Pulse.
Oh, come on!
It hasn't been that long!
My vision flickered as I looked downwards. Chakra surged along a dimensional link-
Chakra, accompanied by a Heart and Soul that I recognized.
Isobu...
You don't deserve this.
Ugh. When I finally kill this fucking Juubi, the Akatsuki is next.
I vanished, reappearing on the ground just as Isobu's Chakra burst into this dimension. A slight touch of my Keyblade brought him into safety, deposited right alongside Shukaku and the fragment of Matatabi's Chakra.
I vanished again as the Juubi attacked again, a massive arm slamming down on the ground and shattering the earth.
"Isobu, are you alright?"
"... Drich?"
"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
"Shukaku?"
..?
Hinata released a quick breath as she dived to the left, narrowly avoiding a poisoned blade as it sliced past her. Acting quickly, she reached out, Chakra-scalpels extending from her hand, and cutting the tiny strings of Chakra that Sasori used to control his puppets.
Immediately, the puppet crumpled, falling to the ground. Hinata dropped an explosive note on it for good measure as she jumped backwards, moving out of the way of another puppet's blade.
She quickly checked up on her teammates, her eyes flicking in their direction for a brief moment.
Shino was employing his Kikaichu to great effect. Small groups of the insects flitted about, disrupting and devouring Chakra. Against the puppeteer, it was especially effective, the Chakra Strings that allowed him to control his puppets being very vulnerable targets.
Shino's efforts weren't completely uncontested, however. Clouds of poison gas hung in the air, toxic miasma potent enough to kill even the incredibly poison-resistant Kikaichu. The occasional gouts of fire would also often consume any swarm that became too clustered.
Kiba and Kurenai-sensei were close together, the former defending the latter as she weaved illusions over the area. Their enemy's lack of anything resembling a normal Chakra system had made Kurenai's typical Genjutsu ineffective. Kiba was holding back, away from the enemy, because his wild taijutsu style could have exposed him to the poisons his enemy had coated seemingly everything with.
She spared a brief glance to Team Gai.
They, it seemed, were having a far better time against their opponent. Gai-sensei and Lee were engaged in closed quarters combat with their enemy, who was having a very difficult time fighting them off, considering he was missing the entirety of his right arm, and a small portion of his left. He is rather low on Chakra, the previous battle having exhausted him.
Sasori, it seems, isn't bothered by exhaustion. His partner, on the other hand, has already been worn down. Against Gai and Lee, that is a death sentence waiting to happen.
Neji and Tenten were offering support as they could. Neji, however, was also scanning for any further traps and seals, of which he'd found and disabled a few.
The brief checkup on her fellows complete, she turned her attention back to the puppets around her.
"I... don't actually know how I got here. One moment, I was in the ocean, next there was... a tug, I guess? And after that, there was a cave with some Humans in it, and then... I'm here. Where is here, anyway?"
"Was there a little fucker with an orange mask and a Sharingan?"
"Uh... I saw an orange mask, but don't know about-" He paused for a moment. "Son of a bitch! That's the same guy that took control of me last time!"
"Obito Uchiha." I supplied.
"I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL HIM! WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS, JUST COMING AROUND AND FUCKING MIND CONTROLLING US!" Aaand Shukaku's back to ranting. Great. "I'LL FUCK HIM RIGHT UP, I SWEAR IT! I'M GOING TO STRIP THE SKIN FROM HIS BONES WITH MY COARSEST SAND, AND THEN I'M GOING TO-"
"To answer your question, Isobu," I spoke over Shukaku's ranting. "We're in a pocket dimension that's apparently a thing now because of the fucking Juubi. You were out here for a moment too, but then I saved you from being... from whatever the Juubi was going to do with you by taking you into a pocket dimension tied to me. More or less, anyway."
Isobu was silent for a few moments. "Okay, not going to lie, that's a little confusing."
"IDIOT, IT'S NOT HARD TO UNDERSTAND! YOU'RE IN A POCKET DIMENSION INSIDE OF A POCKET DIMENSION!" Shukaku briefly interrupted his ranting to... rant some more.
"Wait, what was that before about the Juubi?"
"Well-"
And it was at that moment that yet another Bijuudama slammed into my body.
Really have to stop not paying attention to those.
There was a grunt of pain, alongside a rather loud snapping sound.
She spared a glance over to Gai and Lee just in time to see the former grab a Kunai out of the air, slashing at Deidara's throat. His thigh was bent almost ninety degrees, and Hinata could see that the bone had snapped completely. Lee grabbed his other arm as Deidara desperately attempted to block Gai's strike, and then...
The Kunai came down without obstacle.
Tenten kept her weapons sharp. Backed by Gai's sheer strength, the Kunai buried itself directly into Deidara's neck, severing the jugular and spinal cord. As sure a death as there could be, to any normal ninja.
Deidara's seemingly incredible pain tolerance aside, his body was still fairly normal, unlike Sasori.
Well.
One enemy down, one to go.
She stepped to the left, jabbing a puppet as it sliced at her. Her Chakra penetrated the outer shell, and ruptured an internal container, and she jumped backwards as it caught ablaze.
It fell to the floor, Sasori abandoning it as the fire ruined many of its other mechanisms.
"Hinata." Neji spoke as he dropped next to her, taking out another puppet with a few precise, quick strikes as he did. "The device in Sasori's chest-"
"I saw it." Hinata nodded. "Too much poison and fire to risk getting close."
"He seems to be low on both Chakra and puppets." Neji noted.
"Probably whatever battle they were in before we engaged them." Hinata stated. "Still, we should end this as quickly as we can."
Neji grunted, for a moment not answering, instead weaving between a few poisoned Kunai. "I might have an idea."