Much to Kazuy's surprise, all three of his students opted to attack him together.
๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ถ๐จ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ! Then, quickly dismissing this idea, he considered what his genin could really be up to. They were anything but dull, after all, so there must be more than meets the eye.
The jonin's lips curled upwards. ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต'๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ.
Stretching his arms, he casually rose from the rock he had been seated on for the past hour as he awaited his pupils' first move.
"Well, you have courage. I can tell you that muchโฆ." He remarked as he glanced between the three genin that cautiously approached him.
๐๐ฎ๐ฎ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ. One especially peculiar thing that he instantly picked up on was the fact that Ren was sticking to the back, despite his expertise being taijutsu. ๐๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐บ๐ป๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ด๐ต?
A cool voice interrupted his musings. "Courage is something every shinobi should have, after all. Wouldn't you agree, sir?"
Kazuya's eyes shifted from the Hyuga to the much closer Uchiha, "Of course!" His eyes sparkled as he continued, "But, it's never a good thing to confuse courage with arrogance."
"I suppose we'll just have to see whether such a confusion has occurred, thenโฆ." Hikaru retorted with an almost smug grin on his face.
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆโฆ The boy before him was practically humming with excitement, a tinge of bloodlust leaking through his usually calm and collected aura.
Inwardly shaking his head, he shelved such observations for later and continued the banter. "Indeed we will."
Raising an eyebrow, he looked over at Anzu, who stood behind and to the right of Hikaru, "Are you okay, Anzu?" He'd noticed that she'd been unusually quiet, but then maybe she was just the type who clammed up during a fight. As for Ren, that boy was already the most aloof and serious of the three, so his silence wasn't unusual.
Suddenly singled out, the orange-haired girl squeaked slightly, "Y-yes, sir!"
"Hmm, are you sure you wouldn't rather go search for the scroll while the other two do their best to hold me here?" He asked with a fatherly voice.
"I..." Unsure of how to respond to such sentiments, Anzu's eyes wavered ever so slightly as she sought assurances from the comrade in front of her.
Before the girl could reply, a sigh echoed out from the boy in front of her, "He's just trying to get into your head before the fight even begins. Just ignore him."
"R-right! Sorry." Now, her nervous expression was replaced with one of anger directed at her supervisor for his mind games.
Their teacher could only chuckle at having his ploy revealed so quickly, "Well, this is a test, after all." His chuckling lasted only a moment before he cut it short. "Now, enough with the bantering. You're here to fight me, after allโฆ." Saying this, he cracked his knuckles as a domineering aura erupted from his body, completely melting away the previous warmth it exuded.
Following this sudden change, Hikaru instantly created dozens of clones, all of which had their tantos out, and began encircling Kazuya.
Anzu's reaction time was much slower, needing to first overcome the pressure spreading out from her teacher; however, she also took action, transforming herself into a perfect copy of Hikaru and joining the fray.
Ren, on the other hand, just held back, far from Kazuya's range, as his eyes analyzed every little detail.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ซ๐ถ๐ต๐ด๐ถ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ? ๐๐ฐ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ญ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐'๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ'๐ด ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต.
๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ'๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฆ. Putting an end to his useless thoughts, Kazuya shot forward, sensing someone's movement. As effective as clones may be in causing confusion, if one cared to listen to the often overlooked sounds amidst a battle and focus on the vibrations of the ground, they could quite easily tease out the real among the fakes. However, what most drew his attention to that specific spot was the thin trail of bloodlust that wafted over from there.
Pulling an arm back, his hand formed into a claw as it prepared to strike at the real Hikaru in front of him. Four kunai flew out at him from behind, and a further three dove at him from further away, as both other members of Team 5 refused to simply stand by as Kazuya attacked their teammate.
Immediately halting his attack, the jonin spun, hooking each and every kunai onto his fingers before flinging them back from whence they came. However, the Uchiha had not just stood still as these events unfolded before him.
As soon as Kazuya turned his gaze back to the spot where he had felt the onyx-eyed boy, a giant swirling ball of fire was spat out toward him.
Having few other options, Kazuya jumped backward and brought to bear his own chakra, swiping his clawed hand forward, sending forth five trails of chakra that struck the fireball and caused an explosion as they canceled one another out.
๐๐ด ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฉ๐ขโฆ ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ท๐ฆ. Although he could have quite easily endured the weak explosion, it would have disorientated and left him blind for several moments longer than he would like.
Smoke clouded the area, restricting his vision despite his efforts to prevent such a thing.
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ... ๐ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ? Not permitted a moment of respite, a hail of shuriken spun through the veil of smoke, all aiming to tear him to shreds.
