Shino Escapes His Coat

Test Subject 39 did not know it, of course, but no one had ever really seen Shino without his coat. More particularly, no one outside the Aburame had ever dared to investigate how much of Shino’s coat was Shino and how much was bugs.

The truth was that Shino had a great many bugs in his coat, more than enough to give him a faint sort of padding against enemy attack, and maybe just enough to escape the grip of a crazed homicidal monster.

Of course, the latter only worked if all the bugs exited the coat at once.

It was like a greased hotdog sliding out of its bun. Test Subject 39 gaped in astonishment as insects poured out of the coat, allowing the teen to sweep down onto the pavement. The suffocating clouds covered him, they pressed on him, and now he was aware that what had at first been a faint prickling was now a growing drain, and now it was all over his body, sucking away his energy his force…

As Test Subject 39 succumbed to blackness, he heard the words: “Hijutsu: Mushidama.”

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Excerpt from "Reconciliation," [link] this week's chapter of Connecting the Dots Shino is tested to his utmost against one of Luthor's Juugo-clones.

Coming up with the design for the Test Subject 39 was fun, but of course the big show here is Shino. He was always going to be skinny, but I debated between having him in a turtleneck or the wifebeater you see here. I finally decided that, his coat being as heavy as it is, Shino would probably be warm, so I went with the lighter option. And I wanted to enhance the "bug-like" look I was shooting for with Shino here.

I gave him dreadlocks too. The last time we saw Shino's hair, it was an afro, but dreadlocks just seem fitting. And they went with the sense of motion.