Weeee! Next chapter! Enjoy.
Training Ground 3
Sasuke hadn't lied, he did do as he promised.
And for Takai's troubles, he got himself a yummy new jutsu to learn and use. Really, having a strong affinity in something was just unreasonable. In just a few hours he managed to train Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique) to a nice sputter when most people would barely be able to even get a spark out. Give it about three or four more days and he would have it down.
Takai popped his neck and relaxed his stance. He had been using the jutsu for about two hours and could feel the lack of chakra in his reserves. He shrugged and popped a soldier pill. While his chakra regenerated, he could feel the hole in his money growing bigger. Even with the pay from their C-rank, the chakra paper killed his wallet...and the pills weren't helping.
He sighed and walked out of the training ground.
Naruto and Sakura had both made pretty good progress. Both had mastered the leaf exercise for each other's respective affinities and had moved on. It seemed everyone was stuck on the second step of training.
Oh well.
He looked up and down the street. Maybe he should go and just look around for awhile? Or he could also-
"Umph!" A young child said.
Takai grunted as he looked down, barely feeling the impact of the young boy running right into his right leg.
He watched as the boy from the Hokage Tower fell on his butt in the dirt.
"Hey!" He said indignantly.
Takai looked him up and down, then noticed his two new friends who seemed to be...acting as subordinates to the boy? "What? I didn't even see what happened." He said.
The boy growled and pulled out a kunai. Takai's eye glinted in the sun as he realized it was real. Gosh, wish he could remember this kid's name...
He wound up for a heavily telegraphed strike aimed at his knee. At least he seemed to have some sort of knowledge of vital points. Takai merely shuffled to the side, the stab not being able to reach him.
The boy stumbled right into Takai's outstretched hand. He gripped him by the scarf around his neck. The boy thrashed and kicked, but it did him no good.
"Konohamaru!" The two kids behind him shouted.
The boy looked rather fearful and appeared to be sick or at least congested. The girl had a prominent blush, wide eyes, and bright orange hair that spiked up into two conical shapes.
In all honestly, the trio looked a bit ridiculous. But whatever, they were kids.
Takai dropped the boy after looking him over.
"Come back when you can really fight, Konohamaru." Takai said over-dramatically.
"He remembered..." Konohamaru whispered before jumping up, "You just wait! I'll be back tomorrow to kick your butt!"
Takai snickered as he walked off out of sight of the three.
Well, at least the kid could have some fun while trying to come up with ways to improve.
He looked around, his one eye gazing lazily over everything before landing on a book shop with...
"Icha Icha?" Takai questioned.
He moved closer to the glass window into the shop.
Sure enough, a box collection of the perverted book series was on full display. The window was actually pretty cool looking. It was curved at where a corner would normally be. There was a wooden shelf with glass plates holding the books. He squinted at the books.
He glanced down at the price.
He wouldn't say five thousand for those books was bad. Takai cast his gaze up and down the empty street. He cast a Henge and entered the shop. He turned into a generic and forgettable Chunin he had once seen. He was about an inch shorter than usual and really didn't look special at all. He could barely remember the man's face. It made the Henge hard to figure out.
He ducked past the shopkeeper and made a beeline for the Icha Icha books.
Takai picked one up and looked it over.
Nice.
He grabbed the box set and walked over to the counter. The woman at the counter snorted in disgust at the books, but said nothing. Takai quickly walked out of the book store. He immediately jumped onto the store and hopped along the roofs to his home.
Takai tucked the books into one of his storage seals on the way.
He kept going until he got into his apartment.
The door slammed shut and Takai slid down to the floor, pulling the books out of his storage seal. He snatched up the first volume.
His breath hitched as he opened the book, holy light practically spilling out...
He found the credits.
Takai went to flip to the next page, but took a look at his table stacked high with books.
His shoulders sagged and he put the book away in his pouch.
He jumped up and walked over to his table, shuffling through the barely organized piles. Eventually, Takai stepped back and created a shadow clone.
With half his chakra gone, he turned to the clone.
His eye went the clone's hands.
He stared for awhile
His eye shot open.
Training Ground 3
"That's so absurdly useful."