All it took was a small jump and swing of his arm to dodge and strike down every shuriken that targeted him. Hitting the ground once more with a small twirl, the hairs on the back of Kazuya's neck began to prickle.
Trusting in his senses that had served him admirable all these years, he didn't hesitate in dashing to the right in the same instant that his previous location was transformed into a hellscape of infernal flames.
The second fireball was much smaller than the initial one, and its trail... ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ.
Having felt that he had thoroughly tested out the extent of his students' plan and teamwork while in a defensive position, he sauntered back over to the middle of the clone encirclement, which he was able to see properly once again since most of the smoke had already cleared.
Now back in the center of the surrounding clones, Kazuya smirked, "Fine, if you don't want me to come to you, then I won't." He threw 20 gleaming needles in every direction, landing behind the Hikarus, then he spread his arms wide and released hundreds of streaks of electricity that naturally sought out the needles he had just thrown. "Lightning Release: Electric Cage!"
A circle of electricity formed, with him at its center, continuously generating small streaks of lightning that flowed from needle to needle before returning to him and then being re-directed back to the needles once more.
Given the immaterial reality of clones, electricity naturally ignored them. It would only lunge towards the closest human, allowing him to completely disregard the clones and discover the location of the real humans.
"Oh hoh, so you completely abandoned the encirclement, eh?"
"Not at all, sir." Springing forth from a tree near Ren and who was presumably Anzu disguised as the Uchiha, Hikaru's body landed directly in front of Kazuya.
Despite himself, Kazuya was unable to hide his visible shock at how at ease the boy was, despite standing amidst a small storm. However, he quickly found his answer, or rather the various answers. Hikaru had cycled chakra through his muscles, making him not only glow ever so slightly but also negating any small shocks he might have suffered. More importantly, he had also landed in the space where the previous explosion had just occurred, which as a result of the intense heat, had much less moisture in the air, weakening his electricity. Furthermore, needle by needle began to be destroyed, leaving his electricity directionless.
๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ. He thought, thoroughly impressed by what he had seen so far. While he had been going incredibly easy on his students, it was still all very impressive.
"Hmm, just what are you going to pull this time?" The jonin asked with an amused expression, interested in what was going to happen next.
"Me? Oh, nothing muchโฆ I just want to see how good you are, sir." With this declaration, Hikaru pointed his small blade at Kazuya, challenging him to a duel.
"Is that so?" He knew that this challenge and duel was just a distraction, while Anzu continued to systematically remove his needles from the field.
Instead of waiting for a response, Kazuya injected even more chakra into his lightning jutsu, growing the streaks of electricity severalfold, building in intensity before exploding outward. Following this move, a high-pitched yelp could be heard, followed by the sound of a body slumping to the ground.
Hikaru himself did not fare well, despite not being the focus of this attack and being in a considerably drier spot. Convulsing wildly, his blade jolted up and down as sparks of electricity jumped across it, an effect which was mirrored across his body as he desperately sought to regain control of his involuntarily twitching muscles.
Clenching his teeth, the boy stumbled toward Kazuya, shaking with every step but moving forward undeterred despite this. He focussed every iota of willpower and chakra he had left in his body into his sword arm as he swung it diagonally at his teacher.
In response, the jonin simply sidestepped the attack and struck his student in the stomach with a nice helping of crackling electricity that left him completely immobilized this time. Shuddering violently, the boy still refused to fall to the ground, to let go of his blade. Even if he could not do anything else, he would at least stand tall.
Giving Hikaru one final gander, Kazuya addressed the genin before him. "You've all displayed excellent teamwork and planning, but unfortunately, you still failed to bring me down and failed to retrieve the scroll." The eyes of Team 5's supervisor moved past Hikaru's impotent form onto the collapsed body of Anzu, who shook even more wildly than the Uchiha. They then settled onto Ren's expressionless face and stiff body, who had suffered no damage but was clearly unsettled.
๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฆ๐น๐ต๐ณ๐ข ๐ฆ๐ง๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จโฆKazuya shook his head the tiniest fraction in a sign of exasperation.
Even in his pitiful state, Hikaru still managed to bark out some laughter as Ren slowly made his way toward him.
๐๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ข๐ค? As a jonin, Kazuya had met his fair share of those that seemed almost to lose their sanity in the midst of a battle; but to think that such a young boy would have such a condition was absurd.
With his hands held out in a combat stance and his usually tranquil eyes now intense and surrounded by bulging veins, "We have not failed." He continued moving forward, ever so slightly twisting his body as he evaded the various streaks of electricity that arced toward him.
