Naruto Shadow King Ch 67 : Shika Vs Sasuke 13

Sasuke saw the barrage of deadly great swords flying at him and frowned. Gritting his teeth, he internally knew that there was no way to avoid taking some damage to escape this attack. He couldn't do anything; the attack was too widespread for him to dodge it.

With all his remaining power, he used the last of his chakra and flared his Sharingan. His body was battered, with many of his ribs broken. He was almost out of chakra but still moved, using his Sharingan to find the most optimal way to avoid most of the swords.

Ducking, jumping, and sidestepping, he dodged most of them, but he didn’t come out of it unharmed. There were many cuts on his body, but he avoided most of the lethal attacks.

But it wasn’t over yet. He saw one more sword flying toward him. Sasuke waited, and when the time was right, he ducked to avoid that last sword.

He thought the fight was finally over, but then suddenly a voice came. "Finally got you now." Shika's voice made Sasuke's heart sink even more.

It turned out that the last sword wasn't just a shadow clone of the Kubikiribōchō. As soon as it passed Sasuke, the sword turned into Shika.

To be more exact, it was a copy of Shika, as humans can’t change their shape that much, but shadow clones can.

Sasuke felt a looming presence behind him. His heart was beating fast; if only he looked behind him, he might see a demon holding a huge sword trying to cut off his head and take him to the afterlife.

Shika was holding the big Kubikiribōchō, which he swung at Sasuke and finally caught him off guard.

But Shika wasn’t planning on killing Sasuke. Instead, he aimed to trap Sasuke by his neck at the curvature of the great sword. He targeted Sasuke precisely, hitting him at his neck, and then drove the sword into the ground, making Sasuke bend over and lie flat on the ground, his head now stuck.

"Finally got you." Shika sighed. He was about to sit on Sasuke so he wouldn’t move anymore and try to escape. But then Sasuke, who was in front of him, vanished with a puff of smoke.

"What…"

Shika was flabbergasted. 'Since when did he start using clones? That’s Naruto’s copyright.'

But he didn’t have time to think about this, as he saw someone appearing right beneath him. It was Sasuke.

Sasuke pulled a Lee on Shika and kicked him up. But that wasn’t enough; he kicked him even further into the air and lastly jumped high enough to deliver a powerful kick to Shika.

"Lion's Barrage." Sasuke put all his remaining power into that attack and kicked Shika back to the ground.

Thud…

Shika’s body fell to the ground with a thud, and Sasuke too followed as he no longer had enough power to fight.

After that, silence fell in the hall. Everyone waited for something to happen, but nothing did.

"Is this even a Genin fight anymore? Are you sure these guys aren’t already Chunin, if not Jonin?" someone asked in disbelief.

"Is this finally over?"

"Did Sasuke win?"

"Hah, I knew Sasuke would win; he is the best."

Others talked and discussed the fight and its end. They were expecting a good fight from Sasuke but not from Shika.

"I…I won." Sasuke finally muttered. He was not completely out of chakra; that clone had taken all of it, and that last attack had exhausted him. Now he was having a hard time staying conscious.

His transformation was already retreating, as he returned to his base form like he had never turned into a half-demon teenager. He no longer had any power remaining.

Sasuke looked at the proctor, as if asking him to announce the result, but the proctor didn’t.

"I won." Sasuke said to the proctor, but before he could get any response, he heard:

"Nah, I win."

Sasuke's eyes widened. He barely managed to turn his neck enough to see who was standing behind him before his body stiffened.

Now he was only able to move his eyes. With great effort, he looked down and saw a shadow holding him. Not only that, the shadow was creeping up to him and…

'Shadow Strangle Jutsu.'

"H…how?"

"I beat you. That last one couldn’t be a clone." Sasuke was in shock. He frantically tried to look back at Shika, whom he had just kicked.

There was no way that last one was a clone. No clone could withstand even the first kick from him, let alone an entire Lion’s Barrage.

"Here, I’ll let you go." Shika sighed and released his hold on Sasuke's head. The shadow that was strangling him started to retreat, allowing Sasuke to move his head again.

When he looked back, he saw Shika’s body still lying on the ground, which confused him.

"This…?" Sasuke looked confused.

"The one you kicked was the real me. I am the shadow clone," the clone replied with a smile, pulling out a kunai and placing it at Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke’s eyes widened at this.

"I lost?" Sasuke asked, more like a question than an announcement.