Takai watched his his clone stood on the water and worked on his Suiton: Suiben (Water Release: Water Whip) jutsu. He was honestly annoyed he didn't realize this earlier. This speeds up his training tremendously.
He watched as the clone quickly ran through its chakra and stepped off the river. It was incredible to watch. It had been training for him for about an hour now.
Takai grinned madly as he felt his chakra reserves regenerate to a satisfactory place to create another.
He formed the clone hand sign, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Takai declared.
Another Takai appeared in a poof of smoke. Of course, it was a perfect copy down to the items he had on his person. Unfortunately, it seemed it didn't copy consumables the same way. He tried to eat one of the rations from his clones, but it just turned into smoke as soon as he opened it.
"Go train the Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique)!" Takai ordered his clone.
It mockingly saluted him and ran off to the water and began spewing out a sputtering flame.
Takai looked at the clone who was using the time needed to regenerate its minuscule chakra reserves to meditate. He pulled out a soldier pill and chucked it at its head. The clone caught the pill and consumed it.
And it soon got up.
This was stupid.
Utterly unreasonable.
And he loved it.
He could just feed soldier pills to the clones to keep them training.
Takai felt his chakra swirling within. And, with some time between each use, he could continuously send more clones to train. All he would have to do is break them to get the knowledge.
He shook his head and turned on his heel, leaving the clones to their devices.
Stopping at the entrance, he got a bit annoyed. He was tired of doing the whole, "What will I do today?", then getting interrupted.
No, today he was going to follow up on something he wanted to get. A jutsu to breath underwater. With that, he had a solid strategy for fighting on bodies of water.
Go under, drag his opponent under, drown them.
Checkmate.
Training Ground 3, hours later
It turns out obtaining even something as basic as the Suijuu Kokyuu no Jutsu (Underwater Breathing Technique) from the archives was like pulling teeth from a giant bear.
Fortunately, he did have the scroll in hand.
Takai licked his lips as he opened the scroll.
A quick once-over told him everything he needed to know.
It was just extracting the small components of air that are naturally in water, and combining them in his lungs to create breathable air.
Thankfully, he wouldn't have to go through the discomfort of sitting underwater for a minute or two at a time to train it like the scroll said.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" That was his clone's job.
It mumbled all the way to the river until he sunk in and under.
Perfection.
Takai rolled up the precious knowledge and tucked it away.
He mindlessly stepped next to his clone training the fireball jutsu and started working with him. Really, having clones was crazy.
If it took him a week to train a jutsu to a usable degree, just one clone cut that in half.
Not even taking into the fact that he was eventually going to have quite a few clones constantly training by the river. Taking an hour to rest, he could regenerate his chakra to about two thirds and then create another clone. With about two hours to rest fully, he could repeat that.
With some quick math, he nearly choked on the flames in his throat.
Eight clones a day! That's not even factoring in the fact that his reserves are going to grow by leaps and bounds or soldier pills.
Takai shook his head before attempting the jutsu again, this time, he called it out. "KATON: GOKAKYU NO JUTSU (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique)!"
He breathed in deeply, his chest expanding, before forcibly expelling the chakra in his lungs all at once.
Takai's eye widened as the fireball flew forwards in the training ground. It smashed into a small hill, obliterating a solid ten square feet of earth as well as melting a small area around it.
He was lucky that there was no plants there. He could have burned the whole place down.
Takai coughed for a moment, his lungs burning. He put his hands on his knees and breathed.
Whew.
Katon (Fire Release) jutsus were taxing.
In fact, they tended to burn through chakra- oh, how very 'p'unny of him!
Takai snorted as he stood up straight.
The jutsu could also be used continuously by expelling the chakra in the lungs over time instead of all at once.
He flew through the hand signs, "KATON: GOKAKYU NO JUTSU (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique)!"
His chest filled with air and-
The sheer heat from the flamethrower was insane. He could feel it on his skin as it flew forwards and covered an area about twenty feet wide. Takai poured chakra into the jutsu, the flames roaring and boiling the river beneath them.
After a solid ten seconds, the flames cut off and Takai fell back.