Although he might have expected such fighting words from his Uchiha student, he never expected such bravado bordering on senselessness would come from the mouth of his Hyuga student.
"Ah. Well, at least this will be a good lesson for-"
Ren dashed forward, hands glowing as light chakra trails followed their movements. A flurry of palm strikes forced Kazuya to close his mouth and back away. Unfortunately, his lightning jutsu had gradually petered out and now had all but died, meaning that Ren no longer had to worry about dodging the electric attacks.
However, the jonin wasn't worried; taijutsu of this level was nothing to him. Easily dodging each strike as they flew toward him, Kazuya entertained the boy for a few moments before lunging forward and bringing his clawed hand across Ren's chest, followed by a kick that sent him flying backward, sprawling beside Hikaru.
"Ahh!" A scream came from Ren's mouth as a pool of red blood spread out on his previously cream garments. It wasn't a deep wound, but it was a messy one.
Still, he refused to back down as he rose from the ground, palms shakily extended once more. "Hahโฆ It's not over yet, sir."
Kazuya merely sighed at his pupil's stubbornness, both proud and frustrated by it. A shinobi should know when to give up and what their limits were, and he thought Ren knew that already.
Then, the Hyuga did something completely unexpected, he pulled a jar from the bag on Hikaru's back, opened it, and yanked out a coil of wire before throwing it into the air and uncoiling it in the process, revealing a dozen different wires that now twisted around Kazuya.
๐๐ฎ๐ฎ, ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ'๐ดโฆ The jonin's eyes widened as he realized just why the wire had been in a jar and why they seemed to shine and drip water.
Uncaring for his instructor's sudden insight, Ren blew a gust of wind out of his mouth, forming it and deciding its trajectory with the precision only a byakugan user could have. This newly formed wind fed the small flames still smoldering on the ground until they grew by several inches. The resurgent flames then quickly found themselves spreading out and onto the oily wires, the very same wires which were now encircling Kazuya.
๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ฌ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต'๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด, ๐ข ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ฌ. Each wire became flaming tentacles as they whipped around and attempted to devour him.
It took nothing more than a casual swipe of his hands, producing trails of chakra that instantly severed every single wire, rendering them inert as they lay, burning on the ground like dying worms.
Ren could do nothing but sag his shoulders now, entirely out of options. His taijutsu was a joke, his ninjutsu could do nothing but aid in cheap parlor tricks, and his chakra was almost exhausted. He had pushed his byakugan to the limit and used it too much in his search for the scroll.
Deviously, Kazuya had not only hidden the scroll in a completely different area from where he sat waiting for Team 5, but he had also placed it at the bottom of the hill, not on the hill as he had said he would.
"As I tried telling you earlier. This is a good lesson for-" Kazuya's chiding tone completely disappeared again as his chakra suddenly surged and memories filled his mind.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ตโฆ? ๐๐ถ๐ตโฆ? His eyes darted between the still twitching but determined Hikaru and the guarded Ren.
Before another word could be spoken, Hikaru's own chakra underwent a sudden surge, dispelling most of the lingering effects of electricity he suffered from as he stopped shuddering so violently.
The somewhat recovered Uchiha grinned from ear to ear. However, this pride did not last for long as he collapsed to the ground in agony, clutching his head after finally dropping his blade.
๐โฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ค๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ? ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฌ๐ณ๐ข ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ, ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ต๐ด๐ถ!
Yet, Kazuya's memories couldn't lie to him. The shadow clone he had secretly placed to guard the scroll had quite clearly placed Anzu under a genjutsu as soon as the girl attempted to take the scroll, and upon doing that, his shadow clone had dispelled itself, as ordered.
But, Anzu Hirabayashi was right overโฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ? His eyes narrowed as he observed the still agonized form of his student. No, that wasn't her. That was a clone.
๐๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ณ
After a lengthy debate between the three genin, they had finally settled on the only viable plan: Plan 47.
Anzu and Ren stood on either side of Hikaru, their hands firmly on his shoulders.
"Are you sure you can handle it?" The girl asked with more than a hint of anxiety in her voice. This wasn't exactly safe, after all. What they were doing could seriously backfire and cause irreparable damage to Hikaru if even the slightest mistake was made.
"I'll be fine! What could go wrong when I have a member of the legendary Hyuga clan watching over me?"
Ren almost failed on purpose at that mocking remark, but he managed to calm himself in time.
"You're both doing good. I almost have enough now. Just a tiny bit more."
Both genin slowed the chakra they were feeding to Hikaru to a snail's crawl, not willing to risk sending even the smallest amount more than necessary in case he couldn't handle it.
