Chapter 81.6- One Thousand Hands

He was about to say something, but then her head snapped to the side.

“Inoken is being followed” She said.

“Iwa shinobi?” He asked instantly, hand moving to his blade. They couldn’t afford to lose another friend now. Not after Choni, Kuro, and Izuku.

“No. Suna.”

“What the hell is Suna doing here?” But did it matter. They were after their friend and they needed to move.

“Impossible to tell, but they are hunting him down. He’s fast, but they are gaining, and quickly.”

“Scramble a team, let’s go” He said.

“The Iwa ambush is about to happen”

“What does that matter? We need to help Ino”

“No. You do. Take Shiba and go help. Be careful. One of them has at least as much chakra as Uzume. The other one…he somehow feels even more dangerous. Hold them off until we can finish here. If the situation is dire, have Inoken call in Team Orochimaru for reinforcements. Tell them the order comes from the Hokage himself.” He nodded.

—

They barely made it in time. The one with the blade was just about to cut down Inoken from behind when Toshiro body flickered between them, his blade meeting that of the Suna nin. It only took him a single look for his heart to fall into his stomach. Hayate of the Six Swords. Shiba’s insects fell upon the other one with all the wrath of god. There was a single click, the sound of snapping fingers, and the heat that crawled up Toshiro’s skin made him want to shy away.

The attack hadn’t even been aimed at him. All the insects fell to the ground dead. That had to be Kosuke the desert blaze. What the hell were two of Suna’s S-rank shinobi doing here. This was out of their pay grade. Far out of it, and his inattention came close to ending his life as Hayate shifted his stance, and his sword. Toshiro’s blade slid forward, running along the edge of Hayate’s with no resistance as the man moved to open him from neck to navel with his sword out of position. Toshiro did not fight the substitution that took him out of there.

The blade cut through Shiba only for him to collapse into a swarm of bugs that surrounded the Iwa nin. Toshiro almost breathed a sigh of relief, but then there was a flash of purple chakra, and then Hayate began to move. It should have been impossible, that kind of precision, but yet the bulk of Shiba’s insects were dead on the floor before they could attach themselves.

“Inoken, call Team Orochimaru for reinforcements” He said, feeling far out of his depth.