He grunted. Nearly all of his chakra was used for that jutsu. Thankfully, he was only just on the line of chakra exhaustion. Takai looked around at his clones who were still diligently training. He groaned as he rolled over to access his pouch. He popped one last soldier pill and tossed the container at one of the clones to share between each other for as long as possible.
Shuddering as he felt his chakra regenerate, Takai pushed himself up and began going to his home.
Training Ground 3
Takai blinked as he watched Naruto and Sakura spar.
It seemed both had decided improved. While neither had thrown out any elemental jutsus, both were engaged in taijutsu.
A spinning kick from Naruto was avoided by Sakura.
She returned with a straight to Naruto's face, throwing him to the ground.
Naruto kicked out her legs and jumped up. He managed to get out a kunai and held it at her throat.
She gave and both rested against the guardrail.
Takai looked to Sasuke who had also been watching carefully.
Good. The stronger each of them were, the stronger their team was.
At around noon, Kakashi finally showed up, "Hey gang." He said, waving at them from his crouching position on the guardrail of the bridge.
Sakura just glared at the man while the boys looked at him impassively.
"Right. I'll cut to the part you're interested in. We're going on another C-rank." Kakashi said.
Naruto jumped for joy, Sasuke cracked a smile, and Takai stared at Kakashi's exposed eye.
The man met his stare.
"Meet at the Hokage Tower now." Kakashi said before vanishing.
The team scrambled towards the tower, racing each other.
As they went, Takai got a small aching sensation in his chest. Was this was family was? Who was his family?
The Hokage's Office
Takai was a bit annoyed to say the least. All they had to do was escort a drunk back to his own village.
It felt demeaning to be honest.
He watched his teammates and sensei leave the office, but he stayed.
The Hokage took a short moment to notice him.
"Oh, what are you still doing here?"
"I was just wondering, Hokage-sama, did you know who my parents were?" Takai asked, hope clearly written on his face.
The Hokage looked regretful, "I'm sorry, but I did not know them personally so I have no stories for you." He was silent for a beat, "Would you like me to describe them to you?" The Hokage offered.
"Yes! Please! Anything!" Takai said, hands clasped together in a begging motion.
The Hokage sighed, it always hurt him to think back to that day, "They were victims of the Kyuubi's attack," He began, "The man whom I presume to be your father was a handsome man. Dark hair, he was a tad pale, had dark eyes, and looked very aristocratic. Your mother on the other hand..." The Hokage grimaced, "...she wasn't identifiable unfortunately. I'm sorry." The Hokage finished.
Takai stared at the Hokage, hanging onto his every word until he finished. He stopped to consider what he felt...not really much. Sure, it absolutely sucked he never got to know them, but that didn't mean much since he never did get that familial love from them.
Some details about his father stuck out though, "Was my father a Uchiha? He sounds like it." He asked.
The Hokage pondered his question, "It's possible. Though, his body was lost in the rebuilding effort. Quite a few bodies were lost during those times. A lot of Uchihas also died in the attack. They died defending their home." He replied, "So, he may have been. However, he could have also just been a look-alike."
Takai nodded, "Alright. Thank you, Hokage-sama." He bowed quickly and left.
Once the doors closed, the Hokage leaned back in his chair. Pulling out his pipe, he lit it and took a short puff.
That was something to consider. He hadn't entertained the idea when it crossed his mind years ago. Maybe it was worth investigation? After all, having another Uchiha in the village would cause quite a bit of movement from enemy parties.
The old Hokage drew another puff and blew the smoke away. He supposed only time would tell.
He leaned on his desk and continued his old nemesis, paperwork.
The Front Gate
The group gathered and set off with the client in the middle Takai on the right, Naruto on the left, Sasuke in the front, and Sakura in the back. Kakashi was off to the side of the formation.
Sakura began some friendly conversation with the man, Tazuna. He was rather unkempt and had fully grey hair.. He was wearing a straw kasa and was holding a bottle of alcohol. It seemed his clothes were of a simple laborer's garbs and a white towel around his neck. His glasses also made him look a bit older than he was, which was easily in his fifties or sixties.
Takai's eye looked at just about everything around them. The trees, the sky, the ground, everything. One couldn't be too careful.
The trees were incredibly tall and hung over the edges of the dirt road.
They walked for hours, just getting to the edge of Konoha patrols.
