DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO (I WANT TO HAVE A LOT OF THINGS BUT WRITER'S BLOCK ISN'T ONE OF THOSE THINGS HAHA)
Clones and Probabilities
- With Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Hinata -
They were jumping from tree branch to tree branch whilst following their target, the man tried everything he can to make them lose sight of him such as running in random patterns, using the shrubbery as cover and many more. But all of those methods were futile for Hinata had the Byakugan, the man then threw a smoke bomb causing them to lose sight of him. After which, three copies of the man emerged from the smoke all heading in different directions.
"Crap… Hinata, which one?!" Shikamaru asked
"I-I can't tell… All three have equal amounts of chakra" she answered
"Then I guess we'll have to split up" Shikamaru said to his teammates, they all agreed and pursued each one on their own.
- With Sasuke -
Sasuke and the man (33% chance of being a clone or the original) through the forest, Sasuke then performed the following hand seals: Rat - Tiger - Dog - Ox - Rabbit - Tiger, "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu)" Sasuke said as he emitted a series of small fireballs at his foe.
The first few missed but the final fireball landed close enough to his enemy making him lose balance and fall down to the ground, the man landed on the floor but then dispersed into smoke indicating that it was simply a clone.
- With Shikamaru -
Shikamaru was forced to continue chasing the man (50% chance of being a clone or the original) since he can't use his jutsu effectively whilst on the move. Not only that, even if he did try to use his jutsu it just wouldn't reach him. He somehow needed to either close the gap between them or manipulate his pathing to where there are more shadows he could utilize.
Shikamaru then noticed that the man was heading into a clearing devoid of any shadows, 'Damnit… He must've figured out how my jutsu works…' he said to no one in particular. Though this was no big deal since he still has some jutsus up his sleeve.
Shikamaru then threw some shurikens at the man, but the man dodged them with ease. He then threw another one and in response, the man performed a backflip but once he landed he was paralyzed all of a sudden, "Hijutsu: Kagemane Shuriken no Jutsu (Hidden Technique: Shadow Imitation Shuriken Technique)" Shikamaru said for the kunai he threw last had some of his chakra infused within it, a shadow emerged from it and caught the man once he landed.
Shikamaru walked up close to the man and performed another jutsu, "Hijutsu: Kage-Kubishibari no Jutsu (Hidden Technique: Shadow-Neck Binding)" he said. His shadow then morphed into a hand that slithered on the man's body and found its way to his neck, Shikamaru did a final hand seal to order the shadow to clutch the man's neck but after doing so, the man simply popped into smoke.
"Then Hinata must be chasing the original then" Shikamaru thought to himself.
- With Hinata -
With her Byakugan (All Seeing White Eye) active, Hinata kept track of where her target was at all times (99% chance that this one was the original, can't be too sure). Her only problem was how she would immobilize him, all of her jutsus were focused on taijutsu. This then forced her to resort to using her ninja tools inside her pouch.
Inside her pouch were kunais, shurikens, ninja wire, chakra pill, paper bombs, and many more. Hinata took out some of her shurikens and began aiming her shots at the man but to no avail, for he was able to dodge them with ease.
An idea then came into her mind, she thought of using a kunai and wrapping a paper bomb on the handle in conjunction with her kekkei genkai. She could use her Byakugan and see where what path the man was probably going to take after a few seconds. Not taking any chances, she made three more kunais tagged with paper bombs and threw the projectiles in certain spots so that it would increase her chance of catching her target.
She used her eyes to look ahead to pinpoint where she was going to aim her makeshift ninja tool. After a while she was able to determine where was going to throw the kunais, she threw the kunais and they all landed where she wanted them to be.
The man kept on running but suddenly he heard a hissing sound, he looked down and saw a kunai with a paper bomb on it embedded in a branch. He was about to jump away in order to get out of danger but it was too late, the explosion compromised his balance which made him stumble and fall down to the forest floor.
Hinata then landed beside the man as he was about to get up. But before he was able to get away again, Hinata successfully hit the man in a vital spot giving the man a quick death. She was rather satisfied with her progress on her Byakugan for she noticed that its range was slowly but surely increasing, and she was also glad that the death of this man didn't faze her, unlike the first time she had to kill an enemy. It was evident that Hinata was making strides in growing as a shinobi.
She then retrieved the scroll and regrouped with her team. After a while she was able to return to where her teammates and sensei were, they then decided to take a breather and reorganize various stuff for the group was a mess after that whole ordeal. They then discussed with the merchants to clarify the entire story so that they could properly write a mission report after all of this. After resting the group then returned on their journey and thankfully there were no more setbacks this time around, Team 7 has finally accomplished their mission that took longer than needed. Though they were sure about one thing, and that is they want to take a break from missions for a while.
(A/N: Hello hahaha, this is Chapter 13.5 and yeah this is with the student's side. Also, I'm planning to give Hinata a weapon a few ninjas use, a hint is that it was only used once by a shinobi if I'm not mistaken. Message me your guess if you'd like, anyway Imma return to Team 10 for a while, and then it's Team 8's turn before the Chunin Exams. Also, this mini-arc took place when Naruto started practicing the Nebaiken so yeah. Thanks for the continuous support and interaction, I really appreciate all of it so yeah that's all cheers ^^)