"There!" He declared, making them instantly stop all transfer of chakra.
Taking a moment to settle his overflowing chakra and properly assimilate all of the foreign chakra given to him, Hikaru took a deep breath as he performed the hand signs and, with the care of a doctor during brain surgery, molded the chakra within his body.
The two onlookers gulped as they found themselves unable to breathe until they witnessed the results of their efforts.
๐๐ข๐ธ-๐ค๐ข๐ธ!
๐๐ข๐ธ-๐ค๐ข๐ธ!
Flinching at the sudden interruption by the uncaring crows, their eyes worriedly peered at Hikaru's form, concerned that his focus had been disrupted.
Yet, all their worries were for naught as a second Hikaru appeared from thin air. Sighing in relief, their worries evaporated, and they now focused on carrying out the next part of the plan.
"Hahโฆ. Hah. Remind me to never try that again." The Uchiha muttered as his heart thumped against his chest and exhaustion crept throughout his body. He felt as if he had almost died at several points during the attempt, as though he had to juggle several live hand grenades at once.
Thankfully, with two experts in chakra control and one person possessing a byakugan, they were all able to successfully clear the first stage of the plan. At the same time, Hikaru's training over the years had paid off and allowed him to complete the second stage.
With a pale face, Hikaru wobbled as he got to his feet. "I'm going to need some time to rest and recover my energy."
"Twenty minutes," Ren answered. They couldn't afford to spend any more time waiting than that.
Nodding, Hikaru plumped back to the ground and began meditating.
๐๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐บ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ
"Okay. I'm as good as I'll ever be. Let's get to it." The young Uchiha said, staring at Anzu.
Not needing any further instruction, she placed a hand on the shadow clone, and a moment later, he looked exactly like the Ren who stood beside her. During the last twenty minutes, she had analyzed every inch of his body and created as perfect a copy as she could in her mind.
Admiring her work, the two boys nodded approvingly.
"Right. Now that's done, let's assign roles." Then, pointing at the real Ren, Hikaru continued speaking. "You will seek out the scroll with your byakugan; when you have found it, you are to secretly return to us and take the place of my shadow clone after telling him where the scroll is hidden and any peculiarities you might notice."
"Just as we planned."
This time Hikaru pointed at the fake Ren. "You will stand outside sir Kazuya's attack range, observing the fight and performing long-range attacks whenever necessary. However, as soon as Ren returns and tells you of the scroll's location, you are to then tell Anzu where it is and assist her in retrieving it. Follow her orders, but exercise your own judgment when you deem appropriate."
Fake Ren nodded, not saying a single word.
"Anzu, your role will be to support me in the fight. Do not directly engage with sir Kazuya, but stick close enough to help me out if needed. Once my shadow clone leads you to the scroll, it is up to you how you manage things from there."
"I will do my best!"
"And Iโฆ" This time Hikaru smirked, "I will do my best to distract and hold back sir Kazuya until Ren and fake Ren have fulfilled their duties."
๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ
Kazuya and Ren stood in silence while Hikaru still lay slumped against the ground clutching his head.
Given the strange atmosphere and the actions of both Hikaru and Kazuya, it was clear to Ren that their plan had succeeded. Thus, a rare smile formed on his dainty face, satisfied but tired as he found himself barely able to stand now that the tension, adrenaline, and desire to hold Kazuya back for as long as possible had all drained from him.
Turning his head between the two genin before him and then over towards where his shadow clone had dispersed, Kazuya's shock wore off as it was replaced by resignation.
Originally, he had given his shadow clone the instructions to place whoever came seeking the scroll under a genjutsu before dispersing. With this in place, he felt comfortable, even if Anzu as the person best suited to retrieve the scroll, managed to find it, which wasn't at all certain, to begin with.
Yet, he did not feel any better despite knowing that his fifth and final trick had been played to perfection. He felt no better because the image of Hikaru's chakra surging for no explicable reason and his subsequent mental damage was vivid in his mind. Because he had already underestimated his students far too much today, and he had no intention of being wrong once again.
It took around five minutes until Anzu returned to the others, as she made no haste and was too tired to even bother doing so.
During the wait, Kazuya had done his best to apply first aid to both of the boys he had previously torn apart. He understood most of what had occurred, but he was still left with a number of questions. Questions that he would ask as soon as he confirmed that Anzu wasn't under the influence of his genjutsu, that he had truly lost... or rather that they had truly won.
As soon as he saw Anzu trudging through the sea of trees, scroll gripped tightly in her hand, Kazuya spoke for the first time. "It seems that you've passed the test."