Ecdysis

"You, just shut up and wait."

Ino was irritated, she already graciously forgo that woman's disgusting behavior, yet she still dared to bother her?

"Who are you anyway?" regardless of her mood, Ino still feel the need to probe the other party for her identity before she decided to do anything rash. "Do any of you know her?"

Ino's eyes scanned Gaara and Kankuro who shrugged their shoulder and shook their head. "Nope, we're having our own fun exchanged some 'greetings' when she popped out of nowhere. I assume you're also from Konoha too, aren't you?"

Ino nodded her head explaining her mission, after that, she snapped her head to the naked figure of the unknown woman. "Do you care to elaborate? Or do I need to ask you in a not-so-gentle way? Believe me, it won't be pleasant for you if I do." A grin showed itself on Ino's face as she continued, "Though... I'll be sure to enjoy it."

"Heeeh~ I really want to see you try, little girl..." the unknown woman squinted her eyes, she took a step back and crouched to pick a sword among the things she undid earlier. "I wonder whether you have something to back your words up."

"Do you need help?" Chouji lightly asked Ino which she just replied with a smile and she shook her head telling Chouji that he doesn't need to help her. So Chouji took a few steps back and leaned his body against the wall with the intention to help her if things go awry.

And as soon as the woman grabbed her sword, she vanished from her place and was already in the air in motion to swung her sword downward. "Let's see how your pretty face will look with a scar on it."

*Clang!*

A sound of sword and metal chunk clashing was heard, Ino substituted herself with a nearby metal chunk from the torn wall of the ship and went behind her opponent with a kunai held on her hand. She aimed at the armpit area as to not cause any fatal strike, she wanted to incapacitate her opponent, not to kill her.

"Bad move, girl." The unknown woman took a step forward and lunged sideways to dodged Ino's attack, then with a fluid motion, she twisted her hip along with it she rotated her body to ram onto Ino's abdomen with her shoulder.

The woman's sword already moved to stab Ino's lower abdomen upward from below following her rotating motion. Unfortunately for her, at the same time her sword touch Ino's body, it puffed into smoke.

'[Genjutsu: Hell viewing technique]'

The real Ino was stood upside down on the ceiling concentrated on her opponent, she heaved a sigh of relief. Then she smirked, 'Clone bait, classic. Though it works every time.'

'Now to render her unconscious...' Ino jumped a little and landed beside her opponent, she turned her attention to Chouji and showed a peace sign to him which earned her a chuckle from Chouji before his eyes went wide.

"Watch o-"

*Boom* *Crackle*

A shockwave blasted Ino meters away, and before she was able to stabilize herself on her two feet, she was caught by Chouji. Chouji merely frowned as he was barely affected due to his strong physique and he's a distance away from the explosion source.

Kankuro was shielded by his puppet while Gaara was still stoic as always and was covered by his sand. As this happened, the woman was nowhere to be seen.

"Is everyone okay? Are you okay, Ino?"

Ino coughed a bit, her body was covered with dust. "I underestimate her..." Ino gritted her teeth, she got mood swings rather quick lately, perhaps her 'guest of the month' already near.

"That you did," Gaara affirmed Ino's words with a nod, "Now we need to chase after her, luckily she's stealthy but not that fast."

"I'm sorry..." Ino felt ashamed of herself, she extended her apology to everyone.

"Don't worry, let's just make sure that we catch her..." Kankuro waved his hand, they then began their chase to catch the escaping person. "...Alive if possible."

The sand duo did not dare to blame Ino, especially since they saw Chouji's demon-like figure stood behind her sending them a glare full of warning that promising a lot of pain if they dare to blame her.

---

Meanwhile, Somewhere in the land of water, inside an underground lab. Kimimaru was laid on top of a stone table with an array of complicated runes covered it. Beside him was Orochimaru laid on top of a similar stone table, Kimimaru's eyes were serene with a tinge of fulfillment filled them.

"Your sacrifice won't be wasted. We'll finally become one, Kimimaru!"

Orochimaru feels excited, 'Soon... Soon! I will have a body greater than before!' Kimimaru was one of his favorites because of his high potential, hence he was marked by the heaven seal. So far, only three peoples were marked by Orochimaru with the heaven seal. The first one was Anko, his first successful 'product'. Then the second was Kimimaru because of his high potential and kekkai Genkai, though he has a disease, Orochimaru was able to "fix" it recently.

And the last one was Uchiha Sasuke, the one that Orochimaru deemed as the best vessel for him, which unfortunately now cooped somewhere in Konoha. Orochimaru needs to be patient and bide for time to look for information and planning before he was confident to take Sasuke with him from Konoha. And Time was the thing he lacks right now considering the grave state his body was in.

"Your wish is my command, Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru smiled, the thing he loves the most about the thing his Sensei taught him was the way his sensei brainwashed people. And boy, he implemented it seamlessly in all of his subjects. After all, the thing every leader yearns for is a blindly loyal subordinate that follows his/her superior's command to the letter even at the cost of their lives.

"Good boy, Kimimaru. You're sssuch a good boy~"

Orochimaru unconsciously hissed amidst his excitement then a creepy laugh sounded from him, clearly signifying how happy he was.

"Now, let the process begin!"