Chapter 38.4- One Thousand Hands

I directed more and more clones into the fray as the water began to pile on. Soon, everyone was trodding on water to move around. The wiser ones were making sure to use the water walking technique to stay atop. The less skilled, or less intelligent of them were plodding along the ground, allowing the water to steadily climb up towards their shins. Foolish. Jinpei seemed to be having a good enough time watching any clones as they dealt with the approaching shinobi that he hadn’t done anything to contribute to the fight other than sending a blast of concentrated water that tore through a clump of approaching Suna nin.

I briefly considered electrocuting the water to deal with those who had their legs in it but changed my mind when I considered that I had no idea what lightning release would do to my mud clones and how the interaction would work. For now, I was on the front seat, and the goal here wasn’t to kill everyone. It was to keep them distracted and focused on a single point while my team went and did the actual difficult work of capturing the head of this whole mess. We’d interrogate him and then send him back to Konoha to be used for whatever they wanted over there. This was to be the end of the Suna offensive, and I would bring it with style.

I stared at the wind release jutsu as it flew towards me even as I knew that I wouldn’t be able to dodge it without risking my connection to my mud clones. Directing them like this meant I had to stay still and keep my hands in the snake seal for focus. I guess it didn’t take a genius to figure out the connection. I took a deep breath in, and while being careful not to disturb the flow of mud release chakra to my feet, breathed out a fireball that flew right at the wind release jutsu. To be honest, it was pitiful in size and I hoped that Uzume didn’t catch a look at it while she was performing her part of the mission. It didn’t need to be large though, as it hit the wind releaser jutsu and was instantly stoked, doubling in size and potency while still flying towards the woman who had sent the wind jutsu.

She jumped away to dodge it and I returned my attention to my clones as they continued to wreak havoc through the Suna lines. One mud clone was diced to pieces by someone wielding sharp blades enhanced by wind release. The next clone faced a similar fate until he faced two at a time. While he moved in to deal with one, I directed the other to return its arms to mud that wrapped around the Suna shinobi with the blades as he moved to dice its compatriot to pieces. The clone being diced backpedalled under my direction as the two of them co-ordinated in a symphony that ended in the man’s heart exploding from a well placed gentle fist strike. They moved on, seeking more prey.