Chapter 72.4- One Thousand Hands

I had a marker near the entrance of the Uchiha Clan District. I had markers like that all over the village. They let me get from place to place instantly in the case of emergencies but this wasn’t an emergency and Uzume would definitely call it cheating. Besides, I was having a great time as we were now.

Uzume was fast. It was a fact that I had sort of known, but now it was clear. Neither of us were going truly all out . If we did, the race would be too short to be any fun. But that didn’t mean we were jogging either. With my byakugan, I could see that she was only using the smallest trickle of chakra to help her along with the jumps from rooftop to rooftop. Beyond that, it was just sheer physicality. I mirrored her, and despite the handicap, we were flying.

I jumped over a clothing line, using the next empty one as a slingshot that shot me two rooftops over. I landed with a roll and kept going. Now behind me, Uzume scowled and banked a sharp left. She ran across an electrical wire that connected the next five buildings while I wasted precious time with each leap over space. Running was always faster than jumping. By the time she was back to the rooftops, we were neck and neck, and I could see the gate of the building. If I could, that meant she could as well.

Almost as if it was by silent agreement, we both dialed things up a notch. I jumped over two buildings at once with only the barest thread of chakra boosting me with explosive force at the beginning. I kept running, Uzume keeping pace. Only one more building before the gate. She moved to jump between the rooftops and I applied wind release to my feet. I shot straight at the gate, flipping myself in the air to land on the surface of the gate with my feet and sticking to it. A second later, Uzume had her hand on the gate as well.

“You cheated” She said.

“We never agreed any rules” I countered.

“Implied by conduct”

I shrugged. “You should have spelled them out then. Besides, it’s not like I couldn’t have gotten here faster” I said, pointing her over to a semi-hidden part of the gate. Her eyes narrowed at seeing the seal.

“Let’s go” She said, instead, taking my hand and beginning to drag me through the district. It felt strange being here again. Growing up, it had either been the Academy, Hokage Tower, Senju Clan Compound, or this place. I’d spent more time here than even in the Hyuga compound which was insane. Izuku and I had terrorized the old ladies I could see selling this or that all over the place. We’d knocked over stalls, rigged things to explode, made seals to cover people with paint. We’d been little terrorists here, and now I was back, but he was gone. It was like walking down a familiar road with all the signs missing.