Chapter 130 Done

"Art fire escape ho fireball!"

A ball of black flame roared and hit the snake-faced man, forcing him to retreat and dodge. At the same time, another voice sounded:

"Earth Release·Earth Spear!"

Several rotating rocks emerged from the ground, one of which hit the snake-faced man's arm, which he used to block the attack. The rock penetrated his skin and muscles, and blood splattered.

"Are you guys okay? Sakura!"

"Ino?" Sakura called out in surprise as the blonde girl landed next to her.

"Are you okay? What happened? Who is that guy?" Ino asked as she supported Sakura and let her lean against her. Her other hand tightly grasped the long sword, with the handle resting on her forearm.

"He attacked us suddenly. He is very strong. You have to be careful."

Ino nodded and turned to look at her companions from Team 8 and Team 10 behind her. They were launching a fierce attack on the snake-faced man. Shikamaru was controlling their actions with the Shadow Simulation Technique. All the attacks seemed to appear out of thin air, making it difficult to defend against. The snake-faced man was forced to retreat again and again. His eyes swept back and forth between those Genin and the surrounding woods, as if he was weighing the pros and cons.

"What does he want to do?" Ino asked.

"He wanted to take Sasuke away, damn it, I don't know why." Naruto said angrily. He was worried about Sasuke, but Sasuke didn't say a word, just focused on regulating his breathing, seemed to be in pain. "That bastard bit Sasuke and injected him with something."

Ino wanted to say something else, but her teammates from Team 8 and Team 10 had already returned to them. They landed on the huge branches of the Bodhi tree. Shino and Hinata came to Sasuke, Kiba and Shikamaru stood next to Naruto, and Choji also stood with Sakura and Ino.

"Are you guys alright?" Hinata asked concernedly, her Byakugan examining their bodies closely.

"What do you think?" Sasuke said unhappily and Hinata gasped.

"What is this?" she exclaimed, her eyes fell on Sasuke's shoulder, where there was a patch of black chakra that was slowly spreading.

"It should be some kind of failed sealing technique or something. We need to find a safe place so I can check it out." Naruto said.

"That guy ran away." Ya said suddenly.

Sure enough, the strange ninja had disappeared, leaving behind only some traces of blood and chakra.

"It seems we made too much noise." Shino said.

"Are you guys really alright?" Shikamaru asked, his eyes scanning them sharply, searching for any injuries on their bodies. "We sensed the Kyuubi's chakra, so we rushed here."

"When we were still two kilometers away from here, we felt the chakra of the Nine-Tails and that guy. The situation was not good," added Ya.

Naruto shook his head.

"We're fine. We only have minor injuries and our chakra is running low. However, Sasuke isn't doing so well. He's seriously injured."

"Shikamaru, come and help me take a look." Ino said. She was checking Sakura's arm. There was a black bruise on Sakura's forearm, which looked scary.

"I'm fine." Sakura said stubbornly. "I can handle it myself."

"Don't be so stubborn." Shikamaru said, walked forward, gently lifted Sakura's arm, and then quickly formed hand seals to heal her injuries.

"You said you were fine, let me take a look." Sasuke whispered, his tone revealed a barely perceptible concern, although he looked very painful now, he still glared at Naruto. "Don't think I didn't see that your back was burned by that guy's fire escape."

"I'm fine, really." Naruto whispered. "It's fine now."

"How is it? Is it serious?" Naruto asked, his eyes fell on Sasuke's wound. He could feel that there was some evil power hidden in the black chakra, but he couldn't tell what it was.

"My meridians hurt." Sasuke said painfully. "Damn it."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh, a laugh that contained both surprise and a feeling of relief.

"Alright," he said, lifting Sasuke up and leaning him against him, even though the action caused a sharp pain in the wound on his back. "We have to get to the central tower."

"We will cover you." Shino said firmly, and took out his two mechanical insects. These two mechanical insects looked like a combination of a wasp and a dragonfly. The brass and silver springs bit each other, and the two pairs of wings ensured that they could fly smoothly. Each one was as big as a hummingbird. He injected chakra into the mechanical insects and then let them fly. No doubt, this was to monitor the movements of the snake-faced man and prevent him from making a comeback.

"We will scout ahead, Shino, Kiba and Choji will protect Team 7 on both sides, Hinata and I will lead the way, and Ino will cover the rear. How is it?" Shikamaru said as he helped Sakura treat her wounds.

"As expected of the Nara family's military advisor, you have a plan." Kiba teased. Shikamaru snorted in dissatisfaction, but Kiba's smile was sincere. He continued, "We listen to you, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru nodded, Hinata came to his side and opened her Byakugan, Sakura held Sasuke's other arm and let him lean on her, and together with Naruto, they carried Sasuke and walked forward, Choji and Shino protected them on the left and right, and Kiba walked in front, vigilantly observing the movements around them.

Ino walked at the end of the team, and they quickly disappeared into the dense forest.

******

An unlucky Sound Ninja team unexpectedly broke into their sight. Hinata snatched the scroll from their hands. It was the last Scroll of Earth they needed. While whispering and scolding the other party for being too weak, she handed the scroll to Naruto, who immediately laughed.

The captain of the Sound Ninja Team actually threatened them shamelessly. You know, there are nine people on their side. When Ya saw this scene, he laughed so hard that he almost couldn't breathe. He really couldn't understand where the other party got the courage from.

Shikamaru was furious.

He, Ino and Hinata quickly defeated the Sound Ninja Team. The three children from Team 7, as well as Kiba, Shino and Choji, stood aside and watched the fight. They didn't even intend to take action.

Since both teams no longer needed the scroll, Team 7 "accepted" the scroll with a smile.