"Who knows. You got me first. Technically, I lost since my main body is already out for the count," Shika replied with a shrug, making Sasuke and others quiet down.

By now, everyone around was silent, just wanting to hear what both of them had to say. No one made any noise.

"Then… then why?"

"Why am I holding you like this at the edge of the kunai's tip? Hahaha." Shika laughed.

Shika now had a calm smile as he praised himself for hiding his shadow clone in his shadow and bringing the clone out at the last moment.

"You see… in the shinobi world, it’s not how one lives but how we die…" Shika replied with a smile on his face.

This made him and others who were listening to him confused. Even the Hokage and Orochimaru, who were by now having multiple orgasms after seeing the fight, listened intently.

"Being able to live in this world is a luxury that not many can afford, just like being able to die in peace. is too much to ask for.

As a shinobi, you will die protecting your country and your loved ones; that’s the only relief you have.

There are times when the odds are too great against us, and we end up dying. That is pretty much the end of the story. But as a shinobi, you are not allowed to die alone.

If you are going to die, then you better take the enemy with you. Because if you don’t, the same people you die for will get killed," Shika replied, making other shinobi understand exactly what he was talking about.

"If you don't kill your enemy before you die, then your comrades die. I will never allow that to happen," Shika said with a firm tone, causing a certain one-eyed scarecrow to lower his head. If he wasn’t wearing his usual mask, others might have seen a small smile forming on his face.

"That is my nindo, my will of fire." Shika was aiming for politically correct words.

"So you can kill me, but you better bet on your ass that I’m going to take you down in the process. I might die, but I will not lose or let anyone precious to me die either," Shika said as he removed the kunai from Sasuke's neck and let go of him, releasing his shadow binding.

Sasuke was still sitting thanks to Shika’s shadow supporting him; the moment Shika removed it, Sasuke fell to the ground.

"To me, a ninja is someone who endures, protects, and stands true to his values till the very end.

…

Even after death.

That’s when you can call yourself a shinobi," Shika said as he turned back to the proctor.

"Do whatever you want with the match. It’s up to you who won now. I’ll be taking my main body to the hospital now," the clone said, reminding everyone that he was still a clone. He then moved towards the real body, who was now unconscious, and picked him up.

He didn’t wait for the result. The clone would soon run out of chakra, which could be dangerous for the main body. Although Konoha is mostly safe, after showing what he was capable of, there are many people in the village who might make a move on him.

He looked back once at Hinata and whispered something she didn’t hear, but she understood.

"That was… actually very cool." Ino, who was earlier cheering for Sasuke, muttered as she recalled what Shika said.

Even Sakura had to agree that it was cool.

Naruto, on the side, had star marks in his eyes while he shouted with excitement.

"Gosh, that’s youth." Lee called out, and Tenten was smiling ear to ear.

Karin, on the side, was the same. Earlier she was cheering for Shika while most of the girls were cheering for Sasuke. Her Uzumaki blood seemed to be boiling from the incredible fight she had just witnessed.

"Maybe staying here with him won’t be that bad after all," Karin smiled and muttered slowly.

Gaara, on the side, remained calm. Earlier he wanted to fight Sasuke, but no longer. Now he wanted to fight Shika.

"Now that some shinobi alright." Temari smirked as he saw Shika taking his body out.

 The adults were the same, they had a smile on their faces. Almost all of them knew that the fight was unfair but they still that faught till the very end.

"His strategies to were on point and he have the power to back up his believes." 

"He never stop planning while fighting while fighting an enemy much stronger than him."

"He always had a plan ready and if not he was quick to come up with one." 

"He is a Nara alright, his backup plan had backup plan." 

"If this were a real fight then he did exactly what a Shinobi is supposed to do." 

The Jonin all chatted among themselves as a smile was playing at all of their faces. Even the Hokage was smiling a little as he puff a smoke.

 "Gekko announce the result." Hokage rely while looking at Gekko Hayate who was looking at him for an answer all this time. 

Technically it was Shika who became unconscious first but there are many things which could already disqualified Sasuke's let along thinking of who won. 

But more than that, Gekko wanted Shika to win, because the boy really had all the qualifications of a Chunin. 

But seeing the final outcome and the identity of Sasuke he waited for Hokage's response.

Though the Hokage didn't say to Gekko who he was supposed to announce as the winner but he understood by the smile Hokage had on his face.

"The Winner is Shika Nara."