Chapter 24.2- One Thousand Hands

When Tobirama entered the fight, everyone and their cousin knew. The Northern front was right off the coast and they were succeeding in pushing their way into the Island proper with every minute that passed. Tobirama weaved a set of seals faster than my eyes could truly comprehend and in a second, more water than I’d ever seen in motion rose from the sea and slammed into the massive Eight tails. The beast’s killing intent was almost cut off for a second as it was blanketed by the water and pushed far backwards.

“Your move” Tobirama said to the both of us, and I nodded and unsealed my bow while Kagami body flickered in a blur of red. The fan fiction theories that said that Shisui was related to Kagami began to make sense to me as I watched the man land in the battlefield. He did not go straight for the Raikage. In fact, he seemed to almost ignore the massive dark skinned tank of a man. A man that thankfully was the size of a big man and not a true giant like his successors would be. Even the lightning cloak that surrounded him seemed basic in comparison to theirs. I eagerly deconstructed the jutsu as I kept the rest of my attention on Kagami’s path.

He moved quickly, barely staying still for longer than a second. Those who met his eyes froze in place for seconds. Those who didn’t, died all the same to his deadly taijutsu. He wielded a kunia in each hand, and he seemed keen to dye them red with Kumo blood. For me, I stayed still and gave him all the support I could with my arrows. I’d fought in concert with Uzume for most of my ninja career, and she was truly the closest comparison for what working with Kagami felt like. Except that everything with Kagami was dialled up to 11.

Uzume knew my every move from practice and habit. Kagami just knew what I would do next because he did. Sharingan bullshit, I suspected. He was never in the way of any arrows I sent. In fact, not a single one of my arrows missed a vital area. It was like he knew where I would be targeting next, and moved there ahead of time to disable them and leave them easy pickings. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. Sport, and not combat.

That changed quickly, however. The Raikagee took the bait after he’d lost enough of his men just like Kagami knew he would. He barrelled into the red eyed man with a diagonal charge that happened in a blink. Too fast to follow, but not too fast for two doujutsu users who had been waiting for it. Kagami and I swapped places in an instant. Kawarimi no jutsu, successful. So instead of a sharingan user, he ended up in close combat with a byakugan user. In our brief scramble along the ground’s muddy surface, I managed to close three of his chakra points, but he managed to just notice in time and toss me over his shoulder before taking to his feet.

I did the same with a smirk. Tobirama’s briefing before we’d arrived had been correct. The Raikage was a smart smart man. That was what even inspired Kagami’s plan. A basic bait and switch. We set up a pattern that would be too effective to ignore and then allow him observe it. He’d figure out a means to deal with it sooner or later, and only when he did it would he attack. When he bit the bait, we did the switch, quite literally.

A/N; Movement