Chapter 147

Shikamaru slowly opened the adamantine prison and went inside. Near the killed, due to the released poison, the ground sagged noticeably. His eyes snapped, his mouth snapped, it seemed almost impossible to even identify who he was. An adamantine spear pierced his skull and instantly killed him, an additional hole was added between the eyes.

Shikamaru considered the strange cape with green skulls, tubes around the neck, and green blood that absolutely did not corrode this person's body. All this seemed amazing ... Shikamaru breathed out a sigh of relief, took out the scroll from the ring and put it next to the body of the defeated shinobi. After a couple of seals, he sealed the body and put it in his pocket. Thus, this battle ended. One did not see the face of the enemy, and the other saw him after death. True, it was difficult to call it a face either. A glorious fight with a worthy opponent. On the surface, it would not be so easy. The fight against acid could be reduced to creating golems, maybe not only wood ones.

"Yeah, not so bad ..." Looking around the battlefield overgrown with a sea of ​​trees, Shikamaru could only grin. The whole battle was fought deeper, in the shadows. A strange fight, but even interesting from that.

“I need to improve my skills in transforming adamantium and wood, I spend a lot of chakras ...” - with a scowl, Shikamaru folded several hand seals and plunged into the ground. Before leaving, it was worth checking everything and destroying this shinobi's abode. Besides, studying acidic abilities was not a bad idea ...

***

After traversing a rather long underground layer, Shikamaru found himself in a destroyed dark laboratory. The roots visibly damaged everything, but Shikamaru lit a fire and looked around. Couches, some surgical equipment, the same stench and a few burnt bodies in a cage. Broken acid capsules that immediately grabbed attention. The acid was clearly different from the one used by that shinobi. It was more like his blood, exactly the same dark. It did not corrode the glass walls of the capsule, and it did not burn out the earth very much. Shikamaru put his finger in the acid without fear and grimaced from the burning sensation, after a moment the skin regenerated. It is fatal for an ordinary person, for a ninja it is harmful, but not incurable. Shikamaru could even drink it, with difficulty and pain, but the acquired regeneration could make up for everything. Of course, he was not going to do this. Judging by the situation, this liquid was most likely injected into humans. Droppers filled with this substance were just talking about something like that. The question is, what's the point? It is very unlikely that he simply intended to kill everyone here. He was obviously conducting an experiment, that's just what ...

After rummaging through this hideout a little more, Shikamaru never found anything worthwhile. Even after examining the disgusting body of this person, it was not possible to find anything worthwhile. Of the identification marks, only the protector of the Hidden Mist, and of course there were no records of research. He had a couple of storage scrolls, but there were several capsules with an acidic liquid and nothing more. Few pills and a decent set of tools for all occasions. It looks like this guy was obsessed with work, he was clearly not interested in anything else.

Having destroyed the shelter with fire, and then covered everything with earth, Shikamaru finally left this stinking place. The forest here and the land will change forever, though only for the better.

Shikamaru spent the next two days in the border town, and then after saying goodbye to several grateful residents, he went on his way. Everything turned out to be even simpler. Now he doesn't even have to look for a ninja post or anyone else. One guy in the village promised to report to Konoha on the completion of Shikamaru's mission. He took the award immediately. Quite a decent amount, it may be useful for what.

Having stocked up on cigarettes and food, Shikamaru continued on his way. Now you can go through the world with peace of mind. Explore everything and build goals, get hold of experience and possibly supporters. For now, it was possible to go to Shukuba again and meet Tsunade Senju. This, of course, is not the main path. The princess is quite dangerous due to her irascibility, so Shikamaru did not particularly bet on the opportunity to find a common language with her. But, the desire to meet the famous beauty and strong Sannin still fueled interest. You can even fight and compare skills, experience is always useful ...

In any case, this path is not the main one, even if it does not work out with a blonde, the guy was going to reach the goal anyway with a tailed or at least a jinchūriki. With Naruto it will not work, but you can find another, less protected, and then turn off plans to collect chakra. Shikamaru still eagerly wanted to increase his reserves, because in this world everything is based on chakra. Of course, such a thing needs to be done without the involvement of Akatsuki, this is one of the most important conditions. There is no need for a conflict of interest now. It has not yet been decided at all about the biju, for Shikamaru they are only an object of research and verification by Fuinjutsu.

In addition, there is also the destroyed village of Uzumaki and even the distant Hidden Mist, once called the Bloody Mist. Maybe they will be happy to receive their apostate and this will allow them to penetrate. The village is not so strong after the civil war, and the criminal elements have not yet been completely ousted from there. This village at the moment is perhaps even weaker than Sand. You can take advantage of the situation. Plus there is now a woman in power. Shikamaru naturally had no intention of underestimating her; rather, it even intrigued him. It can be a little easier for a man to do business with a woman if he knows the approach ... In short, he wanted to meet with Tsunade and Mei, not only for the sake of simple chatter. A strong and beautiful woman, who wouldn't want to look at her? That's the way for the first time ...

***

On this day, a roar thundered at the forest edge, and then a terrifying wave of flame burned out half of all the vegetation in the area. A silhouette flew out of the raging fire at the same moment and in a jump folded a row of hand seals, and then spat out a silvery liquid. In a moment, the metal took the form of a huge iron skull and rushed forward. Shikamaru did not hesitate, at the moment when the skull flew to the forest thicket, he folded another series of seals and shouted:

- Fire Release: Great Fire Destruction! - at the moment a terrible jet of flame reached the liquid metal skull, and then it caught fire with renewed vigor. It flared up like a torch, moreover, the flame at the moment turned into the brightest white light, blinding anyone around. Its heat had risen to monstrous levels, and now it was capable of melting almost anything!