"This is..."
"Shadow Imitation Jutsu!"
A pineapple-haired youth in a green vest stood protectively in front of the chubby one, hands forming the Bird seal.
The jutsu immobilizing Hardy came from this very person.
"Nara Clan? Ino-Shika-Cho? That means Baki was just hit by a Yamanaka clan technique. So next..."
Hardy frowned slightly.
Sure enough, a round, rolling ball of flesh was accelerating toward Hardy from the side.
"Human Boulder!"
Seeing this, Pakura gritted his teeth. Risking a slash to the shoulder from Baki, he twisted aside and hurled a burning explosive kunai at the Nara clan ninja.
A classic "rescue the besieged by attacking the besieger" tactic!
As expected, the shadow binding Hardy retreated, but Pakura took a cut to the shoulder from Baki.
Freed, Hardy quickly directed the boy puppet to assist Pakura, while launching a Pneumatic Fist to clash head-on with the Akimichi clan ninja's Human Boulder.
The guy was sent flying by the punch and crashed to the ground, but judging by his hefty build, he didn't seem badly hurt.
Tentacle-like shadows attacked again.
"So annoying!"
The puppet's spring-loaded feet snapped open, launching Hardy backward. At the same time, under Hardy's control and using the recoil, the puppet lunged at the Akimichi ninja.
"Partial Expansion Jutsu!"
The latter's palms grew enormous.
"Black Secret Technique: Pneumatic Fist—Full Power!"
The puppet's arms collided with the Akimichi ninja's giant palms, and the two began a contest of strength.
Meanwhile, the Nara ninja started closing in on Hardy, trying to use Shadow Possession Jutsu again.
But the range of the technique was limited by the area of the shadow.
"Pakura !"
Hardy called out.
Despite the searing pain in his shoulder, Pakura took advantage of Baki —still controlled by the Mind Transfer Jutsu and tangled up with the boy puppet—quickly forming hand seals.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!"
Over a dozen fireballs shot from Pakura's mouth, swirling through the air in all directions.
The fire's light severed the shadow, and the Nara ninja was also forced to dodge the attack.
"We're not done yet!"
Clearly fired up, Pakura ignored his chakra consumption and formed seals again.
"Wind Style: Wind Cutter Jutsu!"
Spiraling gales surged forth, long blades of wind entwining with the Phoenix Sage Fire.
To combine two C-rank jutsu and unleash such power—Pakura's mastery of wind and fire release already surpassed over ninety percent of chunin specializing in those arts.
After all, she would later rise as a hero of Sunagakure in the Third Great Ninja War, someone capable of threatening the position of the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa.
Without such mastery over wind and fire, she could never have developed her own Kekkei Genkai: Scorch Release.
"Shadow Gathering Technique: Black Shield!"
The shadow retreated, forming a curved, circular mirror to shield the Nara ninja.
At this point, Hardy shifted some of his attention to Baki .
The Yamanaka clan are the all-rounders among support ninja: they can serve as sensory or intelligence operatives, and in battle, they have strong crowd-control abilities. At the very least, they can use "trade-off" tactics for a limited time.
But their powerful techniques come with drawbacks: they're hard to land, and those under control can't use ninjutsu.
And also...
"Sorry, Baki ."
Hardy used one hand to control the puppet in melee against the Akimichi ninja, while the other manipulated the boy puppet to attack Baki .
"No need. I can feel the person controlling me is losing mental stamina!"
Baki looked at Hardy, parrying the boy puppet's mechanical arm with his ninja blade as he spoke.
Hardy didn't reply. With three fingers, he manipulated the chakra threads to have the boy puppet shoot out a rope-connected mechanical claw and gear-blade, restricting Baki's movements, while freeing up his other hand...
His index finger and thumb pinched a senbon and flicked it out.
The senbon's power was relatively low—it wouldn't seriously injure Baki. Besides, the spot it struck was the inner upper arm, which is rich in nerve tissue, so with something coated on the senbon, it would definitely achieve the effect Hardy wanted.
The flesh here is relatively thick, so it wouldn't harm any internal organs—making it the ideal location.
"Ah!" ×2
Two cries of pain rang out at the same time.
One came from Baki, and the other naturally from the Yamanaka clan ninja.
When using the Mind Body Switch Jutsu to control others, if the controlled person is injured, the caster's mind will also suffer the same degree of damage.
So, trying to directly use Mind Body Switch to control an enemy and then have a companion kill them is basically a mutually destructive tactic. Normally, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio would have the Nara clan's Shadow Imitation Jutsu maintain control after the Mind Body Switch, while the Akimichi clan provides combat strength to protect their two support-type companions.
The moment the screams rang out, Hardy pinpointed the location by sound, flicked his hand, and the little boy immediately changed position to continue the pursuit.
With the caster's mind under attack, Baki finally broke free from the Mind Body Switch Jutsu. Clutching the spot where the senbon had struck, his face was contorted in pain.
"Didn't I tell you… not to do it?! Damn it, what kind of poison did you use? Why does it hurt so much?"
"This is a good stuff extracted from the venom of desert fire ants. Just one milligram can cure hemorrhoids, but the side effect is that it stimulates the nerve endings, amplifying pain dozens of times."
Hardy shrugged, took out a small bottle from his ninja tool pouch, poured out some antidote, smeared it on his finger, and pressed it to Baki's wound, using a hemostatic technique to stimulate the cells to quickly absorb the antidote.
"AHHHHHHH!"
Baki screamed again.
"It hurts even more now!!!"
"Sorry, but it'll only hurt this once. It's to help you detox quickly. See? Isn't it fine now?"
Baki panted heavily, sweat beading on his forehead, his face flushed red.
"Are you taking revenge on me on purpose because I hurt Pakura?"
"Huh?"
Hardy tilted his head, a huge question mark appearing above him.
"Still pretending? I've long seen there's something off between the two of you!"
Baki spat on the floor, feeling mostly recovered, then grabbed his ninja blade and went to find the Yamanaka clan ninja who was being tangled up by the little boy.
He was full of pent-up anger and needed to let it out.
That Yamanaka clan ninja, beset by both the little boy and Baki, was about to lose his grip. He shouted to his companion:
"Damn it, Nara Hisahiro, didn't you say these guys were almost out of chakra? Why are they still so hard to fight? Hurry up and think of something!"
"We have no choice but to use our trump card now!"
Nara Hisahiro had no better idea, so he turned to his Akimichi clan companion.