Takai's bored eye rolled through the sky, then to the ground, kicking a stone reasonably far ahead of them...into a puddle. He tilted his head, it hadn't rained in over a month, so how was there a puddle?
Takai looked to his sensei who seemed unconcerned, so he decided it was nothing.
Thirty feet later, and they were right next to the puddle.
Two shinobi leapt out of the puddle to either side of Kakashi, wrapping him in a chain.
KRRRSHUNCH
Takai stared at the two shinobi.
"One down." The one on the left said. They both had brown hair that looked unclean and wore horned Kirigakure headbands with some sort of apparatus on their faces. The only on the left was wearing a black cloak that went down to his knees while the other just wore a tunic with woodland camouflage shirt and pants under that. Both had low-quality stitched leather sandals.
Takai's eye drifted to the large metal gauntlet that connected the two. They were attached by a chain that looked to have shuriken lodged in it.
The two attempted to move at the team, trying to get to the side of Takai.
'Not happening!' He thought as he ran through four hand signs, "KATON: GOKAKYU NO JUTSU (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique)!"
He spewed out a blanket of flames. One managed to duck below the flames, hugging the ground for dear life, but the one without a cloak was lit aflame.
"AUH! AHHH!" He screamed. His arms went to his face as he burned, "IT BURNS!" He dropped to the ground and attempted to roll to put out the flames.
Sasuke charged forwards and threw a kunai at the flaming one. It lodged in his neck. His screams of pain devolved into choking sounds.
His brother's eyes widened, "MEIZU! NOOO!" He yelled. He pushed himself up and wiggled his hand out of the chained gauntlet.
He pulled out a kunai and ran at Takai, "YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS YOU BASTARD!" He yelled as he raised it up.
In his anger, he had forgotten about his teammates. Four kunai whipped through the air from Sasuke and Naruto, impaling the enemy shinobi. Sasuke's two each hit a kidney while Naruto's punctured a lung and the liver. The man's eyes rolled up into his head as he fell over mid-stride.
The scent of cooked flesh was heavy in the air.
The four Genin looked to where their sensei had died-
"Good job, team!" Kakashi said, holding a thumb up while walking out of the bushes.
They all stared.
"Genjutsu?" He questioned.
"Nope!" Kakashi said as he approached the bridge builder.
"However, you never said there'd be enemy shinobi after you. This bumps the mission rank up to a B-rank. This is a bit too dangerous for my precious little Genin to handle, so I guess we'll have to go home..." Kakashi explained, drawing out the last part.
"No! Please! It's all the money I had!" Tazuna said, "My village has been subjugated by Gato Company!" He explained. He sighed as he explained, "Awhile ago, Gato Company moved into the village and locked down trade. Eventually, he also locked down travel. We're on an island, so he has patrols that sink any boats that are out on the water. I had to sneak out of my own village!"
Takai tilted his head, "Where are your own shinobi? The Land of Waves...if you're an entire country, you should have your own hidden village, no?"
Tazuna shook his head, "We've never had our own shinobi. We're so close to Konohagakure that we just hire your shinobi for everything needed."
The Genin nodded.
Kakashi gained a thoughtful look, but it was over dramatized, "Well, since this is their mission, they could choose to continue-"
"Yes." All four Genin said at once.
Kakashi eye-smiled, "Well, there you have it! Onward, team!"
The group eventually continued walking after they collected the heads of the two shinobi that attacked them and picked up and cleaned their used ninja tools.
Perhaps from here on out, all they would have to deal with is civilian level enforcers? Killing a village full of them would be annoying, but not difficult.
Oh well.
On the water to Wave
Takai hummed as he walked along the water. He looked over to his teammates and Tazuna in the boat. While Naruto knew the Water Walking technique, he didn't have the ability to sustain it. Takai looked to his sensei who was reading the first volume of Icha Icha.
Lucky bastard. Takai couldn't afford to dull his senses in order to read.
Speaking of senses...
He could feel everything!
A mist hung in the air from the water. It allowed him to feel so much in such a wide area. He could feel everything all the way to the bank of the island which the village sat upon. It felt a bit weird at first. Once he neared the water, he started to experience sensory overload from how much he could sense.
