutsu – and they were therefore very impressed with it all.
Gai was gaping as well. "How very youthful!" he bellowed.
"What the hell is that cloud?" Kiba shouted.
Surprisingly, it was Ino to answer. "They are spores." she said. "Of several different types of flowers and trees."
Kakashi seemed amused. "How do you know it?"
"Because Akimi bought all our supplies of them in our shop." she answered. "I honestly thought she was nuts, but Dad seemed amused – she probably told him what they were for."
"It's a very nasty trick." Kakashi explained. "Those little things are basically engulfed with Shino's chakra and not only they block sight, in time they also irritate the eyes."
"How can Shino-san find Sasuke in there, then?" Lee asked.
Kakashi eye smiled. "He has his ways."
Shino, his eyes firmly closed, felt perfectly at ease inside the dense and almost suffocating cloud of small spores. He was naturally used to them and had trained to sustain the technique had best with the help of his teammates.
The Hidden in Spores techniques was an amazing asset, especially against opponents who relied on sight such as Sasuke. The only downside was its chakra cost. Although most of the power needed for the technique had been stored from Shino previously, thanks to seals provided by Akimi, he had to control the spores, each one of them, to keep them together and effectively cloud Sasuke's vision. He only had few minutes at best. He would not waste them.
During their frequent taijutsu skirmishes, it was easy for Shino to sneak a female Kikai on Sasuke. As such, he exactly knew where his opponent was. He ordered some of his insects to stop any escape attempt, while he attacked with his bō staff, along with the rest of his Kikai.
The spectators could not see what was happening within the black cloud of spores, but they did distinctively hear a strong thud and the small cry of pain from Sasuke. Clearly, the Uchiha had been hit. Soon, another crash was heard. Then another... and another.
"Ouch." Naruto knew very well how painful the bruises from Shino's staff could be. "I almost pity Sasuke."
"I do not." Akimi darkly said. "Shino must finish this soon. Uchiha-san is at his limit."
Before Naruto could ask what she meant, a enraged scream echoed in the arena. Besides him, Shikamaru gulped: it was Killing Intent and he only had sensed something so powerful and vicious the day before, when they had confronted Gaara.
Naruto watched in horror as the cloud of spores was partly dispersed by large waves of malicious, purple chakra. "NO!" he shouted. A swarm of black Kikaichū was flying away from, clearly frightened by the evil that spread from Sasuke.
Genma, from his spot in the battlefield, looked frozen, unsure of what to do. Sarutobi leaped on his feet as soon as the Cursed Seal had been activated, worried.
"Mushi Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Shino shouted from the black cloud of spores.
To Naruto and Akimi, who knew him well, the worry in his voice was clearly audible. The audience was frozen in terror as well, not used such a pressuring Killing Intent, then to their uttermost shock the cloud of spores dispersed and they saw Sasuke, surrounded by a purple aura, clash against Shino, surrounded by a swarm of insects.
The impact was so powerful and intense it created a terrible and deafening explosion, raising a cloud of smoke all around the arena. Then there was silence.
JUTSU NOTES:
Mushi Kage Bunshin no Jutsu [Insect Shadow Clone Technique], A rank, supplementary. A modified version of the classic Kage Bunshin, this techniques allows Aburame clan member to multiply their insect a lot of times. Moreover, the cloned insects, once dispersed, give to the user the chakra their absorbed.
Mushi Kame no Jutsu [Wall of Insects Technique] B rank, defensive, short range. The user enhance its Kikaichū with chakra and has them rotate around him at an high speed, creating a protective dome similar to the Hyūga's Kaiten. The technique can be maintained for a relatively long time, but can also be easily destructed by an explosion or a fire technique.
Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu [Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique]: C/B rank, offensive, short to mid range. This technique is basically a overpowered version of the Great Fireball Technique and it allows the user to send out a large burst of flames, powerful enough to melt stones.
AN: while the name of the technique is canonical, I have change its effects
Gahoukagure no jutsu! [Hidden in Spores Technique]: B rank, supplementary, mid range. The user releases from a special gourde a huge amount of spores, engulfed with chakra. The user must control the spores constantly to keep them closely thickened together. The techniques creates a dense cloud of spores that block and hinder their opponent's sight. Long exposure to the technique can cause damage the eyes.
