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The Rasengan sparked and fizzled as it bit into the wire. Shinichi ground his teeth. This wasn't supposed to happen. The Rasengan should either burn through this wire with all the friction it caused, or at least twist up the wire until it broke. But instead, it was as if the wire were cutting the spiraling ball of chakra. Shinichi strained harder and pressed harder with the Rasengan. He grabbed ahold of the web and stood on the wire, straining with his right hand at the wires.
That's when he realized his chakra was draining away.
With a shout the Leaf Chunin leaped away, Rasengan fading away as he furtively searched around for his opponent. He hadn't been in contact with the wires for too long, but even so an alarming amount of chakra had been siphoned off. He glanced down at the spot where he had cornered Tadayoshi, but the wires were now tied to branches and the Sand ninja was no where in sight.
Tadayoshi sat in the branches of one of the massive trees. His coat was folded up and buried under some leaves, leaving the Chunin's dark shirt and pants underneath it. He watched as Shinichi tried to locate him. What an interesting technique. The boy had appeared to simply gather chakra into a ball and spin it around. Shinichi had obviously been confident the ball could destroy his wires, but how powerful was it really? Tadayoshi figured it must be pretty powerful if it was part of a future Hokage's special arsenal, and decided to keep his distance.
"Ninja Art: Wire Charming." The coil of wire in his hand began to shiver, and then started to unravel. Tadayoshi flicked one of his fingers and the wire snaked down the tree trunk, keeping to the cracks and crevices of the bark, invisibly and silently creeping towards the unwitting Shinichi.
Suddenly the Leaf Shinobi heard the crackle of a single leaf and leaped high, throwing a storm of shuriken with incredible accuracy at the source of the noise. Tadayoshi frowned and flicked another finger. The wire thrashed like a snake and struck out towards Shinichi, who pinned it to a tree with another shuriken. Tadayoshi jumped as well, yanking out two more coils of wire which he also charmed. The tips quivered and then speared into one of the huge trees, providing a platform for the Chunin to slide along. With another flip of the wrist the wire sprung away and coiled back up in his hands, and Tadayoshi was once more hidden.
Shinichi was breathing heavily, not from exertion but exhilaration. Finally, here was someone of his level who would actually fight! He sat perched in a tree limb, wary of any other wires which might be just waiting to ensnare him if he let his guard down. The Leaf Chunin closed his eyes and breathed deeply, focusing on his next move. This guy was obviously trying to stay out of reach and out of sight, using those wires to attack and drain his chakra. The Rasengan would not work on them, so Shinichi would assume it was useless to try and break the wires at all. So... He would just need to close the distance and get Tadayoshi into melee range. Shinichi assumed his opponent's taijutsu wasn't very strong as he seemed to be focused so much on the chakra-eating wires, but even so the Leaf Chunin would use caution. He noisily jumped down to the forest floor below, making no attempts to mask his movements, and began rifling around, apparently searching for signs of his opponent.
Tadayoshi watched as his opponent jumped down from the branches of a huge tree. Was this kid really so pampered he didn't even know how to wait out an opponent? Now the Leaf ninja was looking stupidly around as if Tadayoshi were his partner in a game of hide and seek. "Hokage one day, huh? You're going to need to work a bit harder then." The Sand Chunin raised both hands and flicked his index fingers outwards. Two coils of wire sibilantly hissed through the undergrowth as the sped like vipers towards the unsuspecting Shinichi.
A smile came slowly across Shinichi's face as he caught the faint sound of wires through leaves. He slowly turned towards the sound, still appearing as if he were searching perplexedly into the treeline. There, a bit of grass, there, a leaf... Shinichi suddenly leaped forward, wires pulling taut as they sprang at the spot where he had stood a moment ago. He raced swiftly around tree and boulder towards the spot where he now knew Tadayoshi lay hidden. There, that patch of shadow! "Rasengan!"
Tadayoshi's smirk vanished. This kid was better than he had thought. Of course, wasn't that always the case? Always assume your opponent is better than you, that was one of the fundamental rules of the Village Hidden in the Sand. He quickly released the two wires which were currently searching furtively for the target which had suddenly gone missing, and snatched up one of the lengths he had ready on the ground. The wire spiraled outwards and coiled tightly around Shinichi's outstretched arm, stiffening and arresting the Leaf Chunin's assault. Shinichi strained and pushed at the wire, but it stood as resolute as if the steel were and inch thick rather than nearly invisible. Tadayoshi smiled and stepped a bit closer. He whipped out another wire, binding Shinichi's torso to the tree beside him. Still the arm was outstretched, Rasengan beginning to waver as it lost momentum.
"I'll admit, you almost had me there. Good game."
Tadayoshi smiled. Just close enough. He tightened his fingers and then threw them apart, Rasengan suddenly glowing even more brightly and hurtling from his outstretched palm. The ball struck Tadayoshi in the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and sending the Sand Chunin spiraling backwards into a tree. The wires binding Shinichi relaxed and the Leaf ninja swiftly sprang to his opponent's side, another Rasengan at the ready in case Tadayoshi were faking it.
Slowly the Sand ninja stirred, groaning and rubbing his back. He saw Shinichi standing over him, Rasengan in hand, and slowly raised both arms in defeat. "Nice match. You did have me after all." The Leaf ninja dispersed the glowing ball of chakra and Tadayoshi grinned. "Sorry I thought you were just a spoiled brat. For someone who has never had a halfway serious opponent, you thought pretty quickly back there."
Shinichi helped his new friend up, laughing at the Sand Chunin's words. "Eh, I guess I'll forgive ya then. You didn't do so bad yourself, ya know. That was some cool stuff ya did there with the wire." The two of them started back to the Hidden Leaf Village, talking about various battle strategies and techniques. Neither one had exactly lived a normal childhood, and had found the first non-family-member who didn't hate them or fawn upon them just because of their family.
When Tadayoshi and Shinichi arrived at the Hidden Leaf Village, they were met with a hustle and bustle as ninja ran every which way, searching homes and on top of buildings. The two looked around them in bewilderment until Kono, the guide from earlier, finally spotted them. "The Honorable Son and the guest of Lord Hokage are here!" he called out. "Mission is over!"
Shinichi shot a puzzled glance at Kono. "Eh, what's going on?"
Kono grabbed the two of them and pulled them behind him. "Lord Hokage told us to bring you both. There is urgent business to attend to regarding the message Lord Hokage received from the Kazekage." He suddenly notices the dirt, cuts, and bruises covering each ninja. "What happened? Were you attacked?"
The Honorable Son of the Hokage laughed and scratched his neck. "Eh, no, we were just sparring."
The guide drew back aghast. "Sparring? But Honorable Son, what if he had been an assassin just waiting for..." he suddenly stopped and bowed in Tadayoshi's general direction. "No offense of course, Honorable Guest."
Tadayoshi waved his hand. "None taken, I understand." He took a step forward. "All right, let's go. I wanna see what all this is about."