Chapter 160: Test

Shikamaru took off his shirt and put it back in the ring, following which his ribs underwent changes. Sharp thorns came out on both sides, which noticeably surprised the terrible spider. But that was not all - Shikamaru ran his hand over one of the bones and showed his bloody hand to the huge creature. The dim look of that brightened, and he slowly raised his paw to the bloody palm, then he abruptly jerked it back. Shikamaru's palm instantly healed, the cut completely evaporated. The surprise on the spider's face became even more distinct.

The spider squinted, touched his palm, and after his paw reached its own mouth. He tasted the blood. At the same moment, the creature's gaze brightened even more. The spider hissed oddly, but Shikamaru still didn't know what they meant.

- Are you happy?

The king of these places continued to hiss, as if he had not heard the question. The guy returned the bones back to the body and waited. If there is a fight, he is already prepared.

“Still, it was worth learning Minato's teleportation jutsu ... Although, I'm not sure with the range, I don't even know where I am now, but these spiders make me nervous, especially this overgrown. Judging by some sort of fussing behind his back, he is probably talking to them. Hurry to get out of here ... They scare the hell out of me. Maybe I shouldn't have started it ... "- Shikamaru continued to wait, when suddenly the spider turned to him again:

- We do not favor weaklings, most often we eat, as you know ... Your blood is impressive, this is the first time I meet such a person. Hatu will test you in battle. If you can defeat him along with the brood, it will show that you are worthy to accept strength.

- Hutu? Shikamaru tensed. "And what kind of brood?"

- Heh, now you'll see!

The guy instantly focused and prepared for battle, the feeling of danger all this time pressed on his mind, but now it has intensified even more. The guy moved away from the gray-haired spider and peered into the abyss under his feet. Red flashes of spider eyes began to appear right there.

Shikamaru abruptly deviated, followed by a spider web near his head, and then a huge black spider flew out at impressive speed. Shikamaru instantly dodged his spiked paws! Sharp, steel-like protrusions at the edges of the spider's legs cut into the ground, and then he deftly jumped back against the wall. Apparently, no one had the right to weave a web here except their leader, so the walls were all bare and clean. The spider stopped and squinted, then Shikamaru could finally see it. Huge, its dimensions were amazing! Naturally, he was not as big as their king and did not have the same bone protrusions on his head, but he seemed more intimidating. All black, with a thicker belly and without a single hair. Its body was mostly covered in chitin, completely black except for its eight huge eyes. The abdomen was distinguished by its red spots along the edges and in the middle. From a distance, Shikamaru could not see the huge spider fangs, but he could clearly make out his spiked legs. This spider just stuck its legs into the stones of the cave, they turned out to be so sharp! Its legs were like black blades, and there were hooked spikes on the folds of its legs. An eerie sight!

Shikamaru swallowed and, instantly, bones sprang up all over his body. He involuntarily folded a series of seals and covered himself with bone armor.

The spider narrowed its eyes and spoke for the first time:

- What funny bones! Even Shikamaru was surprised at the creature's perfectly normal voice. He didn't just look human, he was indistinguishable! If the guy hadn't seen him, he would have thought that the person was saying, albeit quite loud. Only this creepy spider looked frightened to the shivers. Probably even the first Hokage could not remain calm from such a sight. It's one thing to fight with tailed beasts, and another - with such horror!

- Are you afraid? Hehe! And rightly so! - With a furious hiss, a crowd of a dozen spiders immediately burst out towards Shikamaru. He immediately walked away from their sharp paws and folded a row of hand seals. The torch had to be clamped in his teeth, he simply had no right to throw it. It's too late to rely on the Byakugan, you need to act on the basis of the existing conditions.

Small spiders resembled their large relative and rushed like mad from all sides. Someone just jumped on the victim and tried to bite with poisonous fangs, and someone sprinkled a viscous web. Shikamaru himself did not understand how to fight in such conditions, on such a small surface. At the same time, the huge spider looked at its offspring with praise and threw predatory glances at the person. He had not yet rushed into battle, wanting to test this two-legged boy ...

Shikamaru folded another row of seals and finally attacked, a long steel blade appeared in his hand, and he began to inflict devastating attacks on the spiders rushing at him. An incredibly sharp and at the same time flexible blade moved with incredible accuracy and speed, even the leader spider was amazed at this strange technique.

The snake dance proved to be the best possible, the constant hissing of spiders shook the battlefield. Sprays of blue blood flew to the sides, and Shikamaru continued the series of merciless attacks with his flexible blade. He did not possess it so well yet, but against small endless enemies he had enough. Not only could they not get close to him, but even the cobweb was no longer effective. Shikamaru cut literally everything in his path!

At a certain point, Hatu, the black spider leader hissed:

- Impressive! Now it's my turn, man, I advise you to get ready!

Instantly, all the wounded and half-dead spiders scattered to the sides and disappeared into the endless abyss. Then Shikamaru, without any pity, released the blade for the entire length towards the black spider! With a contented chuckle, he threw out his sharp paw towards the human technique. Following this, the spider tumbled in the air and yellow saliva of poison burst out of its mouth! Shikamaru instantly dodged and curved the blade. All this happened extremely quickly - the five-meter sword, like a ribbon, bent in the air and trembled, bending around the black spider. Shikamaru saw his perfect movements. As if in slow motion, the two collided in the air!

The man repulsed the torch with his palm, and the curved tip immediately cut the flame into small lights. The spider hissed sharply in pain, as at the same second Shikamaru touched his head and, having rolled over on the shell, hit right under the chitin with a sharp palm. The hiss immediately turned into a roar!

There was a crash, and the spider fell to the ground, almost falling into the abyss. Shikamaru continued to hold his hand under the thick chitin and smile contentedly.

“You’ve lost,” he said, peering into a pair of the creature’s side eyes ...