REVIEW'S ANSWERS:
vsncheze: thank you very much for reviewing. Shikamaru is one of my favourite characters, so it was fun to write that fight =) I hope you liked this fight, let me know what you think. Without spoilering, I can tell you that starting from the invasion on I will really begin to divert from canon.
Pirate Queen ofthe 21st centry: thank you so much for reviewing. I am glad you like the idea of the brackets. I hope you liked the chapter, let me know! =)
NATSUxERZA 123456: thank you very much for reviewing. I am glad you liked the fights. As for having them divided, the reasons are quite simple: I was essentially buying time to write next chapters and it is good to keep up suspense as well. I know the chapters are short, but having them all in one chapter would have way too long.
Decius23: thank you for reading and reviewing. First, I am glad you like the story. I've already answered you via PM, but I'll also like to say a couple of words about the issue here, in case other readers feel the same way as you:
About Naruto and Fūinjutsu: in my head I see Naruto as a melee fighter specialised in ninjutsu. This doesn't mean he goes around mindlessly throwing jutsu around like in canon.
He does know Fūinjutsu, most times he simply doesn't elect to use it. There may be occasion when, on the other end, he will use it. As for the Uzumaki clan, I find difficult to think it is or was the only clan in the Elemental Nations to specialise in Fūinjutsu, which is why I created Akimi's way with a specialisation in seals. That's is, essentially, all.
Laura-Jean95: thank you for reading and reviewing. I hope you liked this chapter. And you are right, Shikamaru is very cool when he behaves like the lazy genius he is. =) =)
pedobear412: thank you so much for reviewing! I am so glad you liked interactions between character... especially regarding the other rookie nines, aside from Team 7, I am sometimes unsure how to write them, so your comment was very appreciated.
Regarding the fuzzy ball and Naruto, you exactly got what I was trying to convey about the importance of names. It was basically an intuition Naruto had thanks to his knowledge of Fūinjutsu and it was basically the most powerful bargaining chip he had =.
Thank you again for your compliments and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Skeleus thank you so much for reviewing =) I hope you liked this fight as well and let me know what do you think of Japanese names with the translations beside, does it make more difficult to read the story?
OnePieceFAN2012: thank you for reading and reviewing =). I am glad you liked the story. Just a warning though, I am fast now because I'm inspired and I can easily write, but I am subjected to sudden and long writer blocks so I don't know how long it will last. Although I do hope I get no block at all =)
mg4of6: thank you for reading and reviewing =). I am very glad you liked the story! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.
Unmei Ryu: thank you so much for reviewing. I am glad you liked the chapter. The chat between Team 7 was really the main point of last chapter and I'll let you know I've some good ideas about how the invasion will play. I hope you enjoyed this fight. Let me know =)
CHAPTER'S NOTES
So, cliff-hanger. Don't hate me too much please. I have not started next chapter yet, but hopefully it won't take me too much to write it – and I will post it as soon as I finish it.
About this chapter: I hope I did not get too much into bashing when I described Sasuke. But I do not hide the fact that I hate his guts, so probably I did. Perhaps he was a little OOC at the beginning, because he did not keep his "cool".
However, I suppose that this Sasuke has not benefited of Naruto's positive influence and is therefore much more darker. Which also means the Cursed Seal has a bigger grasp on him, clouding his judgement. This is why he acted hastily and perhaps even foolishly at times, during the battle.
Also, he learned Lee's taijutsu style even though Kakashi didn't teach him. I think Sasuke is smart enough to do so on his own, especially since he saw how powerful the style actually his during the battle between Gaara and Lee (he was there to see it in this story)
Lastly, I do hope that Shino's tricks are believable. Do tell me what you think about them.
At the beginning I said the Aburame are one of the "noble clans" of Konoha. I found this info on Narutowikia and I just thought to put it there. The other three are Uchiha, Hyūga and Akimichi. I am just guessing it means this clans are older and more prominent in the village.
This is all, thank you for reading!
Next time up: the aftermath and the next fight