Part 5: First Aid, Second Base, Third Degree (3)
"Those… clones… what they did to that couple… it could be … what had happened… to Neji."
The velvety night sky loomed in its majesty, adorned by pulsating diamonds that glittered nonchalantly against the inky canopy, oblivious to the acts of terror that were occurring way below them. The low, waning gibbous moon hovered tenuously in the twilight firmament, bestowing a dim light upon the land. For a few shadowy moments, there seemed to be halo around the dark wispy clouds that had eclipsed the moon. As more cirrus clouds passed, the other celestial constellations, too, succumbed to the veil of cloud cover.
Even in the dull lunar luminescence, Tenten's tightened jawline was evident to Ino, who, while racing up yet another rocky cliff, kept a close watch on her companion's side profile after she spoke those ominous words. The dark-haired youth fixed her eyes ahead as she moved, now wielding a short sword in one hand and holding on to a length of chain with a fundo attached; Ino had been awed by the way Tenten had been striking at the enemy clones with a strange detachment with that second weapon, either bringing them down with vicious blows to the head or using it to pull them in before impaling their flailing torsos with her trusty blade. She knew that their encounter with the two Zetsu clones was affecting her friend greatly, and even though she did not know the whole story, she understood that the fact that this particular couple had fallen must have been a significant blow to Tenten due to some earlier episode in this tumultuous day. In fact, it seemed surprising that she was only linking this unfortunate outcome to Neji only now, a full thirty minutes later.
Landing neatly at the cliff edge after turning a somersault, the two girls spent the next few seconds looking back down at the surrounding beach areas, taking in the results of their handiwork from their vantage point. Across the land, the Alliance soldiers were following the four Konoha young Chunins' devised strategy, separating themselves and keeping a minimum of a three-metre radius from one another. Standing in individual circles in order to reduce the chances of getting attacked by Zetsu clone imposters, each and every shinobi was forced to keep their senses sharp and alert even at such a late hour, a deep sense of unease and precautionary wariness taking over the forces. Heaving a sigh at the sight of the occasional fallen comrade lying in the midst of those circles, the Yamanaka teen gripped the handle of her tanto tightly, feeling slightly gratified that there were many more White Zetsu bodies on the ground, a significant number of those the result of the amazing teamwork between her and her pensive pal.
Just before she could find the right words to say, Ino had her attention diverted abruptly by the sounds of battle occurring close by. Her senses heightened, she could detect the strangely unorthodox yet overtly familiar resonances of her teammate's clan techniques amongst the jarring clangs, gruesome stabbings and terrified screams.
"It's Shikamaru!"
Even before Ino had blurted out her peer's name in her own shrill tonality, the two armed female Chunin had already started forward, speeding across the plateau towards the commotion. Tenten recognised this area as where she had witnessed the stupefying terrors executed by Kinkaku's Tailed Beast mode, and was once again reminded of the haunting secret stored within her right scroll.
"Tenten! Your Kibaku Kunai! Quickly!"
Without even a flutter of her lashes, the kunoichi responded to Konoha's young Nara strategist immediately; there was no time to take the scene in fully nor to grasp the situation, but simply to obey the anxious cry of her peer. Skidding to a halt with the heel of her right sandal, she freed her left scroll and allowed it to unravel around her upper torso, commanding a dozen explosive tagged kunai to be expelled from their mystical confines. Eyes flashing in the dim moonlight, she caught sight of a couple of air-borne ninja tools hovering around and sent her own weapons flying towards them at a devastating speed, taking them out in mere seconds.
"Quickly! Retreat!"
The urgency in Shikamaru's voice gave Tenten only a moment to register the hulking figure looming in a distance before she vaulted over some tall boulders with her friends, and retreated further inland. The young man finally signalled for a pause after a minute or two, and keeled over in obvious relief. Without further ado, Ino placed her hands over his right thigh, where a palm-sized square-shaped shuriken was embedded two inches above his kneecap.
"Edo… Edo Tensei. Two of them. One of them… was invisible…"
Tenten kept a vigilant lookout while Ino healed Shikamaru's injuries – it seemed that apart from his thigh getting pierced, there were a few other cuts and slashes around his body as well. The male teen gritted his teeth at first, but started recounting his encounter once Ino removed the blade from his flesh.
"I … left the first base to look for you two, presuming that you girls would be reaching the second base soon… took a shortcut. That was when I heard the soldiers' cries and came to investigate. One of them… I couldn't see in the fog, but saw his victims getting their throats slit… the other one… he was a weapon-user…apparently a Jiton user based on what I'd observed. "
Tenten's ears pricked at that moment, tilting her head slightly to face her friends. "A Jiton user? As in he possesses magnetic abilities?"
Shikamaru nodded as he checked the state of his spiked up ponytail, grimacing at the amount of hair slashed off. He went on, in evidently distressed tones, on how he had realised too late the way the Edo zombie's powers worked – once his oddly shaped shurikens touched a target, it would become magnetic as well, making it much easier for him to focus his weapons and take his adversaries out.
"I'm a walking magnet now," he grumbled grimly, grunting as he got to his feet. "One of the Kumo soldiers I was trying to save said the Edo's name is 'Toroi', apparently quite infamous for his unique Kekkei Genkai abilities. If he manages to get down the cliff, the damage he could cause would be catastrophic."
"We have to seal him somehow then," Ino said as she sheathed her tanto below her medical pouch.
"There was a Suna man at the scene... from the Sealing Corps… he was trying desperately to seal the Edo... said his name's Takuma."
Tenten spun around fully now, once again having her senses overpowered by the mention of someone she knew. Wide-eyed and gaping in shock, she held eye contact with her two confused friends for a split second before leaping up and balancing herself atop the boulder. Before she could descend, however, she was greeted by the resurrected man whom Shikamaru had just talked so fearfully about. Her lips curved up slightly as her male friend's flabbergasted question, "Jeez, does she know everyone in her division?" reached her ears, but the sandy-haired zombie a short distance away captivated her scrutiny fully.
"Hello, girl. You must be the one who took out my shurikens with those explosive kunai. Clever."