He closed his eyes as he walked, just feeling out the area.
Takai and Kakashi walked silently along the row boat which sliced through the water like a knife.
No words were exchanged until the boat hit the bank, quite literally. It shuddered as it collided gently. The three Genin climbed out and assisted the older man up and out. The boat pilot pushed off the bank with his oar and disappeared into the mist. The group began to walk towards the village.
Until Takai felt something in the mist. While the mist over the water was incredibly thick, the mist on the island was comparatively thinner, but he could still feel things.
"DUCK!" Takai yelled, grabbed the closest two people to him, Naruto and Sakura, and dragging them to the ground with him. He heard three other bodies hit the ground. Takai's eye widened as a large sword that was as tall as a man flew overhead.
THUNK
The sword impacted a tree, gouging a chunk out and lodging itself inside.
A man landed on the sword. He was quite tall and very visibly muscular. He was darker than your average Konoha native and sported bandages covering his lower face. His headband was turned to the side on his head. His arms were covered in sleeves in the same camouflage as the two shinobi that attacked them from the puddle, as were the sandals on his feet which looked a bit like boots. Interestingly, he wore no shirt, just light blue hakama pants. On his chest was some sort of sheath or something to hold the massive sword when not in use.
"Kakashi no Sharingan. Wasn't expecting to meet you here." The man said from the sword.
Kakashi stood up from his prone position, "Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Bloody Mist. The same could be said." Kakashi replied.
Naruto started to walk forwards to engage, but Kakashi put out a hand, raising his headband with his other, "No, this is an enemy far too dangerous for you guys, stay with the client." Kakashi said seriously.
"But-"
"Naruto, that's a Jonin-level enemy. You think a Genin could beat him?" Takai asked, backing away with Sasuke and Sakura.
Naruto grumbled, but joined them.
Kakashi and Zabuza stared for awhile until-
"Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hiding in Mist Technique)!" Zabuza yelled, a mist even thicker than what was out on the water suddenly enveloped the area.
"Katon: Karyudan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet)!" Kakashi called out.
The flame shot through the mist, flying towards the tree. A boom could be heard as the tree was broken and knocked over.
Takai held his head as the mist smothered his senses, this was the opposite of what it was like on the water. It was likely because this mist was born of chakra not his own.
Not a sound was made for several seconds. Then, Zabuza's voice called out from everywhere in the mist, " Eight vital points: larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, and the heart. All guarantee a quick kill. Now, which shall I go for first?" The man mused.
Takai shivered. It felt like the man was breathing down his neck. From the shuffles in the mist, it seemed his team agreed. They moved closer to Tazuna, who wisely decided to remain silent.
A clash here and there let them know that Kakashi and Zabuza were fighting, but they couldn't see anything, not even sparks of weapons. All they could do was wait.
Nami no Kuni
It turned out waiting was a bad idea. Kakashi managed to win, but exhausted himself of chakra. It was terrifying to think that people who were capable of keeping up and nearly beating their sensei existed out there. It made him queasy.
They had no choice but to wait for about a week for Kakashi to heal.
Takai paid no mind to the family they were staying with. The kid was a brat and Naruto was trying to talk some sense into him, something about the kid's dad being killed? Naruto has always been an optimist. Sometimes it really didn't make sense to him, but that's fine. Whatever keeps him going, right?
Takai nodded to himself as he prowled the streets.
He had killed three thugs already in the five minutes he had been out and about. Gato's other hired thugs had infested the village and often threatened the locals.
One was trying to have his way with a much younger girl. One was attempting to buy someone's daughter for "work", and the last was robbing an elderly couple. He lodged a kunai into each waste of space and left wordlessly.
'Maybe stringing a few up would send a better message?' Takai mused as he kicked a road down the dirt street. Children in rags occasionally came out to look at him. Other times, it was small family sneaking around to scavenge for supplies.
It was saddening to see it. He wished he had the rations to just give out.
Hmm...
Were there any animals on the island? He had seen a snow white rabbit earlier and a few birds. But he meant game such as deer or something. He doubted cattle were still here. They likely would have been sold off by Gato.
