The moment Hinata Hyūga chose not to dodge and instead caught her teammate mid-air, she locked her arms around Kiba's body—making herself vulnerable.
Kawakami Shiman, a jōnin from the Hidden Sound Village, wasn't about to let such an opportunity slip away.
Almost the instant Hinata reached out to catch Kiba, Kawakami released the iron chain in his right hand, slammed a foot against the tree branch for leverage, and lunged forward—straight toward Hinata, who was now off balance, both hands full.
Though Hinata's Byakugan didn't technically give her a 360-degree view, at close range it might as well have. There was no way Kawakami could sneak up on her—but even if she saw the attack coming, there was little she could do.
She was rooted in place, struggling to stay upright while holding Kiba. Panic surged, and a terrifying thought crossed her mind: Am I going to die here?
Kawakami covered the distance in just a few strides. Tall and broad-shouldered, he loomed over Hinata in an instant. His right hand formed a blade with his fingers and slashed straight toward her throat; his left hand reached for the back of Kiba's neck to pull him away.
"We're screwed!"
Kiba, still groggy from the earlier impact, winced in pain. But the moment he realized Hinata had caught him, he knew something was wrong. Unfortunately, in his current state, dodging or countering the incoming strike was impossible.
"Ssschh!"
Just then, Shino Aburame, hidden in the underbrush, stood up with a sharp motion. His hands shot out and clenched into fists.
"Pop! Pop! Pop!"
Several sharp bursts erupted from the tree trunk beneath Kawakami's feet. The bark cracked open as if something had forced its way out from inside. With a spray of sap and woodchips, clouds of destruction bugs burst out from within—like black smoke suddenly given form.
"What the—?! Insects!?"
The grotesque swarm buzzed up, emitting a pungent odor. Kawakami's eyes widened. Even without knowing these chakra-consuming insects' true nature, he had no illusions about their lethality.
He recoiled instinctively. Abandoning his attack on both Hinata and Kiba, he instead drove a powerful kick into Hinata's midsection, launching himself backwards with the rebound.
Even if the bugs weren't venomous, getting bitten might still prove fatal. This was the Forest of Death, after all—being careless about unknown creatures could be worse than a kunai wound.
"Aghh!"
The blow landed squarely. Hinata let out a strangled cry as the full force of the kick drove into her soft abdomen. Her organs felt like they were being torn apart.
Blood spewed from her lips.
Her body went limp, and she lost control of her chakra. She fell off the branch—straight toward the forest floor, nearly thirty meters below. Even with the soft earth beneath, a fall from that height would be devastating.
"Hinata!!"
Kiba's heart leapt into his throat. He broke free from her arms and reached out, even though his legs were still bound by the chain. He couldn't let her fall. She had taken a hit for him—how could he just watch her crash to the ground?
"Hnngh!"
With a low grunt, Kiba reached out with one hand and grabbed the back of Hinata's jacket, while the other arm clamped tightly around a tree branch.
Their combined weight, plus the force of Hinata's fall, tore through Kiba's body like knives. His fingers scraped across the bark, leaving five deep claw-like gouges.
Blood seeped from under his fingernails.
Hinata slammed lightly against the tree, but Kiba had caught her.
Struggling to lift her head, Hinata looked at him and whispered hoarsely, "…I'm sorry, Kiba."
She had meant to help—only to become the one in need of rescue. Worse, their ambush plan had completely fallen apart because of her.
It was instinctive for Hinata to apologize.
"What the hell are you saying!?" Kiba snapped, frowning through the pain, voice harsh. His fingers were still digging into the bark, blood trailing down.
Back near the edge of the clearing, Shikamaru Nara's eyes narrowed as he tracked Kawakami leaping free of the swarm. He immediately halted his forward run, sliding one foot back into a bracing stance.
Reaching to his waist, he drew Yingame—his unique curved blade.
"Ten meters… fifteen… twenty-five…" Shikamaru muttered under his breath, mentally gauging the distance between them using nearby trees and his own height as reference points.
At the same time, his left hand dipped into his ninja pouch and drew a length of ninja wire, which he quickly tied to the looped ring at the base of Yingame's hilt.
"Snap!"
As Kawakami steadied himself on the other side of the glade, Shikamaru hurled the blade.
Yingame spun like a disc, its curved edge gleaming in the sunlight as it tore through the air toward Kawakami.
Kawakami caught the motion from the corner of his eye and instantly grew alarmed.
No one casually throws away their main weapon in a real fight—unless there's a trap.
Instead of parrying or catching it, Kawakami leapt sideways, dodging the thrown blade entirely.
"Swish!"
The sword missed—but Shikamaru didn't look disappointed.
Instead, his grip on the wire tightened, and with a sharp tug, he yanked back on the thread.
The wire snapped taut with a sharp twang, and Yingame—like a snake snapping back its tongue—whipped around in an arc and came flying back toward his hand.
Shikamaru turned with the motion, his body spinning with the momentum. His right arm moved again, launching the blade mid-swing in a sudden reverse throw. The curve of the blade adjusted mid-air, angling toward Kawakami's new position.
This wasn't just a random trick—it was a modified version of the chain-sickle technique, one of the many ninja combat applications taught at the Academy.
It wasn't an elite or rare move by jōnin standards, but using it like this—adapted mid-battle, with no hesitation—was a mark of Shikamaru's intelligence and creativity. For a genin, it was a clear sign of excellence.
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