Maybe he could find a few animals to kill, butcher and cook for the locals. So far, he had seen about one hundred individuals. Most of them were younger, likely orphans. For that many people he would need quite a few animals. Alternatively, he could just go find Gato right now and kill him, thus saving the trouble of possibly fighting the rest of the man's men.
The only hitch with that plan was Kakashi who ordered him to not go too far from the village. Unfortunate, but he'd live.
However, any nearby game wouldn't.
Takai took a sharp left between two buildings and walked off into the wilds of the island.
Two hours later
Takai had found exactly zero animals. Not even the smallest bird. It seemed he wouldn't be feeding anyone but himself today. Eventually he settled on the roof of the last restaurant open in the village. He opened his pouch and pulled out a food ration pill. They looked relatively similar to regular medicine, but were definitely not the same. They were packed with nutrients.
He popped the pill and cringed at the taste and feel, which was of mud and only slightly moist soil. Swallowing with a small gag, Takai leaned back on the roof. It was actually pretty nice here, even with the many abandoned homes.
Takai closed his eyes and began to rest. Maybe he could take a nap? Or perhaps-
"Hey! Kid!" A man shouted in his direction. Takai sat up on the edge of the roof and looked down, spotting six large men, each carrying a katana.
He tilted his head.
"Get down here! We want to have a word with you!" The man chuckled at the end. The others pushed and shoved each other.
These guys weren't even close to professionals! It made him crack a small smile, "Alright, but don't be too rough with me!" He joked.
The men laughed darkly. Takai stood up and stepped off the roof, dropping about twelve feet and landing smoothly. The locals gathered around and looked between him and the group of thugs, expecting another public execution.
The man who spoke approached Takai and attempted to put his hand on his shoulder, "You know, you have to pay the-" He never finished as Takai lashed out with a straight punch to his head that crushed his face. His skull shattered and he fell back, dead.
It was a bit sobering to see actually. The different between even just Genin and regular people was astounding. The remaining men stared at their apparent leader.
"You damn brat!" One yelled, walking at him with his katana raised.
"Oh no, what are you going to do with that mister?" Takai mocked.
"I'm about to-!" The man suddenly found the sword out of his hands and stuck through his neck, preventing his speech. His hands went to his neck, weakly trying to pull the sword out, but he only fell back, dead.
"What? What was that? Speak up, I couldn't hear you over the sword in your throat!" Takai said, kneeling at his side with an ear down. "Oh, you're dead? Such a surprise! I didn't expect that." He said while standing.
He looked at the other four who looked hesitant to get close, "What? No takers?" He said, arms spread to his sides in a "come at me" fashion.
"No? Alright then, I guess its my turn." Takai said as he went through four hand signs.
The men tensed as Takai's chest expanded. Then, a roar of flames erupted in front of him, the men screamed in fear but couldn't out pace the flames which engulfed them. Within seconds, they died. The enemy shinobi from the puddle lasted much longer. It was insane, the differences in durability.
Takai cut the flow of chakra and looked around at the shocked civilians. Most had never even heard of chakra and they just watched a young boy kill six grown men single-handedly while mocking them. He shrugged, "Take whatever they had on their persons. Maybe something survived." Takai said to the twenty or so people surrounding him. With that, the people made a mad rush for the corpses, recovering anything not scorched and quickly fled.
Takai hummed as he approached the only person left, a much older man who was looking through the man with the smashed face's pockets.
"Hey, old man. Where do the thugs come into the island? There a dock?" He asked.
The man looked up at him, a bit afraid it seemed, "Yes, there is one. It isn't run by any of us though. Only Gato's men."
"Where is it?" Takai questioned.
The old man pointed off to the right down a road.
"Thanks." Takai said. He picked up two burnt bodies and sprinted off.
He was going to leave a bit of a surprise for the next thugs to arrive.
The Bridge
Kakashi, Sasuke, and Takai walked onto the bridge. The workers there had been knocked out it seemed. Naruto and Sakura had been left at the family's house to protect them from any thugs that may want to harm them.
Of course, this left the team at the bridge overall, weaker.
Which was a problem now as the hunter-nin from before was back and standing at Zabuza's side.
The two Jonin went right into combat while the hunter-nin attacked Sasuke and Takai.
Takai parried a senbon thrown at him, as did Sasuke.
"You'll have to do more than that!" Sasuke remarked.
That apparently wasn't the right thing to say.
The hunter-nin went through some hand signs and formed some sort of sphere of mirrors around them.
Takai's good eye widened as he realized what this was.
He sped through four hand signs and spat attempted to spit out a fireball, but had to stop to parry another senbon.
Takai took a moment to see the hunter-nin jump between mirrors...
That's crazy!
He had no jutsu fast enough to destroy a mirror, and the hunter-nin could just pepper him with senbon if he went between the mirrors.
Crap.
Some minutes later and he was beginning to slow down as the senbon increased.
"GAH!" Takai exclaimed as one entered his knee. He flinched as he pulled it out and deflected another. He could barely put any weight on his left leg now. He risked a look at Sasuke who was stuck with four senbon so far.
Things were starting to get desperate as a senbon entered his right elbow. Takai grunted as he switched his kunai to his other hand. The hunter-nin had a pattern. He was trying to map it perfectly before going on the offensive. He couldn't throw from the mirrors, so he had to at least come out a little bit to throw.
And...
Right...
There!
Takai spun around and threw a kunai as hard as he could. It whistled through the air and very nearly hit the hunter-nin. He pulled out another kunai and did the same thing, Sasuke eventually catching on. Soon, the hunter-nin barely had room to get senbon in.
Until he sped up significantly.
Takai was soon stuck with six senbon in his torso. He groaned, stumbling as he looked at the hunter-nin popping out of a mirror, a senbon flying right at his eye.
His eye widened as the pointed metal neared his face.
The short life he had lived flashed before his eyes.
There was practically no way Takai could stay on active duty as a blind man. He wasn't a sensor. He had his team to worry about too. Naruto would be lost in terms of training, as would Sakura.
And Sasuke was right next to him, if he went down, he would likely die too. What would his team think? If he let them down?
His emotions built and boiled over into his face which contorted in frustration. His dreams would be just that- dreams. He wouldn't get a chance to do anything he wanted. He would be stuck with sunglasses and a stick to tap on the ground with.
His thoughts continued like this until he felt a building pain in his eye. It felt focused in the nerve behind his eye actually.
Then, everything seemed slower.
And a bit red.
The senbon that was previously speeding towards his eye was now much slower.
Takai moved.
The senbon sparked off the stones below, flying off the edge of the bridge. The red tint went away.
His breathing was heavy.
He could feel his own sweat streak down his exposed skin.
Takai spun around to the hunter-nin who was remarkably close. It seemed the hunter-nin was attempting to move between mirrors.
He seemed so slow.
Takai lunged forwards with a kunai. The blade found purchase in the folds of the opposing shinobi's clothing, but he didn't land a good hit.
He looked at Sasuke. He met his eyes. Sasuke's eyes shot wide open, staring at him. Takai didn't have time to question it as he leaned back from another pass of the hunter-nin. This time, he moved forwards and body checked the smaller opponent to the ground. A very feminine grunt sounded out. Sasuke performed the hand signs for Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique).
He didn't bother saying it as it roared forwards. Takai dodged to the side and took this chance to escape the mirrors while the fireball forced the hunter-nin to scramble into a mirror. Sasuke also took the opportunity and the pair met up outside the mirrors. They both sighed in relief.
Takai helped Sasuke remove the senbon and stretch a bit before the hunter-nin showed back up.
Sasuke growled at him. Takai readied his kunai, preparing to charge the shinobi. However, he looked over to where Kakashi and Zabuza were fighting. The pair stared as the hunter-nin disappeared in a burst of speed that they hadn't seen while fighting him. They ran to Kakashi's battle, stopping short to view the scene.
Kakashi had his arm directly through the hunter-nin chest, who was very clearly dead. Kakashi's eyes were wide and Zabuza was surprised. Takai looked at Sasuke who looked back at him. The two were completely silent before both fell over, fully unconscious.
Another quick update. I've been in a writing mood for awhile. I like this chapter, its alright.
Should I make a discord for discussion of the story?
Also, should I post the final word count of each chapter? Would anyone be interested in seeing that?
Until next time ladies, gentlemen, and AC-130 Gunships